Weight Loss after twin birth...

I know this may be really low on the priority list for those of you actually dealing with infant twins on a daily basis, but I'm 35 weeks pregnant with twins and getting worried about not losing weight afterward. I don't know HOW (since I have to eat right or I will get sick and I can't eat much at any time), but I gained 6 lbs this week! I can't blame everything on swelling, either. I have gained 60 lbs this pregnancy (so far) and yesterday I could not fit my legs into my prepregnancy jeans. I was a size 12 getting pregnant and it took a lot of work to get there (I was trying to lose weight to avoid pg complications). I lost all my baby weight with my son, but it took NINE MONTHS and I nursed him the whole time (planning to nurse the twins). I've noticed my neck and thighs look thicker, so I am so worried I won't lose this weight or it will take a really long time.

Anyway, I'd love to hear some of your stories about how much you lost the first 6 weeks after delivery and how much you can lose while nursing twins. I need a little encouragement here. I have always struggled with my weight and I am well aware now is not the time to diet. I just want some hope!

Thanks in advance for reading this!

 

I know this may be really low on the priority list for those of you actually dealing with infant twins on a daily basis, but I'm 35 weeks pregnant with twins and getting worried about not losing weight afterward. I don't know HOW (since I have to eat right or I will get sick and I can't eat much at any time), but I gained 6 lbs this week! I can't blame everything on swelling, either. I have gained 60 lbs this pregnancy (so far) and yesterday I could not fit my legs into my prepregnancy jeans. I was a size 12 getting pregnant and it took a lot of work to get there (I was trying to lose weight to avoid pg complications). I lost all my baby weight with my son, but it took NINE MONTHS and I nursed him the whole time (planning to nurse the twins). I've noticed my neck and thighs look thicker, so I am so worried I won't lose this weight or it will take a really long time.

Anyway, I'd love to hear some of your stories about how much you lost the first 6 weeks after delivery and how much you can lose while nursing twins. I need a little encouragement here. I have always struggled with my weight and I am well aware now is not the time to diet. I just want some hope!

Thanks in advance for reading this!

 

I'm just copying my post from several weeks ago :0)

I've gained 70lb with my girls, and my pre-pregnancy weight was only 114lb. I lost it all in about 7-8 month, even more than that. I have to admit - breastfeeding helped a lot, besides that I was on a strict diet and moved plenty. We live in a townhome with plenty of stairs and I never tried to make things convenient for me, like putting extra set of clean clothes for the girls downstairs. Every time I needed to change the diaper, outfits etc. I'd have to go upstairs - 15-20 trips up and down per day, sometimes more and always with both babies in my hands - one would be in the sling carrier. I have to tell you - my leg and arm muscles never been in such good shape in my whole life! Before I got pregnant again (I'm 17 weeks now) I wouldn't stay home a single day, sometimes I took 2-hour hiking-strolling trips around our community or on the harbor. Any kind of park would do. Malls are great too - I spent 4-5 hours on my feet and my girls loved this trips too, especially open air malls. I wish you courage and a good luck and you'll become yourself again in a matter of months. Stretch marks are fading with the time and hernia is fixable as well as a twin skin. There's also a great book called Lose your mommy tummy- read the reviews, it really does work and it's easy. Good Luck!

 

I know every body is different, so it's hard to say whether this will be the case for everyone, but I've lost a ton of weight since the birth. I gained about 50 pounds (the babies made up 12# of that), and I had lost almost all of it by 6 weeks. I'm bf, and I'm sure that's responsible for it since I haven't had time to work out or anything like that. In fact, I'm now well below my pre-pregnancy weight and it keeps dropping (to the point where now I'm starting to get a little concerned).

BF two babies is different than one (it's twice the milk!), so I would count on losing a good amount in those first months!

 

I gained 60 pounds during the pregnancy and lost almost all of it by 6 weeks, all of it by 12, and have now dropped below my pp weight and am actually fighting to keep my weight up. I've done nothing to encourage weight loss (literally -- I'm so out of shape it saddens me deeply) but I do breastfeed exclusively, which I'm sure has helped a lot. But I think everyone has a different experience -- it depends a lot on the way your body functions, I think.

But don't worry about the 6 pound gain -- I think many of us had weeks with dramatic gains. As long as you aren't gaining 6 pounds every week, it is pretty normal.

 

I gained a total of 42 pounds. Lost 20 of those by 3 weeks post partum. Started gaining some back over a very lazy summer of exclusive pumping and not a whole lot of activity.

In September I weaned and started the South Beach Diet on October 1. I lost 15 pounds by mid-November. Then the holidays hit and I've held steady at the 15 pound weight loss.

So I have basically 15 pounds to go and I start a TEAM Weight Loss program at my gym on Monday. 6:00am M/W/F and they provide me with meal plans for the week (12 week program). My ideal goal is to get rid of the remaining 15 pounds by 3/26 which is their first birthday, then lose maybe another 5 by the end of my program...we shall see.

I was on bedrest for 15 weeks, strict bedrest, so I think that wreaked havoc with my metabolism and fitness. I've never had trouble with weight before.

 

If you've done it before, you can do it again. I gained 45 w/ dd1 & 65 with the twins. By 5 months with both pregnancies, I was back at my prepreg weight & in my old clothes. I do exercise (run & walk) 5-6 times a week & exclusively nursed my girls until they were 6 months when I added solids (still nursing now).
You can do it! Now, it's time to eat & rest up!

 

I'm 5'7"ish and weighed 140ish lbs before I got pregnant. I weighed 222lbs the day I delivered, so 6lbs in a week was a normal thing for me I breastfed for 5.5 months, and I actually got down to 135 at one point. After I quit nursing, I began to gain some weight back, and now am about 150lbs, so I would like to lose about 10 to 15lbs. You can do it!!! It isn't all about how much you weigh though...I desperately need to workout to tone myself...toning would make such a difference!!! And another thing, everyone told me that I would lose alot of weight immediately after having the girls, so I was expecting some dramatic change...LOL. As soon as I was able to get out of bed and walk, and asked to be weighed and I weighed 202...only lost 20lbs, which I guess is alot, but not when you know you still have 60 more to go Good luck.

 

I gained a whopping 90lbs with my girls!!! I had to see my ob 2 weeks after their birth because of complications I had. In that 2 weeks I lost 50lbs I wasn't trying to loose it, but I think I had a lot of water weight and the girls had more amniotic fluid in their sacs than average.

The girls are 21 months now and if you can believe it I weigh the same exact weight I did that 2 weeks after birth!

Oh and I forgot to add that I did not nurse the girls.

 

I gained 43 pounds up to 37 weeks. I delivered at 38w2d. I had lost all 43 pounds after 2 weeks and 6 weeks postpartum I was -3. I ff from day 1. It was very similar with my oldest (32 pounds). My docs said that I probably lost 20 pounds in 15 minutes after giving birth ... 2 babies, placentas, etc.

 

I gained 65 lbs with the twins. They were 12 lbs combined at birth. I lost 40 lbs within the first few weeks, however I've been working on the last 25 since then. I've lost 10 lbs since October by watching my diet and exercising 3x/week. I'm breastfeeding both babies, so that may have something to do with why I can't get the weight off...I'm not one of those lucky women that loses weight while breastfeeding. Apparently, my body keeps the weight on just in case we have a famine or something so the babies can still eat! I would've thought the weight would come off easily just by carrying around 2 infant carriers each filled with a 17 lb baby and an almost-3-yr-old hanging on one of them, but that hasn't happened either! I was a size 8-10 pre-preggo, and I'm a 12 now. Hoping to lose the last 15 lbs from this pregnancy and the 10 lbs from my 1st pregnancy by summer!

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!!! Don't worry about the weight...it'll eventually come off! And if you need an on-line weight loss support person, I'll be here!

 

I have lost 40 of the 54 I gained - don't know how - I guess just breastfeeding and not having time to snack - or to eat much for that matter!!!! oh and only drinking water!!

 

Thanks for the information, everyone! I am hoping the nursing will do the trick this time, but after I wean I am going on a diet or maintenance plan depending on if I need to lose more. After I quit nursing DS I packed on 15 lbs in a month because I still ate like I was nursing a ginormous 30 lb baby.

How much time do you have to eat and get fat when you are nursing two babies and caring for a toddler, anyway???

 

I delivered my girls at 30 weeks but already had gained 60lbs! I was very thin when I first got pregnant, and I was worried about it too. I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans 6 weeks after delivery. I still have about 10 lbs to lose but not too worried about it. I bf my girls for the first 4 months and I think that really helped. I wish I could have continued but they were in the NICU for 8 weeks and the entire time I had to pump and I didnt have a good supply to begin with and they never took to it so I chose to stop.

 

I'm 5'8" and gained 40 pounds. I've been BF'ing exclusively and have lost all but 5 pounds - which I think is all in my breasts!!! I haven't really been trying to lose weight except for getting back into running, which I did pretty religiously before. I can only fit into one pair of pre-pregnancy jeans, and only because they were one of my "roomier" pairs and there is pretty much no way I can fit into my tops. My hips definately feel wider and my tummy skin sags...if it weren't for that I'm pretty sure I could get back into all my pants!

 

At my 6 week check up I was two pounds heavier than when I got pregnant (I gained 35 pounds). BUT, I could not even come close to fitting in my clothes.

By 4 mos, I was fitting in clothes one size larger than my pre-preg clothes. By 8 mos, I was fitting in my pre-preg clothes.

Now, almost two years later, I am on the toddler diet. It consists of eating scraps at odd hours, chasing two children endlessly, and never sitting down. I am now a size smaller than when I got pregnant! So I highly recommend this diet. Granted, it will be awhile before you can go on it, but it works wonders!

 

This won't be an issue until loooong after you deliver! You will be in survival mode and be happy to find any semi-clean preggo pants lying on the floor to wear!

Just my story...gained 30 and lost it all by the 6 week check. I did go up a size (gasp!) though, so that is not all that great.

Good luck!

 

About your legs and arms seeming thicker. I was reading something that said the hormones are telling your body to store fat in different places, mostly on the back of your arms, the thighs, and possibly the back of your shoulders. Something about ancient times where you'll need that fat stores to get through labor in case of a famine... I noticed it too, but it was also one of the first places the weight came off, so I wouldn't worry to much about that. Also, it takes about 4 months for the hormones to go back to normal, so I would give yourself AT LEAST that much time before you start to beat yourself up over not losing all weight. Plus, just lifting your babies 20+ times a day will definately give your arms/legs a work out. You won't have time to sit around and snack.

I weighed 30# less after delivery, then lost another 7 pounds in two weeks. It's this last 10-15 that is rough. As with most of us, the extra skin just prevents clothes from fitting like they did before, even though we are close to out ppg weight.

I wouldn't stress about it, you have two little *delightful* things to think about and pounds shouldn't interfere with you enjoying the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

~kat