‘HOW IT WAS FOR US’

Cindy Rantsekeng, Randburg

I picked up 18kg during my pregnancy. My gynae told me between 9 and 12kg is healthy for me and my baby. I found I didn’t pick up much during the first three months because of morning sickness. I gradually gained weight during my second trimester, as

I regained my appetite. I picked up most of the weight during the last trimester as cravings started. Although I tried to eat healthily, I still ate larger portions. After Joshua was born, I weighed around 70kg, which meant that

I weighed a good 8kg fewer after the birth. Because I breastfed, I lost the extra 10kg within the first two months. I believe breastfeeding helped, because I wasn’t as hungry and ate healthily. But once I stopped breastfeeding, about 10 months later, I felt that without exercise and a healthy diet, my weight wouldn’t stay the same as when I was nursing. Exercise is crucial to staying healthy.

Cathy du Toit, Nelspruit

After the first trimester I weighed 67kg and lost 3kg because I was very nauseous. I thought this is a good start. The next three months I started gaining slowly. I picked up 500g every week during the last three months, and my sweet tooth returned. The morning of the birth I weighed 78kg. Everyone said breastfeeding will help melt away the extra kilos. This wasn’t true for me. I picked up weight that I’m still stuck with. I’m pregnant again now and 5kg heavier than I was with my first child.

Colette du Plessis, Durbanville

I gained 8kg during my first pregnancy. I was very nauseous at the beginning and probably actually ate less. I also think cutting out wine made a big difference! I gained most between weeks eight and 10, and again about five weeks before Matthys’ birth.

So, my weight was not a problem; maybe because I breastfed and started walking every evening from about two weeks after the birth. Three to four months later I was back at my old weight – perhaps skinnier, but that was because of the lack of sleep!

Naledi Nkosi, Cape Town Fortunately, my gynae did not weigh me even once during my pregnancy. He told me I should decide for myself what I want to do with my weight. Luckily, I didn’t gain too much weight and quickly shed the roughly 10kg after the birth. A lot of the weight was also water, which disappeared after birth. I was terribly swollen. But I have to add that I was already overweight when I fell pregnant. I’m convinced breastfeeding helped with losing the water as well as the weight.

Linda Stoffberg, Cape Town

I have two daughters who are 19 months apart. With Mia, the eldest, I gained 19kg, because I thought I had to eat for two. With Kayla I already knew that I’d have to get rid of the weight afterwards by myself – breastfeeding did not perform the miracles I was hoping for – and I only gained 11kg. Mia’s birth weight was 3.3kg, and I breastfed her for three months. I lost the remaining weight over 10 months. By that time, I was pregnant again. Kayla weighed 4.2kg and was breastfed for a whole 10 days. I lost the 11kg after six weeks. So, my story is not that bad – I lost a total of 30kg, 7.7kg of which were the babies – but the bad news is that I don’t recognise the shape of my body. I always had a waist that could take a belt, and now I’m left with one long silo. And did I mention that my feet went up by one shoe size since my first pregnancy?