The weighting game

When talking about pregnancy with English friends, and the topic of food comes up, the general tone is something along these lines: “Oh, isn’t it great that you now have an excuse to eat what you like?!” and “Make the most of it – you can lose the weight when the baby is born….”. Take that conversation to Italy and you’re more likely to hear “How’s your weight going? Are you managing to keep it low? No pastries for you now!!”
Pregnant Italians are weight obsessed. Their friends are obsessed on their behalf. Worst of all, your average (already slightly intimidating) gynecologist turns into a fully paid up member of the Nazi party when it comes to diet and nutrition; and when you already weighed 5 kilos over your ideal before the pregnancy….. well, you can imagine.
Don’t get me wrong – I am a strong believer in healthy eating and always have been. I completely understand the importance of good nutrition for your unborn child and I am well aware of the complications brought about by rapid weight gain in pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and diabetes being the big scary ones) but sometimes I can’t help wishing I wasn’t up there in Northern Europe where a pregnant lady eating a mars bar isn’t considered an obscene act in a public place, and the occasional treat (“it’s not for me, it’s for baby”) is perfectly normal, everyday behavior.
My gyno is great – very well qualified, very thorough, very professional. However, she also has that Italian way which makes you think that she might well go home and stick pins in a voodoo doll of you if you don’t do exactly what she says. Her latest offering to me was “If you don’t regulate your own food, I’ll put you on a diet and complicate your life in a way you can only imagine”. My protestations that I’m actually eating really well and being careful already were brushed aside. “Well, if you don’t take my advice you’ll become a diabetic and then you’ll be sorry”. Hoooooly!!! “Eat only fish, meat, steamed vegetables and fruit at meals” was her next piece of advice. “Avoid carbohydrates, sugar, fat, and too many dairy products”.
Hang on a second. I’m 170 cms tall (5’6’’ )and weighed 67 kilos pre-pregnancy (147lbs or 10.7 stone). I am now 72 kilos at four months of pregnancy ( 158lbs or 11.4 stone) weight. I’m no sugarplum fairy, but I’m not obese either. My usual dress size is 14-16 UK (the national average) and I have a generally healthy diet. I put on weight at the start of my pregnancy because the only things I could keep down were crisps and cheese, but we’re well passed that now.. I am actually keeping a food diary of everything that passes my lips, which reads like an anorexic’s shopping list: 11am – ½ a banana. 1pm – small pack of soia crackers. 3pm – 1 pear. And here I was thinking I would be eating for two!!
So, there we are. All is well so far – baby growing nicely, blood tests regular, diet boring. Assuming all goes well (facciamo sempre le corna)…. in 5 months from now I will mostly be drinking tea and eating donuts – just because nobody will be able to stop me!