Pregnancy week 25: to diet or not to diet

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Week 25 pregnant.  That’s almost 6 months and nearly two-thirds the way through this pregnancy!

This week, from reading up on it, I gather the most important developments for Sticky Bean are that the blood vessels under the skin are developing, as are those in the lungs. The nostrils are opening up, the lungs filling with surfactant ( which will help the lungs expand after birth) and vocal cords forming. I sit here writing this as I try to visualise the little being growing inside me, who now has fully formed fingerprints!

The bits that I love about this stage of pregnancy:

• Sticky Bean doing the moves inside my tummy. The other morning I had my three kids jumping in the bed with me: two of them besides me, one inside. I’m pretty sure this Little Bean is already very fond of the siblings. Especially Little Man’s hilarious laughter makes Sticky Bean kick about and do somersaults in a nice way!
• It’s fun to feel body parts sticking out and trying to guess which part it actually is.
• People keep on telling me I’m glowing and I get a lot more smiles from people. (Somewhat more tactic contact at times too, but that’s ok, as long as it’s just a quick touch of the tummy.)

The bits that I hate about this stage of pregnancy:
– My body not coping well- PGP/ SPD keeps hindering me moving about, gives me a fair bit of pain. This in turn makes me feel awful for not being able to go for walks or play with the Littlins as much as I’d like, keep up with the housework or even bend down for things.
– The constant heartburn is very unpleasant- a doctor friend also scared me about Gaviscon not being as safe as I thought, so until I get to the bottom of this I am only taking it when the heartburn gets unbearable.
… and there’s no fun at the other end either: piles! I swear they are created by nature/ God to prepare women for labour and pushing the baby out!
– I still cannot brush my teeth properly without inducing vomiting. Thus I am resorting to a quick mouth wash in the mornings and evenings and a scrub with just a toothbrush (no paste) when under the shower in the mornings.  No wonder gum disease is such an issue around pregnancy- crappy eating habits and lack of brushing surely aren’t doing any good.

However, the biggest bother this week: I have weighed myself after not stepping on scales for nearly 3 weeks and found that I have put on an excessive 5.4kg (11.9lb) in 2 weeks!  Yeap, you read that right!

…This has really frightened me! I know I will loose some of it with delivery (currently only 1.5lb can be attributed to the baby, then there’s a fair bit of excess water in odd places around legs, fingers, etc.). In the meantime, I’m sure this excess also makes me more sluggish and worsens the SPD/ PGP.

Having asked around, people have pointed me in the direction of Gestational Diabetes and the way to manage the condition- a sensible low GI diet. I have tests booked for 2 weeks’ time for gestational diabetes and at the moment I’m comfortable I don’t have it. Then again following a low GI diet, eating healthily and choosing foods which don’t give you a sudden energy boost, but release their energy gradually, makes sense anyway. Quite a few people have suggested Slimming World’s approach too- they focus on eating the right foods.

A friend said her motto was “fresh meat and fresh veg with portion control, eat little and often”.

So I am delving deep into research and am determined to straighten out my eating.
The question is-

To diet or not to diet? What actually constitutes a diet?

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