Too thin to conceive?

sheepiegirl · 06-11-2007, 04:30 PM

I was just wondering if anyone ran into problems conceiving partly because they were too thin. Did anyone's doctors recommend gaining weight?

Amy2006 · 06-11-2007, 05:41 PM

When I got pregant with my first (she was unplanned), I wieghed 116 lbs and I am 5'7. I felt like I was at a healthy weight, as far as I wasnt starving myself or anything like that. My DR said I was below in BMI and asked me to gain extra weight with DD, 45lbs. I gained 75! LOL!

This time around, I was exactly 10lbs heavier and it took me a year to concieve. The great thing is I am 27 weeks and have only gained 8lbs. I think that being a bit heavier has helped keep my hunger under control.

I guess low weight could cause your cycles to be screwed up, but I have had a problem with my cycles since I was a teenager.

Do you think you are at a healthy place with your weight? I would think as long as you are not starving yourself, you should be fine. I dont know?

TrishainAZ · 06-11-2007, 07:01 PM

I was already fairly low, but was told to take metformin and go low carb thus lost quite a bit of weight. I'm 5'4.5" and was 109 when I conceived my daughter and 107 when I conceived my son, so no weight wasn't an issue in getting pregnant for me.

TrishainAZ · 06-11-2007, 07:09 PM

OH and I gained 35 lbs with my daughter and 40 with my son.

bat · 06-11-2007, 07:40 PM

Hi, I just posted about this issue on another thread. I'm in a similar boat -- I am about 5'1'', 100 pounds, and my doctor has told me that I am underweight and need to gain some weight, and also that I need to cut the carbs because of the IR/PCOS. I am eating lots of cheese, but am otherwise at a loss. Did your doctor give you any advice about how to gain weight in an IR-safe way?

TrishainAZ · 06-11-2007, 07:49 PM

I was concerned that it would be an issue, but when I brought up my being underweight, he wasn't concerned about me gaining. It obviously worked out fine for me though.

sheepiegirl · 06-12-2007, 02:27 PM

My doctor mentioned something to me at my last appt about being too skinny and so I've made an effort to gain some weight, but it's really hard. I feel like I'm always full now. I'm naturally curvy (boobs!) and have a roundish face so I don't look as thin as the scale reads. I'm not concerned about my weight for day-to-day life, but I was just wondering more for conception. I just recently read that the optimal BMI for conception is 20-24. And I'm at about 19 right now. I'm about 5'4 and 111.

TrishainAZ · 06-12-2007, 04:34 PM

I don't know what to tell you. I was less than that and conceived okay the other two times. This time I was about 112 at 5'4.5" and was okay.

sheepiegirl · 06-13-2007, 12:36 PM

Thanks for your experiences. I'm just trying to cover all my bases! My doc said if this round of Clomid doesn't work it's off to more intense methods...so I just want to help myself as much as I can.