Jamie Otis — like anyone who’s experienced a pregnancy — gained weight throughout the almost-nine months she’s been carrying her baby boy. The difference between The Married at First Sight star and many other pregnant women, though, is that Otis publicly shared (via naked preggo pic, no less!) just how much weight she’s gained in her 39-week pregnancy: 55 pounds. And honestly, more power to her.
Plenty of pregnant people keep their weight gain numbers under wraps due to stigma or fears about gaining “too much” — but weight gain is, obviously, a necessary and healthy part of pregnancy.
“Physiologically, women gain weight with maternal water and body fat and also to accommodate all of the factors and processes of pregnancy,” maternal fetal medicine physicioan Heather Anaya, DO, told SheKnows.
OB/GYN Lori Hardy echoed this, telling SheKnows that “it is normal and healthy to gain weight during pregnancy not only because of the weight of the growing baby, but also because your body fluid doubles to support the extra blood flow of pregnancy. There is also weight that goes to the breasts, placenta, uterus, increased blood volume, and amniotic fluid.”
“I’ve gained 55 pounds in this pregnancy,” Otis captioned her recent video on Instagram Stories (in it, she’s eating a snack in bed, respect). “I have a week until I’m full term — like, 40 weeks, I mean. So I still have time to go. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know how I got so big?’” the mom of two said while showing her viewers a tub of ice cream. She later revealed that this is her nightly ritual — well, either ice cream or milk and cookies. Both choices sound equally delicious to us.
Still, the TV personality has another theory as to why her belly is growing exponentially. “I mean, this must be a really big baby,” she joked.
So how much weight is normal to gain during pregnancy?
“According to the American College of OB/GYN as well as the Institute of Medicine (IOM), pregnancy weight gain should be based on your pre-pregnancy BMI, which is calculated by taking weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared,” Dr. Hardy explains. “There are tables online to help you calculate this or you can ask your doctor. As with everything in medicine, there will be a range of what is healthy, not just one specific number.” And while 55 pounds is certainly on the high end of things, we’re a) not doctors and b) confident that Otis has a good working relationship with her doctor, aka the person who should actually helping her monitor this stuff. Again: That’s not us, or any other denizens of the internet. So please, think before you troll!
Most importantly, Otis also explained on Instagram that after suffering a miscarriage, her perspective completely changed — on pregnancy, weight gain, the whole lot.
“I promised God I wouldn’t complain about any pregnancy pains if he’d just let me keep this baby,” she captioned her naked pregnancy photos. Otis admitted that she’ll take the back pains, waddle — and yes even hemorrhoids — just to have a healthy and happy baby. And ain’t nobody going to fault her for that.
Here are other celebrity moms who were brutally honest about their miscarriages.
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