BFP's and a "healthy weight"

**maplekitty** · 01-12-2006, 11:46 PM

We all read that we should be at a "healthy weight" before we think of TTC, and/or loose some un-necessary pounds to increase our chances of BFPs.

But I would like to know how many women out there actually had a BFP within the first 6 months of TTC and were not at their doctors recommended "healthy weight".

I've seen a lot of women on this board and on other boards deal with long waiting periods for their BFPs, true infertility problems, but also a lot of women who conceive right away. And I've often wondered if weight and health played a role in that.
I've often wondered if my own weight has hindered my ability to conceive quickly, or if it's really just a random thing.

Can bodies really put off getting pregnant because the womans health just wont support pregnancy?

I've made a poll so that this can be as completely annonymous as you'd like.
If you'd like to share your stories, then please do so, but I'm really just curious to see whether or not being overweight really showed a significant decrease being able to conceive quickly.

**Happy1** · 01-13-2006, 07:30 AM

Well I'm 5'8" and weighed about 180 (roughly 40 pounds overweight) when we first started TTC. We discovered that our problem was actually Male factor (my DH is very fit and lean so that didn't have anything to do with his issues). When I had our first IUI with a donor procedure done, I had only gotten down to 173ish. I got pg on the first try.

I do believe that if the body isn't in top notch shape, it can cause problems that makes getting pg harder but I don't think weight in itself is an issue. If you're overweight, have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. (things that can but don't always go along with being overweight) the body reacts to that and can make periods irregular and/or adjusts things that results in you not being as fertile as you would be if you were totally healthy (regardless of weight).

Nikki

**shouldaeloped** · 01-13-2006, 07:44 AM

I would consider myself overweight. about the same size as Nikki above. DH and I conceived without trying last October. miscarried in January. conceived again in April. miscarried in May. conceived again in October and am now 17 weeks along. my issue hasn't been conception but rather retention!

after my second miscarriage, I asked my doctor (very thin, very in-shape woman) what I could be doing differently at home. she was running a bunch of diagnostic testing on me and I wanted to contribute. one specific question I asked was if I needed to lose weight. she said absolutely not, I was not overweight and for me to not worry about that effecting my fertility. so I chose to believe her. knowing of course, that I should still lose weight for a varity of reasons.

**Scooter** · 01-13-2006, 09:03 AM

I don't know, I'm sure there are arguments that can be made both ways. For example, I'm not overweight & a Dr last year called me "ridiculously healthy" and for no apparent reason we still went through infertility. And during that time I have known several people IRL who have gotten pg accidentally who were overweight & had unhealthy lifestyles (nutrition-wise, exercise-wise, and drinking/drugs). It makes me wonder if it's all just a crapshoot.

**Jane&Andy** · 01-13-2006, 09:09 AM

My post got eaten.

I'll try again.

I'm definitely chubby and still managed to get PG fairly quickly - 4 cycles. My self confidence would certainly be better if I was thinner but it hasn't caused me any health problems with my pregnancy.

Being overweight can cause fertility issues - fat cells produce estrogen - too many fat cells producing too much estrogen can throw your hormones off and make getting pregnant difficult.

**DallasLady** · 01-13-2006, 09:33 AM

From what I understand, weight usually doesn't affect fertility until you are considerably overweight. And then the issue is usually low estrogen or even PCOS.

I am about 50 pounds overweight, and it did not affect my fertility (and I had a full work-up done). Our fertility issues were with DH also,

**Amaye** · 01-13-2006, 10:40 AM

I'm definitely packing some weight that l need to get rid off but it didn't seem to affect me. I got pregnant on my second cycle off BCP with no problems. My first cycle - we weren't really trying - just wanted to make sure my cycle was back to normal.

I have always had a pretty normal 28-30 day cycle and the only problem l ever had was fibroids.

**dionysia** · 01-13-2006, 11:14 AM

I'm about 30 lbs overweight. DH and I tried for 8 months before I got my BFP. However, it was only our 2nd month charting and I think that has more to do with why it took so long (i.e., that I wasn't charting during months 1-6) than my weight.

Di
(5w2d)

**twinnyme** · 01-13-2006, 11:19 AM

I'm also about 40 or so pounds overweight, and it took me two cycles to get pregnant. I haven't read much about the links, though I've certainly heard it (including from my OB). My sister is much more overweight and struggled with fertility issues. Again, I have no idea if it's linked or not, though. I had joined Weight Watchers and lost about 13 pounds (over a few months) right around the time we started TTC.

**jbemommy** · 01-13-2006, 11:20 AM

I was at a normal weight when we were TTC the first time, and got pregnant the first month. This time, I've still got 20 pounds of "baby" weight and we're on our 6th month of trying. I don't know that that's really the issue, but of course as each month goes by, I start to wonder. I just started charting this month, and it does look like I ovulated at an appropriate time, so maybe we've just been unlucky so far.