Congratulations on the pregnancy!

I know the terror you're feeling right now in regard to your weight, because when I got pregnant I weighed 241. I was terrified that I would gain 80 pounds and end up over 300 pounds after I gave birth. But, interestingly, I weighed 230 on the day after I gave birth. Like Deanne, I lost weight while pregnant. I did some reading and learned that many obese mothers don't have the tremendous weight gain that their HWP counterparts do. Probably because our bodies already have the fat we need for breastfeeding, so we don't have to add it.

I can't stress enough that this is not a time to be on a weight-loss diet. Your baby needs nourishment and so do you. Proper nutrition is a wonderful gift you can give your child for life and it's very important. People born in the fall and winter months actually have a longer life-span than people born in the summer, possibly because of the abundance of fresh produce available to mothers who are pregnant in the summer. I know that I craved fruit like crazy when I was pregnant. Also, the baby takes ALOT of nutrition away from you, so you need to be careful to get enough food for both you and your baby. Having a baby is probably one of the most demanding things you could ever do with your body.

Along with the prenatal vitamins, you should take an Essential Fatty Acid supplement, because the baby depletes your stores of DHA while pregnant and you need to keep them replenished so that your levels will stay high enough that you won't get post-partum depression. It will help with energy levels, too. If you plan to breast-feed, having high DHA levels in your breast milk will help your baby's sleep-patterns and brain development (breastfed children outperform bottlefed children in IQ tests by an average of like six points, which is why they now add DHA to formula).

For the last half of my pregnancy, I followed The Best Odds Diet from What to Expect When You're Expecting. It doesn't restrict any foods, but asks you to get at least the required nutrients from the categories it lists (One category is Dairy, another is Iron-rich Foods, for example). I found that I was eating so much nutritious (and low glycemic index food) that I didn't have much room for junk, although I managed to eat some occasionally Those cravings can be killer!

Atkins does address this issue on his website. He suggest staying on Maintainence levels of carbs.Here's an article by a member of his staff who stayed on Lifetime Maintainence while pregnant:

http://atkins.com/Archive/2002/10/25-756904.html

Good luck to you and don't forget to enjoy this time with your husband. It's the last time it will be just the two of you.

Dig