Pregnancy Weight Gain

Now, before you get upset with me for my forthcoming comments, please understand that I know it's 1) for a good cause, 2) healthy unless my care practioner tells me differently, & 3) part of the whole mom-to-be process.

My issue with pregnancy weight gain is not necessarily the actual extra pounds my body is programmed to put on. My issue with pregnancy weight gain is that I'm not supposed to care. I don't understand how I am supposed to not care when I have experienced a lifetime of conditioning by health professionals and society at large that one of my primary concerns in life should be how much I weigh and that I should be focusing on not weighing too much. My issue is that one day I'm a normal American woman, conditioned to focus on her weight and conditioned to work to maintain my weight within a prescribed range, and the day next I'm pregnant so I'm supposed to easily and nonchalantly accept the fact that I will increase my weight by 25-35 pounds within the next 40 weeks. Really? X number of years of all that weight speak conditioning and I'm just supposed to readily accept the potential changes my body will go through, some changes that will be a direct result of my preganancy weight gain? I just can't understand how this is realisitc for the general female population. I just can't understand how it's so easy for everyone to say to you: "Don't worry about it - it's for the baby!" without considering that maybe it's easy for them to say that but maybe it's not easy for mom-to-be to hear it. Yes, I understand it's for the baby and, yes, I want a healthy baby, but I must be too vain because I have yet to discover my inner-ability to just not care and to not be concerned when I see the numbers going up & up.

There, I've said it so judge me if you must.