A new mum has told of her struggle to cope with her massive 55-INCH baby bump before giving birth.
Lara Carpenter- Beck, 29, gained a whopping six stone nine pounds while having her first child Savannah, and was forced to wear size 22 clothing since standard maternity apparel didn’t fit over her bump.
Many women anticipate the arrival of their first child and love to rock their baby bump proudly. However, things did not go quite as planned for Lara Carpenter-Beck.
People were already questioning if Lara’s due date was approaching at 12 weeks pregnant since she had such a large baby bulge.
She anticipated gaining more weight than usual throughout her pregnancy, but she was surprised by how much she gained.
At 32 weeks a nurse informed Lara her baby already weighed 6lbs- the size of some full-term babies.
Just four weeks later, Lara was rushed in for a caesarean after her waters broke unexpectedly.
By the time she was 36 weeks pregnant, her belly was already measuring 55 inches in circumference. She had gained 91 pounds. It was around this time that her water broke.
Baby Savannah weighed 9lb 5oz at birth, and the mother was simply relieved that her baby was born healthy despite being slightly heavier than most babies.
Proud Lara said: “Because my bulge was so large, Chris and I always thought we were having a male, so finding out we were carrying a girl was a huge shock.”
“She was a big baby and filled the weighing scales.”
“We were so happy she was healthy though, we could cope with the fact she was a bit bigger than most newborns.”
Lara had another hurdle to face – losing all the extra weight. The mother returned to work and began to live a healthy lifestyle in order to regain control of her weight.
Lara was a slender size 12 before her pregnancy, but as her bump expanded, she battled to get into size 22 pants, adding five dress sizes in only a few months.
But one year on from the birth of Savannah, Lara is delighted to have shed the weight from her huge bump and pregnancy, and is now fitting back into her old clothes again.
Lara lost weight with the aid of Slimming World by eating a balanced diet and staying active as a busy mother.
Despite the difficulties of pregnancy and the weight increase, Lara had no regrets. She was really looking forward to having her kid because she believed it would be worth it.
