“I’ve already had 9 meals today” – Em Rusciano’s pregnancy weight gain struggle
Comedian and broadcaster Em Rusciano and her partner of 18 years, Scott Barrow, are parents to 16-year-old Marchella and 11-year-old Odette – and recently announced they’re expecting a baby boy.
Crying, eating, the usual
It’s brilliant new for this cute family, who navigated the heartbreaking loss of a baby they’d named Ray late last year.
Em’s been working through the gruelling early weeks of her pregnancy, and admits that growing this baby has heralded some real challenges.
“Everything is making me cry at the moment … and I’m hungry, but I’m full,” she said on yesterday’s breakfast radio show with Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee.
“I went to this weigh in yesterday and I failed it,” Em went on sheepishly and tearily. “My lovely obstetrician slid across the desk the name of a dietitian and said as long as you’re just having three healthy meals a day. And I said ‘maybe up that a bit? I’ve already had 9 meals today. I’m really trying, but I’m just really hungry all the time and I’m really full all the time.’ ”
Em says her OB was quick to offer advice and support, noting that his “friend is a personal trainer, she’s a midwife and she specialises in early pregnancy weight gain.”
Read more about Em:
- Brilliant news for Em Rusciano – after a difficult couple of years
- Em Rusciano surprises us all with tipsy, cashed-up $50 tooth fairy tale
- Em Rusciano on living with grief “I was supposed to give birth in 20 days”
Judge-y pants?
When her co-hosts wondered if calling in the experts was a little judgemental, Em was quick to counter.
“He’s just worried that I’m going to get diabetes, basically, because I did get diabetes with my last pregnancy,” she explained.
“Because if we all remember, I put on the equivalent of Grant Denyer, I put on 45 kilos in my last pregnancy. I was over the 100-kilo mark and I do have a tendency to put on a lot of weight and that is not good for the baby – he’s just trying to look out for me.”
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy can cause women to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, and spark complications during birth. It’s also been linked to childhood obesity.
Tears and Twisties
Em says she’s pretty much eating for the country and it’s impacting quite … heavily. Of her latest checkup, she notes that she managed to hit most of her pregnancy milestones, all in a matter of a few weeks.
“In one sitting, I had already put on another 5 kilos, so I’m at 10 kilos now and I’m only four months gone and I’ve got a dietitian and a PT recommendation. It was really hectic.”
“Everything’s setting me off,” a bawling Em then wailed, resuming her (very normal) pregnancy weeping.
