I tend to excuse the 50 pounds and the 42 pounds I gained during my two pregnancies as understandable given the two whopper babies who emerged from my body. My first baby boy weighed 10 pounds, nine ounces. The second guy: 10 pounds, two ounces. I had to gain a lot of weight to support the monsters growing inside me. Or did I?

Nearly half of all pregnant women may be packing on excess and unnecessary pounds, say experts on the topic. As a result, the 1990 guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine -- doctors still rely on these -- may soon be up for review. What do you think about these almost 18-year-old standards?

• Underweight women should gain 28 to 40 pounds. By the way, I was not in this category prior to my pregnancies.

• Normal weight women should gain 25 to 35 pounds. This is my category -- which means I surpassed my target by 15 and then seven pounds. That puts me in the "half-of-all-pregnant-women" category.

• Overweight women should gain 15 to 20 pounds.

• Obese women should gain at least 15 pounds.