When You're 16 & Pregnant and Anorexic
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Last night’s special 90-minute installment of the show featured Kayla, a 17-year-old whose eating disorder caused her to rush to the ER after she began having contractions at 31 weeks, brought on by not eating. Kayla had been diagnosed with anorexia when she was 13 after being hospitalized for the disease. Throughout the episode, Kayla repeatedly alluded to feeling fat and mentioned that she cried every time she looked in the mirror. She worried if her arms were jiggling and would cover her stomach with a pillow whenever possible. She intentionally skipped meals—sometimes for an entire day at a time—and rarely remembered to take her prenatal vitamins. Worried about her body, she asked her mother if it was OK to lose weight during pregnancy even though, by her due date, she’d only gained 16 lbs.