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It is certainly possible to have a healthy happy pregnancy without being your ideal weight. And some people, based on body type, do not fit perfectly into the BMI categories. But if you are 60lbs away from being on the top end of "ideal" I would probably say it's a good idea for you to consider losing some weight before TTC. The closer you are to a healthy weight the better it is for the baby and for you.

@Stosbet: I wouldn't worry about the ideal # to be honest. At 16% body fat I was at my 'ideal' weight according to my height. Women average 25-30% body fat, 20-25% is considered 'fit' and under 15% most women stop having periods because their bodies lack enough fat to sustain a pregnancy. So my ideal weight was almost infertile! Try for the 150% of your ideal weight (I think that would be about 180lbs for you) and see how you feel. If you feel like it's a good place for you, awesome! If not, try another 10lbs until you feel you're good. Don't kill yourself doing it though. Small changes go a long way with time! It's great that you're thinking about this now instead of crash dieting right before TTC. You're gonna be a great mama!

I got pregnant about 55 lbs above my "ideal weight" - and while I had a healthy normal pregnancy, I really wished that I had lost the weight before hand - carrying around the 55 and then another 25 -30 lbs was hard on my body - I threw my back out at one point. I vowed to myself that when I did TTC again, Id lose the weight - and I've lost 60 lbs - so I cant wait to compare how my next pregnancy goes.

I'm very overweight and currently 27 weeks pregnant. I did not have any issues conceiving, although we did have an early miscarriage before conceiving this time. I've been much better about eating healthy and working out (walking and yoga) than I was pre-pregnancy. As a result I've barely gained any weight despite measuring on target. So far I'm not having any blood pressure issues and I hope that continues. While it would have been better to lose weight before getting pregnant, it really hasn't made too much of a difference so far.

On the flipside, I am a healthy weight at the bottom of my BMI scale (19) , but my body fat is at 30%! So I don't pay too much attention to 'ideal' weight figures, I mean I'm not going to starve myself because one number is off. I think our bodies are so different that you have to know what's best for yourself and not go off of a generic chart. Just eat healthy and excersize!