Midwife put me on a diet?

hcurley03

At my appointment a few days ago, the midwife told me that my weight gain was a problem and that I should go on an 1800 calorie diet and if I don't that the baby will have problems and be too big. I was surprised to see how much weight I had gained, because I haven't changed much of anything since before I was pregnant, but I have gained 19 pounds so far (I'm 22 weeks). I was telling my mom about this after my appointment and she says that she has never heard of a calorie counting diet while pregnant. And that I shouldn't worry about it.

I am worried though. I know that I need to make healthy choices to help the baby get the nutrients that he needs and such. I also know that pregnancy isn't an excuse to pig out (you only need 300 extra calories). And I haven't been pigging out all the time, and I am eating more vegetables and whole grains and all that stuff. I should probably also say that I am already overweight for my height because that may factor it. 

I guess what I'm asking is, should I do the calorie counting diet? Have any of you heard of this before? I don't want the baby to have problems, and I don't want to gain a crazy amount of weight either.