Should i be eating more?

[Bumpybelly]

I am 17 weeks pregnant. I love my food but have never had a huge appetite and its rare for me to finish off a meal. but now i am pregnant i feel as though i should be eating more. My appetite has increased a little in that when i have to eat i need to eat immediately, but i am worried baby is not getting enough nutrients. Not sure what to do as i can't force myelf to eat!

Help

[Hevster]

my theory is have your 5 a day and eat when you are hungry. As long as you have a balanced diet then you can't be depriving the baby of anything. They are supposed to cream off the best and leave u the remains so i figure they will be ok and you can't force yourself to eat doing so will just make u feel rough. Only my opinion but DD was 8.8lb and very healthy

[cardamomginger]

Hi bumpbelly. Am now 18 weeks and have also found that my appetite has only increased a little bit. You don't say what your pre-pregnancy weight is nor whether you have put on any weight. In any case, my pre-pregnancy BMI was 18.5 and I've put on a couple of kilos at most. No one involved in my care has suggested that my weight is a problem or that my baby is not going to get enough nutrients - 12 week scan showed that baby was slap bang average size . I think everyone is different. Some people get REALLY hungry right from the start and others don't. Some put on more weight than others. Sometimes there's quite an expectation, usually only from people who are not healthcare professionals in this area, that you will start blowing up like a zeppelin as soon as the wee on the pregnancy stick is dry. And the now outdated advice that you must "eat for two" still rears its head, particularly from people of our mothers' generation who were told that this is what they had to do. I think as long as you were an acceptable weight pre-pregnancy (even if it was on the low side), that you are not going hungry and deliberately limiting your food intake, that what you do eat is well-balanced and healthy, that you take your pregnancy multi-vits, and as long as no healthcare professional raises any questions, there's no problem. Have any questions been raised? Your body will make sure that your baby always has first priority on any nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. So I think you would have to be really pretty deficient in something for it to have an adverse effect.
Don't worry and congratulations!

[Iloveautumn]

Was reading in paper today that a study shows taking pregnancy mult-vits helps prevent underweight babies.

Would agree that so long as balanced diet with enough nutrients - the baby will get theirs first. So long as you feel ok then should be fine.
Everyone's different and not everyone puts on loads of weight.

[Amarilis]

You only need an extra 200 calories a day when pregnant - that's two slices of bread!