To ask how you managed the constant hunger in pregnancy?

[PollyHasAPocket]

I'm currently half way through my 2nd trimester and I am so hungry all of the time. It's really getting me down because I can tell the weight is piling on.

Just not eating isn't really an option as I can end up being sick if I don't and feeling faint.

I've been trying to eat fruit etc... But what I really want is something stodgey, I've been craving potatoes a lot!

I knew I'd be hungrier, I knew I'd eat more but this is constant, I could easily have two meals by 11am most days, did anyone else have this? I can wake up at 3am and need to eat immediately. I had ravioli at 5am the other day!

I’m at about the same stage as you. I find I’m much hungrier during the day but at night not so much so I try and have a bigger lunch and smaller dinner. It seems to be going ok but I’m still putting on weight. I also have insatiable thirst so it’s also a good idea to check in and determine if you’re definitely hungry or just really thirsty.

I’m trying not to worry about the weight gain just now, it’s hard but I just have to tell myself that I’m feeding my baby what it needs.

I snacked constantly on breadsticks or carrots!

I just ate all the food 🤷🏻‍♀️

I ate when I was hungry..I put 3 stone on

I grazed throughout the day as felt so hungry sick... and made sure most snacks were relatively healthy!

Some things to try here thank you! I already had a full breakfast this morning and am ready for my lunch 😂

I'm going shopping later so will try and stock up on some protein and more fruit and veg. I can keep fruit and veg down fine, they just don't seem to satisfy the hunger as much.

A bonus is I've massively gone off anything sweet or sugary. So cake and sweets or chocolate is a no at the moment. Just savoury carbs and the odd bit of fruit.

Re the water, I do think I'm drinking enough. I've never drank so much or wee'd so much in my life! I have to take two glasses of water to bed with me and a packet of some form of biscuits or crackers for the night when I wake up feeling sick with hunger.

It doesn't help that I'm waking up to use the toilet so often that I'm not sleeping through the night time hunger. Once I'm up I need to have a little something to stop the sickness.

Wasn't too bad in the first trimester as I had bad morning all day sickness so wasn't eating a huge deal but now I only get sick when I'm not scoffing food!

What a wonderful time 😂 I've already lost all dignity Infront of DH as I lie surrounded by crumbs with my huge belly on the bed every night 🤣

Are you taking your vitamins regularly? I was a bit lax with mine at the beginning, only remembering every other day, different times etc. And I was a Hungry Horace! But I think actually my body was just trying to get the vitamins and minerals I was lacking. Once I started taking my pregnacare regularly and at the same time every day, my hunger settled right down, also felt like I had way more energy!
Might not be the solution for you but worth a suggestion!

@PollyHasAPocket different people react to pregnancy differently. A lot of these Instagram people have extremely tiny babies. I really wouldn't look up to this as an ideal...

You give your baby what they need to be healthy. And yes you can go back. Most people I knew put on heaps of weight then lost it once the baby was here. It took a while with me. I put on a LOT of weight. Have a 9 month old and am back in my old jeans. :)

A lot of it goes to the placenta BTW! Remember that's really important in keeping baby alive.

Just ate. There was no way other way to manage the sickness/fainting particularly when you have to work/mind other kids...I put on 4 stone over 4 pregnancies but lost it all each time quite quickly. It seemed like my body just needed it. Normally I ate completely average amounts of food..not a hungry person at all!

I was the same. I think it’s what I needed, it didn’t translate to huge weight gain. Flapjacks helped but generally trying to make healthy food choices to satiate the hunger

I just ate what I needed/wanted and put on loads of weight! It was literally that or feel even sicker than I already did 24/7.

With my first pregnancy things calmed down after 20 weeks, but second time around I was still being and feeling sick in the third trimester. All I wanted was junk too, so I was a lost cause who was visiting McDonalds multiple times a week and eating lumps of cheese in the middle of the night and drinking fizzy drinks like they were going out of fashion. The thought of most healthy, balanced meals made me feel sick and I couldn't stomach them. But if I didn't eat at all I felt 100 times worse... my one saving grace was that I kept pretty active and walked as much as I could (at least once I was over the totally debilitating time where I felt too sick to move).

I put on 2st 9lbs during my second pregnancy and only lost about 10lb of that after the birth. But the remaining weight did come off and I got back down to pre-pregnancy weight without too much effort. It didn't happen overnight for me, but gradually over around a year.

I think if you're unwell during pregnancy, and what you can eat is impacted, there isn't much you can do. Just roll with it and remember that you're far more than just a number on a scale, and your body is going through a massive change right now, but it's not going to last forever.

I genuinely put on 15 kg, but I was slim to begin with. Was fine!

By the time the dreadful sickness had turned into the hunger/nausea combo I just embraced it. I used to do things like have one ready meal in the microwave while I was eating another. I made very good use of my toastie maker because cheese toasties seemed to help. I did try to limit sugar, and get as much nutrients as possible, but found that grazing on plain carb foods like crackers, biscuits and crisps stopped the dreadful nausea and sickness

Eat if you're hungry but make sure they're not empty calories - or sugary or just carbs. Have a boilers egg or some sardines or veg sticks.
Just not empty calories. Best advice I was given when I was pregnant!

@TheoneandObi

Eat if you're hungry but make sure they're not empty calories - or sugary or just carbs. Have a boilers egg or some sardines or veg sticks. Just not empty calories. Best advice I was given when I was pregnant!

Sardines

I ate. For 2. Gained 23kgs my skin was never unhappier.
Big mistake and the regret is big now my skin on my stomach is ruined.

Eat normal and healthy foods and if you still crave foods maybe try anything that is packed with protein. It helps fill you up. Of course you can eat a bit more then usual. And you should but don't go eating for 2. Just eat for 1 and a tiny, tiny person :)

Heartburn can often feel like hunger in pregnancy. Try getting a prescription for omeprazole.

I didn't get a prescription until quite late on in my first pregnancy, resulting in suffering with the acid / bile that eating took away for about 30 minutes then it started again. I gained around 3lbs.

This time round I recognised it for what it was and got a prescription sooner. I'm 27 weeks now and have only gained 8lbs max.

Make sure your drinking a lot of water and eat little and often, good suggestions from previous posts to say have a good protein intake to fill you up.
With you saying about getting dizzy etc if you don't eat (even though sometimes dizziness is a normal part of pregnancy symptoms) have a chat to your midwife as these symptoms could be a sign of gestational diabetes as well xx

3lbs = 3 stone

Just eat. Honestly, I remember being about 30weeks and I had a three course meal out, stopped off at Tesco's and obviously bought a whole lemon meringue pie, share bag of sweets.. needless to say neother got shared😂😂😂I was so embarrassed I hid them in the bin from my partner. Tbh I didnt put any weight on but had massive bumps with both. I loved fruit and veg with both aswell

I put on 5 stone. And lost 4 of it without trying (I think 2 went in the delivery room). The final 1 took a bit more effort.

I ate so differently in my 3 pregnancies, but when I needed to eat I HAD to! With ds1 I would wake in the night absolutely ravenous & have to eat a bar of something - that was the only time I could tolerate food other than a plain cheese sandwich as my sickness was so bad for first 20 weeks or so, with DD once I got past 1st trimester sickness I would want to eat but would get full really quickly so little & often worked then, with DS2 my appetite was massive & I only had mild nausea thankfully so pretty much ate my way through the whole pregnancy and was still hungry... I was the human version of the hungry caterpillar

I'm the same, I'm 22 weeks pregnant and I weighed myself the other day for the first time since my 12 week scan and I've out on 1st5lbs in 10 weeks! I was so upset. But I dont feel like I've put on as much as with my daughter, my bump is all out front this time (boy) and put on more weight on my bum and thighs last time too. so I've decided not to weigh myself again now, weight is just a number anyway. Im going to diet and go back to exercising as soon as I can after baby arrives to make myself feel good and not worry about the numbers

Cheese and crackers. Rich tea biscuits. Bananas. Snack a jacks.