Nutrition and multiples

[bluebird1235]

I'm 9 weeks pregnant with my first and they are dcda twins. The reality is just starting to set in!

I've been absolutely starving for weeks and have been eating quite a lot (or so I thought!) so I thought I should read a little about nutrition. I have recently been reading Dr Barbara Luke's book "When you're expecting twins, triplets or quads" and was wondering whether anyone had read it and what your opinions were.

The emphasis of the book is on early weight gain and is backed up by clinical studies dating back to the 1980's (in America). She claims that the women in her clinic who follow her nutrition recommendations have bigger babies who are less likely to be born very early and that everything will generally be healthier.

I thought it sounded pretty good but I've tried it for two days now and I can't even think about eating another meal I'm so full and I haven't come close to the recommended amounts!

For someone of normal weight they recommend eating daily:
3500kcal(!)
200g protein
400g carbs
110g fat

Has anyone else tried to follow the guidelines?

I'm very interested in your opinions on this as this is all rather new to me but I'm keen to do anything I can to give them the best start possible!

I ate what I wanted but have a fairly healthy diet. As advised by my consultant I took Iron in liquid form. I managed two of around 6lb each. I believe there is some evidence that if twins are small they catch up quicker than singletons.

I read that book but was a bit overweight when I was pregnant with mine so didn't feel the amounts were right for me.

I think the most important things to take away are protein rich foods as much as possible, lots of fluids and iron. I think the herbal liquid iron supplements are great and really easy on your digestive system and I took them way before I was asked to (you build up stores of it I think).

You definitely need more food than a singleton pregnancy but by filling up on typical healthy diet stuff (whole grains, fresh fruit and veg) and ensuring you have lots of protein (I drank a lot of hot skimmed milk instead of coffee or tea) you should be fine. Mine were both healthy weights (DTS - twin 1 just over 3kg, DTD just under).

Congratulations and good luck. I would also really recommend Pilates!

Oh and I also remember before I knew I was having twins inhaling a jacket potato about as big as my head during a meeting and it still makes me laugh remembering and wondering why I didn't figure it out! Early days I was pretty sick so survived on them.

I ate what I liked. Some days very little and some days vast amounts. My 34 weekers were 11lbs combined. Pretty hefty for their gestation.

I ate high-protein (lots of meat and eggs) partly because I read that it can help with ttts (not an issue for you) and partly because I couldn't digest any fruit, veg or sugary things. However after the birth all my water weight went away and I was suddenly tiny - my legs were like sticks! I had actually lost weight while pregnant (not counting the bump if that makes sense). So I think it's hard to eat enough to get all you need to grow twins and I would eat as much of everything as you can, esp nutrient dense stuff, dairy, milk, cheese etc.

Oh and I second lots of iron, I ended up horribly anemic despite eating a disgusting amount of steak.

We joke that I built our babies (triplets) on protein shakes - used to have one per day, plus what I ate normally (am a slim, healthy vegetarian) though I had to eat every few hours as otherwise I got headaches. My consultant was happy with my diet. A small bag of mixed nuts at my desk was helpful too. Built 16 pounds of babies by the time they came out at 35 weeks so it worked!

Oh my word I have hardly been able to eat anything I am hopeful now in second trimester I can eat more but will look up that book for sure!

I am ensuring I get multi vits and eat what veg and fruit I can but at 13 weeks, my bump is huge, I think I have lost weight elsewhere!

Thanks all for the wise words.

I was so sick at the beginning I hardly ate anything. I actually lost about 10lbs by the time I Had my first scan.
When I was pg was probably the healthiest I've ever eaten, mostly because I made an effort to be more balanced (I low carbed before) and sweet sugary stuff made me feel sick.

The only thing I would recommend is eating lots and lots of iron rich food. Iron tablets are horrible and only marginally better than feeling like crap when anemic.