How on earth am I meant to consume the vast quantities of food and drink my midwife is insisting on?

[Cattleprod]

I'm 10 weeks pregnant and yesterday I was told off by my midwife for not eating enough.

This is my typical diet....
Breakfast - chocolate muffin with custard
Lunch - 2 slices of bread with either cream cheese, avocado, ham, lemon curd, marmite etc. (not all together obv!)
Dinner - medium plate of 'normal' sort of dinner - meat & veg or pasta, jacket potatoes, spag bol etc.
Snacks - fruit, cake, biscuits etc. (afternoon only usually)
Drinks - 1 pint orange juice in evening, and maybe 1 glass during the day (don't really get thirsty in the daytime)

She wants me to have....
Breakfast - large bowl of porridge(boak), rice pudding (double boak) or savoury rice
Mid morning - cereal bar
Lunch - 3 sandwiches, fruit
Afternoon - muffin and custard
Dinner - large plate food rich in complex carbs and iron
Drinks - TWO LITRES of drink!!!!!

It doesn't look that much of a difference written down, but actually it's nearly doubling my food intake and almost tripling my fluids!

I feel like I'm on an episode of 'Supersize vs Superskinny' and I have no idea how to eat and drink these enormous quantities without feeling bloated, uncomfortable and nauseous. I particularly hate having large quantities of fluids sloshing around inside me, as it makes me feel really sick.

I have never had any issues with food and have always eaten what I want. My BMI is only 17 so I know I need to eat more while pregnant but I'm really not sure how to do so without feeling awful. I'm currently struggling through a bowl of savoury rice and a large glass of juice and not looking forward to the other one-and-three-quarter litres I have to somehow snaffle before bedtime!

Does anybody have any experience or advice about increasing food and drink intake?

Well, I ate almost nothing due to hyperemesis and still produced 2 perfect boys!

Just eat as well as you can. Don't get hung up on it.

Just eat what you feel like but perhaps make small changes eg full fat stuff/ milk etc. Flap Jacks small but calorie rich/ small cheese cake?! Just choose carefully and you won't have to stuff yourself!

My BMI was 17 when I went for my booking in apt with my first baby. 3 babies later, it's now a bit higher.

I think the midwife just mentioned eating 'properly'. The one you saw sounds a bit zealous and prescriptive. There's no point or need to tell you to eat things that you don't like.

You sound sensible enough to know what a healthy diet is - do this and add in a good quality antenatal vit/mineral and spatone/iron for good measure and you can't go wrong.

You properly won't want to go drinking a pint of orange juice in the evening when the baby starts doing head stands on your bladdder, though .

Hope it all goes well.

Oh, just ignore her! You're only 10 weeks anyway and you might find your appetite increases naturally as your pregnancy progresses.
Eating loads now will just make your weight increase. If you eat a generally healthy diet you and baby will be just fine.

I do think you should probably increase your fluid intake a bit though, my mum hardly drank anything and got kidney stones. A pint and a bit doesn't sound like much, or do you have tea/coffee etc as well during the day?

What prompted all this in the first place?
I've never heard of mws ordering pg women about like this. I was also advised to drink more, but nobody has ever asked about my diet or wanted to change it!

LOL at 'muffin and custard'. I am a greedy carb-hunter but that sounds rank.

Try and drink more in the daytime tho - you need more then than you do in the evening. Maybe try and keep your lunctime spread more at the higher calorie end - i.e cream cheese or avocado, not marmite.

I'm sure you can get a better increased intake food plan off the internet than the midwife's effort. Rice pudding for breakfast!
.

As I said, I wasn't drinking enough either. My tip for drinking more is keep a half litre water bottle with you during the day which you keep topping up. It's just the right size for carrying in your handbag and keeping next to you in the car.

i eat less than your normal diet... tbh I'd ignore her.

Well I've now eaten the 250g bowl of rice so we'll see how the rest of the day goes!

I think she went a bit over the top with the food because I've been feeling tired and rough, largely due to anxiety following a mc last year. She seemed astounded that anybody wouldn't relish the thought of a bowl of rice pudding in the morning!!

I'm taking Spatone but might get some Floradix and vitamin D (is that the right one?) too - it all helps!

I'm more concerned about the liquids to be honest - I'm not naturally a very 'thirsty' person, and there are very few drinks that I like. Orange juice, milk, squash, hot chocolate are about the only non-alcoholic beverages I like. I've had less than half a pint of juice this morning and already my stomach feels like the wave machines have been turned on at the swimming pool!

I would at least try and increase your liquid intake, you'll be grateful for it when you start getting constipation, etc. (sorry, but you will). It'll help it all along.

I am not a big eater, and it sounds like your MW is being excessive, but your breakfast and lunch seem a bit small to me. A chocolate muffin does not really have much nutrition in it to keep you going, and it's mainly sugar.

If porridge is a no (and I know lots of people hate it) what about unsweetened granola or muesli (one with dried fruit & nuts) with milk or yoghurt? Or poached eggs on wholemeal toast? This would give you more protein and vitamins.

Lunch - a lemon curd or marmite sandwich is really nothing at all, is that really all you'd have at once? Again not much fuel to get you through the afternoon. You are reaching for the biscuits etc to keep you going.

How about a nice ham & cheese butty with lots of salad on it, or a club sandwich (avocado/tomato/roast chicken/bacon/hardboiled egg - some variation on that as you like) on granary to beef it up a bit?

I was told you should also increase water/liquid intake as you're weeing so often, are prone to dehydration (even if you might not feel it) and this increases risks of UTIs. I've had two!

(Am assuming that you are not suffering from MS p.s. and are happy to eat)

I feel like that if i drink loads of liquid all in one go. My friend gave me a good tip to just sip from a glass of water or squash throughout the day. Fill it up when ever it gets empty and just keep going. You get used to it after a while. Although I find the sloshing is worse after OJ than anything else so maybe try squash of flavoured water instead?

I faced a similar 'sloshy' feeling when trying to up my liquid intake (I've always been bad at having enough liquid throughout the day!). I had to change my habits, especially as I'd usually have a lot of tea/coffee at work, or Dr Pepper/Irn Bru, non of which are great when pregnant!

I got a reusable drinks bottle which I'd fill with squash or water in the morning when I got to work and give myself a time to finish it (so usually lunch), refill and repeat. I just kept it next to me and kept swigging throughout the day. I was surprised just how much better I felt from being hydrated.

Similarly now I'm on maternity leave I fill the filter jug each morning and know that if I drink that I've drunk a good amount of fluid. I find it better not to have little cups or monitor intake bit by bit, just a full bottle/jug that is empty by the end of the day as otherwise I would worry too much!

As for food, at 10 weeks the only things I could face were salt and vinegar crisps, oranges and breadsticks so I don't think you need to worry about that just yet!

Your diet isn't healthy but I'd say the lack of fluid would be a problem, get a sports bottle and fill with diluted squash and sip throughout the day. You will get horribly dehydrated in the summer otherwise and a good fluid intake will help with blood pressure, sense of well being and so on. Don't need to be downing pints of water but any fluid bar the obvious highly sugared/fizzy ones is good

are u serious??? I am carrying twins and the first thing I asked was do I need to eat more because im feeding two...and no I didnt. My consultant and MW has said to me just eat what you would normally eat, be as healthy as you can be. I have been really dehydrated the last while, so my fluid intake has been fine.

My MW says all this about eating for two is a total myth, but you DO need to eat healthy. Like lots of fruit and veg, ive eaten EVERYTHING through this pregnancy. Runny eggs, peanuts spicy food.... loads of fruit and veg, etc...and my two seem to be doing fine and infact are the larger end of the growth scale.... but I havent eatenany more than I would normally....

TBH i would ignore the MW. Is she oldskool? i have never heard this before....?

Your diet seems to be mostly sugar and other refined carbs, which is not great nutritionally even if you are slim. You should try eating more soluble fibre - muesli if you can't face porridge - more protein and calcium. And good full fats. Yoghurt, hard cheese, meat and fish. And as much of a variety of fruit and vegetables as you can face or afford.

The two litres thing is discredited crap - this amount includes all the (substantial) fluid in the food you eat. About 1.5 litres is fine unless you live in a hot country, and drink what you like, remembering that OJ and hot choc are, once again, full of sugar. Apple juice is better, and water and milk are fine. You'll also find that once you've got more food in you the awful sloshy feeling will go away.

Looks like I need to go and buy a sports bottle!!

Would be so much easier if I liked the taste of water.

Try a little splash of lime or elderflower cordial, or a squeeze of lime or lemon juice, in your water if you don't like the taste - it's amazing how it transforms the flavour.

I don't know... In my first trimester my body demanded extra food. I just had to eat more and more regularly. Now in my second trimester, I seem to be back to eating less. My approach is just to listen to my body.

Cattleprod, an idea for breakfast which seems to be working okay for me (and I used to feel sick pre-pg if I ate early in the morning) is a slice of wholemeal/granary toast with cream cheese and a couple of little cherry tomatoes sliced on top. I also wondered how on earth I was going to manage to eat all the required daily portions of wholemeal carbs, calcium etc. This gets once portion of carbs, one of calcium and one of veg out of the way in one sitting. And one slice of toast doesn't look or feel too daunting firist thing. As time has gone on (now 16 weeks) I've found my appetite has gradually increaed so I'm now having a sort of 'second breakfast' mid morning too.

Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!

I think so long as you can you need to switch to cereal with milk for breakfast - as that will easily up your vitamin and calcium intake. Are you taking a pregnancy multivitamin? Probably easier than taking a load of seperate ones.

Looks like you need to drink alot more - and a lot less orange juice! You need to eat more fruit and veg.

To be honest, I would get as much variety of food in now because if you have bad sickness/indigestion you will end up cutting out loads of foods. I'm currently on a diet that consists of 'bland' food that won't upset my stomach. Sooooo boring!

You eat plenty. I think she is trying to get you to just eat better.
Reading your menu, I can well imagine you feel tired and rough.

Its up tp you though, isnt it? You really should try and drink more though - I guarantee that if you got into the habit of drinking lots of water throughout the day you will feel a whole lot better. You think your body is functioning just fine on the fluids you are taking atm and that you dont get thirsty - but your body just doesnt know any different yet.

Your diet does sound quite poor. What foods do you like? Can you not adjust it yourself with things you want to eat?

Too many carbs! try adding more protein. The energy from protein is released more slowly than carbs, giving you more even blood sugar, less cravings and more even energy levels.

vj32 the trouble is most of the pregnancy multivits contain iron, and in tablet form this gives me stomach cramps and diarrhoea, hence the Spatone which seems to be ok.

I'm not particularly fussy with foods, but at the moment I prefer things that require little preparation, as I find the thought of selecting, preparing and cooking food makes me feel nauseous. I'm fine if a plate of something is plonked down in front of me. I need a personal chef!!

I am very fussy with drinks though. I don't like water, tea, coffee, anything fizzy (hurts), fruit tea, juice with bits, apple juice (makes my chest clamp up), mineral water.......the list goes on...

I've had a cereal bar now and just about to have a banana. But time's creeping on towards lunchtime and I'm still full up from my rice breakfast