Only should be eating an extra 150/200 cal's a day?

[BabyMadwithBump]

A friend of mine who is 22 weeks went to her MW app yesterday and MW had a go at her, she's put on a stone an a bit and told the MW "well I am eating for two" MW turned round and stated "no your not and only in the last few months should you up your daily intake to round 150/200 cal's a day", she's feeling a little down now and even putting herself down by saying she's too fat! Did you "eat for two" and did your MW say something about it or has this MW just had a bad day!? I've had two children before this LO (19+4) and never in all my MW/doc app did they say anything about the extra lb's, even though I had big Babies for my size!

I didn't eat for 2 and MW never mentioned anything about it to me.

I was told in my booking in app not to eat for 2 just to eat healthily. But she never said anything else and I've put just over a stone

i put on about 3 stones when i was pg!! i do have quite a huge appetite though and was, fortunately, not overweight to begin with. nobody mentioned anything to me about weight gain either. don't think i was ever weighed.

the best advice is - eat as much as you feel you need. when the gp says dont eat for two he means dont feel like you need to eat more then you are hungry for in fear of your developing baby.

our bodies are quite smart and let us know how much we need.

i was extremely hungry in the first trimesters of both pregnancies and put on a stone each time and would eat literally 1.5 times as much as my dh each day. then after that the huger went away and i went back to eating my regular amount and the weight gain subsided.

She wasn't overweight before PG, about a size 12 I would say and she's same as me with BUMP size so I dont know what's up with this MW, I've put on almost a stone myself!

MW is just giving the current advice I'm afraid!

I thought they had stopped regular weigh ins as it jsut causes worry. I think that 150-200 is waay off. I've had a healthy appetite through most of each of my pregnancies, put on tons of weight then lost it breastfeeding. I think she should eat what she feels like eating.

I think you are advised to put on 25lb to 30lb over the course of a full term pregnancy but most of the weight gain does come in the last 10 weeks so your friend may be gaining a little too fast. However, it can be difficult to control especially if she has the kind of pregnancy nausea that only seems to be relieved by eating! Shame on the MW for making her feel bad though.

correct

no extra cals needed til the final trimester, and thne only 150 cals

(she says, 16lbs up at only 21wks)

I think it can depend on where you live in the uk. My sister lived in Birmingham when she was pg and was never weighed and her mw told her not to worry about her weight and as long as it was safe, to eat what she wanted.

I ate the same as usual until the last trimester. As Tutter says, it is correct that you don't need any extra calories until then and you can make up the extra by having two slices of toast, apparently...

To me "Eating for two" thing doesn't mean 4000 cals, just that I can stop worrying about if I fancy something I eat it, without feeling guilty IYSWIM. With my last PG I put on 2 and a half stone, lost it all but 6 lbs in the first few months after birth and all by the time he was 10/12 months old.

I'm eagerly awaiting my 17wk weigh-in on Thursday.
When they weighed me at 12wks they neglected to asked me to take my (large heavy) boots off so I think I may have lost weight according to my notes. That should worry them .

Here's what I found on this topic, which is in tune to what I was told by my dr -

"During pregnancy, your basal metabolic rate (BMR, or the number of calories you use each day) will increase, and you'll need more calories to support the extra work needed for fetal development. During the first trimester, most women usually don't need to increase their usual daily intake of calories (i.e., 1,800 to 2,000 calories) unless they need to compensate for starting a pregnancy underweight. But even if extra calories aren't consumed in the first trimester, you should still make balanced nutrition part of your daily wellness plan.

During the second and third trimesters, you will need an extra 200 to 300 calories each day. But that doesn't mean feeling uncomfortably full: for example, just one piece of toast and a banana can supply those extra calories.

There are exceptions to the extra-calories rule: women who start out under- or overweight, women who are very physically active, and women with certain medical conditions should talk to their doctor about specific caloric needs."

I think the problem the midwife had with your friend saying she was eating for two is that it's a philosophy that nowadays they try very hard to counteract b/c it was an incorrect belief a few generations ago. However, if your friend only put on a stone and she's 22 weeks, it sounds like a healthy weight gain to me, so I'm not sure why the midwife even mentioned the weight? Your friend may have said it tongue in cheek but the midwife didn't take it that way obviously!

Personally I've not been eating for two, I've been eating the same as always but I'm throwing in a couple extra pieces of fruit a day. I'm still running for an hour at least 3 or 4 times a week but it's much, much tougher then before pregnancy (I'm 17+ weeks). Even with all that, it still seems the weight goes on much easier now during pregnancy. It's for sure important to keep weight gain under control, not so much for asthetics during or after pregnancy but mostly b/c the risks of problems with blood pressure, gestational diabetes, etc go up with rapid weight gain. Having said that, it doesn't sound like your friend is putting on anything but healthy weight so I hope she ignores this midwife's attitude.

My sister-in-law's a chiropractor specialising in pregnancy (v handy!) and she says your body only needs an extra 200-300 cals a day, which amounts, rather sadly, to just 2 1/2 Hobnobs. I was quite disappointed!

I think as long as you're aware of problems that might arise from being extremely overweight (diabetes, blood pressure etc) then your body should crave the things you need and you shouldn't worry too much, just eat what you fancy and make sure you're not vitamin-deficient. Her mw sounds very insensitive!

I think what the GP says is true - but in reality you just eat what you need to get through the day!
My GP and MW haven't weighed me at all.
Tell her not to worry as long as she's not over weight. It's depressing to deprive yourself of lovely things when you are getting fatter by the day anyway!

You have to eat what you feel you need. If you feel you need four fry-ups a day to stop yourself vomiting or because you are hungry, then fck it, just eat them. You never know what substances that are in food that your developing baby might need. So just go with what you want. I put on over four stone with both pregnancies (normally weigh 8-9 stone) but lost the extra weight naturally after a year or so with both. So just eat what your body says (unless it's actually Washing Tablets or WHAM! bars) and don't think about calories of weight gain.

Does this mean I'm the only one needing "lunch" at 4am?

If you're planning to breast-feed, I think it is a GOOD idea to put on a bit of extra weight while pregnant, because you won't get a chance to eat anything that requires 2 hands for the first 3 months of baby's life!

Agree with Bodkin (I was always ravenous at the 4am feed too!) and morningpaper.

Lost the 'pregnancy weight' after both mine were born due to bf. Basically ate what I wanted during pg but quite healthily - ensured I got 5 fruit & veg etc (I probably put on 2-3 stone each time).