Third trimester - not eating enough

[zeena83]

Hi all,

Am 32 weeks and have basically eaten the same as I normally do (calorie wise) during the entire pregnancy, maybe even a bit less in the second trimester because I had no appetite whatsoever. Baby is thankfully growing well but I just wondered how many people are eating extra calories in the third trimester? I am just so turned off by food a lot of the time and find it hard to think of things I fancy. I am still having three meals a day and make sure to keep them as healthy as possible but I hope I'm not eating too little. I think the baby is getting everything that he needs, plus I do take prenatals/omega/vitamin D/iron supplement, so I'm certainly not malnourished or deficient. Any thoughts welcome.

Z

From Emily Oster’s book ‘Expecting Better’ I gather that maternal weight gain slightly on the high side may be better than slightly on the low side. So you might think about fretting less whether your meals are super healthy. If all you can manage to fancy is cake, have cake. (I had hyperemesis, so this is what I did)

I really struggled with food throughout the pregnancy, had major aversions to so many things I loved. Baby takes all it needs from you so I don't think you should get too stressed about it. This was my first baby and came out at 8lbs 15oz so certainly wasn't affected by my eating! I also supplemented with vit d, iron, k2 and probiotics.

I really struggled eating in the third trimester. I got full after a few bites and just generally had a poor appetite. I told my midwife and she wasn’t concerned at all, she said as long as I’m not purposely restricting my diet and baby was growing, not to worry. I only put on 11lb in the whole of my pregnancy and baby was 7lb9oz. Try not to stress and just eat what you can, when you can, your baby will come to no harm x

I've been a bit concerned with this - I downloaded the nutracheck calorie counter app so I could see how much I am actually eating per day. I seem to be coming up on the low side, and not much protein, so I've ordered some of those ready made Ufit protein shakes to have if I need a top up. I had them in early pregnancy (told to by my IVF clinic) and they're pretty tasty :)