Anyone have hard time putting on weight during pregnancy?

I'm curious to see if any of you had a hard time gaining weight during your pregnancy. I'm 27 (and a half) weeks along and I've only gained 20 pounds. The dr set me up with a dietician whose goal for me is to eat 300 calories every 2 hours. I tried really hard but that just didn't work for me. I was constantly feeling full and yucky, and starting to develop a negative attitude toward food. The good news is that both babies are in the 90th percentile for their weight so far!

Anyone with a similar experience? How did it turn out, in terms of your babies' weight at birth?

Thanks in advance!

 

Are you drinking the Boost or Ensure High Protein shakes?

ETA...I was drinking 3 a day.

 

First, let me start by telling you that I started out overweight- it makes a big difference. I only gained 3 lbs for the entire preg. I read several books that said I should gain around 25-35 lbs (being overweight prev) so I kept watching the scale I would go up 1 down 2 up 3 down 2 on and on and on. I talked to my dr about it cause I was afraid that I was starving the babies. He said that every woman and every preg is dif and so long as the babies were growing well and I wasn't feeling sick (once I got past morning sickness which only lasted about 2 weeks) that I should eat when I was hungry- make sure that I ate healthy, nutritious food and he suggested that I supplement with Ensure or Boost 1 or 2 daily and ALWAYS drink lots and lots of water.

Good Luck to you, the next few months are going to be really tough both physically and psychologically but so worth it when you hold 2 beautiful, healthy babies.

 

I too had a very hard time putting on weight during my pregnancy. I started out overweight and had alwas had the opposite problem (I had a hard time losing weight) until I got pregnant and then couldn't gain it.

At 26 weeks I was 18lbs above Pre-pregnancy weight. At 30 weeks I was 22 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight. I would eat as much as I could without becoming sick but just couldn't seem to get enough food down to gain the weight.

I started drinking 1-2 Boost high protein shakes per day and it really seemed to help me and the babies put on the weight. When you can eat just make sure you are eating healthy foods and not just empty calories and even if you do not gain weight the babies will.

I had my twins at 37 weeks 1 day I had gained 40lbs by that point. The babies weighed 5lbs 11oz and 5lbs 2oz. They were perfectly healthy and came home at the same time as me which was 2 days after birth.

Also just because you are not gaining weight does not mean that the babies are not. There is a lady on here who I believe only gained 5lbs during her pregnancy and delivered 10+ pounds of baby. So I think it just all depends on how your body reacts to pregnancy and how much extra weight you had to begin with not necesarily how much you gain as long as the babies are gaining.

 

This twin pregnancy was surely incredible for me! I went to 36 weeks and only gained a total of 24 lbs. When my DD was born 2 years ago, I gained 18 lbs, so I thought for sure I'd double or come close to doubling. I took off all of the weight by my 2 week appt! And, I'm not overweight to begin with!

 

I'm also overweight and didn't gain a single pound till I hit 30 weeks and then I gained 27 lbs in 6 weeks (I delivered at 36w on the dot)...my twins were on the small side but part of that (I believe) is that my blood sugar was under such tight control (I'm diabetic) that I don't think I got enough carbs - but they were perfectly healthy little people!!

 

I gained 6 pounds during my pregnancy and had perfectly healthy babies! I carried them to 36 1/2 weeks and they came home with me, no NICU. I wouldn't worry as long as the babies are growing and you are eating when you can, eating healthy, taking your vitamin and drinking more water than you can almost stomach!

 

I am overweight to begin with, but only lost weight for the first 25 weeks. By the end, I only gained 15 lbs. And the babies were born at 38 weeks at 5.7 and 6.10 - perfectly healthy!!!!

Do the best you can - drink those ensures - and you (and they) will be fine!

 

At first I had a really hard time putting on weight, but after about 22 weeks I started putting it on pretty well. I ate lots of protein bars.

I was on bedrest from 16 weeks on, and just could not eat a lot of food. My DH and mom would load up my plate with way too much food and I just couldn't tolerate it all, it made me feel awful. But my girls were always in the 50th percentile for their gestation, so I was doing okay.

I started out at normal weight, and gained 42 pounds total. My girls were born at 31 weeks.

Try switching to higher fat milk, cottage cheese, pudding, etc. That helped me too.

 

QUOTE(Dianne @ May 8 2007, 03:17 PM) [snapback]247410[/snapback]
I gained 6 pounds during my pregnancy and had perfectly healthy babies! I carried them to 36 1/2 weeks and they came home with me, no NICU. I wouldn't worry as long as the babies are growing and you are eating when you can, eating healthy, taking your vitamin and drinking more water than you can almost stomach!



Dianne you were who I was referring to. LOL. I was pretty sure it was you that had responded to my post when I was going throught the same thing as the OP.

 

I'm in the same boat. I was a little overweight to begin with, but at 18 weeks, I have lost 7 pounds. The ob was concerned, even though the babies are growing well, and told me to start drinking high protein boost or ensure twice a day. Just a word of caution, the high protien stuff doesn't taste very good, I prefer the boost, but it makes me sick to guzzle it down.

I'm glad to hear that there are so many of you who didn't gain alot of weight and still had healthy babies, makes me feel not as stressed.

 

I only gained 30 lbs and by the time the boys were born I weighed less than my prepregancy weight. I had two premature boys, but they were perfectly healthy.

 

My doc was concerned about my difficulty gaining weight. The boys started out with good percentiles and just...kept...dropping...

I was put on strict bedrest at 23 weeks and put on a 4,000 calorie a day diet. It was fun at first, like Thanksgiving. But there's a reason Thanksgiving is just once a year; it is nauseating to eat that quantity of food on a regular basis. I was eating every 2 hours and I hated it. To make matters worse, they had me on these disgusting protein shakes (which I was not allowed to include in my 4000 calories), so I was basically shoveling food in all...day....long. It sucked, eventually you just don't taste the food, it's like eating cud.

That being said, it did help. I only made it to 34w,5d....I'd hate to think how early they'd have been born if I wasn't doing what they said. We spent 18 days in the NICU, but were not on oxygen or anything...just tiny growers/feeders (birth weights in my siggy). Now at (nearly) 14 months, we continue to be without any health problems and have beautiful, happy, healthy boys.

My weight gain stats:

Prepregnancy weight: 125
@ Delivery: 160
2 weeks post-partum: 125
14 months post-partum: 115

Here's hoping for a smooth pregnancy and a carefree delivery. :drinks:

 

I too was a bit over weight prior to pregnancy, and I only gained 3 lbs during my pregnancy. I delivered at 38 weeks on the nose and my babies were 5.4 and 6.7. I always talked to my OB and the peri about my lack of weight gain, and they both had no problems with it as long as the babies were growing and looking good. So I would think that as long as they are growing and their weights are good then there wouldn't be too much to worry about. It is pretty typical for most women to gain most of their weigh during the last trimester anyway, so I think that you are probably close to being on track!

 

I only gained 13lbs for the entire pregnancy. My girls were 6lb 8ou and 6lb 15ou, and i made it to 38.5 weeks, with no contractions whatsoever. I was sick almost the entire time, had to take Zofran for the vomitting and nausea. I tried to consume extra calories as much as possible, but you get to the point where now only does the food makes you nauseaous, but your stomach is so tiny and squished that you dont have any room! I did try to drink at least one shake a day- I drank the slim fast low carb shakes, as I found that these had the most protein out of all the shakes, and i think they tasted pretty good as well. sometimes, i would mix it with some milk, since the shake itself is a little thick.
my doctor told me that there was nothing to worry about, as long as the babies were growing consistently, which they did. they were both actually bigger than my first baby was!

 

I only gained 17# the entire pregnancy and I am a high risk pregnancy dietitian! Do the best you can. Eat as much as you can. Add calories to everything you can! Your weight will do what it is going to do!

Angel

 

Mostly during the first 4 months but after that -- well look out baby! But seriously, I only gained 29 lbs in my twin pregnancy but it took a long time for me to start that -- once I felt better (morning sickness).