Ok, first let me say that with this pregnancy, i have found it difficult to gain weight simply because i just have no appetite. i did manage to gain about 20 lbs by my 24th week, and was hapy with it. My peri seemed to be also. She said " i want you to eat every 2-3 hours, and to gain more. The babies are eating whether you are or not, and they need it ". My ob on the other hand saw that i had gained 20 lbs and told me he didnt want me to gain anymore. He said " Gaining too much weight causes the babies to get too big too soon and is a main cause of preterm labor in twins, because they outgrow what little room they have before they are ready to be out in the world and healthy ". My starting weight was 155 and i'm at 175 now. This being my last pregnancy, and the twins already being high risk and having the concern of them being taken early due to growth restriction in baby B, i am more than willing to fatten them up if they are going to need the higher weight to survive earlier than 30+ weeks. Right now they are at 1.5 and 1.2 lbs and i hit 24 weeks tomorrow. Obviously i'm confused by the conflicting advice between ob and peri, and i wonder what you guys think or would do. Thanks 23W6D mono/di boys
First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy. Second, pay attention to your peri and not your OB. Your peri deals with high risk pregnancies and that's probably not your OB's focus. 20 pounds by 24 weeks is great, but you still need to continue to gain. Focus on getting lots of protein and healthy fats. Eating every few hours is the way to go; as your belly gets bigger it will be much harder to eat large meals. I had no appetite either and found that drinking my calories in protein shakes was a lot easier than trying to chew tons of solid food.
I read somewhere (sorry, I can't remember where at the moment) that gaining more early gave you more of a chance of carrying to term or at least longer. I would say listen to the person that specializes in high-risk pregnancies and keep on gaining. I feel like I am eating non-stop but I eat smaller portions b/c I don't like that feeling of being overly full. I have read quite a few posts from ladies that drink ensure and things like that, I think I might try that! Congrats on your pregnancy and good luck with everything! I found this on a website.... Things every women pregnant with twins should eat: Trail Mix Raisin Bran Yogurt Papaya Hummus Eggs Chicken Sandwich Spinach Peanut Butter toast
Ive been told you dont eat for more than one person (during any pregnancy, 1,2,3,babies) You just eat more healthy for one. I am pretty sure I only gained like 25-30 lbs my whole pregnancy w/ the twins and they were born at 36wks. I was all belly, and I guess maybe I didnt eat enough b/c everyone commented on how skinny the rest of me was. Like pp said, the babies are eating even if you are not, so I guess my babies took from the extra that I had stored. lol.. I agree to go with the advice from the peri, but I never ate for 2 or 3 while pregnant. I also didnt eat past 5-6pm b/c I would get sick and I only drank green tea and water b/c nothing else would quench my thirst, so that was another reason for my weight loss/steadiness/not a lot of weight gain.
QUOTE(MommaJ) I read somewhere (sorry, I can't remember where at the moment) that gaining more early gave you more of a chance of carrying to term or at least longer. This is from the book When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads. I would highly recommend you read that book and the section on how much to eat. You'll find it agrees with your peri. It will also give you guidelines on how much you should gain for your body type.
QUOTE(Valyre @ Jan 9 2009, 02:58 PM) [snapback]1140122[/snapback] This is from the book When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads. I would highly recommend you read that book and the section on how much to eat. You'll find it agrees with your peri. It will also give you guidelines on how much you should gain for your body type. This is what I was going to say too. The Doctor that wrote the book runs a clinic for multiples and has scientific evidence that gaining weight early is good for twins. As for twins outgrowing the room....twins do not bulk up at the end of the pregnancy like a singleton does. That is why it is so important to gain early. The main cause sof pre-term labor are over doing it and dehydration.
I would go with the peri on this one. My OB also warned me against gaining too much weight (not that there was much I could do about it -- I panicked if I wasn't eating nearly constantly) but I gained 70 lbs. The babies were big, I delivered full-term, and the weight came off by about 9 months afterwards. Not that gaining lots of weight is a guarantee of a good outcome, or that you HAVE to gain that much -- but I just think many OBs don't acknowledge that it's different with twins than with singletons. Also, what your OB said about the babies coming early because they run out of room makes absolutely no sense to me. It's not like gaining weight causes your uterus to become smaller. Seriously, I wonder why he believes that, because it contradicts everything I've read about twin pregnancy. And even my OB, though she was concerned about my weight gain for my sake, never implied that it could actually be bad for the babies. It was more that it's a risk for hypertension and gestational diabetes (neither of which I had). So -- eat.
