uber-hunger?

erin8606

this is my first baby board post (if you know me IRL, we're so not sharing right now so keep it on the DL please). i'm at about 6.5 weeks and i want to know if i am crazy. has anyone else experienced what i consider, painful and uncontrollable bouts of hunger? for about a week i have been cycling between hungry and nauseous. I'm hungry, so I eat, and then I feel nauseous for awhile after that until I'm hungry again. Lately, I do better at night when i don't feel too bad after dinner, but especially in the morning I am so hungry it's really painful. I don't really think it's heartburn but i can't go back to sleep because I'm so hungry it practically hurts and i can barely control the feeling even while trying to eat breakfast.  i am snacking throughout the day (popcorn, cheerios) but i just don't know what else to do. i'm afraid this is only going to get worse when i really need to pack on the pounds.

Artslvr

Welcome to the board!

Eat if you're hungry - your body is telling you that you need food.  I'm one of those old fashioned gals that ate whatever the heck I felt like during all three of my pregnancies.  Especially in that first trimester - I had terrible morning sickness so whatever I craved and could actually keep down, I ate.  If that meant weeks of nothing but carbs, then so be it.

Other women on this board have/had more self control than me but I think we'd all agree that if the food you're eating is fairly healthy and you're not eating ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner, eat whatever feels right whenever it feels right.  There is no "normal" anymore!

mssaint

Now that the baby is born and I'm breastfeeding, I will occasionally wake up from hunger in the middle of the night. And I am definitely eating the extra 500 calories a day that a bfing mom needs. So yes, I understand the gnawing, painful pregnancy/post-partum hunger!

Listen to your body and eat! If you are hungry, just be sure to eat things that are filling and nutritious (not ice cream and twinkies!). I didn't have terrible morning sickness, but I was nauseated for most of the first tri, and ate a lot of carbs then because it was what appealed to me. Toast, crackers, etc. Peanut butter worked, too, and it was something I ate through my whole pregnancy, even with the GD diet. Another thing that helped me with nausea during the first tri was lemon hard candy, and I drank lemonade mixed with sparkling water. 

 

tomandcourt

Ohhhh, yeah, I have been there. There were times when I was almost delirious with hunger. I would wake up in the middle of the night and stuff Cheerios in my mouth, no lie.

EAT! Your body is telling you that you need it. Making a baby takes a lot of calories! And don't worry about packing on the pounds at this point. Just try to eat healthy foods. Try something high in protein because it will help you stay full longer, or fruits and veggies (otherwise you might get constipated . . . a fun pregnancy symptom).

Congrats on the pregnancy! Happy and healthy 9 months to you!

Sofka

congrats, welcome to the board! you are totally normal, eat!!

 

I_love_cupcakes

Artslvr:

Welcome to the board!

Eat if you're hungry - your body is telling you that you need food.  I'm one of those old fashioned gals that ate whatever the heck I felt like during all three of my pregnancies.  Especially in that first trimester - I had terrible morning sickness so whatever I craved and could actually keep down, I ate.  If that meant weeks of nothing but carbs, then so be it.

Other women on this board have/had more self control than me but I think we'd all agree that if the food you're eating is fairly healthy and you're not eating ice cream for breakfast lunch and dinner, eat whatever feels right whenever it feels right.  There is no "normal" anymore!

Same here!  For me it was goldfish crackers, spaghetti, and sour patch kids!

QueSrah

There was a time in my 1st tri that I had to keep a granola bar on my nightstand for when I'd wake up starving at 2 or 3 and didn't want to walk downstairs for a snack.  Eat whenever you feel you need to.  The only think I'd suggest is to try more protein-based snacks (nuts or cheese) than popcorn or cheerios, since they're more filling, but since you're nauseous a lot that may not work.  Eating small snacks more often could help keep you from getting to the point where you feel sick.

MrsPhilDunphy

QueSrah:

The only think I'd suggest is to try more protein-based snacks (nuts or cheese) than popcorn or cheerios, since they're more filling, but since you're nauseous a lot that may not work.  Eating small snacks more often could help keep you from getting to the point where you feel sick.

Ditto the above. I distinctly remember being around 6-7 weeks and just grazing all day between waves of nausea. 

 And congratulations! That's very exciting news!

Hey Jellisy

I'm in the eat when you're hungry camp too.  I had morning sickness till week 20 with both so if I was able to eat (usually in the afternoon and middle of the night) I ate.  Breakfast and dinner were generally not my friends.

hollace

I never had the nausea but between weeks 5-9 I felt like I couldn't possibly get enough food.  I felt like I was eating all the time.  I would eat breakfast at 5 am, have a cheese stick and apple at 8, lunch at 11, and so on...I tried to pick healthier things simply because I knew I wasn't a person who typically ate nonstop, but yeah I think the hunger thing is pretty common in early pregnancy.  And of course those with nausea sometimes find that snacking all day on little things help curb the nausea as well.

 

 

mssaint

Actually, now that I think about it, the hunger was one of my first symptoms. A couple of days before I got the bfp, I had a day where I ate non-stop and then fell asleep at about 8. Good times.

vtkgirl77

Congrats! Yes, I remember feeling sometimes very hungry and then nauseous during the first trimester. I also had weird cravings like I wanted to eat a whole bag of Cheetos. During first tri, I just ate whatever sounded appetizing just to get some calories in. For me I found that my food habits and cravings changed drastically throughout the pregnancy. There were times when I was super hungry and ate more and then times where my hunger subsided. So, I just say not to worry too much that you will feel this way the whole 9 months. Things change so just do what you can to get through this particular stage.

JKM416

Congratulations!  I had hunger pains during the first trimester with all three pregnancies.  However, for me, they aren't actually hunger because I can eat a whole meal and be having the same sensations within the hour, and I know my stomach can't be empty already (especially since pregnancy can slow down your digestive system).  They're definitely a general nausea / indigestion / heartburn thing that manifest themselves as what feel like hunger aches...sneaky, sneaky.  Because in the second trimester, I get unmistakable hunger that IS satisfied by eating.  So...just something to think about and pay attention to to see if it's the same for you.  I usually end up grazing throughout the day, as another poster said, because I think I'm constantly hungry but really am not.  It's frustrating but only lasts a few weeks for me, so I don't beat myself up for what I do or don't eat.  Hope you're feeling better soon!