What did you do to gain weight?

2boys+twins

I am 23 weeks tomorrow and up about 10lbs. My OB said 20lbs by 20 weeks, 30lbs by 28 weeks and I'm no where close. The babies were 1lb 1oz and in the 34% at my scan at 22w2d. He told me to start 2 protein shakes a day in hopes I will gain some more weight. I'm not sure why I'm not gaining....I never had this issue with my boys. My first was born at 35 weeks 5lbs 14oz and my second was born at 33 weeks 5lbs 10oz. I was on bed rest with him and gained more so I feel like his birth weight was better because of that. Because of my history of IC and PTL I am a nervous wreck the babies will come early and be too tiny. Any other suggestions?? I am on moderate bed rest now due to contractions....my Dr. just told me to use my better judgement since I'm familiar with my body and my contractions so I'm already trying to rest as much as possible. We just moved to Missouri and have no family or friends here and have our boys so it's hard to lay down all day, but I'm doing my best. I'm also on meds for pre term labor and had an abdominal cerclage placed in Chicago at 10 weeks, so hopefully the babies will stay put for a while longer! 

naflmj

I have been eating every few hours and concentrating on having carbs and protein with each meal/snack. I also have a snack before bed and have incorperated more dairy in my diet than I did with DS. I was up 8lbs at 13 weeks.

Kimmy08

I drank Ensure like it was going out of style. They were particulary delicious if you pour them in a container and freeze them to make an Ensure ice cream.

Other than that, I ate snacks every couple of hours.

WaitingforGrace

Eat something every hour and try to make it as "heavy" as possible. You want to eat well, but fruit and veggies aren't calorie laden so dip them in ranch or something. Switch to whole milk, or at least 2%, get full fat yogurt. Avocado, Boost drinks, cheese.

I only gained 20 lbs my whole pregnancy

crystaleyes39

I am naturally really tiny framed. I started at 100 pound pre pregnancy and I'm now at 31 weeks at around 134. I honestly have just ate as much as possible. I eat a lot of High Calorie/fat foots and try to eat as often as possible. When i'm hungry i dont wait, I snack. Also Ensure Plus is a good help if you try drinking one or 2 of those a day.

Best of luck!

selenamarino

I wish you luck.  I know that I get hungry but get full fast too.  I'm 22 weeks 3 days and only up 13 pounds so I know where you are coming from. 

MrsLnt

Gaining weight wasn't a huge problem for me, but I ate a LOT. And I tried to make my calories count. I ate high fat, high protein stuff like guacamole, bacon, hummus, etc. Also a ton of peanut butter. And I'd make milkshakes with full fat ice cream. 

allisonmarie22

I eat every 2 hours and try to get 3000 calories a day. I also drink meal replacement shakes (Boost & Ensure). Even with all that I've still only gained 8 pounds at 14 weeks.

Maybe you should take a look at Dr. Luke's plan if you haven't already.

Good luck!

Breezy8407

I've gained 15 so far. I am just eating more for breakfast and lunch compared to pre-pregnancy.  Today I had Greek yogurt and a banana. I also eat more for lunch. I In the past I might have had just a salad, but now I add a piece of fruit and a granola bar. Dinners are about the same as pre-pregnancy in terms of quantity. I think my weight gain is also because I am running less and less active in general but am eating about the same.

It's hard to eat a ton because I get full faster. Eating snacks through out the day helps, too. 

Like PP said, nut butters, avocados, 2% milk, full fat yogurts or cheeses, trail mixes, nuts like almonds etc are all good ways to get in extra calories and still be eating good foods for your babies. 

As a side note, I asked my OB about her thoughts on weight gain yesterday. She said she doesn't get concerned with numbers as long as you aren't losing a bunch of weight or gaining too much like 80,90,100 pounds or more.

13pickle

it has been really hard for me, but i'm working at it, proud to say at 19 weeks i'm up 13 lbs, tht is after i gained back the 10 i lost with morning sickness.... everything these ladies say is kinda my advice... i don't really want to eat at all so i have to make a million small choices, i have nuts and dried fruit with me all the time, greek yogert, oatmeal with all the fixin's, cheese on my sandwiches, baby bell cheese things as a snack, pears or apples with peanut butter, if i have a hearty soup i have a grilled cheese with cream cheese also... but i find the meal that works best for me is noodles with a peanut sauce (kinda high in sodium, but that helps me drink crazy amounts of water).  here is the recipe i use, you can change out the tofu and veggies for beef and red peppers, chicken and squash, anything you can imagine, you can use pasta (whole grain, or rice noodles), i love this and can eat it slowly for hours, it has really helped me climb the scale!

https://cookingformikel.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/peanut-pasta/

good luck, i have a million other recipes i used to be good at posting them but them i started working on my dissertation, now all i want to do is sleep.... 

Snickers2005

I've gained 42 pounds total so far but at 12 or 13 weeks, I was only up a pound and I was fortunate not to have morning sickness.  I had some mild nausea but that was it.

I second drinking the Ensure shakes.  I drank one a day up until about 20 weeks or so and I thought they helped a lot.  I also switched to drinking whole milk and started eating ice cream (which is not something I usually eat that often).  I tried to make sure I had some source of protein at every meal as well. 

It's hard.  I felt like all I did was think about food and when was my next meal.

Good luck!

Jen0204

It could just be your body. I gained very little weight for the first two trimesters, but I'm overweight anyway so my doctors aren't worried. I have been eating constantly, though, and plenty of high calorie foods in addition to fruits and veggies. Now in my third trimester I'm starting to put on weight, about a pound a week. I was up 10 pounds at my 28 week appointment and up 14 when I went on Wednesday. Surprisingly my girls are measuring in lower percentiles as I've started gaining more weight - they've always been right around the 50th percentile, and then last Friday they were at the 31st and 33rd percentiles. 

As long as the babies are growing well and you're eating a balanced diet I wouldn't stress about it too much, especially if you're like me and were overweight to begin with. My stomach has always measured right on track for twins so I would pay more attention to markers like that that show how your babies are growing.  

2boys+twins

Thanks so much for all the replies!!! 

 

I was 138lbs and 5'4" when I got pregnant, so not overweight. My BMI was I think 23.7....I just looked it up yesterday.  

 

I am going to try not to stress about it, but with all the contractions I keep having I guess I feel like the one thing I can do is ensure they are healthy weights.  

snoangel79

I eat every few hours.  I hadn't gained anything till 15 weeks because of horrible m/s with a ton a vomiting (I kept my weight stable at that time though and only lost 1lb total because I was eating a ton of pasta). I am 23 1/2 now and up 20. Never did protein shakes but for breakfast I usually do an egg sandwich (southwestern egg beaters), swiss cheese, salsa, on a whole wheat bagel, sometimes before that I do a bowl of cereal with 2%Lactaid. Lunch usually panini sandwiches (like a tuscan chicken with lettuce tomato etc.), chips, banana. Snacks throughout the day:greek yogurt, cheese and crackers, grapes, peanut butter and jelly crackers, nuts etc. Dinner can be anything from chicken cordon bleu with veggies or steak, veggies, fries. After dinner a lot of the time I have a bowl of frozen yogurt. I also drink a ton of water but have juice too mostly cranberry. I look for full calorie yogurt (not fat free), basically look for calories when I'm shopping! Ohh and I have been eating a lot of whole wheat pasta. I usually am about 139 and I'm 5'6", so today I was 160 at the doctors.

kiwi443

Just keep eating. I had only gained 7 lbs. at 20 weeks (which I was happy about until I found out we were having twins). Then, I was worried, esp. after reading Dr. Luke's book. I've just concentrated on eating well at meals and having a snack or two. I also drink 1 Ensure Plus per day. At almost 31 weeks, I'm up 22 lbs.

reillyroowho

My peri put me on a very strict diet of 160 g of protein a day. He recommended adding at least 4 scoops (2 large shakes) of Bioplex whey powder because it has less vitamin A than the Ensure/Boost drinks and I guess too much vitamin A is bad for babies. Adding the shakes gives me an extra 80g of protein so I just eat TONS of protein rich food: red meat, greek yogurt, cottage cheese etc. Eating is like my second job. I started at 120, lost 8 lbs in the first few months and on this diet I am now 138 YAY! Honestly, I hate eating right now and sometimes throw up because I stuff too much in my shrunken stomach but I am doing it for my boys. The other thing my peri told me is that I shouldn't get too concerned with the scale if I am eating enough protein...so add LOTS!! 

AmyDiana

I'm 16 weeks pregnant with triplets and have only put on 15 pounds. Goal for me was to be up 24 pounds by 16 weeks. Unfortunately I was really sick throwing up for a 4 days and lost 6 pounds. Now that I'm on anti-nausea medication I'm not throwing up (as often) but I do get full quickly since the babies are so big (yay!).  One doctor told me to drink Pedisure. I checked and it's loaded with icky chemicals, but I may have to in order to have big, healthy babies. Has anyone else's doctor recommended this? 

tarajayne

As of my last appointment at 15 weeks... I was still down 10 pounds.  Only in the past few days has my appetite started increasing so now it seems like I am actually eating for 3.  My docs never have been concerned about my weight loss yet.  But I am overweight to begin with as well (and had gained quite a bit while on fertility meds)

j&j508

full fat cottage cheese and greek yogurt and LOTS of it.  I focused on eating enough, but also focusing on protein instead of just eating crap.  (Although I admittedly ate crap too! Just wanted most of my food to be focused on good stuff that would help me gain the right way.)

 I lost my weight fast after having the babies, and I totally credit that to gaining the right way and nursing.

KDC1014

When I was pregnant with my twins.  It was really hard for me to gain weight.  I actually didn't start gaining weight until about 24 weeks.  I always felt full.  I gained a total of 45 lbs during my pregnancy and I ate a lot of cereal, ice cream, shakes, pizza.  Anything easy to get down with high in carbs.