"You're eating for two!"

Ashwee87

"Eating for 2" was why I was around 270 when I had my son. If I could do it again, I would not eat the way I did.

ren_ascent

Just as an aside, gestational diabetes is really more about all the hormonal changes that happen to your body during pregnancy. Your placenta makes a hormone that can cause insulin resistance. Obviously I'm not saying it is a go ahead to eat whatever you want, but it isn't all about your size/weight. Even someone who is very fit and eats healthy can get gestational diabetes.

I completely agree with you/the science of it. In my specific case it was because of weight gain and bad eating habits but everyone's body is different.

BarbieAS

I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I believe my eating habitsduring my pregnancies directly shaped my childrens' eating habits today. I was super-vigilant with my healthy diet during pregnancy #1, and he has always been a kid who likes fruits and vegetables and is very adventurous in trying new foods. With baby #2, I was kind of lax with my diet and indulged in sweets as much as I wanted. He is my picky eater who fights me on every single fruit/veggie and will only eat from a select list when coerced. He also has a terrible sweet tooth. I was several years older with Baby #3 and worried about losing the pregnancy weight. I was back to healthy eating vigilance, limited my carb intake and eschewed almost all sweets and processed foods. She is my healthiest eater yet, and craves fruits and vegetables. She will also try almost any new food.

Coincidence? Correlation? Hard to say. But I would love to see what might happen if I could have a do-over for pregnancy #2!

Ha Ha! It's the exact opposite for me! Baby #1..I gained 100lbs and ate a Monster burger from Hardee's EVERY. DAY. Baby #2 fresh fruit, veggies, lean meat, Baby #3 all things in moderation. Child 1 (now 13) likes variety and veggies, Child 2 (now 7) fights me every step to eat anything not covered in frosting or chocolate, and Child 3 (now 1) also likes variety, but will go absolutel ape ****e over fig newtons....

Exact opposite for me, too. My first child, I gained like 60 pounds. I had just come off of like 3 years of dieting and watching what I ate REALLY closely (lost like 80+ lbs that I had gained in college and then was trying REALLY hard to maintain, though I was losing that battle since I had already put on like 20lbs prior to getting pregnant) and I used it as an excuse to eat like an a-hole. But, my main indulgences were of the savory/salty variety - I had a particular weakness for cheese fries. He's my child that actually eats pretty well - very good variety, will willingly eat his veggies most of the time, etc. He does have a weakness for sweets, though (though luckily that includes fruit).

My second (and last) child, I had sort of learned my lesson on eating, plus I hadn't lost any of the baby weight from the first so I really didn't want to put on another 60lbs. I ate pretty normally and well-balanced (probably stuck to maintenance plus a couple hundred most of the time), exercised lightly, and only gained like 18lbs. That's my child who would never stop eating if we let her, and thinks anything green is the devil, hit or miss on whether she'll eat fruit, and only likes meat if it's in meatball form (and accompanied by pasta). Carbs carbs carbs for her. (Edited to note: she's only 2, it isn't as if I'm fighting an older kid with better developed powers of logic and reasoning on eating vegetables. She's just barely getting to the point where she understands that she has to eat what's in front of her, etc. She's still in the "picky toddler" stage of life. My older child is 4, so it's possible some of his slightly better eating habits just come from being older, though if you compare them both at the same age you do still see most of the differences I noted.)

ren_ascent

I was sleeping for two.

Oh yeah. I can relate to that with all three pregnacies. My beloved husband made it all possible too. Made me go to bed at 6 and took care of the kids :flowerforyou: I think he deserves a random hug about now. . .

cnlargent

I ate maintenance my first trimester, +150 my second and +300 my third. I gained 25 lbs total, but did start the pregnancy overweight. I also retained water and got pre-e :-/. But I was 10 lbs above pre pregnancy weight a week after delivery, and +5 within 2 weeks. It's definitely not eating for two.

SeasideOasis

I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I believe my eating habitsduring my pregnancies directly shaped my childrens' eating habits today. I was super-vigilant with my healthy diet during pregnancy #1, and he has always been a kid who likes fruits and vegetables and is very adventurous in trying new foods. With baby #2, I was kind of lax with my diet and indulged in sweets as much as I wanted. He is my picky eater who fights me on every single fruit/veggie and will only eat from a select list when coerced. He also has a terrible sweet tooth. I was several years older with Baby #3 and worried about losing the pregnancy weight. I was back to healthy eating vigilance, limited my carb intake and eschewed almost all sweets and processed foods. She is my healthiest eater yet, and craves fruits and vegetables. She will also try almost any new food.

Coincidence? Correlation? Hard to say. But I would love to see what might happen if I could have a do-over for pregnancy #2!

Very interesting! I've heard similar stories from other mothers with multiple children...

I don't plan on getting pregnant, ever (just not my cup of tea), but if I do, I know which road I'll take just in case!! Thanks for sharing.

MaintainCats

I was sleeping for two.

I totally slept for 2 in the first trimester! I haven't ever felt so lazy in my life!

ren_ascent

Ha ha, I remember that. "You're starving the baby" is what I would get if I turn down a treat.

I was just outside of the range for gestational diabetes - failed the first test and barely passed the 3 hr test. My family, who are predominantly obese by the way, just did not get why I didn't go crazy on fried chicken or other cravings. I try to remember that their frame of reference for healthy weight and habits is sooooo skewed.

Good for you and happy pregnancy!!

LOL You got it! "Baby needs to eat" is a popular one too. I just don't get it though. Baby needs to eat empty calories and an overabundance of processed flour and sugar?

Thank you So far so good.

MaintainCats

I am at about 2K cals a day which is maintenance + 200 for me. Some days I go slightly over, some days I am under....it evens out pretty well overall. The annoying part is that I am hungry every 1.5/2 hours TOPS *AND* I have to eat breakfast now, which I never did pre-pregnancy. I feel like I am eating all.day.long.

PJPrimrose

I gained a ton while preggers with both kids but took it back off just as quickly. Nobody was surprised when I popped out babies that weighted 10 pounds. I was huge! I would discuss diet with my OB and follow the suggestions, but you are right, a bunch of junk food isn't going to help! Congratulations! It also sounds like your DH is top of the line. Kudos and congratulations to him too!

ren_ascent

Thanks everyone. I always post topics with caution because a public forum is a public forum. It's less like a box of chocolates and more like a bag of mixed nuts LOL! Not a single crazy person on this topic though and I appreciate the maturity you showed after reading my rant.

Have a wonderful day!

tiggerhammon

I was sleeping for two.

Ooo, sleeping for two. I am sticking with this theory! I don't feel the need to eat for two but sleeping for two is pretty much exactly what I want to do every day lately.

My sister drives me crazy with trying to shove food at me. "Here you need 2 cupcakes,if you just eat one the baby won't get any!" ... Seriously?

Bounce4

I ate everything not nailed down with all my pregnancies (except first part of #3 - to sick) and some of my kids are picky and some not - or picky in different ways maybe. I was horrendously picky as a kid and kinda picky as an adult so I may have more patience with it than most. << Not advice btw. I ate all the healthy stuff AND all the junk. I gained 225+ pounds between the 3 pregnancies - OMG. Ugh. Whatever. My baby making days are over


Anyway - to OP. People need to mind their own damn business. The loudest mouths are the one's that have the stupidest things to say :peeved.on.your.behalf: Pregnancy really brings on the 'advice'. Ugh - don't people remember how annoying that was when they were preggers? lol. It doesn't stop either. Apparently mothers and their choices are open season for at least the first 3 years of a kids life.

JoRocka

I'm not. I'm 7 months pregnant and the 2-3 pound baby in my tummy isn't the equivalent of an additional adult. I try to dispel the myth that expectant mothers need to eat like sumo wrestlers. What we DO need to eat is a variety of highly nutritious foods and average at around 300 calories more than our maintenance, depending on our doctor's recommendations. If you see me eyeing the cake, or cookies, or doughnuts, don't assume the baby "needs" it. My shoving that piece of cake in my mouth is not something anyone "needs" to do. Sometimes I mention the attitude they're pushing is the thing that gave me gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy. Sometimes I just smile and nod. Depends on my hormone levels that day.

Yep, I'm whining about what people say. Yep, I'll ignore them and do my own thing.

I don't understand that either- I get a little irritated when people say that. I mean at BEST you're eating for a 10 lb child- and how much food does one of those need.

Glad you see this. Makes me glad YOU are having a child- common sense is a rare thing!!! Hopefully you'll be passing it on!!!
some people- make me really question why they get to reproduce sometimes.

emeraldeyes_bc

I HATE people who feel like they're opinion is needed. For some reason, when pregnant the opinions come out of the wood works.
I was at the gym on the treadmill once, and this older pretty overweight man looked me up and down and very shaming ly said "don't you think you should slow down in your condition?" After I picked my jaw up off the floor I said "don't you think you should speed up in yours?" He didn't have anything to say after that

I think I gained about 20lbs with the last 2? I was able to wear my jeans my entire pregnancy lol. I had many people tell me to eat more, or eat a burger, or cake blah blah blah. Suuuure my baby who's carefully trying to form organs and body parts needs your chemical ridden food to do that instead of my whole foods *eyeroll* my babies were 7 and 8lbs 3 weeks early... Pretty sure they did ok.