Help! How many calories when pregnant?

Maternal weight gain for overweight women is 15-25 lbs. The ideal pattern for for a normal weight woman consists of 3.5 -5 lbs in the first trimester, followed about 1 lb per week during the second and 3rd trimester. Your weight gain is most likely distributed over the fetus, placenta, amniotic fluid, uterus, increased blood volume, breast tissue and maternal stores.

There is no requirements for increase in calories during the first trimester. There is a requirement of an increase of 300 calories per day in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Also, if you plan on breast feeding, you should increase your calories 300-500 postpartum (2500-2700) for a normal weight woman.

Be sure to take in Folic acid and iron these are essential during pregnancy.

This is straight from my Maternal-Newborn Nursing care book. I am a nursing student hope this helps!

First of all, make sure you are getting proper pre-natal care. Schedule regular monthly check-ups with your OB/GYN and take your pre-natal vitamins. Discuss your worries with your doctor. I was overweight when I got pregnant too. I gained about 35 lbs and my doctor didn't seem worried about it. My doctor told me that yes, you need more calories while pregnant but no more than an extra slice of bread with a slice of (full-fat) cheese and that is at the end of pregnancy. You are eating for two but one of the two of you is VERY tiny. She also told me to satisfy cravings with mounds and mounds of veggies. She said to eat as much vegetables as I want as often as I want. The main thing is to eat healthy and get your vitamins while pregnant.

Don't worry so much about weight. I lost all but about 7lbs of the baby weight within 4 months because I nursed my son. Books and (guilty-feeling) non-nursing mothers will try to tell you that you don't loose weight any faster if you nurse than if you don't, that is technically true if the caloric deficit remains the same. A non-nursing mother doesn't need an extra 500 calories a day if she is doing nothing other than living and caring for her child. For a metabolically similar woman that IS nursing she needs those extra calories. So let's say these two women's maintenance calories are 2000 then if the one not nursing eats 1500 and the one that is nursing eats 2000 they will lose at the same rate.

Be healthy for you and your baby and talk to your doctor. Your doctor knows you better than anyone on this forum and can suggest a proper expected weight gain and can tell you if you need to adjust your diet. Like I said I was over weight and only wanted to gain 20lbs but my doc was not at all worried by the 35lbs that I actually gained.

Congratulations on your pregnancy :-)

Congrats! I'm pregnant too, with my first kiddo, so it's nice to see other pregnant women on this site! I am in a similar situation, as I was already too heavy (198/5'5 pre baby) when I conceived and want to watch myself to make sure I don't balloon with this kiddo! I was doing well at first, but the last few weeks I've been cleaning and moving to my boyfriend's ranch and we just got rid of the nasty old fridge out there so I'm still living in between two residencies and driving alot lately, not cooking much at his place....till we get completely settled by end of May. So I'm hoping to pay more attention to my health by tracking it some! Good luck on the nutrition side of the house and congrats again.