Nutrition, nursing and pregnant

[strmis]

Not sure where to post, so feel free to relocate

just found out i am pregnant (pretty early on) and am currently nursing my 31 mo DD.  i have been so hungry and thirsty lately, so just wanna make sure i'm getting enough for the 3 of us (sounds crazy when i think of it like that).

i've heard up to 2900 calories per day, but looking for suggestions on how to get good calories in there.

i currently take fish oil supplements and will sometimes have some coconut oil

also, anything nutritionally i should be concerned about? i've read calcium is a big deal, anything else?

thanks moms!

[sunnygir1]

If you eat well when you're hungry and drink plenty of water when you're thirsty, you'll probably do just fine, so try not to worry.

You should be taking a prenatal vitamin.

Make sure you're eating enough protein.  Raw almonds are a great snack that is protein rich and can help with nausea.  I counted grams of protein for a couple weeks my last pregnancy to make sure I was getting enough -- I was trying to prevent a repeated premature rupture of membranes and was breastfeeding a toddler.

Apart from that, I'd say just make sure you're eating lots of good food -- fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, organic eggs and meats, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, etc.

[averlee]

During my pregnancy, the only way to get enough calories in, was to eat a good amount of sugary and fatty food every day. I know that sounds awful, but look...some guides say to add 500 calories for nursing and 500 calories for pregnancy to the 2,000 (if you're small) or 2,220 (if you're average or biggish) every adult needs. There is just no way I can cram 3,200 calories worth of vegetables and nuts and organic lean meats into my already overcrowded guts! 

After you've had your 8 servings of fruits & veggies, your 3 protein servings, 2 calcium food choices, 3 whole grains...you still need like 1,800 more calories! Because of this I struggled to put on weight during pregnancy.

Fried foods. You can't get more calorie-dense food than a chicken-fried steak. I'm a vegetarian but this, I admit, kept me from malnourishment during pregnancy. 

Whole milk, real full cream, butter- animal fats are not the "healthy" fats but your baby (and your body) is made out of animal fat!

Pick milk shakes instead of smoothies. Put a banana in it, but don't skip the ice cream.

White sugar is basically crystal calories. If you can process it ok, add it to your tea. Don't avoid natural sweeteners, including cane & beet sugars, it's the artificial sweeteners that are "empty". Similarly, white flour is pre-processed calories, your body can use without having to expend much on digestion.

I always found the whole "how not to get fat while pregnant" advice a lot more plentiful than "how to get fat enough fast enough". Most moms I know talk about putting on so much extra weight during pregnancy, like, a hundred pounds and stuff. I puked every day for 9 months and could barely eat...so yeah. Ice cream.

[sunnygir1]

Wow, I really can't get on board with averlee's assertions about refined (white) sugar and refined (white) flour.  Those two things are NOT good for you, and intentionally increasing them in your diet is asking for trouble.

I do agree, however, with eating as much fat as you want.  I am totally in favor of organic meat with fat on in, organic butter, full fat yogurt, eggs, etc. in addition to olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, and other plant-based fats.  If you want to eat fried foods, great, but start with healthy, organic foods and fry them in good quality oils.  Eat beans...refried in plenty of good oil.

Pick smoothies instead of milk shakes most days, just use whole milk yogurt, coconut, flax seed oil, lecithin, and whatever fruits you like.

Please do not start upping your intake of refined sugar and refined flour...most of us eat too much of that already, and the last thing you need is gestational diabetes.

[Marissamom]

definitely fats, protein, and Iron for me. I was vegetarian at the beginning of this pregnancy (and was all through my last pregnancy), but now we have steak a couple times a week, and beef of some kind a couple more times a week. bananas are another think I can't seem to get enough of, as well as dark leafy greens. the big thing is to really pay attention to your body and your cravings, and really eat every two hours, it can make you feel so much better. 

[treeoflife3]

I like smoothies a LOT.  You can put anything you want in them to get the calories you need.  I've hidden whole avocados in them before.  Along with flax oil, spinach, nutritional yeast, this http://www.sunfood.com/food/green-superfoods/sun-is-shining-green-superfood-10oz-raw-organic-wildcrafted-ingredients.html, and nut butter.  You've got a healthy meal in a cup really.  some dairy kefir (I don't make my own but I like lifeways flavored smoothie kefirs welle nough) and/or some coconut milk, a bunch of fruit, maybe some raw cacao powder (you'd be surprised at the protein content!  well.. I was) and some raw honey and its a gross looking but delicious way to get the calories you need through healthy whole foods with good fats and high in nutrients.  especially if you add an avocado in it!

I don't follow recipes though... I just toss a bunch of random stuff together... whatever sounds good... sometimes even beans goes in too.  I usually end up with enough smoothie to work on throughout the day (on its own as my breakfast, some with lunch and some with dinner generally) but I figure it can't hurt to eat something like that all day.

I agree though... you don't necessarily need to raise your intake of unhealthy foods like refined sugar and flour... you just have to go for the foods that pack the most in them.  add oil to everything (I love sesame oil over broccoli with some pepper and nutritional yeast!)  coconut for sweeter stuff (my daughter loves waffles.. but only if they have coconut oil on them instead of syrup) and olive or sesame or sunflower or whatever you like for everything else (and those could be good on sweeter stuff too, and coconut on non sweet stuff!)  you can hide all sorts of high calorie foods into everything else.

but a nice thick milk shake made of ice cream once in awhile will still be wonderful... who doesn't like ice cream? :D

[averlee]

I definitely know that my ideas sound awful, and that good nutrition is essential during pregnancy and nursing. While I was pregnant I was eating very healthy and doing the avocado smoothies and many other great ideas suggested here. But unfortunately I was still falling short by up to 1,000 calories every day. I didn't start gaining properly until I started eating more dessert- and I don't mean apple-fig-oatmeal cookies. I mean big fat pieces of chocolate cake!