First trimester weight gain with twins

[kraskacz]

Hello ladies, 

I'm 35yo and 13w2d pregnant with twins, my first pregnancy. I started at 118lb being 5'5" tall. I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped on a scale yesterday to find out I gained 22lb already! Is that normal? I'm very nauseous and have to eat every three hours to keep my nausea under control, I eat very healthy as I have gluten allergy and can't eat half the things you would normally, I'm not craving any sweets, I eat nuts, meat, lentils, beans, potatoes, veggies, fruits, eggs, milk, rice, but I have been on bed rest for about 6 weeks for bleeding, so maybe that caused the rapid weight gain? I was finally allowed to exercise again last week, but just lightly either walkin, elliptical and prenatal yoga and I wonder if my weight gain is going to continue like this. Any thoughts? 

[nd_deadhead]

I don't know what I weighed before I got pregnant, but I gained 8 pounds between week 10 and week 16. I would be surprised if I hadn't gained before that - I wasn't nauseous at all, and ate normally.

I think, as long as you continue to eat healthy, you're doing great! Listen to your body.

[queenofchaos]

As with any pg, moderate weight gain is best, but focusing on it isn't a good idea.  Getting enough of the right nutrients is, and it is doubly so with twins.  No matter how many babies you are carrying, I really don't believe there is a 'normal' pattern for weight gain during pg.  However, during my twin pg it seems like I would have peaks, valleys and plateaus.  

In your case, if you were eating like you ordinarily do while you were on bed rest, then that's probably the culprit. 

[kraskacz]

Thank you ladies, yes queenofchaos  you were right, I'm currently in plateau, my weight gain stopped for now. I'm off bedrest, I'm allowed to light exercise and I'm not as hungry. I do listen to my body, so if it's hungry I feed it, but I got scared, when I looked into a book about twin pregnancy, and it said you should gain about 6lb. in your first trimester, obviously each women body is different therefore each woman will gain it differently and my doctor didn't seemed concerned at all, he actually said, that it's normal for tinny girls to gain more in the beginning, he said that it all depends, that no woman is the same and not to worry about a book. On the other hand I do want to stay in shape as much as possible, so that the pregnancy isn't too harsh on my body and I have enough energy and power to take care of the twins, because my husband works long hours and very physical job. Hopefully it will be fine, but I'm scared to be honest. Thank you :)

[SeattleMolly]

Check out Dr. Luke's book on multiples, and you will feel much better. She stresses the importance of early weight gain for multiples. Very different from what the previous post mentioned. She based this on years of researching best outcomes for term delivery and highest birth weight for the babies.

[DoubleDouble]

I am 5'7", started at less than 110 lbs, and gained 26-28 lbs by about week 13. I was ravenous! (I also knew early that I had twins, so I felt they would need more nutrients.)

I just got Dr Luke's book two days ago, and it says large gain in the beginning is perfect. Especially for underweight moms, because first they compensate for the difference between "underweight" and "optimal", and then extras go to the babies.

The author ran a clinic for women expecting twins, triplets, and quads, and started to specialize in multiple pregnancies since 1988, so I feel she has enough experience and information to tell what is right.

Here are some quotes for you:

"Moms who deliver the largest and healthiest multiples are in general the ones who are diligent about meeting their dietary goals: gaining the right amount of weight, at the right time, by eating the right foods."

"Follow this simple rule: Eat three meals a day, plus two to three substantial snacks. Most women find a workable schedule to be breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, midafternoon snack, dinner, and bedtime snack. Understand too that a snack does not mean carrots and celery sticks. It means something substantial, a mini-meal—cereal and milk with bananas, a tuna fish sandwich, a frozen dinner like macaroni and cheese, or a jumbo muffin with a large glass of milk."
 

“One time when my own doctor was out of town, I had to see one of her associates. Because I’m plump to begin with and had gained another 5 pounds that month, this doctor belittled me for eating too much! When I told my dietitian what had happened, she was appalled and said, ‘No one should ever tell a pregnant mother of multiples not to gain weight.’”

Weight gain target for 20 weeks: Singletons 12 lbs, Twins 25 lbs, Triplets 35 lbs.

Plus extras:

"If you were underweight to begin with, or if you lost weight during the first trimester owing to morning sickness or other illness, you should make up that deficit early in your pregnancy."

Seriously, get that book! Amazon, B&N, etc., have an e-book version if you are not into clutter / shipping.

I felt so encouraged after reading it, I knew my late night "snacks" of four eggs and bacon omelettes would pay off, and now I have proof! I eat quite healthy, by the way, and by healthy I mean that I absolutely love veggies and fruit, but I don't think that fats are evil and the enemy - our body needs all the nutrients, I honor pork fat just as much as I would honor spinach, or mussels, or apples.

PS. Just seen on BBC news: exercise makes babies thinner - birth weight goes down by half a pound on average with light exercise. So lots of exercise certainly won't be a priority for me (even when I'm not nauseous and able to actually do it.)

Edited by DoubleDouble - 3/29/12 at 2:55pm

[~Adorkable~]

here is one thing i know from my pregnancy, i did hit really near that 25 pounds by 20 weeks, but them went on to only gain 31 pounds total. and that was in large part because despite the babies continuing to grow, they started stealing it from me! my thighs and upper arms started shrinking and there estimated weight gain via ultrasound was outpacing my gaining.  thankfully i had two things on my side, i was a little bit heavy to start with i got preggo at 171 pound (5'7") and i gain those 25 pound early when i still had the chance. in the end no matter how much i ate and boy did i eat, i could barely keep up with all the growing, so in hindsight that Luke book recommendation and focus on early weight gain was brilliant and spot on for me.  i went into spontaneous labor and gave birth at 36w to very healthy 5,3 and 5,10 babies, no nicu, no issues other than a long learning curve to nurse.