When we found out we were having twins, the hunger started almost right away.  I didn’t suffer morning sickness, I had morning dizziness unless I ate properly and drank enough water.  I consider myself somewhat healthy, so I began to search for ways to get the extra calories I needed for the twins from healthy foods and drinks.

I was told to eat an additional 600 calories/day while I was pregnant and while I was nursing them.  Wow, 600 calories seemed like a lot.  But, once I began looking at calories on different foods and drinks I realized that it didn’t take a lot to get those extra calories.  About that same time, I talked to a Mom-to-be of quads and discovered that 600 calories/day was nothing compared to 1500-2000 calories.

When you are pregnant with multiples, your OB/GYN should discuss calorie intake with you and outline what he/she feels is the best amount of calories and weight gain for your body type, height, current weight, etc.  In general, women pregnant with twins should eat an additional 600 calories/day and gain 35-45 pounds during their pregnancy.  Women pregnant with triplets should eat an additional 1000 calories/day and gain 50-60 pounds during their pregnancy.  Women expecting quadruplets should eat an additional 1500-2000 calories/day and weight gain should be discussed with your doctor (I’ve read anywhere from 60-100 pounds).

For the mother of quads I mentioned, a book about how to eat that many calories stayed with her at all times and really helped her in preparing meals and snacks.  Women pregnant with twins and triplets have a somewhat easier time trying to fit in their calorie intake in a 24 hour period.

The first thing you need to realize is that you should not put your additional calories into your three main meals each day.  Because your belly is full of babies, you don’t have enough room for large meals.  Instead eat frequently but in smaller quantities throughout the day.

All of your calorie intake doesn’t need to come from solid foods.  Liquids can be a great source of calories and nutrition for you.  You need to increase your calcium intake during your pregnancy and 1 8oz glass of 1% milk gives you an additional 105 calories.  I would drink one glass in the morning and sometimes one at night.  Two glasses of milk knocks out 210 calories!  Fruit juice and fruit smoothies are good for you too.

Fruits and vegetables are great sources of fiber and calories.  One apple has about 50 calories, one banana 100 calories and 1 grapefruit 100 calories.  Just an extra serving of a fruit and vegetable each day adds anywhere from 100-200 calories.  I would often put a little peanut butter on my apple slices (really my only craving during the pregnancy and it had to be Fuji apples with Skippy peanut butter). This gave me protein and additional calories.

One of the quickest ways to get calories during my pregnancy was the nutritional Luna Bar.  Packet with nutrients including folic acid, protein and calcium each Luna Bar has about 180-210 calories.  They come in a variety of flavors and they were my mid-morning snack to get me through.  They are geared towards women who are pregnant and are nursing.

With just those few changes I was able to get my 600 calories/day.  Let’s review them: 2 8oz glasses of 1% milk = 210 calories, 1 apple with peanut butter = 100 calories, 1 banana or grapefruit = 100 calories and 1 Luna Bar = 200 calories.  If you add that all together you get 610 calories.  It doesn’t seem like much food, but the calories and nutrition of it all added up quickly.

If you want to keep a strict count of your daily caloric intake, you can look up different foods online to see how much calories they have.  This was how I started and I was pleasantly surprised that it was easy to get 600 calories.  If you are expecting quads, I would encourage you to work with a nutritionist to come up with a healthy way to get all your additional calories.

So, put away your box of Ho-Hos (I had a friend pregnant with one child who would polish off a box in two days) and pick up an apple and a nutrient bar.  Eating healthy to get all your calories for your multiples pregnancy is good for you, good for your babies and helps you to lose weight after the babies are born.  That fact is an incentive in itself!

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 12th, 2006 at 5:37 am and is filed under Multiples. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.