Surviving Twin Pregnancy - I'm HUNGRY!

Sixth week of pregnancy
pre-prego weight: 148 pounds
Weight now: 149

 Hunger? Yes, hunger
At first I thought it was subconscious. That irresistible urge to give in to relentless eating. Binging on mac 'n cheese, ice cream, chips and salsa, cookies, Ramen noodles, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, chewy tortillas and queso dip. Anything full of carbs and starch! I tried to balance it by eating a fruit or vegetable before I indulged, but try as I did to resist the urge,  my tummy was not lying. I was hungry. I was hungry before I even got morning sickness. In fact, when I thought back on it, I think I had a bigger appetite before I even knew I was pregnant! While that sounds unreasonable, I once heard a lady say that she figured out she was pregnant after her mom watched her eat 3 taco Bell chalupas and commented to her how unusual that was! So perhaps it is true. I ate, and ate, and ate. I tried to be healthful, but if only junk food was available, even better! I told myself that I shouldn’t be eating so much! That baby didn’t really need calories to speak of until the 3rd trimester! But it didn’t work. My belly told me otherwise, and I went with it. Finally when my pants began to get too tight at only about 8 weeks, I thought “oh no, I HAVE to quite eating so much! I’m getting fat!” I even consulted friends to find out how far along they were when their belly outgrew their clothes. 3 months at least was the earliest for any of them in their first pregnancy.
Of course I thought I was eating too much. The thought of having twins never even really crossed my mind. After all, some of my friends had already taken their turns playing the ‘I think I’m having twins’ card and then being disappointed. I even skipped the ‘multiples’ chapters in the pregnancy books I read. So I was NOT going to mention the ‘T’ word. Once we did find out though, I felt much better about my ever-expanding waistline. My doctor also verified what my stomach was telling me, and she said to listen to my body and eat whenever it said. She said that there is no reason to be concerned about weight gain, and that with multiples, more is better!
Be wary of any health care provider that instructs you to limit calories or limit weight gain with a multiple pregnancy. For many multiples, pregnancy doesn’t last as long and weight gain in the early weeks is more important than with a singleton. If you’re not sure how much to eat of the various food groups, ask to consult with a dietitian. Get pregnancy nutrition book from the library. If nothing else, focus on eating proteins which your growing babies will need the most of, and proteins are not efficiently stored in the body, so you need a constant supply of them. Eggs, deli meat (but nuke it first to avoid listeria), cheese, milk, peanut butter. Keep a protein bar in your purse so that whenever your belly starts growling for food, you don’t have to keep your little ones waiting!