starving

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Status Check:
4 weeks 5 days pregnant
147 lbs.

All I can think about is food right now. Visions of ice cream sundaes and French fries are dancing in my head. I started thinking about lunch about three minutes after I finished breakfast. It’s 10:00 am and I’ve already had a snack. I emailed my husband and explained to him that he was going to be taking me out to dinner tonight and that I would probably order an appetizer… and a dessert. For some reason (what could it be?), I’m famished.

Fortunately, my appetite is justified. The nurse called me back this morning. My ob-gyn is recommending that I eat 700-900 additional calories each day to make sure that both Joey and my new baby are getting the nutrients that they need. They also think that it wouldn’t hurt if I gained a few pounds right now so that if I do get sick again, I will have a little bit more meat on me. I hung up the phone grinning. Cheeseburgers and onion rings, here I come!
Unfortunately, my sister, who happens to be a registered dietitian burst my bubble about ten minutes after I started dreaming of weeks of food-filled heaven. She said that while French fries and cheeseburgers and ice cream and cookies will definitely help me gain weight, it won’t be the healthy, nutrient-filled weight that I need. So sad. Instead, she recommended eating extra snacks like nuts and trail mix, adding peanut butter to apples and celery, drinking whole milk in my decaf coffee and buying whole milk yogurt instead of fat free.

So, for the next few weeks, I’m on a mission to gain five pounds. Sadly, it won’t be nearly as fun as I always dreamed it would be. I’ll probably still sneak a few slices of pizza and ice cream cones in there, but for the good of my babies, my snacking will most likely be on healthy, high calorie foods. Gaining weight isn’t nearly as fun as I thought it would be.