Did weight gain slow down in 3rd trimester?

[bluebonnet22]

I gained a LOT with my singleton pregnancy (70+ lbs, ouch!) . I went into my twin pregnancy a little underweight (17 BMI) and have been tracking calories and avoiding sugar (only water to drink, no snacks, 2000-2300 calories a day MAX, etc) and still I've gained so much weight this pregnancy (30 lbs by 20 weeks, OMG). I think I'm just someone that gains a lot of weight during pregnancy and I'm ok with gaining 70 lbs again. That being said I'm worried at this point I'll be gaining 100+ lbs. No idea what to do to slow down this weight gain - I gained 5 lbs last week and cut calories back to 2000/day. EEK. Anyways, I'm wondering if anyone else gained a lot of weight early and then slowed down as they entered 3rd trimester since it's so hard to eat with multiples taking up so much space in your belly?

[anotherdreamer]

You should be eating when you're hungry and getting plenty of full fat and high protein foods. Carrying twins you need to gain weight, and 30 by 20 is not bad, as a matter of fact they recommend you gain 24 by 24w and being underweight to begin with you need to gain more. Unless you have GD, you really shouldn't be so adherent about you weight gain- your body will tell you what it needs, and you should listen to it. Carrying twins is not the same as carrying a singleton at all, your needs are completely different.

Weight gain does tend to slow in a multiple pregnancy, which is one of the reasons it's so important to gain early (the other main reason is that twins do not usually go full term). Later on you literally run out of room for food, the other issue is that often heartburn creeps in. I gained 1-2lbs a month later on, I could not eat much food and I had to go on prescribed heartburn meds because I was so nauseous all the time and every night I had to battle the urge to throw up.

[bluebonnet22]

Thanks anotherdreamer. I am really focusing on only eating protein, healthy fats, veggies/fruits. I'm really not trying to "diet", just eliminating empty sugars (juices, processed carbs, etc). Very frustrating to have gained this much weight when I haven't been indulging in ice cream and candy and anything "fun" ! I didn't have GD with my son and he was born a good size (7 lbs, 15 oz) so I'm ok with gaining whatever I need to gain to get healthy babies, but the scale is just freaking me out!

[macchiatto]

I agree that since you were underweight to begin with, 30 lbs by 20 weeks isn't bad. My weight gain was fairly consistent at 2 lbs/wk from 12w to the end but there were exceptions at times. In the third tri your stomach is more compressed so it can be hard to eat as much; sometimes weight gain then is more swelling than true gain.

[wamom]

I would listen to your doctor if you are concerned but I would not be counting calories or cutting back at all. I hit a wall with my weight gain around 29/30 weeks. I've gained only a pound in 3 weeks. Eating is getting impossible and the heartburn even with meds seems to still be a huge irritating factor.

[rayray007]

Counting calories and limiting or cutting back does not sound like a good idea. If you were underweight, you should be putting on a good amount of weight. 30 lb by 20 weeks? That's not that bad anyway. A lot of resources recommend 20 by 20 or 24 by 24. An extra 10 isn't a big deal. Fwiw, my weight gain was pretty linear, and I gained at the same rate at the end as the beginning

[Deleted]

It was the opposite for me. I barely gained any weight at all for the first 20 weeks or so (about 8 pounds) and did almost all of my gaining in the 3rd trimester. I wound up gaining about 35 pounds total, which was exactly what my doctor had initially recommended to me.

Eat when your hungry and make smart food choices (apple instead of a brownie). I would NOT cut back on/count calories. Your babies need as much nutrition as you can supply them. Don't cut back just for the sake of "what ifs."

[mymorningcoffee]

OK. Here's the thing. You need to stop cutting back and worrying about the weight. Seriously. Get rid of the scale and for the love of everything, stop with the calorie counting. You are making two babies, the necessary increased blood volume to support them, and placenta. You need to gain weight.