Could it be twins?

  I seem to be getting bigger and bigger!  I am 29 weeks pregnant and I am already as big (at least) as when I gave birth to my son at 40 weeks!  My partner and Mum have both teased me about there being "... more than one in there..." but the most worrying thing is that for weeks I have had comments from people in shops who react the same when they ask how long I have got to go.  "21st December?!.I thought it was more like any time now!  Is there just the one?" was the last shocked onlooker. 
  I have had two scans- one at 16 weeks and one at 19+6weeks and on both scans we all saw only one baby.  Even so I am beginning to ask myself if it is even possible for there to be another, maybe smaller, baby hiding in there somewhere behind our little Zack.  I have noticed some rather odd kicking patterns lately.  My midwife told me this week that the baby way lying transverse; I had a feel of my belly to see where she meant and you could feel a side-on baby with the head on my left side.  The weierd bit is that I subsequently felt a series of "kicks" on the top right of my abdomen, the top left (here comes the weired bit....)and right down low in toward my back-almost feeling as if I were being kicked in the bottom!  I have gained another 3lb in 3 days and my boobs are more huge now than when my milk first came in last time!  I know all pregnancies are different.  I know ultrasound technicians and their equipment are very reliable.  I also know this feels WAY different and that lost of people look at my tummy, hear my due date and are shocked.  What else other than twins could account for all of this?  Could an anatomy scan miss a twin?  Could two heart beats be in sync or mistaken for just the one some way or other?  I have no idea but I am booked in for a growth scan to make sure we're growing enough (lol) for 34 weeks so I will surely be asking some firm questions then!  I will keep you posted-surely this cant all be down to my efforts to fatten my self up as the rest of me still looks very petite!

Keep On Trying...

  I had pretty much abandoned this blog about how to gain weight!  You see; life threw my skinny little self somewhat of a curve ball in that I discovered I was pregnant.  That was quite some months ago now and, as I knew would happen, I am considerably fatter.  I had thought; what's the point in continuing a blog on ways to gain weight when the only reason I will gain weight is a pregnancy?!  However, I have realised that, pregnant or not the right nutrition plays a great part in how our bodies cope with every thing life can throw at them. 
  I may have abandoned the blog but I still kept up my efforts to eat a rich, varied and healthy diet - aiming to pack in as many calories as i could.  Lets just say it has paid off enormously.  I now weigh just under 10 stone and I am only 29 weeks into the pregnancy - with my previous baby I only weighed in at 8st 10lb when I was ready to give birth.  The baby's weight was a good one at 8lb born but mine was, as ever, too low!  This time I feel I am a much healthier weight in myself, aside from the baby weight, and believe it has been my weight gain efforts to thank for it. 
  I felt I must share this with you as it is the very tips you can find in this blogs archive that have given me this boost in weight and confidence in this pregnancy - even underweight women give birth, but thanks to my weight gain efforts I will be doing it more healthily this time!  I intend to add to this blog again soon.

Gain that baby weight

It has been some time since I posted, and this blog has gone way off track, but I just felt like making a small contribution today.  For all you pregnant ladies out there who may read this and who may be worried that their baby may be underweight hear this...

From hours i have spent looking into what you can do this is what i found:

Do not smoke
Do not drink or take any drugs (check prescription or otc meds with doc)
Take pre-natal vitamins
Eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg
Drink lots of milk and eat other dairy products
Take regular gentle exercise
Regularly de-stress and put your feet up to relax as much as you can each day (sleep and rest will help alot)

Good luck girls!  I am week 25 and my belly is huge; but i still worry for my little one!

Pregnancy nutrition

  Hi all! 
If you are reading this chances are you are pregnant so firstly; congratulations!  Secondly you may be wondering how best to take care of your nutritional requirements now you are eating for two (maybe more!).
  I will begin by looking at the things that are now off limits to you...

• Cheese  You should avoid soft, mould ripened cheeses eg: camembert or brie as well as danish blue vein and similar.  This is due to the fact that they may well contain listeria.  If you contract listeriosis during your pregnancy it can seriously harm your baby or even result in miscarriage or still birth.
• Eggs  Raw or undercooked eggs are a no go as well as any foods that may contain them.  Most shop bought mayonnaises state on the ingredients label that they contain pasteurised egg - I always check and if the word pasteurised is not there then I wont risk it!  You should always cook your eggs until both the whites and yolks are all solid to avoid the risk of salmonella food poisoning.
• Milk  Don't drink raw or unpastuerised milk at all - be it cows', sheeps' or goats' - and never eat any foods that contain them either such as soft goats' cheese.  If only raw or green top milk is available to you then you must ensure it has been well boiled before you can drink it.
• Pate   Avoid all types of pate including vegetable.  They too contain listeria.
• Meats  Don't eat raw or undercooked meats.  Always ensure that what ever poultry/meat you do have is well cooked with no blood or pink remaining.  Extra care should be taken when cooking minced meat or sausages.
• Liver  Do not eat any liver at all or any liver products eg liver sausege/pate.  They can contain too much vitamin A wich is bad for your developing baby.
• Vitamin A  Do not take high dose multivitamin supplements, any supplements with vitamin A in or fish liver supplements.
• Fish  Fish such as tuna or oily fish should be limited to once or twice a week.  Fish such as shark should be avoided altogether.  You shouldn't have raw shell fish either as you may get food poisoning.
• Alcohol  You should avoid drinking alcohol when you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant as it can have harmful and serious effects on the development of unborn babies.
• Caffeine  Don't have more than 200mg of caffeine each day.  I find it best to just stick to two small cups of instant and leave it there (also bear in mind caffeine is found in things like chocolate and some soft drinks).  It has been found to result in low birth weight babies and even miscarriage.  I have read (I think it was a swiss government report, the rest of my info' comes from uk NHS) that caffeine can double the heart rate of your baby!?

Now, you may be wondering if you should be eating twice as much food as before you were pregnant.  No, you don't need to do that (unless you are underweight, then it may help!) now you are pregnant you should aim to eat a bit more than usual and vary your diet to make sure you eat a balanced diet including all food groups.  By your third trimester you should be eating an extra 200 calories a day.

I, personally, advocate the use of a reputable pregnancy vitamin supplement.  I'm not advertisind it but Pregnacare is my choice and that of the Royal College of Midwives.

Good luck!