It's hard to see the number going up on the scale during pregnancy, but if you were underweight, or a normal weight, or even a little bit overweight before getting pregnant, you need to expect to gain some weight during pregnancy. And it's not all fat. It's also extra breast tissue, extra fluid, the growing uterus, the baby, amniotic fluid, and the placenta. So that weight comes from a lot of different sources. If you were underweight prior to getting pregnant, you need to expect to gain up to 40 pounds. And if you were at a normal weight, then you can expect to gain 25 to 35 pounds. And if you were just a little bit overweight, then you still need to gain maybe 15 to 20 pounds. There are some circumstances where a doctor will tell a woman not to gain any weight, but it ultimately comes down to your body mass index (or BMI) prior to getting pregnant. So if you have specific questions or concerns about how much weight you should gain, talk with your OB provider and they'll tell you how much weight you should gain and how you can realistically achieve that goal.

Some women are super hungry during pregnancy and also worried about having an empty stomach, because that can make you more nauseous. And so you asked a very good question - "How do you eat right and keep your blood sugars even so you're not overly hungry, and eat all the time, and gain too much weight?" And the key is eating the right amount of foods, and spreading your daily caloric intake over about 5 to 6 small meals, and about eating (like I said) the right foods and using portion control. If you just eat breakfast, and then just eat lunch, and then eat dinner 8 hours later, you're going to be starving. And it's a fact that we tend to overeat when we're staring, so if you eat every 2 to 3 hours, and especially if you eat a good, healthy carbohydrate and a protein, then that will help to keep your blood sugars even and control hunger.

So maybe you could have 2 hard-boiled eggs in the morning with a piece of toast for breakfast. And then a couple hours later, have a small cup of yogurt with a little granola. Then for lunch, you could have a sensible salad with a protein in it, and lots veggies, or even fruit on the salad, with a roll on the side. As a snack in the afternoon, you could have apples and peanut butter. And then for dinner, have lean stake with rice and vegetables. And even snack on some air-popped popcorn before going to bed while you're watching a show or something.

Remember that carbohydrates in and of themselves are not the enemy. Our bodies need carbohydrates to function. It's just important to eat the right kinds and, again, to eat nutritious food. For example, if you had a handful of chips, it could have the same caloric value as a medium sized apple, but you're going to get a lot more nutrition from the apple then you are the chips, and so of course the apple would be the better choice, because it has lots of vitamins and fiber and it's not just empty calories. And you can also substitute whole-grain bread instead of eating white bread, or whole-grain pasta instead of traditional pasta. So by making just a few choices, you can help to keep your blood sugars more even and help yourself gain the appropriate amount of weight during pregnancy.

If you have more questions about it, talk with your OB provider who can give you tailored information and advice. And if you have more questions in the future for me, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at   / intermountainmoms  , and recommend us to your friends and family too.