What Changes during Pregnancy?

There are several physical, physiological, and emotional changes experienced during pregnancy. In early pregnancy, you might notice changes in your breasts, womb, hip, and skin. Your swing mood and emotion is also a common thing during pregnancy. Besides, you also experience frequent urination and constipation. This is definitely normal, because your body is shifting to prepare all the things needed by your baby. During the first trimester women also feel morning sickness—frequent vomits in certain time of the day as the result of raised hormones. In early pregnancy, progesterone level is raising and may cause nausea. It may result in under-appetite—losing the urge to eat certain foods. On the contrary, some pregnant women crave for foods and snacks in their early pregnancy. This then raises question; whether increased appetite in early pregnancy normal?

Is it Normal to have Increased Appetite in Early Pregnancy?

Early pregnancy can be complicated. You feel nausea as well as increased appetite in your first trimester. This is not surprising. Any time in their early trimester, pregnant women are coping with their “morning sickness”—which does not only occur in the morning. After vomiting because of the increased progesterone, you might feel instant hunger, because your stomach is emptied. You also feel the hungry signal because your body needs replacement calories for those used when you are vomiting. Your baby also needs some calories, vitamins, and other nutrition in order to support her growth. During pregnancy, women also have higher blood levels. Calories from foods are also needed to maintain it. This make craving for foods is not questionable for pregnant women. Most women experience unusual appetite boost in around week 7 to 12. Despite they usually start to dislike the foods they usually like, they might crave for anything else that can satisfy their hunger. This will usually stop in the end of the second trimester and it is definitely normal.

How do I Cope with Increased Appetite during Pregnancy?

Although this is a normal issue in pregnancy, there are several things you need to consider in satisfying your increased appetite.

1. You are eating for your baby and you. It means you need to take additional portion of meals than your usual one. However, you should remember than you eat for one adult and one small person. Do not eat two-adult portion as it may lead to overweight.
2. Drink enough water. When you eat more food, you also need to keep hydrated. Your body needs more fluids to nourish the baby. Drinking a glass of water or milk before eating can also satisfy your hunger, so that you can reduce your foods.
3. Eat little and frequently.In your early pregnancy, you might experience increased appetite as well as nausea. In order to cope with both, you need to eat little and frequently. Do not rush to empty your plate. Give intervals between your meals and eat small portion each time.
4. Avoid temptation.Having increased appetite does not mean you have to grab and eat everything you feel like eating. Be wise in choosing your diets, especially when coping with snacks. Some cupcakes, chocolate, or milkshakes might be tempting, yet they contain less good nutrition than some healthy snacks—fruits, oat bar, green smoothies do. Be sure to bring these healthy snacks along when going out, so that you would not think about stopping by eating some fast foods.
5. Treat yourself right. It is not that you cannot eat tasteful diets while pregnant. You just need to be wise at snacking. Every once in a while it is acceptable to grab some black forest bites or drink a cup of whipped strawberry shakes. You only need to go back to healthy diets afterwards.
6. Keep exercising. Being pregnant does not mean you have to stop exercising. You can still do light stretching, yoga, or running. Be sure to balance your appetite boost with enough exercises to keep you healthy.

When faced to increased appetite, you should always keep in your mind that the increased amount of food taken may be ignored, but the quality must always be assured.