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Day 136 of 280 · 19 weeks + 3 days

The snack upgrade

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 11 sources · Plain-text version

Nineteen weeks and three days. The UK and US disagree on extra calories right now, and agree on what they should be. Today you swap one snack.

Size this week
about the size of a beef tomato
Length this week
around 15.3 cm from head to bottom
A Latina woman with a small bump, in a loose striped shirt, slicing an apple at a sunny office kitchenette counter, a small pot of yogurt beside the board.

Nineteen weeks and three days. If you're hungrier than you were a month ago, you're not imagining it. Today is about what goes in the gap, not how big the gap should be.

Your baby

One large ripe beef tomato on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 15.3cm long from head to bottom, about the size of a beef tomato, and putting on weight, getting ready for the birth (NHS). Of a 35-pound pregnancy gain, MedlinePlus says the baby accounts for about 8 pounds (3.5 kilograms) and your fat stores for 5 to 9 pounds (2.5 to 4 kilograms); the rest is everything else pregnancy builds (MedlinePlus).

Your body

Here the official advice splits, and it's worth saying plainly. The NHS says you need no extra calories until the third trimester, which starts at week 28 (NHS), and even then about 200 a day (NHS). The CDC says about 340 extra calories a day in the second trimester and about 450 in the third (CDC). Both are official guidance from serious bodies. They don't agree on the number.

They do agree on the food. The CDC's list is whole grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy and lean protein, with less added sugar and solid fat (CDC); the NHS says wholegrain, low-fat and low-sugar, with 5 portions of fruit and veg a day (NHS). Whatever the number, the snack is where most of the easy wins are.

Try today

  1. The snack upgrade

    Time: 10 minutes, plus one shop

    1. Name the snack you reach for most days, and the time you reach for it.

    2. Pick one swap from the CDC's list: a piece of fruit, a wholegrain, or low-fat dairy such as yogurt (CDC).

    3. If the snack comes with a soda or fruit drink, swap that for water too (MedlinePlus).

    4. Put the new snack exactly where the old one lived: the desk drawer, the bag, the car.

    Make it work:

    One swap, not a new diet. The AAP is blunt that pregnancy "is no time for fad or low-calorie dieting" (AAP).

Watch for

  • Normal

    a queasy day now and then; earlier symptoms can carry on (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for severe nausea and throwing up, and seek care if you can't drink for more than 8 hours or eat for more than 24 (CDC).

  • Normal

    heartburn after a big meal; smaller meals and not lying flat after eating help (MedlinePlus).

    Go to the ER

    for burning chest pain with squeezing or pressure, or vomit that is bloody or looks like coffee grounds (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    steady weight gain over the weeks.

    Call your provider

    for rapid weight gain, or sudden swelling in your hands or feet; the OWH says it may signal preeclampsia (OWH).

For you

Don't count. How much to gain depends on your weight before pregnancy (CDC), and the CDC's advice is not to try to lose weight while pregnant but to ask your doctor how much to gain (CDC). That's one question at your next visit, and then you can stop doing arithmetic.

If you're the partner: do the shop. Buy the swap, put it where the old snack was, and quietly stop buying the old one for a while.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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