Chorevia

Day 171 of 280 · 24 weeks + 3 days

The hungry hour

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Very hungry at 24 weeks is normal, and so is not needing much extra food yet. Today you find your hungriest hour and stock it before it arrives.

Size this week
about the size of a corn on the cob
Length this week
around 30 cm from head to heel
A South Asian woman in a loose kurta over a 24-week bump standing at an open fridge in afternoon light, taking out a bowl of yogurt, a fruit bowl on the counter behind her.

Twenty-four weeks and three days. If there's an hour of the day when you'd eat the cupboard door, today is about that hour: naming it, and having something good ready for it.

Your baby

A single husked corn on the cob on a plain white linen cloth, soft daylight.

Around 30cm long from head to heel, about the size of a corn on the cob (NHS). Your baby's taste buds were already developing at 22 weeks, and the NHS says they may be influenced by what you eat (NHS).

Your body

You may feel very hungry this week (NHS). How much extra food that means depends on whose guidance you read. The NHS says you don't need extra food until week 28 (NHS). The CDC gives about 340 extra calories a day in the second trimester and about 450 in the third (CDC). Both agree it isn't twice as much; your provider can tell you which fits you.

What to eat is where the sources line up: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy and lean protein, with added sugars and solid fats limited (CDC). MedlinePlus adds two easy swaps: water instead of sodas and fruit drinks, and baked, grilled or boiled instead of fried (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The hungry-hour plan

    Time: 10 minutes, plus one shop

    1. Name your hungriest hour. For many people it's late afternoon, on the way home, or the hour after dinner.

    2. Choose two or three things for it from the CDC's list: yogurt, fruit, wholegrain toast, a handful of something with protein (CDC).

    3. Put them where you'll be at that hour: the bag, the desk drawer, the front of the fridge.

    4. Drink water with it rather than a soda or fruit drink (MedlinePlus).

    Make it work:

    The plan only has to beat the vending machine, not be perfect. If the hungry hour is late evening and heartburn is a problem, MedlinePlus advises not eating within 3 to 4 hours of bedtime (MedlinePlus).

Watch for

  • Normal

    piles, which up to 50 percent of pregnant women develop and which tend to get better after delivery (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for rectal bleeding or if home treatment isn't helping, and get care right away for a lot of blood or feeling faint (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    putting on weight, which the NHS says you're likely doing now (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for rapid weight gain or sudden swelling in your hands or feet, which may signal preeclampsia (OWH).

  • Normal

    heartburn; pregnancy can bring it on or make it worse (MedlinePlus).

    Go to the ER

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

For you

One US figure puts the day at about 1,800 calories in the first trimester, 2,200 in the second and 2,400 in the third (MedlinePlus). Read it as a sense of scale, not a target to count; bodies differ, and your provider knows yours. The same page has the line worth keeping: eating for two does not mean eating twice as much food (MedlinePlus).

Hunger isn't a lapse. It's information, and the plan is how you answer it on your own terms.

If you're the partner: do the shop for the hungry hour this week, and restock it before it runs out.

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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