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Day 193 of 280 · 27 weeks + 4 days

What 200 calories looks like

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 10 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-seven weeks and four days. From next week the NHS adds about 200 calories a day. Today you choose the snack that becomes that extra.

Size this week
about the size of a head of cauliflower
Length this week
around 36.6 cm from head to heel
A South Asian woman with a rounded 27-week bump in a loose kurta, standing at an open fridge in afternoon light, holding a pot of yogurt and a pear, her teenage daughter beside her.

Twenty-seven weeks and four days. The third trimester starts next week, and with it, for the first time, the NHS says you need a little more food. Today you work out what "a little" means.

Your baby

One whole head of cauliflower with the leaves trimmed, on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 36.6cm from head to heel, about the size of a head of cauliflower, and getting plumper by the day (NHS). The wrinkled look of a few weeks ago is filling out as fat settles into the folds of skin (NHS). Some of what you eat from now on goes into exactly that.

Your body

The NHS's line for this week is no extra calories until week 28 (NHS). From then, in the third trimester, it's about 200 extra calories a day (NHS).

US sources give bigger numbers. The CDC says about 340 extra calories a day in the second trimester and about 450 in the third (CDC), and the AAP says about 350 to 450 more a day in the second and third trimesters (AAP). The figures differ by country and by page, and your own need depends on where you started; the CDC ties healthy weight gain to your weight before pregnancy and says to work out your goals with your provider (CDC). All of them agree on the size of it: a snack, not a second dinner.

Try today

  1. The 200-calorie snack

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. Ask your provider which figure fits you, or start with the NHS's 200 and adjust when you know more (NHS).

    2. Choose from the foods the CDC lists: whole grains, vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy and lean protein (CDC).

    3. Read the labels and build one snack that comes close to your number.

    4. Buy enough for a week and put it where your hungry hour happens.

    5. Start it on the first day of week 28.

    Make it work:

    The CDC also says to limit added sugars and solid fats (CDC). A snack you look forward to is still a good snack; one you eat standing at the counter at midnight every night is worth a rethink.

Watch for

  • Normal

    steady weight gain, which the NHS says is likely around now (NHS).

    Call your provider

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

  • Normal

    itchy skin; about 20 percent of pregnant women feel itchy (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for itching that won't stop and comes without a rash, which may be a sign of a condition called cholestasis (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    heartburn after eating, which is on this week's NHS list (NHS).

    Get urgent care

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

For you

"Eating for two does not mean eating twice as much food," MedlinePlus says (MedlinePlus), and the NHS says the same: about 200 extra calories, not eating for two (NHS). The other half of that is just as true: don't diet or try to lose weight while you're pregnant (MedlinePlus).

Comments about your size, from relatives, colleagues, strangers in queues, are not data. Your provider weighs you; everyone else can keep their guesses.

If you're the partner: keep the snack stocked, and don't count it.

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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