Congratulations on your pregnancy! 

 I really sympathize with your struggle to gain weight. I was a scary 88 pounds (I'm 5'1) before my take down surgery and it freaked me out. Yet, my surgeon was totally calm about it. I've found this with doctors -- weight loss doesn't bother them like it does me. I wonder if they just have confidence that the body will take care of itself. 

If you're drinking Ensure and eating, then the baby should be getting all the nutrients s/he needs, right? Maybe your ob/gyn can confirm this so that you don't need to worry. 

My weight gain tip: Add ice cream to the Ensure. I like coffee ice cream and vanilla Ensure over ice. Yum. Gives you an extra ~200 calories in the drink. 

I also tracked my calories on a website for a few days so I could get a sense of how many calories I was eating. I'd thought it was a lot more but it turned out that if I didn't make an effort, I was under 2000 calories for the day. You may already have a good handle on this but I had no idea how many calories I was getting in a day.

For dehydration -- chicken broth is supposed to be the magic thing. Lots of sodium. A doctor told me it was as good as getting a liter of IV fluids. I don't know if that's true but it's certainly better than drinking water if you are getting dehydrated. 

Hang in! 

Thanks so much!! My OB isn't very reassuring as the plan is to admit me if I can't get weight on myself (and staying this chronically dehydrated). Anything with sugar is making me puke right now but I wonder if ensure (tolerable) will make ice cream tolerable,  that's actually a fantastic idea! I'll also go and purchase some chicken broth tonight. I will just put it in a thermos and drink it all day which will work way better than water.

Hi again, Little Greeny.

One more thought since you mentioned that your OB wants to hospitalize you as a back up plan...  Personally I would avoid hospitalization as much as possible just because it makes me feel sicker than I might be and it exposes us to all kind of infection risk. You might instead ask if you can get IV fluids once a week at an infusion lab to make sure you stay on top of your hydration. I used to go to an infusion lab twice a week for iron infusions and then for Remicade, so I can't see why going for fluids would be a problem, though it might be unusual. I had to go to the ER twice for fluids and it took at least 4 hours each time!  A gastoenterologist could probably pull strings to get you an appointment at an infusion center instead. I'd rather go and sit in a chair for a couple hours to get an IV than get admitted. 

You might also shop around for a really good nutritionist who can help with the weight gain while you're having morning sickness. It must feel like a losing battle. 

Oh, also, I read that squeezing lemon in the water will also help with absorption. I'm not positive about that and don't know the science but it sounds true.

I have a friend who had to be on anti nausea meds almost her entire pregnancy 

• Hi, Little Greeny. If you will drink a lot of chicken broth for hydration, try to buy an organic chicken broth so there is no MSG or preservatives. It will be better for you and baby, especially if you plan to sip it all day long. Or make your own if you can, and you'll control what you put in it. Google "bone broth" or chicken broth for easy methods. I make my own broths by boiling and then simmering chicken bones, all kinds of vegetables and bunches of herbs. Add sea salt, ground pepper, throw in garlic cloves to flavour. Strain and you have broth. Avocado on toast is a good high fat. Cook with lots of extra virgin olive oil (don't use for high heat cooking though; organic canola oil can better withstand high heat stir fry or sautée). Roast vegetables by drizzlings lots of EV olive oil. Hard or soft cheeses will provide fat and also calcium for you and baby. Salmon, fresh or canned, for good fat, omega 3, and protein (if canned salmon, eat the little column of bones because they are high in calcium). Nut butters, bananas, eggs.. Best wishes to you and baby.

When I want to gain weight I eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches (some times with jelly and sometimes not, to mix things up) and drink some Lactaid whole milk with them.  I also eat a lot turkey and cheese or ham and cheese sandwiches.  If I drink a lot of juice I gain weight too, the sugar is bad for you but will definitely put on the pounds for you. 

So that's what makes me gain weight.  Tons of bread (wheat, white, whatever your body can handle), milk, and juices.  And the key is too not eat and drink so fast.  Eat and drink slowly.  No rushing.

But if you feel healthy but look skinny.  I say forget about gaining weight.  Some us were just meant to be skinny.  If you have energy and can function.  Don't let food and how much you weigh consume your life.  Have fun, yo.

I used to get offended when people would tell me "Oh you're so skinny, you need to gain weight, blah, blah, etc."

But now I'm just like whatever, I look good.  I'm just a skinny guy with a sexy J-Pouch.