Pickles and Ice Cream? How About Cucumbers and Yogurt.

I'm pretty sure it's not ok to go through a bottle of green tabasco sauce in 3 days, even if I am pregnant. But it's just soo yummy! (At least we got a killer deal on them--I found $1 off coupons in one store, collected a bunch, and used them at a cheap store where the little bottles were $1.09. I have about 4 dozen bottles, which, before this pregnancy, I was thinking was like a lifetime supply...)

But as I'm sitting here eating my lunch of peas, strawberries, and ww tortilla with scrambled egg & cheese (yep, with green tabasco sauce on everything but the strawberries), I'm realizing that this is a predictable part of growing a baby for me.

So I don't consider myself really particular when it comes to food. I like pretty much any food that's not gristly or greasy or too sugary. I like to eat balanced meals and snacks. I like simple foods best, but also adventurous recipes made from good ingredients (Thai curry, sushi, fresh Mexican recipes, etc.). I don't eat much 'processed' food, not for any ethical reason, but just because I don't like the taste and because I'm cheap and can make stuff on my own. Oh, and I don't like chocolate, which I know isn't normal, but hey--more for you!

With that background, my food choices during pregnancy aren't too weird--just amplified versions of these preferences, I guess. And there seems to be three phases to my eating habits in each pregnancy, which (surprisingly enough) correlate with the three trimesters. For your reading enjoyment...

FIRST TRIMESTER: Find out I'm pregnant at about 6 wks. Nausea takes about 2 wks to set in, during which time I both doubt that I'm actually pregnant, and think maybe this is the lucky pregnancy where I won't get sick.

But then the morning sickness sets in. Sense of smell heightened. Sense of appetite squashed. Nausea. Disgust at the thought of eating... anything, just about. No energy. Crabby most of the time. I usually find 2 or 3 foods I can choke down to stay alive for the next 2 months. (With Felix: yogurt and dry wheat chex , Ezra: nectarines and honey-7-grain kashi granola bars, Baby #3: Mi-del graham crackers, butternut squash, and oranges). It's a challenge to prep food for other people. (When I was pregnant with Felix, I made a cake for Brian in June and spelled out "Happy Father's Day" in chocolate chips. It took me two hours and about 5 trips to Mr. Porcelain to get those horrible smelling chocolate chips on. Blech.) Poor Brian probably loses a few pounds along with me in those first months, since my strategy for making it through this time involves hitting the sack at 7p or so and sleeping my nausea-filled life away.

The first three months of each pregnancy have seemed a little tougher with each baby, but only because I can't nap as easily with tots around, and because those tots have to eat. Since even the act of spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread makes me want to throw up at that point, my kids eat a lot of plain yogurt-fruit-cereal combo, which isn't anything to feel too guilty over probably, even if they did eat it twice a day sometimes....

SECOND TRIMESTER: Wake up on day 1 of week 14 with an appetite. Let me at that fridge. I'm able to slowly start eating normally. My energy level is great, and I'm interested in cooking and eating again (much to Brian's relief). This is the happy part of pregnancy.

Since this is where I'm at right now, I'll record my 'cravings' this time around (they're more or less the same as the other two times):

• protein, protein, protein. Yummmm. Tofu, veggie burgers, garbanzo & kidney beans, eggs (hard boiled, scrambled), plain yogurt, chicken sometimes, and deli turkey. But only the pricey deli turkey, the kind that is just shaved turkey breast--not the pressed together slimey stuff. I search out the best prices for these foods, and buy a lot...
• Nuts. I have eaten more almonds this pregnancy than most people do in 5 years I think.
• Whole grains. Dense, hearty breads--anything that takes longer to chew than to read the ingredient list, basically. TJ's ww tortillas and pita bread, or homemade. Oat bran muffins.
  
• Veggies. I looove veggies. Spinach, squash, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, etc, etc.
• Fruit. Especially citrus (Grapefruit Farmers of America sent me a personalized thank you note this year, they hope I'm planning on having at least a dozen kids), and berries. Super yum.
• Random strong flavors, like feta cheese, artichoke hearts, vinegar... and green tabasco sauce, of course.

THIRD TRIMESTER: A toned-down version of the previous trimester, with heartburn. It seems like I'm always hungry, and then after two bites I'm too full. So I snack, a lot. Since my babies don't tend to stick out very much, they take over my entire abdomen instead. I'm not sure where all of those organs go, because I remember feeling the baby kicking in my back and up almost in my chest a lot. The net effect is not being able to sit comfortably for the last month, and having a lot of heartburn. Really though, since that's about as bad as it gets for me in pregnancy, I'll keep my complaining to a minimum.


So, that's quite enough about my pregnancy eating habits. What have your cravings and aversions been?? I'd love to hear!

PS, here's a belly shot from a week or so ago.