i eat for two

Lame lame is my name. I'm constantly ravenous and must snack often to sate my hunger. If I don't keep my stomach filled then I feel nauseous. Yep, I'm pregnant. Talked to my Scout who lives in Knoxville and she said she didn't have strange cravings until her fifth month, with almost all of her children. With Zoe she craved rootbeer and never liked it prior to being pregnant. Then with Zac she ate 5 or 6 oranges each day.

No cravings. I'm ending my first trimester. Basically, I'm so fatigued at the end of each day that I lack energy to cook anything. My rice obsession is dying down despite the quick and easy nature of its cooking in my steamer.

What is most difficult about being pregnant are the restrictions on what I cannot eat.

I cannot have soft cheeses such as Brie and feta. Or that yummy melted Mexican cheese. Or any blue-veined cheeses. So that completely ruins the whole salad experience for me. Bleu cheese dressing is my standard. If I can't have that, then I won't get my greens and veggies in my diet. At least those pre-natal vitamins are good for something; filling in the gaps. My alternative is the caeser salad. But those are mostly boring. No unpasteurized cheeses for me. Actually, I think I may have eaten a small bit of Brie, from that last Brie kick, while very recently pregnant. But then when I had an inkling about my body and what was going on inside there, I threw the Brie away. Otherwise, it was too much of a temptation. It was also going bad, too.

Somehow though, it's okay to eat processed cheeses. Yuck. However, I love creme cheese and that's on the can have list. And Ian encourages me to eat lots of yogurt.

I suppose there are some restrictions on fish, too. The other day I lunched with Marie and she ordered sushi. I'm fairly sure I cannot have that. She offered me some of her spicy tuna roll, but I declined. The other thing is that sushi at that restaurant is usually over-rated and not so good. C'mon. It's east Tennessee. How fresh can it be? The raw fish avoidance is so so tough. Really. I love oysters. I had some fried when Ian and I were in Atlanta eating at Dailey's. He pointedly asked whether I could have them and I said yes, as long as they were cooked. But, shrimp doesn't appear on any list.

The no caffeine bit is no big deal except when I'm terribly thirsty in the car and the only thing Ian brought along is his diet cola. It isn't caffeine free. So I'm constantly carrying drinks and snacks along wherever I go because feeding this thing inside me is the essence of my life just now. But I don't do coffee, or herbal teas. But my regular old unsweet tea isn't really a problem as far as caffeine content. Hooray! And since I don't use artificial sweeteners, I don't have to wean myself off of them, either. Surely there was a reason I went cold turkey and drank my iced tea plain from the get go.

Oh hell. I just realized that chocolate has caffeine in it. Not that I purposely eat a lot of it. But Tuesday nights I do a bit of volunteer work with kids and horses and there's almost always a chocolate dessert/snack for the kids and we volunteers at the end of the night. No more chocolate. Perhaps I'll start bringing the dessert and then won't be eating something bad for me. Seriously, chocolate is not my favorite, but the state I'm in requires that I eat and east and eat. The nurse practitioner who did my intake exam at Specialty Hospital said I should eat 2400-2500 calories per day. Normally I eat between 1200-1500 calories each day.  How is it that I'm not eating enough?

Geesh. I need more snack ideas. Mostly I live off those kellogg's 100 calorie snack bars that are fruity. The blueberry are my favorite. And cereal is great too, to bring along to work in a plastic baggy.

Oh, and Melissa, the NP at my OB's office pointed out my high cholesterol levels. She asked if I took meds for that. My old GP never wanted me on Lipitor because of the threat of liver damage. My mom takes it though and it has had a brilliant effect on her cholesterol levels. Melissa told me that my levels will increase during pregnancy and not to worry too much about that. I'm not. Really. But.

Anyway, I hope that sometime very soon, my love of cooking in the kitchen will return and I'll have some lovely content to share with readers of this blog. My understanding is that after the first trimester my energy will abound. Can't wait for it to happen. But come 20 November, or thereabouts, I'll be thinking whole new thoughts about what I can and cannot eat, cause I plan to breastfeed. Sorry if that's TMI for a food blog. So that's a whole nother can o' worms.

Comments

[Keetha]

Oh! Congrats! That's wonderful, dietary restrictions aside. :-)

[Nikki]

I've been a total slacker and didn't realize that you are preggo! Congrats to you and Ian. :) And happy (belated) mother's day to you too ;)

[heels]

Dietary restrictions were one of the hardest things about being pregnant for me. I feel your pain!

However- here are some things to keep in mind:
Caffeine isn't a big deal, as long as you don't have a huge amount of it. The equivalent of 1 cup of coffee per day probably won't do anything. And don't EVEN worry about chocolate!!
I ate sushi while pregnant, but just made sure that the fish components were cooked. That meant things like eel (YUM!) and tempura rolls. Still really good!
Soft cheeses are really only a problem if they are unpasteurized, which is difficult to get in the US anyway. Just check to make sure dairy has been pasteurized and there shouldn't be any problem.
Lunch meat, though... that's a different story. Luckily I never cared for it much, anyway.

And I sure enjoyed the milkshakes I was suddenly being instructed to eat!

Have fun!!

[Bianca]

Congratulations!! I love a bit of pregnancy news! Oh yes I agree with Heels - don't worry about chocolate! But apparently you should still be careful of all those soft cheeses - even when the milk has been pasturised, cause there is still some risk. I hated all that restricted eating - poached eggs and cold meats were the hardest for me, especially salami! When my Smurf was born Mr Sadieandlance went to the supermarket and surprised me with loads of all the things I wasn't allowed to eat, what a sweety!