Friday, June 22, 2012

7 Quick Takes: Pregnancy Edition!

In case you didn't read yesterday's post carefully enough, that's right! I'm pregnant! And so today, 7 random things that I've wanted to say over the past few months, but haven't been able to lest I prematurely spill the beans! Go see Jen for more quick takes!

- 1 -

There is no sweeter sound to a pregnant lady's ears than to hear someone say, "You look great." No matter how excited I am to be sharing my body with this little person I'm growing, there are times when I just look in the mirror and can't muster a happy thought about what I look like. To hear someone else tell me I look nice really makes my day. (Side note: I don't know how people go back to wearing regular pants, after having worn maternity pants. I'm just saying.)

- 2 -

You can eat soft cheese all you WANT! I am really not good at following rules if I don't understand the reasoning behind them, and since there are some things you're supposed to avoid while pregnant (and I will not take your word for it), I decided to read the fine print. Fact: soft cheese is fine, as long as it's made with pasteurized milk. Do you know how hard it is to even find soft cheese that's made with raw milk? Almost impossible. So indulge in that bacon and bleu cheese burger, or the goat cheese salad, or crackers with Brie, or whatever it is that you're craving. It's perfectly safe. Sushi? Still no. Deli meat? Only if you heat it up to steaming beforehand. All of this is to avoid exposure to Listeria, a bacteria that is easily fought off by adult immune systems, but is a threat to a growing fetus.

- 3 -

Winter 2012 286

Another thing you can have? Coffee. When I was so tired that I could barely make it through the morning without taking a nap under my desk, my morning coffee was an absolute life-saver. The last thing you need when you're more exhausted than you've ever been, and nauseated on top of that, is to have a caffeine-withdrawal migraine. Of course, if you drink coffee all day long, you should probably cut back. But a cup in the morning is perfectly fine and poses no risk to the baby.

- 4 -

Fried egg

It's possible that crackers will not be the best relief for morning sickness. In my first trimester, I had to eat about every 30 minutes to keep nausea at bay, but anything carby or sweet made me feel sicker. No crackers or bread or other things you think you should eat when you're nauseated. Nope, this baby of mine wanted scrambled eggs, cheese, and chicken. Weird, I know. As soon as the constant queasiness went away (Hallelujah!), I started balancing my diet back out again. Lots of fruit, veggies, whole milk dairy (I'm planning to dedicate a whole post to why later), and fatty fish, like salmon. And tons and tons of water.

- 5 -

Prenatal yoga is amazing. I went to my first class last week, and plan to try to take a class once a week until the baby comes. I took one regular yoga class a few weeks ago, and there were a fair number of poses I couldn't comfortably do, so I enjoy a class that's geared toward pregnant women. It also helps keep me in a calm mental space, so that when people start bombarding me with their well-meaning advice and compulsive labor and delivery war stories, I can just let it roll right off.

- 6 -

The book Baby Bargains is a great resource to help you wade through all the many, many brands and styles and types of things people will tell you you absolutely must have in order to safely and adequately raise your baby. It's part guidance from a close friend who's been where you're going, part deluxe all-inclusive Consumer Reports. A huge help as we were starting to put together our registry.

- 7 -

Here's what I looked like at 17 weeks :)

17 weeks!

13 comments:

  1. I thought I saw that in there in your last post. Congratulations!

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  2. AH! You look fanTAStic! :) So happy for you!!!

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  3. Congrats! I love reading about people being preggo!

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  4. CONGRATULATIONS!!! So excited for your growing family :)

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  5. Wahoo!! So excited for you! You do look great! I couldn't agree more with you on the soft cheese thing, nor the caffeine thing. I can't make it through the day without a diet coke. People always look at me sideways when I tell them my biggest cravings are blue cheese and feta cheese.

    And eggs...eat all the eggs you want. They have something in them that is great for baby's developing brain. My Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist and my dietician are encouraging me to eat eggs every single day. They said ignore the cholesterol warnings about eggs while pregnant, the pluses outweigh the minuses.

    Also Baby Bargains...yes please! This time around, I'm a thousand times more laid back. Car seat, check. Pack n play with built in changing table, check. Newborn disposable diapers, check. A few onesies, check. Cloth diapers ready to go after cord falls off, check. That's pretty much all I have ready. Oh, and my sling for carrying baby around. She'll be lucky if her room is painted before she arrives. Seriously, they don't need as much as the bog box stores say they do. And you get to take the snot-sucker home from the hospital with you :-)

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    1. Thanks so much!! I have long been ignoring pretty much all cholesterol warnings - most of the things I read lately say that the whole "low-fat" nutrition fad was absolutely misleading - healthy bodies need good fat! It's a good thing I'm not really the worrying type, too - we're moving in a few weeks, so it's going to be a bit of a crunch getting all settled in before she gets here! At least being busy keeps my mind of how much I can't wait to meet her!

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  6. I hated giving up my maternity pants, mostly because I had a preemie and was all lopsided from the c-section and my body not realizing that it wasn't pregnant.

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  7. You look WONDERFUL!!! Your nausea diet is actually AWESOME for you and baby!! Forget about carbs and fruit...just sugar you don't need :) Happy growing baby!

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    1. Thank you!!! I absolutely agree - I just wasn't expecting those cravings. :-) Now I could eat fresh fruit and veggies by the truckload, and am still not that psyched about carbs - I wouldn't mind terribly if that were a permanent change; my sweet tooth was out of control before!

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  8. Congratulations! I am so happy for you!!! :)

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  9. Congratulations! You look amazing! And great to know that a little caffeine won't hurt, I always worried what would I do if I one day end up expecting and have to give up my tea!
    As an aside, I've been lucky enough to recieve the Versatile Blogger Award, and I'd like to nominate you and your gorgeous blog!
    http://crazygypsychronicles.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/walking-on-sunshine.html

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    1. Thank you thank you thank you!! You are so sweet!! :-)

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