It used to be that before I was pregnant, as I am the slowest eater in the house, there was often food left on my plate when everyone else was done. At that time, feeding the 8 year old especially was a priority, because though she is a small girl child, she would rather be a hummingbird. Meaning, she would much prefer sugar, all things sugary, to any protein. I have made it one of my personal missions in life to expand her dietary repertoire to include regular protein and good quality fats, and if I had some breakfast sausage on my plate and she was hungry, well, "we can share it" I would say.
Quite quickly after becoming pregnant we learned this was no longer the case...There we are at the table and the kids are eying my plate and from deep deep within comes this frightening low growl of "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT". Whoa! and then we all laughed and now they may eye my food longingly, but they then look up at me and say "I know, I know, I won't even ask."
From that has evolved a most awesome and unexpected thing. When there is say, one piece of cheese left, the girl more than the boy, will often hand it to me and say "This is for the baby".
"Thanks!" I say with my mouth full and smiling.
I truly never thought I would take food from children, but it's not really a rational thought process any longer, and I can easily justify it, this is for their younger sibling, the smaller child, right?
Early on in the first trimester of pregnancy I wasn't so nauseous as some friends I have heard horror stories from. Thankfully no vomiting, except for that close call the one time our girl had food poisoning and I was trying to clean up her vomit..But there was a quality of "seasickness" that would come on, more so in the afternoon or evening than morning, and especially if I was at all hungry. That is a truly poor design, but seems to be the case with this wild adventure, here you are hungry and nothing sounds appetizing at all, the thought or smell of food itself makes the bile rise. The longer you go without eating the more screwed you are. My sister tells me about young pregnant teenagers who would come into the ED with intractable vomiting and report they "hadn't eaten for days". It can quickly become serious, and violent.
So I learned somehow, by glorious divine inspiration, that the reliably best appetizer, at least for us in summer, was watermelon. I would cut away the green, leave most of the white rind and liquify it in the Vitamix. Heaven. I graduated to adding strawberries and lime juice (hold the tequila) and this was a blissful daily requirement before eating. So scrumptious and satisfying and enough of a beginning that I could then even consider the idea of food and make my way to more protein and fat rich meals.
I must've consumed 5 whole watermelons on my own in a two month span, pints and pints of strawberries, and it was one of those things I tried to share with the family and none of them felt quite the same joy as I, in fact mostly they turned their noses up. Ah well, more for me!
The academic in me did look it up, I had to know, what is the glycemic index of watermelon? Is this a ridiculous path to certain ruin? especially with the concerns of gestational diabetes etc. Turns out watermelon is well recommended for those concerned with blood sugar, it is after all mostly water. I was probably doing myself a great favor with leaving on the bitter white rind, and adding the lime. With the juicy strawberries and the fact I learned that watermelon has more lycopene than tomatoes, it was probably a just right food for that exact timing of cardiovascular development and it prepared me for the ridiculousness of myriad answers to the question "What am I hungry for?" Because my prior eating habits are now pretty much out the window. Kale, who was a B.F.F., now tastes like fresh cut grass, ew! And I have found myself bribing myself, as I would bribe the aforementioned 8 year old, "If you eat your broccoli you can have the gluten free waffle..."I mean, you just can't gain weight on vegetables, right?
As fruit has moved to occupy a much more significant role in my diet, it is still very specific and focused. From watermelon on to daily black mission figs (Hey, three a day keeps a preggo girl regular!) and as the availability of those are waning after a lovely couple months I am now on to at least 2 pomegranates a week. Delish. So happy.
"Any odd cravings?" folks have asked. Not to the degree that I have heard about, or that I am anticipating with great curiosity. I have been surprised by the exponentially increasing interest in cookies some of you have already heard about. I previously "liked" cookies, sure, but was much more of a chocolate girl. Bitter, dark chocolate, a bar or two a week. Within 2 weeks of being pregnant I noticed there were bars piling up in the pantry (props and love to my dear husband who was steadily continuing to bring them home each grocery trip) Me lost my taste for chocolate!!?! Maybe the Mayans were right, this may be how the world ends...
But no, I can eat the shit out of a pan of gf chocolate brownies..and Pamela's gf cookies? Full frontal sugar and all? Oh happiness! Which leads me to feel this baby is certainly of my blood line, and may even be male, as my father and brothers will do ANYTHING for cookies. Seriously, ask them, anything.
Turns out my husband's family are also cookie monsters, so in case we were worried about immaculate conception or anything, I think that's ruled out. Though I imagine God/dess loves cookies too.
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