I was at my doctors office yesterday for yet another appointment. At about 6 months pregnant, I just get tired of going to the doctor, waiting for 45 minutes in the cramped waiting room only to see the doctor for less then 5 minutes. Sigh.
This time, she pulled out some new “reading material” her office had received, including a list of Things a Pregnant Woman Should Avoid. Double sigh. Because, if you ask me, the worst thing about pregnancy (after all the puking I do for the first 5 months) is the extensive list of Thou Shalt Nots. Pregnancy really is a 9 month fun killer.
Let me give you my hardest to abstain from Thou Shalt Nots (in no particular order):
1. Sushi, Lunchmeat, or HOTDOGS!: Ok, so technically I don’t eat much in the way of sushi, lunchmeat or hotdogs. But now that I’m pregnant, that’s all I want. Sure, according to my doctor, it’s ok to eat heated lunch meat (BLECH!) or non-raw-fish-containing sushi (there is
such a kind?), but that’s not what I’m looking for! I want a big old sandwich full of cold cuts and a plate full of salmon sashimi and Dragon rolls. I haven’t…yet…but am I ever tempted!
The worst for me, though, is the hotdogs. I seriously can count on one hand the amount of times I eat hotdogs in a normal year. But the cafeteria at the school I teach at has started doing jumbo hotdogs every Friday. And they smell AMAZING. Like, my mouth is literally salivating as I teach and the smell of those dogs is wafting toward my classroom. It simply isn’t fair.
2. Caffeine: Seriously, I am jonesing for a huge pot of coffee. Like mug after mug of freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee. Alas, us preggos are limited to about 200mL of caffeine a day, which is about one cup of coffee or one or two of weak tea. Sigh. There is something so unsatisfying about having one cup of something and knowing you must stop. And, according to my doctor, herbal teas are now a big no-no. Funny, they weren’t when I was pregnant with The Boy, but they are now. All this talk of caffeine leads me to the toughest one for me…
3. DIET COKE (or anything with aspartame): People, I live on Diet Coke. LIVE. It’s my favourite drink, it’s my go-to pick me up, sometimes it was my lunch (sad but true). I feel like I single-handedly keep Coca-Cola in business (sorry if your stock prices have plummeted since my pregnancy). But from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I haven’t had a single sip of DC (yes, I call it DC). And I so so so miss it.
4. Soft-serve ice cream: No joke. Apparently bacteria can easily grow in machines that aren’t properly cleaned. Reading this one made me, you guessed it, desperate for a hot fudge sundae.
5. Changing the cat litter/Lift anything over 20 lbs: Well, it’s not that it’s HARD for me to not change the cat litter or lift anything over 20 lbs, but it’s that it can be almost unavoidable at times. Our cat’s litter box is in our basement, so I don’t have to go down there very often, but I cannot stand the smell of cat urine. It’s even worse when I’m preggers. So I end up nagging and nagging the husband to change the litter, which isn’t fun for anyone. Believe me.
The lifting, though, while totally important, is almost unavoidable. I have a toddler who weighs more then 20 lbs. And he needs to be picked up. We would never go anywhere/get anywhere if I didn’t pick him up. As the primary caregiver whose husband works long hours, it’s not like I have anyone else around to share the load (literally).
That’s my list of the hardest Thou Shalt Nots. What was the hardest for you to give up or did you even bother to abstain from anything?
I didn’t bother to mention the whole list. I think we all know that you shouldn’t drink alcohol, smoke or do drugs (not hard for me!), scuba dive (ha- as if a wetsuit would fit me), or go skiing (again, can you imagine?). My favourite one on the list, though, was the last… AVOID GETTING HERPES WHILE PREGNANT. Hm. I’ll try my best.
My grandma was told to drink a can of beer a day while pregnant with my father, he was born fat and happy and is now the smartest in the family of 8 other children… Lol
Anyways, jogging is another no no thing later in pregnancies.. As the cord may be wrapped around the babies neck and well, cause a horrible outcome.. I have a cat and she has gotten SUPER clingy over the last couple weeks, boobs are sore, very tired, hard to get out of bed…. Wondering now if I’m pregnant too… :-/ if I am, holy god the thought of giving up sushi!? Noo!!! Lol. 😉 but a glass of wine is actually good for you and the baby, just don’t get drunk on it every night and cause your baby to become an alcoholic…
Sushi. I LOVE sushi. My first meal after birth in each case was a PLATTER of sushi delivered to the hospital. Aaahhh.
I drank water-processed decaf when it was in at 2nd Cup, and the occasional cup of real coffee when it wasn’t – I only drink one cup of coffee a day anyhow, though it is a big one.
Wine – tough, but I’d have the very occasional quarter-glass or so, just to take the edge off that craving.
Rare meat. This was tough. I like my steak to bleed on my plate, and having to cook it to at least medium was just not the same, though good enough to convince myself.
Ditto on the midwives appointments, they are great.
I too have been massively craving lunchmeat since being pregnant. Although don’t really have any problems with the others. Nonetheless somedays I could go for a glass of wine – but would have too much of a guilty-mom complex if I satisfied that indulgence. Only a few months to go!
I didn’t really avoid anything.
I did start drinking and exorbitant amount of rootbeer when I was pregnant. Each time.
Oh – I did avoid dunking the belly in hot tubs and just hung my legs in.
I think that was only thing I avoided. I ate well and everything (in moderation).
The really funny thing about this is that it is different from when I was pregnant with both of my kids! I pretty much ate and drank what I wanted (I did go easy on alcohol but never really had a hankering for it anyway).
However, I would try and kick your aspartame addiction. I was a HUGE DC addict a few years ago and then I developed an auto-immune disease and there have been studies linking aspartame to AU diseases. It was tough but I did it!
Was thinking the same thing about the wait and visit. I had midwives both times and I used to spend AN HOUR at each appointment chatting, getting advice, sharing my fears, etc. Awesome care!
In regards to lunch meat/hotdogs, etc… When I was pregnant with The Boy, the Maple Leaf Foods Listeria outbreak (the one that killed some people) happened. It’s made me too uncomfortable to eat them, ever since then, no matter how much I might crave them.
Thanks Julie- I am really counting down the days until I can get herpes again:) It keeps me wondering, why just mention not getting herpes, why not other VDs?
I wonder if they make you stop eating sushi in Japan when you’re pregnant? As for coffee, I drank it, pepsi…hell ya! I don’t drink alcohol anyway so no problems there. I seriously craved Subway when I was preggo, and I ate it! I never heard of refraining from lunch meat or hotdogs.
I say do what works for you!
My dad is an OB, so I called him and asked him to level with me and tell me EXACTLY how much caffeine I could drink every day…and he said three cups of coffee was okay…I usually only had one or two, but I was so thankful he told me that!!
I only eat veggie sushi, so that wasn’t an issue with me, and the whole luncheon meat thing didn’t start until after my pregnancies.
SOFT-SERVE ICE CREAM??? SEriously? ridiculous, I say!
Oh, man. I think that list got longer in the last three years! (That, or three years of persistent sleep deprivation has done some damage to my memory.) Anyway, I didn’t change much of anything when I was pregnant. I’ve never been much of an alcohol drinker, and I tried sushi the first time after my last child turned two. But coffee? Give up coffee? For NINE MONTHS!?! Um, no. Ditto chocolate, caffeinated soft drinks, soft-serve ice cream, lunch meat, hot dogs, and lifting things over 20lbs (like my daughter). I survived on KFC and New York Fries, large Cokes, cola Slurpees, and Blizzards, and (aside from driving me crazy) my kids seem alright.
But herpes? Oh my God, did I laugh hard at that one! Be careful, y’all!
i think except for the sushi, those are good rules for everyone! your experience with the waiting room only cements my belief in midwife care…5 minute wait and a 45 minute appointment 🙂
i had a cup of coffee a day but didn’t abstain from anything else except from raw food. and i, too, avoided da herpes! just think, in three more months you can get herpes worry-free!
I ate and drank everything I wanted to – I’m a horrible mother (but you knew that already) so I just went about living my life the way I did every day, before pregnancy and after. Didn’t like red wine much during gestation, so I drank champagne instead. Heh.
And I *think* I might have managed to avoid Herpes. *wipes sweat from brow* PHEW!!
You’re past the half-way mark, lady… baby will be here sooooo soooooon!! However you want to be… feel easy about it. Stress has a way of undoing all the good stuff, so enjoy it all!! (And don’t worry – I’ll eat your share of salami sammiches and hotdogs, sashimi, and champagne for you. You’re welcome, dollface.)
Good grief!
I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter what you do, as a mom or while preggers, somebody somewhere is going to tell you it’s wrong…
huh… you described my diet (before the pre diabetes). Didn’t know hotdogs were on the no list. Been gorging on sushi, with diet coke. 2 cups of coffee plus tea (herbal, albeit). Too many rules I think.
I changed my cat litter and drank 3 cups of coffee a day (doctor approved). I will also admit that I drank a glass of wine on occasion. One night, I kid you not, I was just enjoying dinner and conversation and sort of forgot I was pregnant…I got a bit drunk, I won’t lie. I did avoid sushi….
You know what else I avoided? Books that told me how to be a mother or what to expect…or what not to eat or drink….:)
I’ll go for sushi with you as soon as the next babe makes his appearance!!!
Did she tell you there’d be a test after all that! Oh, and thank god you should avoid getting herpes! I’ve never known anyone to intentionally get them..I guess there’s a first for everything! LOL!
Just think – only 3 more months! 😉