9 months of Lent…this is how I described pregnancy to my husband, Steve the other day. Every once in awhile I'll decide to be a good Christian around Lent and give something up until Easter. This is usually chocolate. I start out with good intentions, and most of the time I can just squeak by until Easter, but you'd better bet I'm chowing down on a chocolate bunny that Easter morning!
In my mind I knew I'd have to give up things I enjoyed… alcohol, caffeine, sushi…but I didn't really think about how LONG I'd have to give it up for. (I've even been told that I can't have cold lunch meat, but sue me… every once in awhile I have to give in to my Subway cravings… at least it's healthy!).
Sushi isn't something that we eat on a very regular basis, but we do enjoy it. Sushi rolls, sashimi…I can't say that I'm dying to eat it every day, but I have wanted it and know I can't have it. The worst was on our cruise… they had a sushi bar and I passed by it every day studying the menu, knowing what I WOULD order and then not.
The other two… it's been harder. I'm usually okay with not drinking. I mean, it's not like I'd have a drink every day anyway, but I LOVE good wine. Seriously, one of Steve's and my hobbies is going to wineries and trying all different types of wine. I even have a few wine books and am interested in how different grapes fermented different ways can produce various varieties of wine. In fact, we have about 2 CASES of wine from our different trips to southern Indiana wineries (and everyone who hasn't been to Oliver in Bloomington… you seriously have to go…it's absolutely beautiful and it makes for a very romantic afternoon). These cases of wine are currently being stored in our garage (out of sight out of mind, right?). Our wine rack even conveniently fell down and we haven't put it back up. Recently I've found myself missing a nice glass of Cawtaba or Muscat with dinner. It's even hard to watch some of my favorite shows, like Brothers & Sisters, where the characters are always enjoying a nice glass of wine. I also miss martini's, but not like I miss wine. I know I must sound like a total alcoholic, but try taking something away for almost a year that you enjoy. It'll make you crazy! Recently my doctor said that an occasional glass won't hurt… so I'm already planning to have one with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (as well as a champagne toast on New Year's Eve!). This is getting me through…
Finally, I believe that removing caffeine from a pregnant woman's diet is downright cruel and unusual punishment! When the books say that you'll be incredibly fatigued during early pregnancy, they aint lyin! I've had days at work where I just want to stop answering the phone and ignore all residents and just put my head down on my desk and sleep. I've also been turning in somewhere between 8:30-9:00 almost every night (thank god for tivo!). Yeah, and I can't have caffeine to help combat this complication in my busy life. I've started drinking decaf lattes from Starbucks. They aren't the same as the lattes with espresso, but they are okay I guess.
Steve and I went to Starbucks this morning to enjoy a latte and a muffin. While drinking my DECAF pumpkin spice latte, a barista came around with samples of the fully loaded version for us to try. I jumped at it, and Steve's initial reaction was, "maybe you shouldn't". I gave him the look of death. I ended up drinking ½ the sample and gave him the rest (come on, it wasn't even an 1/8 of a cup of coffee). I told him that one day science was going to find a way for men to become pregnant and then he'd have to suffer like me. He agreed that it would make for a good science fiction novel… bitter women injecting men with a drug giving them pregnancy symptoms and then the women would withhold caffeine and alcohol. Not a bad idea! .
So, not only does this part suck, I also have a not-so-healthy diet going on right now. Not much sounds good and within the last 2 weeks, meat had stopped sounding good too. However, cheese does sound good. I've eaten a lot of cheese pizza (with limited sauce, tomato sauce still makes me queasy), and mac n' cheese. I hope that all food starts to sound good soon because my baby is going to come out bigger than the Michelin man!
Anyway, that's my pregnant rant for today. Tomorrow (Sunday) I start week 14. I am into my second trimester… I've heard things get better….we'll see!
In my mind I knew I'd have to give up things I enjoyed… alcohol, caffeine, sushi…but I didn't really think about how LONG I'd have to give it up for. (I've even been told that I can't have cold lunch meat, but sue me… every once in awhile I have to give in to my Subway cravings… at least it's healthy!).
Sushi isn't something that we eat on a very regular basis, but we do enjoy it. Sushi rolls, sashimi…I can't say that I'm dying to eat it every day, but I have wanted it and know I can't have it. The worst was on our cruise… they had a sushi bar and I passed by it every day studying the menu, knowing what I WOULD order and then not.
The other two… it's been harder. I'm usually okay with not drinking. I mean, it's not like I'd have a drink every day anyway, but I LOVE good wine. Seriously, one of Steve's and my hobbies is going to wineries and trying all different types of wine. I even have a few wine books and am interested in how different grapes fermented different ways can produce various varieties of wine. In fact, we have about 2 CASES of wine from our different trips to southern Indiana wineries (and everyone who hasn't been to Oliver in Bloomington… you seriously have to go…it's absolutely beautiful and it makes for a very romantic afternoon). These cases of wine are currently being stored in our garage (out of sight out of mind, right?). Our wine rack even conveniently fell down and we haven't put it back up. Recently I've found myself missing a nice glass of Cawtaba or Muscat with dinner. It's even hard to watch some of my favorite shows, like Brothers & Sisters, where the characters are always enjoying a nice glass of wine. I also miss martini's, but not like I miss wine. I know I must sound like a total alcoholic, but try taking something away for almost a year that you enjoy. It'll make you crazy! Recently my doctor said that an occasional glass won't hurt… so I'm already planning to have one with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (as well as a champagne toast on New Year's Eve!). This is getting me through…
Finally, I believe that removing caffeine from a pregnant woman's diet is downright cruel and unusual punishment! When the books say that you'll be incredibly fatigued during early pregnancy, they aint lyin! I've had days at work where I just want to stop answering the phone and ignore all residents and just put my head down on my desk and sleep. I've also been turning in somewhere between 8:30-9:00 almost every night (thank god for tivo!). Yeah, and I can't have caffeine to help combat this complication in my busy life. I've started drinking decaf lattes from Starbucks. They aren't the same as the lattes with espresso, but they are okay I guess.
Steve and I went to Starbucks this morning to enjoy a latte and a muffin. While drinking my DECAF pumpkin spice latte, a barista came around with samples of the fully loaded version for us to try. I jumped at it, and Steve's initial reaction was, "maybe you shouldn't". I gave him the look of death. I ended up drinking ½ the sample and gave him the rest (come on, it wasn't even an 1/8 of a cup of coffee). I told him that one day science was going to find a way for men to become pregnant and then he'd have to suffer like me. He agreed that it would make for a good science fiction novel… bitter women injecting men with a drug giving them pregnancy symptoms and then the women would withhold caffeine and alcohol. Not a bad idea! .
So, not only does this part suck, I also have a not-so-healthy diet going on right now. Not much sounds good and within the last 2 weeks, meat had stopped sounding good too. However, cheese does sound good. I've eaten a lot of cheese pizza (with limited sauce, tomato sauce still makes me queasy), and mac n' cheese. I hope that all food starts to sound good soon because my baby is going to come out bigger than the Michelin man!
Anyway, that's my pregnant rant for today. Tomorrow (Sunday) I start week 14. I am into my second trimester… I've heard things get better….we'll see!
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