Food Glorious Food!

The moment people find out you're pregnant, they automatically start telling you about what you should and should not eat.  If you're like me, you'll have done your homework in advance, and find yourself telling them that you already know about it all.

If you are like me though, your diet is likely to get questioned by the majority of people. I'm pescatarian - meaning I'm a vegetarian who eats fish. My choice is a moral one. 


Too many people seem to be under the impression that by being vegetarian - and I will be using the term loosely here, to describe all varieties of vegetarianism - or vegan, you're not eating healthily enough and you are therefore harming the baby and will have to eat meat.

Sorry, you lot who are of the above opinion. That is complete and utter bullshit.  As long as you are on a balanced diet, you don't need to eat meat. Also, keep in mind that you'll be put on pregnancy vitamin supplements, meaning that whatever nutrient you're not getting from your diet, you're going to get from the pills.

Let us have a look at the most common foods that you're told to avoid, and why:

• Soft Cheeses with a white, mouldy rind, such as brie and camembert, and blue-veined cheeses such as stilton. All these cheeses could contain listeria, a bacteria that could harm your baby.
• Pate, and raw or undercooked meat and eggs. All are possible sources of bacteria that can harm your unborn baby, such as salmonella. When cooking meat and eggs, make sure they are cooked properly. Avoid products made with raw eggs, such as home-made mayonnaise.
• Raw seafood, such as oysters, or sushi that has not been frozen before making. This means, any sushi that contains crab meat is fine, since it is a processed food purchased in the 'stick' format - i.e. frozen food. Vegetarian sushi is also another alternative. Shellfish is usually a food you're told to avoid for the simple reason that it is one of the most common foods that causes food poisoning.  If cooked properly, then you're fine. 
• Shark, swordfish or marlin. These fish contain unsafe levels of naturally occurring mercury. Tuna contains some mercury too, so it's best you don't eat more than four medium-sized cans, or two fresh tuna steaks per week.
• Don't eat liver and liver products (such as pate or liver sausage), because they may contain large amounts of the retinol form of vitamin A. Too much of this could be harmful to your developing baby.
• You should stop or cut down on drinking alcohol during pregnancy, too. If you really want to drink during your pregnancy, don’t drink more than one or two units of alcohol, once or twice a week, and don't get drunk.  Having said that, very few people are capable of moderation.  Refraining from alcohol is your safest bet. Wanna know what happens to babies whose mother keeps on drinking heavily throughout the pregnancy?  Clicky here, here, here and here.
• It's best not to have more than 200mg of caffeine a day. That’s two mugs of instant coffee or four cups of tea or five cans of cola a day. You could switch to decaffeinated hot drinks and colas, instead.  A good idea is to limit your chocolate intake - especially if you've had coffee/tea/cola throughout the day.  Keep in mind that chocolate contains caffeine.

When it comes to raw vegetables, make sure they are properly washed.


By the way, you know that whole "Eating for two" thing? Yep. That's bullshit as well.

When you're pregnant, your body knows that it needs to be more efficient in utilising the food you eat on a daily basis. What this means is that you don’t actually need any extra calories for the first six months of pregnancy. Then you only need about 200 extra calories per day for the last three months.

If you're like me, 200 calories doesn't mean anything to you. I eat what I eat because I like it, not for its calorie count. So, after some googling, I've found out that 200 calories is equivalent to:

• a slice of wholemeal toast with a small can of baked beans
• a toasted pitta bread with two tablespoons of reduced-fat hummus
• a slice of malt loaf or fruit scone with butter or spread
• one slice of cheese on toast
• 145 grams of cooked pasta
• 83 grams of dried apricots
• 41 grams Snickers chocolate bar

and the list goes on. Clicky here for a visual list of more 200g foods.

And another thing. You know those cravings pregnant women go on and on about? Yep. You guessed it. Bullshit too. It is all in the pregnant woman's head.  I can safely say that my cravings have not changed from my pre-pregnancy days up until now, that i'm approx 34 weeks pregnant.  I just feel like having chocolate milk more often. That much, I justify with the need of extra calcium.  Then again, I've always liked chocolate milk.

Pregnant women - do yourself a favour - eat healthily, and don't over indulge. The pregnancy weight so many women complain about after they give birth is merely their own fault.  You should be looking at gaining an average of 12 kilos by the end of the pregnancy. And this weight should be gained gradually.  [insert smug grin here. I'm happy to say I've so far gained about 8.3kg from the beginning until now. Go me!]  Your pregnancy weight gain should be on your torso, not your ass.

And on this note, I'm off to cook!

Old Wives' Tales

We've all heard of them. But how many people actually know what the Old Wives' Tales are all about?


Wikipedia describes them as:

Old wives’ tales originate in the oral tradition of storytelling. They were generally propagated by illiterate women, telling stories to each other or to children. The stories did not attempt to moralise, but to teach lessons and make difficult concepts like death or coming of age easy for children to understand. Also these stories are used to scare children so they don't do certain things.

These tales were often collected by literate men, and turned into written works. Fairy tales by Basile, Perrault, and the Grimms have their roots in the oral tradition of women. These male writers took the stories from women, with their plucky, clever heroines and heros, and turned them into morality tales for children.

Let's have a look at a few of them.

• If a pregnant woman sees something ugly, she will have an ugly baby.

Have you ever seen a newborn baby? They are ugly creatures for the first couple of days! 

• A full moon was believed to cause a woman to go into labor and give birth.  

If this were true, no pregnancy would be brought to full term since there is a Full Moon every 28 days. If the Full Mood brought on labour, it would mean that the first Full Mood to rise would lead to a miscarriage.

• Using a string, hang your wedding ring over your pregnant belly.  You are having a girl if the ring swings back and forth  and it’s a boy if it swings in a circle.   

I wonder how accurate this method is. To be honest, this is a variant of the pendulum which is used for divination purposes. I don't feel that it is accurate at all since someone's hand can very easily tremble without anyone realising it, thus influencing the outcome. Also, how would this work for unmarried mums-to-be?

• The Mayan tale adds the mothers age at conception and the year of conception.  If the result is a even number then mom is having a girl.  If the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way

According to this, Creature will be a boy.

• If you have acne while pregnant, it’s a girl.  It’s thought that acne during pregnancy is caused by the extra hormones.

Extra hormones are there regardless of gender.

• People believe that if you are craving salty foods while pregnant, you can count on having a boy.  If you crave sweets, fruit, and orange juice, you are having a little girl.  

Now, this is one thing I don't believe in. I'm nearly at the end of the pregnancy, and my cravings have not changed.  Whatever I used to crave before the pregnancy, I crave now.  The one exception I might make is Chocolate Milk. Then again, I believe cravings are nothing more than your body telling you that you need this or that. When it comes to the milk, it makes sense since milk contains calcium, and a higher quantity of calcium is needed throughout the pregnancy to help build the fetus's bones.

• The person that is most aggressive in bed at the time of conception is the opposite of what the baby will be. 

 Ok.... what if both parties were equally as aggressive?

• If the pregnant woman is graceful throughout her pregnancy, she’s having a girl.  If she becomes clumsy, she’s having a boy.  

Seeing as clumsiness increases the bigger you get - due to a bigger shift in your centre of gravity..... I don't know what to make of this one. If I were to blieve this tale, Creature's gender changed a few weeks ago from girl to boy.

• If a pregnant woman prefers to lay on her left side, she’s having a boy.  If she prefers resting on her right side, she’s having a girl. 

One's preference entirely depends on the fetus's positioning. Since Creature tends to shift his/her bulk on the left side, I tend to sleep on my right side more often than not.

• If you had a smooth pregnancy with no morning sickness, it’s a boy.  If you were sick or felt really nauseous during your pregnancy, it's a a girl.

If you ask me, if you have had a smooth pregnancy, you were bloody lucky. 


And last but not least, my personal favourite!

• If you are really moody, you are having a girl since you have another extra girl hormones in you.  Your pregnancy will make you smile and be more happy if you are having a boy because there’s a little penis inside you.

The Truth about Pregnancy

No matter how knowledgeable you think you are, or how much you want it to happen, you can never be truly prepared for the horrors that pregnancy brings along with it.

Yes, I said horrors. Deal with it.

Everyone says that pregnancy is the most beautiful period in a woman's life. Yeah right.

Truth it, it is pretty much 9 months of constant PMS. The moodiness, the cravings, the aches, the irrational thoughts. the cramps. 9 whole months.

Forget all that is shoved down your throat in movies. They only show the good stuff.

Let us start with the famous "Morning Sickness".

Don't be misled. It is NOT solely limited to mornings. It pretty much lasts all day and all night. Some have it lucky, and it only lasts for a few weeks. In my case, it lasted for about 4 and a half months. Yes, that is half the pregnancy of being constantly nauseated, and not knowing if I'll end up spewing or not.

Then we have the aches. You know the classical pose of a heavily pregnant woman, holding her lower back with one hand as she goes about minding her own business? Forget it. You'll be doing that after only a few weeks - probably before the first trimester is over.  And guess what? No one tells you that if you're gifted in the breast department BEFORE you get pregnant, it will be much more of a nightmare. You're in for having boobs that threaten to topple you over as they quickly try to reach your belly button, whilst wreaking havoc on your upper back. This means, your whole back is pretty much screwed.

Then you get the heartburn. I was lucky that it only made occasional appearances in the early stages of pregnancy. Not so much now that I'm in my 33rd week - it is my daily companion who comes to haunt me every day.

Toothache is also common. Since Baby needs calcium, s/he will deplete your own calcium sources, meaning you're more likely to get cavities and/or chipped teeth. I found this the hard way.

Rib ache is also common, especially as your belly gets bigger and bigger. The uterus ends up pushing up against your ribs [not to mention internal organs] thus causing aches and pains.

Still reading so far? Good.

I'm sure you're thinking that I complain a lot, and that I must think my pregnancy to be a curse.

Truth is, I don't. All of the above are things I deal with on a daily basis. And I am happy to suffer through all this, as it means that by the end of it all, I will get my very own minion. The aches will be gone after a while, and will be replaced by crying, whining, stickiness and stinky gifts.

I can't wait!