Knocked Up

The Fickle Pregnant Belly

Yesterday, my husband was sick.  Supposedly.  No, really, he was.  He couldn't eat anything and he kept gagging.  It's possible he threw up a little.  Sound like anything else?  Yeah, pregnancy. 

 

I was not very sympathetic, because that's how I've felt every day for the past four weeks.  Try having a little tailed being growing inside of you and having to run at the sight of cheescake and trying not to puke on your child as you give him spoonfuls of the amazingly pungent Rasberry Pear Yo Baby, I wanted to say, but didn't.  Instead I very maturely slammed cabinet doors and ignored him.  I should not be whining, because I am much better off than some pregnant women who are visiting the porcelain shrine multiple times a day.  I am just a tad uncomfortable.  A coworker told me it's like being hungover constantly, but without the fun of dancing and margaritas.  It's a hangover that I didn't even get a chance to earn. 

 

Sean is better today.  I am still pregnant - apparently, the little bean is now the size of a grape.  Or an olive in a dirty martini I can't drink.  In the last few days, my stomach has been doing very weird things, like wanting to eat a BLT with Avocado and spicy mustard on wheat bread right now, though it's 9 am. The guy at the deli used white bread - I have an aversion to white bread even when I'm not pregnant - but I focused on the bacon and the mustard and it went down OK.  I also have had cravings for sharp cheddar cheese, Swedish Fish, chicken with extra chicken on top, and anything with lemongrass or capers.  These are not the sort of mild cravings that I can ignore.  They are aggressive, beasty, hyena in heat cravings.  I go from wanting to puke and thinking that red velvet cake with thick icing should be banished from a five-mile smell radius, to needing to eat three Cup 'o Noodles, as my appetite tries to compete with that of every adolescent boy in the Denver Metro area.  Yum, Cup o Noodles.... 

 

Since I'm a little emotional, my reaction to thwarted satisfaction of cravings is not very reasonable.  Last time around, I wanted jalapenos.  On everything.  If I could've eaten jalapeno pancakes smothered in jalapeno syrup washed down with a jalapeno shake, I might have done just that.  At Whole Foods, I requested jalapenos on a sandwich.  There were no jalapenos.  The sandwich maker looked at my seven months pregnant belly, and said, "Wait a minute, let me check in back."  He emerged with a jalapeno!  I could've leapt across the counter and kissed him, had he not been toting a rather large knife. 

 

Maybe because I don't look pregnant, just bloated, my recent attempt to satisfy a craving at Whole Foods did not work as well.  I wanted a chicken burrito bowl.  Alas, one cannot get chicken burrito bowls unless it's after 11 am, because the rice and beans and such are not yet ready.  This is very reasonable, unless you live in pregnant world, in which case it makes you want to sit down on the floor and cry.   Instead, I wandered through the store until I came across something else  - chicken posole soup - that made me almost as happy as a warm bowl of rotisserie chicken mixed with beans and rice and lots of salsa. 

 

Damn, now I want a burrito bowl again. 

 

What did you (or your baby mama) crave during pregnancy?

 

 

 

 

 

 


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US

Comments

 

EG said:

Yesterday I was actually horribly sick, not pregnancy sick, and I seriously considered stopping at the store for Cup O Noodles.  Hard to say if that was a pregnancy induced craving.  Instead I wisely stuck with dry toast.

I actually haven't had any cravings or food aversions this time.  A little nausea, but no biggie.

The first time I didn't like meat in the first trimester.  Made me gag a little.  Once I got through that I wanted cookies.  That's all, just cookies all the time.  Not helped that my husband bought a TUB of M&M cookie dough from one of his co-worker's kids.  Fresh-baked M&M cookies on demand.

I told my OB that this time I'm staying away from the cookies.  None of that, "listen to your body" crap.  Your body lies, it wants cookies when it should want spinach.

December 10, 2008 2:37 PM
 

embo said:

I'm not preggers, but this your breakfast sammie BLT w/ avocado and mustard sounds great!  

December 10, 2008 2:50 PM
 

Alisa said:

I cried when the Wawa (a Philly 7-eleven type of store) menu board said they had Mac & Cheese and then it turned out that they were out. Luckily I made it to the car first.

I was 7 months preggo, I think.

December 10, 2008 2:57 PM
 

Diana said:

You would totally be in heaven at my moms house!  She has rice/beans/chicken/jalapenos galore.  And her posole kicks ass, especially when it's cold outside.    

During my 1st month or so of pregnancy I could only bear to eat grapes and crackers.  Anything else repulsed me.  Towards the middle & end, I could not get enough chicken breast Subways, Lays BBQ chips, and any kind of cake/ice cream.  Seriously, every night I would eat about 10 of those flavored ice religously with my Sex and the City.  *Sigh*  How I miss those days....................

December 10, 2008 3:08 PM
 

knockedup said:

Yeah, EG, I don't think there's a lot of folic acid in jalapenos.  I would recommend the cup o' noodles.  They went down better than dry toast.  Maybe it's all that salt.

Diana, you are making me hungry, and I just ate lunch!  Homemade posole is so much better than Whole Foods posole.

December 10, 2008 3:17 PM
 

Cara said:

For me it was Qdoba (by my house) or Chipotle (by my work). I ate there at least once a week. I could not get enough of the vegetarian burrito bowls. Even thinking about them now makes my mouth water. So good.

December 10, 2008 3:53 PM
 

liam's mom said:

i ate pizza roughly 15 times a week when i was pregnant.  if someone even mentioned the word pizza, i HAD to have it...RIGHT AWAY OR ELSE SOMEONE WAS GOING TO DIE.  and cupcakes, but only white cupcakes with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles.  and chocolate chip cookies but ONLY the soft ones.  my husband brought home crispy chocolate chip cookies once and i ran in our bedroom and slammed the door to sob...no joke.

December 10, 2008 4:02 PM
 

Kiddos Mom said:

I am 5 months pregnant with our 2nd and have only had one major craving – an everything bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese from Dunkin’ Donuts.  For the last month I have been popping into one of two shops we have here in the Springs and have been checking to see if they had any in stock, which they usually do. I was told each time by the nice (not) lady behind the counter that they were out. Finally the other morning I asked if they were discontinuing this flavor. She assured me that was not the case; they just hadn’t received a shipment in over a month. I, being hormonal and desperate for the one thing I can’t have,  left very upset and cried in the car all the way to work. I have not been able to share this horribly embarrassing story with anyone, however, I am very pleased to get it out here. Glad I am not alone :-)

December 10, 2008 4:09 PM
 

MidLifeMama said:

Oh I remember those moments, when you are hungry and you have to eat RIGHT.NOW or bad things will happen. I craved fruit - lots and lots of fruit and fresh veggies - mostly in the form of very freshly made chinese food. Nothing made me happier than a  pile of stir fried broccoli and baby corn and carrots on top of rice. Fortunately I didn't suffer the upset stomach issues. And fruit smoothies. Black raspberry ice cream. MMMMMM. Now I am hungry.

December 10, 2008 4:09 PM
 

Michelle said:

I craved BLT's as well but with turkey, banana peppers, cheese and jalapenos.  I could not get enough of cocoa crispies and twizzlers either.  It was like I craved my childhood faves.

December 10, 2008 4:24 PM
 

Jen L said:

I was lucky and did not have any food aversions when I was pregnant. In the beginning, I wanted anything with a strong flavor, like hot wings or Chipotle's red salsa. I made a girlfriend take me to a sushi place just so I could have a veggie california roll with lots of wasabi. But I want those things all the time anyway. Later, I ate tangerines or clementines or tangelos almost every day. In my last trimester, I HAD TO HAVE ice cream every day. Didn't matter if it was Ben & Jerry's or Kemps or a milkshake from McDonalds. My husband thought I was insane. I think my daughter was telling me she wanted calcium. Or to be a dairy farmer like her grandpa...

December 10, 2008 4:45 PM
 

coolteamblt said:

I was horribly sick my first 22 weeks. When I wasn't actively vomiting, I wanted red meat. Steak, burgers, fajitas, anything that used to be a cow. I couldn't even look at chicken, or smell it without hurling until about 30 weeks. First trimester, I wanted McDonald's french fries with a butt ton of salt on them, dipped in mustard. Second trimester, I couldn't handle the greasy taste of the fries. I felt like every fry I put in my mouth was oozing with grease, and it made me nauseous. At 38 1/2 weeks now, I'll eat them, but I don't crave them like I used to.

December 10, 2008 4:50 PM
 

jenny said:

cupcakes.... with lots of frosting

bacon.... in anything

root beer

bacon, avocado, cheese, and egg sandwich - yummmmmm

December 10, 2008 4:51 PM
 

Amy F. said:

I craved all trailer-trash food during my pregnancy. Spaghettios, Mac n Cheese, Manwich, Fluffernutters. I almost mugged some poor guy for a Ding Dong once.

My appetite was the craziest when I was breastfeeding, though. I wanted all meat, all the time. Like coolteamblt said, anything that used to be a cow. Though I think I would've bitten into a live cow if there was one in front of me too.

And congratulations to you!

December 10, 2008 4:59 PM
 

Megs said:

I've been going through phases. For a couple of weeks I just couldn't get enough licorice, then I was crazy about fruit smoothie ice lollies..actually I still am. Cheese has probably been my number one favourite right the way through...grilled cheese sandwiches, feta cheese in Greek salads, etc.

In the first trimester it seemed I was ravenously hungry all the time, to the point of obsession. I'd get home from work and drop everything to go straight to the kitchen and get something to eat. And when I started eating it was like something primitive kicked in and I couldn't stop. I was lucky and never got sick but I just wanted to eat almost constantly. Thankfully things have calmed down a bit now.

December 10, 2008 5:53 PM
 

LauraLaura said:

Thai coconut curry. REALLY spicy. Everything else was anathema.

December 10, 2008 11:13 PM
 

Melissa said:

I didn't have any real strong cravings, but I ate a lot of pancakes.  Before then I rarely ate them.  I still eat them more often now than I used to.  

December 11, 2008 9:46 AM
 

Marie Eve said:

Maybe that's because I'm not pregnant, but this post has made my really hungry!

Food aversions: feta cheese (still quiver when I think of it two and a half years later), red meat, fried food (and that's too bad because during my first trimester we went vacationing in Cape Cod and out to dinner in Provincetown I ordered what my partner described as THE. BEST. FISH'N'CHIPS. IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. But I simply couldn't eat it.)

Cravings: Fresh fruit and vegetables. I know up until now my cravings seemed to be very reasonable but wait, there's also basically anything sweet (I became the cookie monster, among other things. Three pieces of pie every night? No problem!) As a result, I gained over 45 pounds and I still haven't lost the last 8 (all that pie is still in there).

December 11, 2008 10:25 AM
 

Ash said:

I remember one night we were driving around trying to find a quick bite to eat and I wanted a chicken taco. But it wasn't any chicken taco, it was from a fast food place on the other side of town in the ghetto. I totally freaked out and cried the entire ride there. I felt like such a jerk but man did that taco taste so freaking delicious!

After the first trimester my cravings were a little more manageable. I went on a baked potato kick and we had one with dinner every night for a month. After that is was rootbeer floats. My hub actually got out of bed one night, got dressed and went to the store for ice cream and rootbeer. He's a keeper.

December 11, 2008 12:17 PM
 

M said:

No particular cravings, but I did eat at Chipotle for the first time one day when I wasn't feeling great, and have not yet been able to go back.

December 11, 2008 12:18 PM
 

Rev.Mommy said:

I was studying in Africa for several weeks during the first trimester of pregnancy and I desperately craved blueberry pancakes. Sadly, the closest thing I could find were banana waffles. I also craved beef lo mein-- another impossibility in Africa.

Throughout my pregnancy I could not get enough lemonade, even in the winter. Strangely, even the thought of orange juice violated my senses.

Pregnancy is just weird!

December 11, 2008 12:56 PM
 

Genevieve said:

I have aversions to almost everything -- but the things I've been wanting are strawberry milk, cereal and yogurt. I've worked up to eating beans and ground beef. I had a salami sandwich the other day -- but I ate it because that was all there was and I was hungry.

December 11, 2008 2:59 PM
 

Aunt Baaa said:

When I was pregnant with my son it was all about turkey. I was having turkey for three meals each day in the beginning. I was roasting a turkey breast every week. Also, salt and vinegar potato chips (which I can't normally even stand the smell of!).

With my daughter it was all about Sour Patch Kids. I was eating them by the pound.

Just does goofy things to you. Good luck and go ahead and indulge yourself.

December 11, 2008 11:17 PM
 

Kellye said:

First pregnancy was fruit...watermelon specifically....and salads and coke frostees...popsicles and more watermelon. Second pregnancy....everything bad they made. Doritos, cheetos, lays, fried chicken, Taco Bell...when have I EVER in my life wanted anything to do with any of that. I wanted salty salty stuff and nothing to do with fruit or sweets for that matter. What's so ironic is that I exercised with my first pregnancy and was very well disciplined with my diet...2nd preg....very little exercise per preterm labor and not so healthy food and I gained less weight with the 2nd! WIERD!

December 12, 2008 9:25 AM
 

Maegan said:

I craved soda in my last trimester.  My shopping cart would be full of Faygo ... I tried switching to making juice from concentrate with soda water, but it just wasn't the same.  My first trimester I ate tacos with hot sauce every day, and then all of a sudden I couldn't eat them any more.  I don't think I've gone back to that restaurant once since then.  

I craved more things and ate more food when I was breastfeeding.  I literally ate whatever I wanted and still lost weight.  My daughter never had any stomach issues from my eating spicy or gassy food so I ate it all.

December 12, 2008 10:26 AM
 

Megg said:

Olives.  ANY type of olive was good, but in particular I wanted the marinated spicy olives, and marinated teryaki mushrooms - both of which cost $8.99/lb and I would get them every other day.  Full pound.  

and taco Bell.  For some reason I would eat taco bell every lunchbreak for the last few months.  My poor co-workers who gained a little weight eating it with me have all refused to ever set foot in a taco bell again. (ugh- me too)

And potatoes.  i would eat a sweet potato and regular potato for dinner as often as I could.

December 12, 2008 5:21 PM
 

Steph said:

Let me preface: I'm an Aussie.

The first 5 months were nausea all day every day, with vomiting in between, with no apatite at all.

The ONLY thing I could rely on was good ol' Vegemite. Always on toast, sometimes with cheese.

It's a GREAT hangover cure (lots of B-vitamins) so it stands to reason that it should help pregnancy sickness, too, as I agree that it feels like a terrible hangover that doesn't go away once you throw-up.

TRY IT!

(Always use real butter on your toast and remember that Vegemite is strong so you only need a TEENY bit. Try cheddar or even tomatoes on top for extra sustenance. Also good on crackers).

December 12, 2008 9:36 PM
 

caramama said:

First, congrats on the pregnancy! I'm sorry I'm late with it, but I've just been so out of the loop!

Second, you people are making me hungry. Or nauseas. It's hard to tell with me these days. I'm almost 14 weeks. Shouldn't the nausea have passed? Urg!

Last, the other night I started thinking about a McD's Quarter Pounder with Cheese. I wanted it so bad and thought about getting it for over an hour. Normally, I'd send my hubby, but he was putting our toddler to bed (which takes forever). So I hoped in the car in my PJs and went to the drive through. Also I would live on popcicles and smoothies right now if I could. Last pregnancy, my cravings were for strawberry ice cream and watermelon. Mmmmmm.

December 18, 2008 11:42 AM
 

leahsmom said:

I totally wanted Hot Tamales. All the time.  My husband went to a candy store and bought a box full of boxes of them - there must have been like 150 containers of Hot Tamales in there.  And I ate ALL of them!

December 31, 2008 9:20 AM

in

About the Blogger

Oz Spies

Oz Spies in Denver

Oz Spies lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, a firefighter; their son, Axel; and a slightly obese dog and cat. She has a MFA in Creative Writing from Colorado State University.

GROUP BLOGS

  • Strollerderby

    The smartest, funniest, most exhaustive parenting blog in the blogosphere.
  • Droolicious

    Modern design for modern parents.
  • FameCrawler

    Your daily baby celebrity fix.
back to blog homepage