Things I Can't Help But Eat/Do Anyway

When you're pregnant there is a list a mile long of foods your not supposed to eat, things you're not supposed to do and substances you're not supposed to take.

For the most part I'm being a good girl and adhering to the pregnant girl rules, after all it took forever for us to be in this position the least I can do is not indulge in harmful foods/behaviors.

That being said there are certain things that I just cannot be bothered with and honestly there is no good data supporting the avoidance of these.

So, I still indulge in:

Coffee - I still have a cup of coffee every single morning - the data that says you should avoid caffeine is done with woman that have somewhere in the 5 cups of coffee a day range, yes that much caffeine is likely to stress your tiny baby. But there is NOTHING out there that can support a cup of coffee a day as being a danger to your baby. Some midwives and Dr.'s even suggest a caffeinated beverage to help with headaches that can sometimes plague pregnant women because most painkillers are off-limits.

Wine - Ok, I'm avoiding wine this first 13 weeks but in all honesty it's because the smell of wine makes me want to gag, not because I believe a small glass of wine once in awhile will hurt my baby.  Tomorrow night I'm going out with friends and you can bet your ass I'm ordering a glass of wine, no I probably won't drink the whole thing since the smell is gagging me, but I will definitely TRY to drink it. Again NO data to support a glass of wine once a week or so is harmful to your baby specifically after the first trimester when baby is done developing and starts the growing phase.

Deli meat - I try, but every once in awhile a turkey sandwich just hits the spot.

Soft cheese - This rule is for UNpasteurized soft cheeses but for some reason a lot of women just quit all soft cheeses altogether. Here in the good old US you can't sell cheese in supermarkets that are unpasteurized, so it's not much of an issue if you're buying cheese for consumption at home BUT check the label and if you're in a restaurant, ask someone if the buffalo mozzarella is pasteurized, the answer is almost always YES, so soft cheeses have stayed on the menu for me.

Fish - Ugh, so many rules! I am not a huge fish eater anyway, but I do love me some tuna fish, so I keep my tuna sandwiches down to once a week and only eat fish at restaurants if I'm really craving some fish.  Recently my midwife recommend I put MORE fish on the menu because fish has some great benefits for pregnant women.  And here I was thinking I was being a good girl.

Sex - Really? People really abstain for 9 months? Seems silly and yet everytime I have a Dr. or midwife appt they make it a point to mention that sex is ok...as though people think generally it is NOT ok and they have to reassure them.  I have to admit though the weird "mini-contractions" that happen afterward are unpleasant and a bit of a deterrent for me.

Nail polish - Again, really? Sorry, my nails will continue to be painted. And I can't be bothered to buy special organic nail polish when I have so much already.

Dye my hair - I'm still getting highlights, though I'm careful to mention that I'm pregnant so they keep away from my scalp.

Kitty litter - My husband is gone for several days at a a time there is no way I can NOT clean the kitty litter.  I make sure not to touch anything and wash my hands immediately after and this is husband's chore when he's home, but when he's gone I take over and really don't worry about it.

Baths - I take a bath Every. Single. Day. and I never check the temperature.  As long as I'm not sweating I don't worry about hard boiling my baby.

In general I really believe babies are heartier than we (specifically the infertiles who have waited and struggled longer than most to get to this point) believe them to be.  All the drinking and smoking during pregnancy in the 50's did little to deter birth rates, if babies couldn't survive all these small things I just mentioned our population would be in TROUBLE.

What else am I missing?  And since there are SO many of you lately who just got your BFP's there is an assload of you who can join in this convo!  What have/do you guys indulge in (or plan to indulge in if your BFP is new or if you haven't go yours yet) that "they" recommend you stay away from?

Coffee Coffee Coffee

Guys, I have a problem.

Remember when I was in Australia and I did a mini-detox in which I cut out caffeine, sugar and dairy?

Well, after I successfully cut coffee out of my diet for the requisite 2 weeks of the detox I did what any sane person would do and immediately went back to having JUST my morning cup of coffee.

I even cut it down to about a half cup of coffee most mornings.

I was doing awesome.

Then we got back here to Oregon, which if you don't know, the Northwest is like the land of coffee.

I pass 5 coffee kiosks before I get to "town". There's even one at the end of my road...and I live in the sticks.

It's absurd.

So....I may or may not have upped my coffee quota to 2 cups a day again.

Shit.

I didn't do it on purpose I swear.

And one of those "cups" is a 12 oz.

I suck.

Do you know what this means? This means as soon as we get to San Fran I AM CUTTING BACK TO ONE CUP A DAY AGAIN. Says the girl who is happily sipping her 12 oz. Dutch Bros. coffee as she writes this post.

Anyone else have a coffee addiction? Or other addiction that seems to get the best of them no matter how hard they try?

The Detox Saga

I'm on a Detox. It sucks.

The story goes like this. I went to see a naturopath about some problems I'm having with my period and she suggested a mild detox. Mild as in no caffeine, no sugar, no dairy, no alcohol. That's it.

THAT'S IT she says, hahahaha.

It's the no caffeine I'm really struggling with. You see, I'm an AVID coffee drinker, ie do not talk to me in the morning until I've had my coffee kind of coffee drinker, do not think it's funny to start a fake argument with me in the morning before I've had coffee kind of coffee drinker, I have no sense of humor in the morning before I've had coffee kind of coffee drinker.

I started this detox just yesterday, yes, just yesterday and I'm already struggling. I'm fine with the no sugar and no dairy, we eat those very sparingly anyway...except in MY COFFEE! I will gladly cut out all the sugar and dairy you want, just let me have the goddamn coffee!

Ahem.

I honestly thought I was a one coffee a day kind of person and I didn't think this would be THAT hard, but in my sad coffee addicted head I forgot about the fact that I have a second cup of coffee while I'm out and about ALMOST EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Anyway, I started this detox yesterday and it took all of 2 hours for the headache to begin. We had unfortunately decided to go to the Australian Museum, which I'll write about soon, and it was a holiday here in Oz, so ALL THE CHILDREN IN SYDNEY were at the museum, screaming and running and being obnoxious little shits...or so it seemed to me because 1. I don't have children and 2. I hadn't had coffee. I swear these were the loudest most obnoxious kids and their parents were just as bad! Yelling "Lorenzo, come here!" over and over again. Yes, there was a poor little kid named Lorenzo at the museum yesterday, though I'm sure his problem was that his parents named him Lorenzo, so nevermind about Lorenzo he was totally in the right trying to escape his cruel parents.

I digress.

What was I talking about? Oh yes, the headache. So, caffeine withdrawl headache + school holiday museum trip = not the best Monday of my life.

On to Day 2, this morning I wake up after sleeping for like 9 hours, still tired and unwilling to start the day, I mean what's the point of getting out of bed if there's no coffee to look forward to!

Tangent: I once dated this guy who loved coffee so much that he said the only reason he went to bed at night was so that he could get up and have his morning coffee, I thought he was a bit nutty but now I'm thinking he totally had the right idea.

Back to today, I got up begrudgingly and decided that life sucked and I had no desire to do ANYTHING, nothing at all. I spent my morning like this, hating life and the fact that the mean naturopath (who I totally love by the way) wasn't letting me have coffee and deciding that there was really just no reason to live if I couldn't have coffee...I might be being just a tad overdramatic, but this is honestly how I felt until...

I caved.

I had some coffee.

Just one teeny tiny little cup of coffee...and you know what? The world became infinitely more enjoyable. My headache went away, I realized I felt like doing all sorts of stuff today (most important of which was to update my blog) and THE SUN CAME OUT!

I shit you not.

It was gray and cloudy all morning, perfectly matching my mood and then the second that barista handed me that cup of deliciousness the sun literally burst through the clouds. Birds began chirping, champagne fell from the skies...ok sorry, that was just in my own head, but seriously the sun came out.

It was amazing and I believe god is telling me that I should not give up coffee.

My Coffee Order Across the Globe

Before I met my husband my international travel was quite limited, as in I'd been to England twice and Ireland once...and Mexico doesn't count. Now, 2.5 years later I can boast that not only have I been to 12 different countries, but I've also been to 4 different continents (The AMERICAN version of continents, don't even get me started on what Dom thinks are the continents, in a nutshell he thinks there are only 6 when CLEARLY there are 7).

In the US it's simple, you just order coffee and then the whole milk/sugar is a do it yourself sort of situation. Whilst on honeymoon, visiting 4 different countries in 4 weeks, which was the start of all the international traveling, I discovered that ordering coffee in other countries is not so simple. All I ever want is coffee with milk, but if I say coffee with milk in English they never seem to know what I'm talking about, it always takes a few days but eventually the proper way to order coffee with milk comes out...so here's my coffee order across the globe.

Cafe au lait in France

Cafe con leche in Spain

Cafe latte in Italy

MilchKaffee in Germany

white coffee in England

and after 2 weeks in Australia, I have finally figured out how to order my coffee here...

flat white!

I think it's stupid and I feel stupid saying, but nevertheless, flat white it is.