There are so many things that books tell you to do or not do while trying or while pregnant. I am not one of those people who are obsessive or anal about pregnancy, but my thought is always, "if anything should happen, I'll have nobody to blame but myself. I was WARNED. It will be ALL MY FAULT." But I've heard so many different things that others have done that I wonder where I should actually draw the line.
To start off with, there is a whole host of foods that becomes off-limits. Some of it is more difficult to wean myself off than others, and of course it's different for everybody. So how do you determine what's "safe" for you to eat? I think it's like traveling in a developing country, and sometimes you have to do whatever makes life livable for you.
Raw stuff.
I LOVE sushi and sashimi. I LOVE runny egg yolks. I like my meat medium rare.
I have not touched raw fish. I have indulged in slightly runny yolks. I have ordered my meat medium, and sometimes medium rare when I think it's safe. The meat just has to reach a certain temperature to be safe, but I'm not going to be one of those customers who asks the waiter that question, and s/he won't know anyway.
I know someone who who ate sushi throughout her pregnancy. I have known someone to just eat a raw piece of fish at a super fancy restaurant. A doctor has said that Japanese women eat raw fish during pregnancy, but you should just avoid places like sketchy sushi buffets. I often reason with myself, when have i EVER gotten sick from raw fish or runny eggs? Never, knock on wood!!
Nitrates.
Mmm... this one doesn't seem to be a HUGE one. I have avoided bacon, but I'm also not a bacon luster. I have recently discovered that i love pepperoni on pizza from a particular place, and it IS sort of killing me not to eat it. I opted for sausage the last time, but I think I might just go for the pepperoni on my next pie. At least it will be cooked.
Deli meats.
I love me some italian cold cut sandwiches. the prosciutto, the salami, i wants all of it! I think there is some truth to risks associated with these processed/cured meats, so I have avoided them. But I wonder what pregnant women in italy do. Surely they just eat it.
Mercury.
The recommendations on eating fish high in mercury are pretty precise (less than 6 oz per x weeks), but i suppose they have to be in order to guide people. This one I pay attention to since my OB/gyn friend said she'd be more concerned about mercury than nitrates and deli meats. I stick to salmon since it's low in mercury and also high in omega-3's... and wild salmon at that to minimize PCBs.
Caffeine.
I imagine this one to be difficult for a lot of people. Someone asked me what I do for my headaches LOL. Luckily, I am not addicted to coffee for its caffeine, and I don't drink soda. I can satiate my needs with decaf espresso and decaf tea. It can be a bit challenging when traveling to a different time zone, but I just try to get some sleep instead. Or I just power through. Perseverance is one of my strong suits.
Soft/raw cheese.
I miss brie and other soft cheeses. I like it on my salad. However, I just find a way to cook it in order to eat it. So it's mostly in sandwiches that I can find a way to eat it. Cheese is a great source of calcium after all!
Alcohol.
This is not a problem for me since I'm a lightweight. I do get cravings every now and then though because of my environment. Like I really wanted a beer during March madness, and when the weather started to get warm. I also really want a glass of wine from time to time with a nice meal. An occasional glass of wine is considered acceptable, but since I'm a lightweight, I think a zero tolerance is best.
These guidelines have really narrowed my food choices since one of the things i wanted to do during pregnancy is expose the kid to all sorts of foods in hopes that he won't turn out to be a picky eater. So he's had quite a bit: shellfish of all kinds, sweetbreads, lots of types of asian food, american food, indian food, mexican, a lot of different kinds of veggies, a lot of different fruits, fish (i do try to put in some safe varieties here and there), duck, tendon, cartilage... have I grossed anyone out yet?
Then there's exercise. The exercises that the books suggest for you at different stages during pregnancy are ridiculous. I don't see how any of those tame exercises will help me during labor whatsoever. My doctor said that I should just use discomfort as my guiding light in determining what I can or can't do. So that's what I've done. I lift weights. Some instructor told me not to lift things above my head because it does something to my heart rate....??? but I don't pay much attention to that. I just use light weights and don't push myself too hard. Pregnancy has also been my excuse to not work as hard. :) Hooray! I try to run 3 miles every week. I do yoga, skipping exercises that require me to lay on my tummy. I don't do ab work. Another hooray! I hate ab work.
Another odd thing that gets passed around is that people should sleep on their side, and preferably on their left side. We're told to sleep on our sides instead of our backs starting at 16 weeks so that the uterus doesn't compress the inferior vena cava. But women's bodies are built differently, so the uterus won't even get as high as the IVC for some people. I haven't had a big problem sleeping on my back, and I'm at 26 weeks. The other day I did get dizzy at my dentist's office though when they reclined me so much that my feet were above my head. I almost made it through the whole visit, but i think baby moved a bit and then compressed my IVC. And then sleeping on the left side - this is so that the liver, which sits on the right side of the body, doesn't get squished. I don't feel much of a difference here. The biggest factor in my sleeping position is the baby's position. He moves around all the time, so sometimes the back is the best, and sometimes it is not. I imagine this to change as I get into my 3rd trimester, but again, i'm just using discomfort as my guiding light.
I'm learning as I go along what my philosophies and limitations are, and so far, everything looks healthy. I know I'll look back and say to myself, "I bet i could have had as many italian sandwiches and cheese that i wanted, and everything would have been fine." Look at that show
"I didn't know i was pregnant" on Discovery Health, which is now in their FOURTH SEASON. Their babies turned out fine, and they didn't even know they were pregnant! But then I'll inevitably turn to the adult in me, and decide to play it on the safe side.
