Pregnancy Cravings

Todd is bringing me home a deli pickle.

I don't necessarily agree that (in my case) pickles are a pregnancy craving. I LOVE pickles. I eat them more often when not pregnant than when I am pregnant. At least, that's how it was with Jack and how it's shaping up to be with this baby.

But, the precise pickles I crave ARE a pregnancy craving. Like a few weeks ago when I craved BBC pickles. They're still very cucumbery with just a touch of brine. I adore them. Once, I shared an entire bowl of pickles (NOT pregnant) with another pickle enthusiast at BBC because they're just that good. Today, I had a sudden urge for a deli pickle. Deli pickles are much more pickley, not as cucumbery as a BBC pickle. It's all in the details.

Quick update on baby #2. This baby is kicking my ass. I remember being tired with Jack and sleeping afternoons away. I cherished that time. I knew it would be short lived once the baby came. With this kid, all I can think is "Thank god Jack can entertain himself....*drool*" With this baby, everything is backwards; with the exception of exhaustion, of course.

With Jack, my body almost literally rejected fast, greasy food and caffeine. Coke, my precious daily life blood, was offensive to my sensitive taste buds. There were occasions where I craved a Whopper and BK french fries, but I would inevitably feel like crap after eating them. During the third trimester, I could drink Coke again and limited myself to one per day. That was my "approved" amount of caffeine so long as it didn't affect my blood pressure. With Jack, I craved fruit. SO MUCH FRUIT. I don't normally like fruit, but everyday I'd have a fruit salad. Watermelon, strawberries, apples, cantaloupe. With vanilla yogurt. With chocolate. Mmmmm.

With this baby, the only things I seem to be able to keep down are greasy, salty foods (oh right, with the exception of meat-meat is bad.) I'm trying to limit my intake of them to avoid the blood pressure problems of Jack's pregnancy. To "cheat" I am eating whole grain, honey wheat English muffins soaked in butter. I am eating a ton of pesto sauce but using whole grain, high fiber pasta. I'm trying to balance the good and bad foods. I'm hoping things start to change in the next couple of weeks as my first trimester comes to an end. I don't like this feeling of being perpetually hung over. Because that's how I feel. I really wish we had a convenient Denny's because OMG I could seriously go for some of  their hash browns right about now. Have yet to find a place that makes them as tasty as Denny's.

I'm also trying to make sure I get out everyday to get my blood flowing. This plan has backfired on me this week. Two days of feeling not crappy does not make a super mom. I'm struggling to attempt to enjoy this pregnancy as much as I enjoyed Jack's. It's true, Jack's pregnancy was considered "high risk" but I didn't really view it that way. None of my weird symptoms presented in any funkiness for him (high fluid, high BP, things that usually mean low birth weight) so other than following the doctor's orders of bedrest and daily BP monitoring, I just enjoyed growing a person. I loved being pregnant with Jack. Every spout of sickness resulted in happy feelings. With this baby, I just feel blah. I feel guilty for not feeling happy when I puke. I'm pretty sure that means there's something wrong with me, but if you're reading this, you already know that. Maybe it's because this pregnancy STILL doesn't feel real.

This whole being pregnant thing with a near 2-year old is hard. I feel like I'm letting Jack down. He's becoming amazingly independent because I just don't have the energy to get off the couch. I'm really hoping this changes over the next few weeks because I want to enjoy my toddler and I want to be able to enjoy this pregnancy.