Grow Big, Grow Strong

I sit here eating my 3:00pm snack. Three little clementine's. However, it wasn't so long ago that clementine's did not sound so good. Nor any fruit, nor any vegetable. Being drawn to veggies over meat almost my entire life, the first trimester of my pregnancy had me craving meat. Meat and potatoes. I tried many times to eat steamed broccoli or roasted Brussels sprouts or raw carrots and hummus (like a normal person). Yack! Potato and butter please. Hamburger. Cereal. That's about it.
And these are not things normally in my meal rotation.

I've eaten more hamburgers in the last six weeks than I have in the last six years. I'm not exaggerating. I traded my yogurt and fruit breakfasts for cereal and made myself eat scrambled eggs in corn tortillas when nothing sounded good. Hey, if nothing sounds good, but you have to eat, might as well eat something good for baby.

I didn't have food cravings. Just food aversions. I preferred bland, tasteless, garlic and onion free foods. No Mexican. No bold flavors. Oh, and by the way--- I sort of stopped cooking. Yeah, little ole' me with no desire to create in the kitchen... Who knew? That was then. Now, at seventeen weeks I'm back to my old self, for the most part. The old self plus more meat in my diet.

I am trying so hard to eat what I'm supposed to, but I don't think I've been successful a single day. 100 grams of protein? Daily? 100 ounces of water? Daily? Plus all the fruits and veggies and calcium and healthy fats--- sounds near impossible aside from having a personal chef design each meal for me. Which would be nice.

But for now I do what I can afford.

Organic dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, keifer)
Organic meat & eggs - (meat when it's available, seriously... this stuff is next to impossible to find without driving an hour in one direction or the other)
Organic cereals and crackers (Did you know if a product contains corn or soy and is not organic there is over a 95% chance that those ingredients contain GMO's? Scary stuff.)
And fill in the gaps with fresh fruits and veggies sometimes organic (when I can afford it...)

I know there is protein in all the nuts and yogurt and beans I eat, but seriously, to get 100 grams a day one has to do some intentional meat noshing. I just try to keep this number in mind. I'm not counting anything these days (except the minutes until I can eat again), but it just sounds like a lot.

Here are some other things I've learned these past weeks.

1. I don't miss coffee. At all. I tried a cup of decaf (maybe that is the reason why) last weekend and after two sips threw the entire cup out.

2. Tired. I should have known I was pregnant when I was so. tired. all. the. time. When I didn't have energy to put away groceries, or would leave things undone, and I seriously delayed unpacking all those boxes when we moved in (and I was pregnant, but didn't know it....)

3. My baby belly doesn't grow at the rate I thought it would. At seventeen weeks I've gained maybe 5-8 pounds. Granted, I got some extra curves and padding so, baby is fine indeed. I just thought by now, I'd be pooching out. Of course none of  my clothes fit. And all the maternity ones I've been given (AND I AM SO THANKFUL FOR) are big. Big maternity. Which I will need, but not yet. So I bellaband it for now and wear loose fitting tops in L/XL sizes. Thank goodness those are in style, maternity or not.

4. There are so many opinions out there!! Books. Blogs. For a reader, this can be overwhelming. I think it immediately became clear to me I'd have to take in all in stride, using my personal filter AND listen to those professionals I know and trust. I love my midwife, and the books and suggestions she's made mean the most to me. That and my own mother, who gave birth at home.

5. Walking is good. Kegals are necessary. And I wish there was a prenatal yoga class within a 100 mile radius. (Again, Where am I??) I'm drinking red raspberry leaf tea daily - for my uterus. Obviously.

6. I'm not trying to knock anyone's birth plan, but I feel like natural childbirth requires preparation: mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. So, I'm trying to do what I can. And there is a lot I am just holding onto very loosely. That is why I'm meeting with a doula tomorrow.