On eating for two
28 Comments
Karen Hamilton
July 6, 2009
My husband and I have gotten to the age where the urge to nest has kicked in. After three years of wedded bliss and eight years together, we are now itching to add to our new family — a decision that our family and friends have been long awaiting, it seems.
We are therefore pleased to announce that we are indeed expecting! Our little one should grace us just in time for the Olympics. My food habits have consequently experienced an upheaval in the past few months that I have been unable to divulge until now. So allow me to share my thoughts on this new diet of mine.
Restrictions galore
Alcohol
Oh, alcohol. Top of the leaderboard of pregnancy taboos and one of the toughest for me to give up. I was prepared to call it quits for the length of each gestation, but I didn’t realize that breastfeeding women also had to turn away from it unless they wanted to befuddle their newborn child. Sigh – sobriety looks like a long, lonely road.
Caffeine
Since I had never developed an addiction to coffee or tea, reducing my intake of caffeine is less of a sacrifice. However, it does drastically reduce my enjoyment of my greatest guilty pleasure: the seductress that is Coca-Cola.
I’ve been coping with my cola abstinence by infusing juice with carbonated water: a fizz fix without the elation of that refined sugar rush.
Raw meats and seafood
My first impression of this dietary restriction was that I’d be saying goodbye to raw fish (which is a hard enough thing to say farewell to). Unhappily, all the pregnancy resources at our disposal are ixnaying anything that is not fully cooked through, including deli meats, smoked delicacies, and even steaks cooked to medium-rare perfection. What an unpleasant surprise to find that I will have to chew my way through well done cuts for the next six months. Grumble.
Dairy
The plus: the changes in my body have actually lessened the effects of my lactose intolerance. The drawback: now out of reach are my favourite, oozy, creamy, raw-milk cheeses. Not all is lost; I can still enjoy pasteurized cheeses as well as any that have been melted or turned into fondue.
Sifting through fact and fiction
Eating right without needless culinary sacrifice is my goal, but it has been frustrating to wade through the old wives’ tales and medical recommendations to determine what is truly dangerous to eat throughout one’s pregnancy. Eat lots of watermelon; avoid watermelon at all costs. Eat eggplant to reduce bloating; eat eggplant and risk inducing labour; Japanese women don’t have a problem eating sushi when pregnant; seafood should be kept to a minimum and certainly not eaten raw…you see how it can be a trial?
Added to the sea of misinformation is a lack of literature surrounding the nutrition of non-Western foods. Since I have been craving mostly Asian foodstuffs, it has been difficult to determine if I should be avoiding or favouring particular ingredients that are commonly used in my parents’ pantries. Since this is our first time at it, I’m taking more precaution than I probably need to. Better safe than sorry.
The one thing that everyone seems to agree on is to eat organic. Not a problem for us – we eat organic whenever possible, so this is already a habit in our household. The surprise was how great the consensus was. I thought only the “hippie” pregnancy books, like my copy of The Complete Organic Pregnancy, would advise this practice, but all the pregnancy literature that I have come across has advocated organic. Too many chemicals in commercial livestock and produce that could affect the baby, they say. It’s a wonder that anyone is still allowed to eat processed foods given such dire warnings.
The impact on Tiny Bites
With a restrictive diet such as this, I naturally will not be able to participate as heartily in the exploration of food and drink in the next little while. But that doesn’t mean that you, dear reader, should suffer along with me. Here’s what we’re going to do for you:
- Get caught up. I’ve snacked my way through plenty of yummy eats in the past two years and have never had enough time to share some of my favourite places and products with you. Now that I’m unable to partake in certain fare, I now have further reason to share these places with you, since you will help me to live vicariously through your bellies.
- Limit the mommy talk. No one likes a smug pregnant woman, so I will limit my baby babble on this here food site. If that subject matter actually interests you, I am planning to revive my personal blog and personal Twitter account for such parental rambling.
- Expand the team. I’m extremely excited that two of my favourite people have joined Team Tiny Bites! You will hear more about them very soon. I won’t go into further detail here, since each merit proper introductions. Their contributions will go far in helping me to explore foods and places that I can currently not venture into.
Phew! We’ve been keeping this secret for a long time so I’m glad to get you up to speed. Hopefully you will understand the reasons behind changes that you will see on Tiny Bites over the next year and still find the info we will present to be valuable and entertaining enough to keep coming back.
Categories: Food, Miscellany
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28 Responses to “On eating for two”
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About Tiny Bites
Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
Read the food and non-food articles that I've contributed to sites other than Tiny Bites.
Congratulations once again! And you know already how frustrated I’ve been with the food restrictions! And every book and resource is indeed different.
I’ve been able to re-introduce caffeine in small amounts, at just after my second trimester. Until then, I did drink a lot of lemonade. I couldn’t handle anything fizzy. We also started buying Blue Sky Cola, which has no caffeine but satisfies the craving for Coke.
I admit I don’t get my steaks well done – though we do eat them organic. One thing I find hard (aside from shellfish) is Caesar salad. Been craving that, but it’s raw egg. Bah. I know there are egg-less recipes, but it’s just not the same.
I don’t think any pregnant woman is perfect with food. Some are better than others. You just need to decide how strict you’re willing to be on your own.
Hopefully chocolate is still on the menu! Congratulations to the soon to be happy parents.
A big congratulations!
congrats! no gratuitous baby advice from this father! ok maybe one thing! you know your baby the best so take everybody’s “advice” with a grain of salt and do what works best for you and your baby.
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Congrats
Like most first time parents you’re stressing out way too much. Having kids is something that’s been done for billions of years so it’s going to be a lot harder to mess up the kid than you think it is. Keep your diet nutritious and avoid the obvious things and you’ll do great.
Congrats! Seems everyone I know is getting pregnant these days – it’s a serious overload of joy ’round the internets!
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congrats! Man, that no raw stuff is tough…don’t know if I could ever do it
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Wow, it’s sure telling how far away I am from making any kind of little people. I didn’t even know a couple of those dietary restrictions.
Congratulations! I look forward to hearing about @tinierbites’ recommendations.
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OMG! I had a bit of a suspicion you might be pregnant, but I thought “nah, you’re kidding yourself, Raul”. And now that you’ve revealed it, I’m SO happy I was right!
Congrats to Kurt and you, and lots of love from Uncle Hummingbird604 to the soon-to-be newest addition to the Tiny Bites family!
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Congratulations once again to you and Kurt!
Avoiding raw meat & raw fish (raw proteins in general) is only available if you are not immunized against toxoplasmosis.
But you have to wash better your vegetables because of listeria.
No alcohol AT ALL, of course
Again, congratulations !!!
Congratulations Karen! exciting news!!
XOX
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Congratulations! It’s going to be a ride. =)
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Congratulations Karen & Kurt! That is very great news!
Congratulations Karen & Kurt! That is very great news!
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
Congratulations!!
It was very exciting to read your blog entry. What’s gonna be interesting for me is that I’m due at probably around the same time (late january). So, i can relate with your trials and tribulations as i go through the same things.
I have to agree with jen, that so many around me are pregnant as well.
(We haven’t shared our news yet, which is why I didn’t use my name)
all the best
Congratulations and best wishes!
Regarding the alcohol thing, with the disclaimer that I’ve never been pregnant, and am also a man, and also drink with some enthusiasm, the alcohol-during-pregnancy thing is, well, if not overblown, probably not an invitation to teetotaling.
As the old line goes, the dose makes the poison. When you hear about fetal alcohol syndrome, keep in mind that the context is almost invariably mothers who were heavy drinkers throughout their pregnancy, not occasional tipplers.
The best evidence is that “light” drinking won’t hurt your baby (and might even help a little, but I’m not willing to swear to that advice quite yet; we’re still working on getting people to believe alcohol helps you live longer).
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One tedious follow-up here, only because I found a more detailed page on the subject of alcohol during pregnancy.
It claims no adverse effects demonstrable with alcohol consumption up to 8.5 drinks/week! That’s a lot of booze, at least to me.
So go ahead: drink sensibly. If anyone makes sour faces at you because you’ve got a glass of wine in your hand and a baby bump, stick out your tongue and tell them to mind their own business.
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Are you sure baby doesn’t want wine? I’ll be your designated wino.
And chocolate must be good for baby, no? It’s fully of antioxidants and all kinds of tastiness.
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The hardest thing for me to give up would be the raw fish! Ever since I have moved to Vancouver, I need a once a week (at least) fixing of sushi and raw fish.
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Congratulations! What amazing news.
PS Just discovered your website. How lovely! I moved to Vancouver just a few months ago and this is going to be one of my main go-tos on the BC dining scene!
Congratulations!
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