Eating For My Baby

Life as we know it is about to change forever! It sounds like an opening line from one of those cheesy Armageddon movies but it’s not.. it’s our life! Not only are Rob and I  preparing ourselves for the upcoming birth of our first born, but we are also moving out of New York City to a leafy, quiet suburb in Connecticut! Are we nuts for doing everything at once.. literally!  My due date is 13th May and we are moving (hopefully) 4 weeks prior! Despite the growing terror manifesting itself in my mind I know that it will all be worth it in the end!?!?!?

We have been living in Manhattan now for almost 5 years. We’re used to the hustle and bustle and the noise and the traffic and the sirens and the smell and the dog shit on the pavements and the rude people that won’t let you onto the subway when they have already arrived at their destination…….. hmm yes it is time to move!

Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love Manhattan, it is by far my most favourite city in the world, but our life is about to change and I just don’t envision us bringing up a child in the city. Neither my husband and I were brought up in a city and so when we picture our future it’s somewhere with trees and fields and places for our children to run around in… ok so this is our first and he’s not even born yet but I’m in nesting mode and where as the thought of squeezing into a one bedroom flat with a baby might appeal to some people it certainly doesn’t appeal to us! A 3 bedroom house in Connecticut with a huge garden sounds perfect! So despite being a little bit scared about what’s about to happen I’m also excited! Change is good – isn’t that what they say!

Has anyone made that move? How was it for you?

I feel as though I should rename the blog to something else as this one seems to be me talking more about my pregnancy and life rather than what I am eating! Although for those of you who are interested here is what I have eaten today:

Breakfast: a mix match of cereal with skim milk, strawberry yogurt and a tsp flaxseeds!

Snack: apple & rice cake with Philadelphia cheese..

It’s now lunch time and I am starving! On the menu is an old fav of mine that unlike the salads has stuck with me during pregnancy:Tofu with brown rice and steamed vegetables with yogurt dressing! I’m off to enjoy! Byeeee!

I was up early this morning to go and sit in the dentists for an hour and a half to be told that I have Gingivitis!  Another one to add to the list of not too pleasant pregnancy symptoms. Thankfully it’s only a mild case, which they said was brought on by my pregnancy hormones! Darn those hormones!  The nurse said it will go after the baby is born. After I left the dentist, of course, I googled Gingivitis and was presented with some pretty gross images!

I recently read somewhere that avoiding wheat and eating a gluten-free diet while you’re pregnant can help with labour.. unfortunately for me this baby wants bread! I understand where they are coming from with this theory but I’m also opposed to avoiding certain foods when pregnant just incase my baby is born with a wheat intolerance. I have a good friend whose mother avoided everything bad when she was pregnant.. nuts being top of the list and she is allergic to EVERYTHING! I’m a firm believer in a little bit of everything in moderation! Which leads me onto my lunch!

Turkey baguette with mayonnaise, lettuce, avocado, tomato and onions! Followed by an apple and possibly a square or 4 of Cadbury’s chocolate!

For my afternoon snack I made myself a strawberry smoothie using a handful of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of skim milk and 1 tbsp of Haagen Dazs vanilla bean ice cream!

Dinner this evening consisted of whatever vegetables we had leftover in the fridge with a some broiled salmon and a baked potato with a little grated cheddar! I had my camera out ready to take a photo… right next to me so that when I sat down I would remember but of course I forgot… I blame it on baby brain.. another one to add to the list! Night!

Sorry I haven’t written for a while.. no excuse! Just consumed in the baby world and the trials and tribulations that go along with being pregnant.

They say the 2nd trimester is supposed to be the best one but around my 20th week my hormone’s seemed to kick in and all hell broke loose! I found myself crying at the most silly of things. One day, as it was so cold outside, I decided to order Maxdelivery – for those of you who don’t live in NYC it’s a home grocery delivery service – I just needed some breakfast essentials for the following day and I managed to click on the wrong item.. which was fine but in the confusion I forgot to tip the delivery guy and as a result I found myself in floods of tears on the phone to Rob (my husband) telling him how awful I felt and what was I to do! This poor guy had delivered my food in the freezing cold and I didn’t give him so much as a dollar! My husband, bless him, said he would call up the company and try and locate the delivery guy for me… to cut a long story short the guy couldn’t speak much English and didn’t understand a word Rob was saying and so that was the end of that. I’m sure they don’t get too many people calling up because they were worried about not tipping the delivery guy! This is just one story! I won’t go into the glass smashing incident as it’s far too embarrassing! Let’s just say the tears subsided and the anger hormone’s kicked in!

After I realised that these little outbursts were all another part of the joys of being pregnant, along with sleepless nights and leaky nipples, I was able to rationalise these feelings by telling myself that it will pass and that I AM PREGNANT after all!!!! When I’m holding the little bundle of joy in my arms it will all have been worth it!

Despite the hormones I am now nearly into my 28th week and, for the most part, am feeling great! My belly feels as though it is growing each week and I’m now wondering how on earth it can get any bigger.  My tummy feels so tight I’ve been lathering myself in moisturising cream to hopefully avoid those dreaded stretch marks but it just feels as though it’s going to be inevitable… how can it not be when I feel like I’m about to burst out of my skin and I still have another 12 weeks worth of growing to do! Does anyone else have the scene from Alien in their heads right about now??

All in all I love being pregnant! To just think about our little baby boy growing inside of me, feeling him wiggle around (Alien!!) and more recently hiccuping is just incredible, beyond words! Nothing compares to this feeling and I cannot wait to hold him in my arms for the very first time!

Now back to the title of the blog…. I’ve been trying to add more fish to my diet to get as many of those Omega-3′s into the little bean as possible! For lunch today I made myself a whole wheat pasta and vegetable salad with sardines. To be honest it actually made me want to gag..  especially when I pulled out an unidentified piece of something or other that certainly didn’t resemble any of the vegetables I had in there! eeewww I still managed to eat most of it.. all in the name of love! I am creating a future genius after all!

On the menu tonight = pizza!!!

See you tomorrow!