Saturday, November 15, 2008

Week Seven: Eating

here i am at week seven... and still no morning sickness. i'm sure some of you are shaking your heads and saying "you don't know how lucky you are..." -- i do feel very, very happy to have dodged that bullet so far. i'd rather be in pain than nauseated, and you all know how much i LOVE eating. i've been able to continue eating pretty much the same as usual, but with some adjustments. just to put everyone's mind at ease, i am not having any raw meat or fish, and no coffee or wine. (this was severely tested during my recent job in Italy...no cappuccinos, no Umbrian wine, no carpaccio...) i haven't had any cravings for pickles or chocolate...yet. mostly, i am drawn to eating raw fruits and veggies, but i wouldn't say it's a raging, overwhelming desire that is forcing Thomas -- i guess he's the Muffinman -- to go foraging at the grocery store at 3 a.m.
i'm wondering, though...can morning sickness start later? i can't find anything definitive about that. and do the cravings come later? also, are there any foods this early in the game that would be especially beneficial for me to be scarfing down? and while we're on the subject of food, do you think it's true that whatever i eat during pregnancy will affect Tummymuffin's likes and dislikes later? what did you find to be true with your kids? i'm really curious about this last question -- and i think anecdotal evidence is often the best!

14 comments:

Michelle in Seattle said...

CONGRATULATIONS mama!! What thrilling (though not at all surprising) news. What? Did I hear someone ask my opinion on something? I'm happy to share whatever insight I've gleaned over the last five+ years for whatever it's worth.

I'm so incredibly happy for you both. What an adventure you're about to embark upon. Welcome welcome welcome to the club.

Michelle (in Seattle)

Unknown said...

E!!!! Congratulations! It just blows my mind that YOU'RE going to be a mommy! AWESOMEness!

Yes, some morning sickness can come later and even last through the 3rd trimester. Hopefully that wont be you!

Cravings can come later too... I loved CA rolls and hotdog on a stick. I HATED the smell of bacon and Chinese food. Weird.

Yes, eat iron rich food. Spinach! =)

No, that's an old wives tale re: whatever you eat will affect your child's food interests.

I'm so excited! A SWOG baby shower maybe in order! Woot!

Pamela said...

Erika & Thomas,
Congratulations!! What an exciting time in your life! I'll bet your mom and dad are over the moon! As far as your question about morning sickness... I think 7 weeks is pretty early to get major symptoms.... To be honest, I never really got "morning sickness" in all 3 pregnancies...I only got slight distaste for things I loved like coffee... mentally, I wanted coffee, but it just didn't taste good... ofcourse, I think that was from about week 9 until second trimester. anyways, you might find that you are one of those fortunate ones that just don't get morning sickness. Also, I think the only thing I'd recommend doing is taking folic acid (or a good prenatal vitamin)... I kinda doubt that what you eat now will develop babies' likes and dislikes... ofcourse, I am sure there will be varying opinions :) GOD's ABUNDANT blessings on the new baby! I am sooooo happy for you!

Anonymous said...

Well I guess we've answered the question what were you doing with all that spare time when you worked only 2-3 days a week on that last show - ha! First of all a million congratulations to you both! Wow what a beautiful baby this is going to be just by looking at the stud-like parents! So welcome to the very best life has to offer with abundant blessings from our Heavenly Father!! Meanwhile, spend no time worrying! This is YOUR first time at this but peeps have been doing this fairly successfully for, o well, millions of years! Whenever I'd worry during pregnancy I'd assure myself that dumber people than me had pulled it off quite well prior to this particular baby being born and that would comfort me. I have happy news for you - I never had a breath of morning sickness the whole time I was expecting awesome Austin so you should feel no peer pressure to have any as well. It's not like "all the cool moms are doing it" - frankly, all the coolest moms are NOT doing it - so you're missing nothing. I did however get all sick and queasy as he hit puberty and on into the teen years but that's not the stage we're discussing here and now. With a loving nod to my wonderful and sweet mother in law - Frances (God bless her who's funeral was last week) I will tell you the wisest words anyone shared with me since I found out I was going to be a mom and that is "the baby will teach you everything you need to know when you need to know it" which has proven to be spot on ever since she first told me. I know it sounds weird but it's the total truth. In other words, don't worry about knowing everything at once, it will be obvious as to what you need to know when you need to know it. Good news for us hyper prepare-ahead types. Also, keep in mind that mommies and daddies parent VERRRYYYY differently. And that's OK. Granted, mommies parent correctly and daddies parent incorrectly (most of mommy's corrections will start with the statement "Are you out of your mind?!") but it's OK otherwise God would not have made one mommy and one daddy for each child. It's all about the balance. I agree that its does take a village - just remember that every village has an idiot or two so beware. So sit back and enjoy these happy carefree, QUIET, days of anticipation - keep a diary (or a blog) and drink in the beauty of it all. In about 32 weeks, that all comes to a screeching halt! I mean, um, well, um, enjoy the pampering and wide eyed anticipation.....it's the last time it's all gonna be about you! Which reminds me - can I pretty please hostess a shower for you? Again, congrats to you all! Couldn't happen to a more wonderful couple! I'll be here with more sage wisdom and advice every step of the way! xoxo Your Diva

Anonymous said...

Dear Friend,

I am so very, very happy for you. Samuel and Noah were standing next to me when I saw your message and wanted to know what was wrong. And when I told them my friend is going to have a baby, Noah asked to see pictures. :-)

About the morning sickness, it started for me around week 7 or 8 with the first pregnancy, so it may be ahead of you yet. I was also sick late in my 3rd trimester all 3 times, but I think that was mainly due to eating more than I had room for. Lots of people never get sick though, so hopefully you're one of the lucky ones.

The fruit/veggie craving is excellent--that's exactly what you should be eating, along with plenty of calcium and the iron & prenatal vitamins already mentioned. If the vitamins make you sick, try taking them on a full stomach or right before you go to bed--that helped me out a lot.

I had different craving experiences with each pregnancy, but they usually didn't develop until the 2nd trimester. Mostly I craved things I couldn't have--spicy tuna rolls, beer, etc--and things I would normally crave anyway, like ice cream. During my first couple of days of morning sickness I developed an aversion to deep-fried foods that still comes and goes.

I think a baby does start to get used to mom's diet in utero, but I don't know about developing an affinity for anything in particular. Mine certainly didn't inherit the aversion to french fries!

Thanks for sharing your journey with us. We are so blessed to be a part of it.

Anonymous said...

WOW! Praise God, I am so happy for you and Thomas, and congratulations to Mom and Dad and Erin too! I know they are so excited!!!

The only cravings that I had were for Mc Donalds French Fries: (I seriuosly discourage that!) I'm not sure it was the baby or the fries that were making me crave them

I didn't have morning sickness which explains why I didn't know I was expecting until later in my pregancies 0-:

Finally advice for you, is to ENJOY every day of your pregnancy, I wish I had really enjoyed the miracle that was growing daily within me. I disguised those days in baggy clothes, and tried to stay secluded from public view.

Enjoy the days, and nights! Enjoy the sound of SILENCE! Pamper yourself, and really take it all in.

Love you
Katrina
P.S. Count me in for any future SWOG baby showers

Anonymous said...

Just to chime in here... yes, the sickness can start later. With Theo, I puked from months 3 to 8.

Anonymous said...

We are SO HAPPY for you two!!! I think we should design some sort of onesies that boast American/German pride! :) "Made in America...German engineered". Well maybe not that cheeze! :)

I think I consumed an inhuman amount of mango today.

Lots of xoxo Diana and Henning

Anonymous said...

Yeah! We're very excited for you!
Re: Morning sickness: As long as I had saltines or pretzels nearby, I was able to hold off major morning sickness. I just had to continue to graze a lot.

I also drank coffee. Not that I'm telling you to do that, but I read that small amounts of caffeinne could cause the baby to be smaller. I thought that might be a good thing for the birthing process:). (Oh, and all 3 ofmine like coffee now, so I'm not sure if that is because I drank it when I was pregnant or because I fed it to them in their bottles!) ;)

Sure you want advice from me????

Love,
Bee

Anonymous said...

I JUST thought of this today! Maybe one of the reasons I didn't get morning sickness is because I have been doing acupuncture! IF you find that it comes to you a little later ...I REALLY recommend it and I have a great guy in Santa Monica! :)

0x0x Diana

Anonymous said...

yay! tummymuffin! haha. that is so you to think of!

I had evening sickness but just with my first. It would go like this...
Deb:man, I am STARVING!
(goes about making huge dinner, hungry all the while.)
Dave: this looks great!
Deb: (staring at plate full of food....) ew.
Dave: snarlfle%&^&%&% yum yum.
Deb: (staring at plate full of food and getting up from the table without eating) ew.

THREE HOURS LATER....
Deb sits quietly eating 2 fried eggs, which she previously despised. (but now often eats.)

so....anyway, I don't know what THAT means. haha.
one week I ate Arby's beef sandwiches every day for lunch. Ate a lot of eggs (protein I guess). Seems like most of the cravings fill a need your body has to support muffin.

so, this is gonna be fun!
love ya!

Anonymous said...

This is great fun, Erika. Love and congratulations to all three of you! Pregnancy is SO wierd! Cravings and aversions are so unpredictable --- you won't recognize yourself. Normally courteous and food-loving people become picky and impatient, me included. "I want that chalupa NOW!"

In the midst of all the nuisances of pregnancy --- and into the pain of labor and delivery --- I always found it comforting knowing that my body is doing something really remarkable. It really is beautiful. Just think of that when you're on your 5th chalupa.:)

Love to the muffin from CAKE. So good to have you in the bakery!

Christine

Julianne Harvey said...

BABE! So excited for both you and Thomas. I found sipping Sprite to be a great way to combat morning sickness, and also I had some success with those seasickness bands that you can buy at drug stores. Let's hope you don't end up with morning sickness because it is quite nasty to feel like you have the flu for months on end, but of course worth it in the end!

I totally agree with lots of your friends on here who have encouraged you to enjoy each moment of pregnancy. At the time it feels very long but when it's over you miss that sweet relationship with the baby inside you, and of course when they are inside you don't have to feed them at all. :) And I agree about enjoying the quiet right now!!!

One quick funny story that illustrates how different husbands can be from pregnancy to pregnancy....when I was pregnant with Ava and had food cravings Jason would run out to the store day or night and get me anything I wanted. The classic attentive hubby. Then when I was pregnant with William I was reading a magazine one night in bed and I saw an ad for IHOP waffles. I said, "mmmm....those look so good, I could really do with a waffle right now" and he said, "There are Eggo's in the freezer", rolled over and went to sleep.

Enjoy the attention of your sweet hubby now during the first pregnancy because it doesn't tend to last!!!

Love you lots and will look forward to reading your blogs.

Julianne (Babe)

Unknown said...

I think I only had slight morning sickness late in my pregnancy but I was working 10-hour days. I would get to the office, lie down for about 10 minutes and then I would be fine. The food craving came later too: oranges mainly. I would eat half a dozen oranges at a time and I started wanting lemon in my water.

I was able to eat my usual three meals a day, including big dinners. I never had to eat numerous little meals that I hear some people had to during pregnancy. I don't think any food became less attractive and I don't believe that what you eat during pregnancy affects your little bambino's food taste later.

By the way, you looked great this weekend. I think you are having the same kind of pregnancy I had. Lucky you!

Love,
Aunt Ginger

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