Diet (as in what did you eat) during pregnancy

[paris29]

I'm not a mom yet, but hopefully soon. I was just wondering what you ladies ate during your pregnancy, favorite foods, food cravings, etc.

 

[Pandora II]

I didn't stop eating anything - ie still ate soft cheeses (it's only unpasteurised that you need to be careful with and they are hard to find these days), sushi etc

I had hyper-emesis and so ate almost nothing for most of the first trimester as it just made me sick. Then I went on a complete obsession for Granny Smith apples - about 9 a day a one point - and nothing else. Later on it was chocolate, cupcakes and Mars ice-cream bars - I just couldn't get enough of them.

I hoped I'd want things like steak or seafood but I had zero interest in meat or even in fruit and vegetables. Very healthy!

In the last 6 weeks I had terrible cravings for the old-fashioned kind of mothballs, coal-tar shampoo and crushed ice. I had a mothball in a hanky in my bag so I could sniff it all the time. Pica is generally a good idication that you are anaemic - I was VERY anaemic by that point. I couldn't wait to go into labour because they had the best crushed ice on the labour ward and I was fixated with the stuff. I remember seeing another girl in the antenatal appointments waiting room with a flask of crushed ice that she was eating with a spoon - she was a bit suprised when I asked if she was anaemic - she was - as she didn't know that craving ice is a bit of a give-away.

Weirdly - Daisy (who is also anaemic at the moment) has a thing about crushed ice as well... in fact ice-cubes too.

ETA: I wanted to eat the ice, but only sniff the mothballs and shampoo - I didn't eat/drink them!

Oh, and I did gain 75lbs (which was over half my body weight) but it was almost all water and I was back to pre-preggo weight within 5 weeks PP.

 

[Puppmom]

...whatever I wanted. I didn't restrict myself much - lunchmeat and hotdogs creeped me out so I didn't eat them but that's about it. I did gain 45 pounds though so I'm not exactly the best example.

One thing I did do is drink A TON of water. I can say enough how important that is.

 

[Jennifer W]

Whatever I could get my hands on! I craved cheese, so I ate a lot of that. I also craved crisp salad with balsamic vinegar, so I figure it balances out haha.

I just ate normally. There's no huge list of things to avoid in Scotland (and as far as I know, no raised morbidity) so I just ate as usual, only with more food generally. I don't know what I gained, as it isn't considered good practice here to weigh women during pregnancy or restrict their diet unless they are significantly overweight before pregnancy. I never checked for myself because I wasn't terribly interested, but based on the clothes that fitted / did not fit afterwards, I'd say that a diet rich in cheese and its companions (cheese burger, pizza, macaroni etc) will pack on a fair few lbs.

Still, I must have been craving cheese for a valid reason, right? Haha.

I ate a lot of pineapple, and a lot of cauliflower - they really appealed to me when I was pregnant, but I didn't crave them as such. I lost my taste for chocolate entirely, and didn't really enjoy anything sweet. The one craving I had that drove me to distraction was soft whip icecream - one of the very few foods on the list of things to avoid that my Dr gave me.

I did have a fairly sever bout of food poisoning, after dinner at a restaurant (chicken, of all things). After that, I pretty much ate only what I prepared for myself at home, because it was beyond awful.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I ate what I wanted. In the first trimester I was pretty sick and survived on veggies, made simply with butter. Later in the pregnancy I was able to eat anything I felt like eating, including sushi (only twice). I also had sodas, which eased my nausea that I had all throughout the 9 months.

I only gained 11 pounds total. I was below pre-preggo weight when Micah was out (he was 7 pounds) which was kind of nice!

 

[Pandora II]

Ditto Jen, in England they don't weigh you other than at your first appointment as they don't think it matters what you do or don't gain. They just look at you at appointments and if they think something looks disproportionate they will check then.

I only know because it got beyond ridiculous - I had terrible oedema and had no ankles, feet or knees - just big tree trunks with little toes on the end. It was horrific! I went in and asked about whether I should be tested for GD (it's not normal to test for that here either - even the 1 hour test) as I'd put on so much. They did a urine test and said no everything looked fine and despite being big I was still in proportion (I am 5ft 10"). I was on the skinny side to start with so I had space for the lbs!

My guilty, bad and nasty thought from being pregnant was being super annoyed that my hands swelled so badly I couldn't wear my rings from the 6th month until nearly 6 months PP and yet my SIL - who I dislike intensely - is very obese and put on almost no weight till the last trimester and never stopped wearing her rings. She's got this thing about never taking off her e-ring (sleeps, baths, does the housework etc in a beautiful ring that my brother and I worked on together - diamond from WF, setting by Wink) and she never cleans the darn thing. Makes me want to grab it off her hand and scrub it everytime I see it! So... I was hoping that she'd have to take it off while she was PG and the whole 'I'm never going to take this ring off ever and I'm going to be buried in it' crap would stop!

 

[Puppmom]

I like the no weighing thing. I didn't WANT to gain 45 pounds so every time I got weighed, I just felt awful about myself...like I wasn't doing a good job baking my baby. Even though 45 pounds is over the recommended weight gain, I was within 10 pounds of my pre-preggo weight by about 3 months or so. Now, DS is 4.5 months and I'm 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm at a healthy weight. I would have liked to be one of those gals with a little basketball belly and fitting into regular pants within day of delivery but I'm just not!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Ahh, what a fun question. I am 37 weeks plus a few days pregnant now. Let me try to re-count what I ate yesterday, though I may forget something because there is so much!!

Toast
1/2 cup coffee
Glass of skim milk and a banana for ride to work
2 small cookies before my ob apptmt because I was starving at 10:30
Small bottle of water
Pumpernickel bagel and cream cheese at around 11:45
Lunch at a diner at 1 -- garden salad, steamed fresh broccoli, mashed potatoes (I don't eat meat or fish). Oh, and a regular coke, which sadly, I crave.
Handful of cashews and almonds
Few pieces of chocolate throughout the day (lots of candy/cookies in the office right now)
For dinner at home -- veggie burger, extra pickle, tomato, onion and fries
Pellegrino
More chocolate and glass of milk
A pear

Water, water, water all day long!! I bring a 1.5 liter bottle to work every day and finish that before I leave. At home, I have maybe 3-5 glasses of water, sometimes with orange or cranberry juice.

For cravings, I went through a skim milk stage, a cereal stage, a peanut butter phase and am now rather fixated on regular sodas (which I won't keep in the house, but do indulge in when I am out.)

I won't eat canned foods (BPA), pizza or meals out with sauce (BPA), diet sodas or fake sweeteners. I won't drink water at work (BPA). Deli meat and fish are not a problem because I wouldn't eat them anyway. I love cheese, as long as it's pasteurized, it's ok.

I'm up 22 pounds now, which absolutely amazes me, given that I eat so much.

 

[lizzyann]

When I was pregnant I ate pretty much the same as when I wasn't pregnant except I didn't eat the normal things they tell you to stay away from here in the US - hot dogs, deli meat, sushi, unpasteurized cheese, etc. I watched the amount of fish I ate due to Mercury and I had limited amounts of caffeine.

One of my cravings was Greek Salad Dressing (I still love it since being prego). I could put it on anything it was so yummy. Now I want some! I also loved Root Beer! I drank Mug as it had no caffeine and I wanted it all the time. I gained 40 lbs during pregnancy. In the first month or so I actually lost a little weight because I was eating healthier than I was pre-prego. But then around the 5th or 6th month I remember my weight picking up steam! I lost all of my pregnancy weight within the month after giving birth. I was nursing and drinking a lot of water so I think that helped! Right now, I am 5 lbs over my pre-prego weight. My son is 20 months, so not too bad. But my body is not quite the same!!!! I think you ladies know what I mean! Definitely not as toned and my weight has been redistributed and to none of the good places!!!!

 

[somethingshiny]

I ate normally and added TONS of veggies. I keep a pretty good diet anyway so I really didn't need to change anything. With JT, I couldn't eat beef, it made me so sick. With Lily, I craved red meat. I wanted hamburgers and steaks medium or medium rare.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

My diet included a lot of fresh wild king salmon, cheese, triscuits, strawberries, eggs, cashews, and pasta. During both of my pregnancies I could eat dairy, but now I cannot. With my first, I didn't have any caffeine and was paranoid and didn't eat any deli foods...with my second, I did drink lattes, but still no deli foods.

1st pregnancy gained 45 lbs (lost it all)
2nd pregnancy gained 25 lbs (again lost it all)
Am below pre-pregnancy weight!

Like Pandora, I had pica. Not really bad, but I constantly craved ciggarette butts. Not ciggarettes, themselves, or smoking, but the actual part that people smoke/stick in their mouths. It was really weird. lol

 

[Jennifer W]

I didn't stop eating anything - ie still ate soft cheeses (it's only unpasteurised that you need to be careful with and they are hard to find these days), sushi etc

I had hyper-emesis and so ate almost nothing for most of the first trimester as it just made me sick. Then I went on a complete obsession for Granny Smith apples - about 9 a day a one point - and nothing else. Later on it was chocolate, cupcakes and Mars ice-cream bars - I just couldn't get enough of them.

I hoped I'd want things like steak or seafood but I had zero interest in meat or even in fruit and vegetables. Very healthy!

In the last 6 weeks I had terrible cravings for the old-fashioned kind of mothballs, coal-tar shampoo and crushed ice. I had a mothball in a hanky in my bag so I could sniff it all the time. Pica is generally a good idication that you are anaemic - I was VERY anaemic by that point. I couldn't wait to go into labour because they had the best crushed ice on the labour ward and I was fixated with the stuff. I remember seeing another girl in the antenatal appointments waiting room with a flask of crushed ice that she was eating with a spoon - she was a bit suprised when I asked if she was anaemic - she was - as she didn't know that craving ice is a bit of a give-away.

Weirdly - Daisy (who is also anaemic at the moment) has a thing about crushed ice as well... in fact ice-cubes too.

ETA: I wanted to eat the ice, but only sniff the mothballs and shampoo - I didn't eat/drink them!

Oh, and I did gain 75lbs (which was over half my body weight) but it was almost all water and I was back to pre-preggo weight within 5 weeks PP.

I had never heard that pica is an indication of anaemia. So interesting! Amelia is slightly anaemic and wants to crunch on frozen snow. I'm anaemic and crave some odd stuff too...

 

[Blenheim]

I ate fairly normally, just a little bit more of it. I was also better about drinking enough water and eating enough fruits/veggies than normal, but I was really focused on making sure that I did well in those categories.

Cravings: French fries, samosas, and milk. I once craved pickles for about five minutes, which is weird because I think that they are one of the grossest foods ever.

 

[Pandora II]

I had never heard that pica is an indication of anaemia. So interesting! Amelia is slightly anaemic and wants to crunch on frozen snow. I'm anaemic and crave some odd stuff too...

It's not commonly known - even my midwives didn't know about the ice thing being an indication of anaemia. The pica was what made me go and ask them to test my blood-count.

There's quite a lot of stuff on the Internet about ice and anaemia.

Oh and I was crazy about snow the year I was pregnant - used to get glasses of the stuff from outside and put ice-cream syrups etc on them. Also I was playing poker twice a week at a bar which served the most incredible white peach non-alcoholic mohitos and I must have driven everyone crazy as I'd have 3 or 4 in an evening and crunch all the crushed ice. Now I'm quite meh about them but at the time I would dream about them!

 

[geri]

I'm 34 weeks pregnant now and I'm also eating pretty much the same, just a little more of everything. I have a pretty balanced diet normally so wasn't concerned that I needed to make too many changes. I still eat deli meats, sushi etc but am a lot more picky about where I will eat them from. I have avoided soft unpasteurised cheese, which is hard because it is my favourite food. I have occasional cravings - particularly carbs in the first trimester (couldn't get enough bread, pasta, potatoes) and at other times meat and cheese. And I don't normally have a sweet tooth but have been having chocolate, cookies etc every day. It will be interesting to see if that changes after the little one arrives.

 

[swingirl]

I ate all the same stuff I'd eaten before. I didn't have any unusual cravings other than quantity. But that's normal. I eat a pretty healthful diet because I like fruits and vegetables and don't eat fast food, greasy things or prepared foods. I was rather disappointed that I didn't have any "crazy craving" stories to tell.

 

[oobiecoo]

I was pretty sick for a couple of months but, oddly, almost the only thing I could eat was greasy food! Taco Bell, hot wings, cheap fast food burgers (not nice, thick, homemade ones). Vegetables had no place in my diet except for salads. Later, after I was no longer sick, I ate whatever I wanted... lunch meat, fish, brie... whatever! I wasn't afraid of eating anything because my doc really wasn't concerned.

Oh also wanted to add... when I was having morning sickness I did keep ginger snaps and orange juice w/club soad with me at all times. Also, DH would make me a shake in the morning that is similar to the chocolate banana ones at Starbucks with protein powder. That helped alot!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I ate normally...just in greater quantity. Haha. I craved strange things like green olives and chocolate milk. I was also really into strawberries which I never liked before I got pregnant.

 

[Bliss]

I was one of the unlucky ones with morning sickness into my third tri so I tried to make every meal count. Nausea made me open to eating lots of fruit and vegetables. I ate tons and tons of fruit until DH insisted I eat only organic and that made it more challenging to find organic everything in the winter. Interestingly, the thought of eating meat made me ill, which was bizarre for my normal palate! I tried to eat beans, greek yogurt, tofu and raw nuts (almonds and walnuts) to make up for it and I definitely hit my protein goals that way. I really really craved peanut butter but didn't have any because it's an allergen and I didn't want to risk triggering peanut allergies in the bub. Studies are mixed on the peanut butter issue and there's no definitive link but I just didn't want to risk it. Sigh. I love peanut butter. Love. It.

Things that helped with morning sickness: eating and sniffing fresh lemons, ginger candies, natural ginger ale, Sour Preggie Pops, jalapeno peppers(!!!) with food, seltzer, saltines and bananas. I really really missed sushi, white wine and peanut butter.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I ate normally...just in greater quantity. Haha. I craved strange things like green olives and chocolate milk. I was also really into strawberries which I never liked before I got pregnant.

Yep, strawberries for me as well. I would eat an entire package (1 lbs?). The other fruit I went crazy with was pineapple...I recall once eating 1/2 of one at one sitting. lol Both my boys LOVE strawberries and pineapple

 

[Deelight]

First tri - I loved avocado could not get enough and salt, never really liked chips (fries) but as a preggo OMG they taste so good but the mainstay all pregnancy has been fruit I have not had any really unhealthy cravings but mostly really love fruit and veggies - meat in small portions.

I eat mostly the same but I would say most days I eat less then I did before I get full quicker however I do have days where I cannot stop eating *nom nom*

Also not that fussed with chocolate anymore I still eat it but I don't crave it.

 

[princessplease]

EVERYTHING lol!!!!! I'm like a human dumpster...I'm always hungry. My latest craving is for canned corn...it must be canned. Frozen is

 

[Mara]

I ate whatever sounded good. I think that it's easy to be like 'I am going to eat so healthily during pregnancy... ' My diet beforehand was pretty structured and I didn't eat a lot of 'bad for you' things. But when you are nauseated 24 hours a day for a few months, you start to realize, ok I just need to eat so what sounds good?!?! And I love meat typically, but it did not sound good at all until 20 weeks--though in the first few weeks it is almost ALL I ate. AND I got heartburn until almost 13 weeks and then again towards the end. So I ate whatever I wanted or could fit in. The middle of the preg I ate more like I originally did as 99% of what I used to like sounded palatable. And towards the end I ate a little sloppily, a little more sweets than most of the preg (sweets also didn't really sound good 1/2+ of the preg). I prob gained about 5-6lbs more than I should have and those were the 5-6lbs that stuck around at the end!!

Irony is after I had the baby and even after that I noticed my palate changed somewhat. I used to have a huge sweet tooth before and now it's mostly gone. Doesn't mean I still don't appreciate a good sweet treat, and sometimes I eat a few in a row, but for whatever reason the urge to have sweet is largely changed. We'll see if that sticks around, I hope so as I like the freedom from feeling like I have to have something sweet.

 

[taovandel]

I ate normally with my first pregnancy...didn't really crave anything.

This pregnancy I'm eating weird stuff for me. I am an exclusive water drinker and have been for about 10 years....but since this pregnancy I have a decaf sweet iced tea all the time now....it's so weird! I also hate french fries normally---like I can count on one hand the number of times I've had them in the past two years....this pregnancy I have them at least 2 times a month!