Apparently peanut is now the size of a bell pepper! As I mentioned in last weeks update I was off to see the midwife which all went fine and the little one has a wonderful heart beat. On Monday I also had an appointment at the hospital to see an obstetrician. As I conceived on medication there are certain conditions that I could have a higher risk of including preeclampsia (my Mam had preeclampsia when she was pregnant with me which also increases my risk) and pre term labour so they said they wanted to keep a closer eye on me. They tested me again, and my blood pressure is on the low side of normal which is pretty good so I don’t have any other checks than the usual ones with the midwife until 32 weeks when I get an extra scan to check the baby’s growth.
I have been experiencing some heart burn and getting sore achy legs at night which is another pregnancy related issue, but they aren’t causing me too much discomfort. Oh and I think I might be getting a bit of baby brain, I keep forgetting things, dropping things and generally being daft. Earlier in the week I was on my way to the office yet turned the wrong way at the end of my road and had to turn the car around. Doh!
One last thing from this week, my pregnant friend on Facebook shared this hilarious selection of GIF’s for husbands of pregnant ladies – check it out if you need some funnies for this Friday!
My fave pregnancy meals
I thought it would be a bit of fun to look at some of my fave meals so far in my pregnancy. Pregnant women have notoriously crazy cravings and aversions, so I guess mine haven’t been too bad! Some have been healthier than others, but after the sickness of the first trimester I’m almost back to normal other than not wanting chicken anywhere near me!
My first real craving was cheese on toast, I just love it! I tried to make it healthier by using organic cheese and seedy bread. There’s just something about melted cheese…
I had this pizza when we were out one night in the early days and by heavens it was good, talk about hitting the spot! On the healthier side…
I had a real fancy for muesli which I’ve always loved, but something I need to keep an eye on as muesli can be a trigger food for me.
A food that I’ve been back into in a big way is bread:
I’ve been needing my carb fix! I went years without really being fussed on bread, then all of a sudden I really wanted it. I know I definitely need more carbs, but I try and make them from good sources like wholegrain or sourdough bread and whole grains. I can’t really start the day now without something carby in my meal:
My creamy oats have been doing the trick for that! As for other whole grains…
I’ve been loving the sachets of pre cooked quinoa and lentils from Waitrose. I used to be able to manage with just a leafy green salad but I started to need something more substantial and quinoa has been wonderful for that.
Another food that’s found it’s way back on to my plate is new potatoes, for some reason I’ve been loving them in curries.
Last but certainly not least is green smoothies:
These have been great for the days when I just couldn’t face any vegetables at all.
It’s been interesting to see how I’ve started to fancy foods like bread and new potatoes which I really wasn’t bothered about for years. I think part of me put bread and potatoes into the ‘un healthy’ section of my brain (which they are not unhealthy at all BTW), for a long time, but now I try and have no labels like that, I’ve been able to enjoy them in moderation without the need to binge on them. Other foods that have been cravings include strawberries, apples, peppers, pop chips and ice cream! As I touched on in my pregnancy nutrition post, I’ve been making an effort to eat foods like eggs and oily fish – although it’s not too much of an effort as I really enjoy those foods too.
Have any foods made their way out of your diet only to come back again?
Fantastic to hear that everything with the obstetrician went well!
I think foods tend to come in and out of my diet depending on how my stomach copes with them (kale for example – I couldn’t eat it for over a year and now I’m having a small amount every day, which I am very pleased about) and where I am with regard to macro balance. In terms of healthy vs. unhealthy foods, I’m quite interested in the whole IIFYM movement at the moment – I’d love to hear your take on that at some point if you ever felt like doing a post :)
xxx
Thanks Jess!
Glad you are able to eat a bit of kale, it’s quite interesting how things with our bodies can change and heal. I’ll be honest I have not heard of IIFYM, but I’ve just done a bit of a quick google and it sounds very interesting – do you have any recommended sites to have a look at? Going off what I’ve just read it sounds like a good concept, I like the idea of being freer with ‘treats’ and being able to have a managed, structured way of including them, would definitely be up for doing a post.
I would say by far the best site is simply http://iifym.com/
I am really on the fence about it and whether it’s something I should try, hence the sneaky post request ;)
Cheese! I have to really listen to my body on dairy, but as i am on holiday just now grilled halloumi and hard goats cheese is definitely made a welcome come back until my body says no. Oh and peanut butter, i tried to cut it out but i just love it too much :)
Oh I adore halloumi! I think listening to your body like that is by far the best approach, but sometimes something tastes so good even if we know we get a bit of a stomach ache it’s worth it ;-)
God I wish I could eat real bread!!!!! Cheese on toast is probably one thing I really miss even though neither the bread or cheese does me any favours this day!
That sucks! someone needs to invent a really good diary free cheese, although I here the daiya is good.
So pleased to hear everything went well with the obstetrician :) I went off tuna for a very long while, and am still not keen on the tinned stuff, but absolutely love a fresh steak! Strange how that happens isn’t it…
Thanks Poppy :-) It is! There’s a few foods where I like them in certain incarnations but then hate in another.
Glad to hear that everything is going well with little bell pepper :)
Your pregnancy meals look like my every day meals, apart from the cheese on toast. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the stuff, but I just can’t stop with one slice. It is my kryptonite.
My problem is the slices of cheese I eat while I’m making it!
Im always amazed when I follow somebody’s pregnancy journey, mostly because it just shows how fast time really does pass. 18 weeks already? Wow! Congrats Laura! Ive also been loving the green leafy salads for dinner with quinoa. We used to live right next to a Waitrose before we moved to Brighton and I miss the packaged lentils they did – shows how spoiled we were to live by such an awesome supermarket….now we have to put up with Sainsburys, hehe!
I know it’s getting a bit scary, almost half way now! I’m glad that Waitrose is further away from me or I’d be skint! But yes it’s a shame as they stock some great healthier foods!
That’s fantastic news that everything is A-ok with you and the baby.
A few years ago I wouldn’t touch bacon or sausages. I hated them. But then tried turkey sausages and turkey bacon and found I quite liked them. Then tried pork and now I love them! How funny is that? (Well not that funny but you know what I mean ;)
Cheddar is something that I have consistently not liked though. I didn’t even like it as a child and now I can’t stand it – and it’s so much worse melted. Most other cheeses are fine though. I think I must have had a bad experience with it back in the day!
Thanks Anna :-) It is weird how our tastes change! I love those turkey sausages in Sainsburys but never had turkey bacon!
Love that turtle gif on the pregnancy gif link. That describes me in bed as a non-pregnant lady…I like my space! When we used to live in uni halls we had a tiny room with the bed against the wall. Dan has fallen out then actually gotten back in from the bottom of the bed and pushed himself back up alongside the wall before!
Mmmm cheese on toast (& red onion!) – awesome. Glad things are progressing well for you & baba xx
Glad your appointment went well :)
When I was little I tried some hummus, thinking it was honey (it began with h) and so for years I didn’t try it because I remembered that (you know when you have something but you expect something else, it just isn’t nice)- also I have had a few that are waaaay too garlicky which put me off.
I had a long time where I hated melted cheese, and avoided pizzas and anything like that (I think we had been away and I had one too many cheese-filled vegetarian meals) but I don’t mind some melted cheese now.