According to all kinds of pregnancy books and magazines, I am supposed to eat quite healthfully so that my baby gets enough nutrients for his development. (No, I don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, but I use "he" and "him" just to make things easier.) The problem is, I tend not to eat a whole lot anyhow -- it's just the way God made me. So I feel like I'm not eating enough, but at least what I do eat is healthy. I mean, last night was Cinco de Mayo, and since I couldn't partake in the drunken revelry that America has made the holiday into, we splurged a bit and I got some Tostitos that we had with salsa as an after-dinner snack. But usually, my snacks are fruits or veggies or even health shakes that my sister likes to supply me with.
Minor sidenote: As I watched the Mariners get their tails whooped up on last night, the commentator mentioned that it was Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of a battle in which Mexico defeated France in 1862. The interesting part of that?? France had been supplying the US Confederates with weapons up to that point. With Mexico being the victors, the Confederates' supply line was cut off. Had France won the battle, would the American Civil War ended differently?? Food for thought.
I found a "pregnancy diet" in one of my magazines, and it has columns for each of the meals, plus snacks during the day, plus an extra column for those in their second or third trimesters, like yours truly. For example, for breakfast I'm supposed to pick something from the "grains" column, something from the "fruits" column, and something from the "dairy" column. That wouldn't be so bad except my stomach doesn't function in the morning, so my baby's lucky I eat breakfast at all, which usually is a bowl of cereal. For lunch, though, I'm supposed to have "protein" and "fruits/veggies" and "dairy" and "2nd/3rd trimester extras." And for dinner, I have the same thing over again, except I eat two things from the veggie column. PLUS I am supposed to eat three snacks from the snack column during the day!!
I have decided to throw that whole idea out of the window because there is no way I could eat that much food anyhow. My sister thought it was a lot of food too, so it's not just my opinion. But I eat healthfully -- lots of veggies and I'm really trying to eat more fruit. I have a good supply of Fuji apples (the only ones I eat) and oranges, and I bought more green bananas at the store yesterday. I like my bananas at the state where they're just past being green -- if the peel starts to get thin with brown spots on it, I can't eat the banana inside because the flavor just grosses me out. Fortunately, Kurt still likes them, and he makes them into smoothies on occasion. :o) I just have to get him to stay out of the green ones!
Speaking of fruit, I was at our local foo-foo grocery store yesterday, and right in the front door they had a hybrid fruit for sale called a "Grapple" -- pronounced with a long a. Apparently it's a fruit that looks like a Fuji apple, but tastes like a grape. They smell very grape-y, that's for darn sure! I wish they'd had samples out. They were $4 for 4 apples, which isn't bad for something that funky, but I was afraid Kurt and I weren't going to like them.
The other thing that gets me about this pregnancy is I have NO symptoms whatsoever. I mean, I have the two obvious ones -- I don't have my period (thank God!), and my tummy is getting bigger. In fact, my belly button is getting more and more shallow, and now I can maneuver it around so that it's an outie. Hee hee! I have yet to feel the baby move, which is okay because even though I'm on my 20th week today (halfway there!), it's my first pregnancy. Also, I'm a bit chubby, so I don't know if the baby is strong enough to make his movements known.
I have a book, the "What to Expect" book, and it's mainly in a question and answer format. The problem is, I don't have any of the questions in the book because I have none of the symptoms! I don't have the "mask of pregnancy" where your face gets darker in spots because of hormones, I don't have the dark vertical line that runs from your belly button down (again probably because I'm chubby), my breasts seem to be the same size still (which is large anyhow), I don't have any crazy cravings for food... the list goes on and on. The one symptom I do have is acne. Ick. My hormones are going wacky, so I get these massive pimples on my face and neck, even though I am VERY vigilant about keeping my face clean and I don't even wear makeup anymore but on rare occasions. I have worse acne now than in high school, but then I was fortunate that I didn't have much in the way of acne in high school -- I just had one pimple at any given time on my face. And these pimples take forever to heal! It's no fun at all.
So I will just persevere, and wait till I feel the baby kicking. Then I know the baby will be a lot more real to me -- and knowing my luck, he'll be one of those babies that just love to kick all the time.
And before you know it, he'll be here in person! It's strange to think of, but exciting as well.