A lot of changes have been happening recently. Changes that have affected both my diet and, in some ways, my cooking. They have all been good changes, wonderful changes in fact, but nonetheless, have had me quite busy.
Change #1:
In mid-October my husband and I received the best piece of news of 2010. Well, technically I received the news first and then, while trembling, attempted to share the news with him as well. In June of 2011 we will be adding a new member to our little family - we are going to have a baby!
Finding out you are going to be a parent for the first time invokes a great number of emotions. First, there was the overwhelming excitement that made my hands tremble and my voice shake as I attempted to tell my husband (according to him, I didn’t need to say anything, the look on my face gave it away). Then there was a bit of nervousness that started to boil up inside and I quickly found myself asking a million questions. ‘Am I ready to be someone’s mother?’ ‘Can we afford to have a baby?’ ‘How do I pick a doctor?’ ‘How should we tell our families?’ ‘When should we tell our friends?’ ‘What foods should I avoid?’ ‘Should I stop running?’ ‘Am I getting enough calcium?’ ‘Should I have started a prenatal already?’ There were probably one thousand other questions that ran through my head in about a 2 minute span, but you get the idea.
After the nervousness calmed down, reality started to set in and my extreme excitement quickly took its place. At our first doctor's appointment, we were able to get many of our questions answered and I was also handed me a packet (as in multiple pages stapled together) of all the foods and drinks I am not allowed to consume while pregnant, hence the change in diet:
No lunch meat unless heated until steaming
No raw foods, including but not limited to sushi or raw eggs (there goes batter tasting!)
Limit caffeine intake to 300 mg or less a day
No soft cheeses
Limited seafood intake to one serving per week
No fish with high contents of Mercury (swordfish, shark, king mackerel, etc.)
All meat must be cooked to well done
No artificial sweeteners
No alcohol (obviously)
No mayonnaise or mayonnaise-based products unless made at home
Limit number of processed foods
No Herbal teas
No smoked or cured meats
No Apple cider or any other unpasteurized beverages
Again the list went on and on - for 8 plus pages. As a first time mother-to-be I am more than happy to follow these rules and perhaps a little bit too uptight about them (although sometimes, especially when you are 6 weeks pregnant and traveling through Europe, it can be very difficult and unnerving to find foods that you are allowed to eat - like the one time in Fussen, Germany when I unknowingly ate an item from the do not eat list and then proceeded to cry for 20 minutes while my poor husband tried to console me by telling me women have been having babies for centuries and most likely ate things from the "do not eat list"), so the rules have changed my eating habits a bit and forced me to look a little bit more carefully before throwing an item into the shopping cart or ordering off of a menu.
In addition to the required changes, my appetite has also had its ups and downs. There are days when nothing sounds appetizing and the thought of eating turns my stomach; then there are days when I am starving all day long, no matter how much or what I consume. Every day brings something new - and I never know what the baby is going to want to eat that particular day. For example, in my first trimester I could not get enough carrots. I ate so many carrots that I started to worry that our baby may actually come out orange. It’s been an adventure, but of the best kind and I have been working on and experimenting with many pregnancy friendly meals to share here with all of you. So stay tuned!
Change # 2:
After we found out that we were expecting, we also decided to change our surroundings. My husband was offered a great job in Milwaukee, so after the holidays, we packed up our belongings and headed north to the great state of cheese. Although we have not been here for too long, I can already tell that the culture in Milwaukee will have an influence on our cooking and eating habits. Not only do they love their cheese, beer and fried foods here, but there are also an abundance of food stores (finally, a Whole Foods!) and a vast array of restaurants options. I can only imagine that in the next few months as we explore our new city and become familiar with our new surroundings, that there will be many blog worthy meals.
As for now, I am sitting in our furniture-less condo waiting for the Time-Warner Cable man to arrive and hook up our Internet. Once that is done, I can guarantee, many more posts. And once I fully explore the city, I hope to integrate all of the great food, flavors and cooking styles this part of the country has to offer; but the beer tasting and brewery tours will have to wait another six months!
