Morning sickness and week 6 eating plan

I haven’t really had any of this sickness yet – morning or any other time of the day, really. And to be honest – it’s freaking me out!

Once you find out you’re pregnant, and confirm it at the doctor – you’re not likely to have a scan until your 12th week. And if you don’t have morning sickness, what’s your ‘proof’ that you’re still pregnant? I want indications that everything’s going okay, but I just don’t have them at the moment.

Food-wise, nothing his made me nauseous – yet. I do eat healthily normally, and I haven’t tried eating anything heavily fatty, except for a piece of chocolate fridge cake, which actually, I didn’t finish.
Here’s been an average day of eating for week 6:

Breakfast

50 g berry muesli
1 large pear, chopped
60 g natural yogurt

Morning snack

1 large apple

Lunch

Wholemeal baguette with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and green olives
or
Baked potato with cheddar cheese and steamed broccoli
(Hey, I got to get my cheese somehow – and it’s guilt free in pregnancy!)

Snack

Clementines with natural yogurt

When I get home from work

90 g pasta with a sauce – maybe pesto, maybe tomato and parmesan (Have done this twice!)

Dinner

Chicken stuffed with mushrooms, garlic and rosemary with mashed swede and steamed kale
or
Tortellini soup (Chicken stock, green beans, carrot, celery, pea and mint tortellini, parmesan)
or
Turkey stir fry (Turkey, carrots, courgettes, onion, bamboo shoots, chilli, teriyaki sauce, egg noodles)
or
Fish finger ciabattas (Four fish fingers with homemade tartar sauce on ciabatta with green beans)
or
Homemade beef burgers with potato wedges and salad

I’ve been loving all this cheese, actually! Though overall I’ve been very healthy, sticking to about 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 15% protein. And I haven’t had a problem at all with not drinking – haven’t fancied a drop at all.

Tea and caffeine

On an average day, I probably drink six to eight cups of tea. Two in the morning when I wake up, one when I get into work, one at 11am, one at 2pm, one at 4pm, and probably one in the evening.

But we’re supposed to keep to no more than 300 micrograms of caffeine a day – in fact, some recent advice even says 200 micrograms a day.  A mug of tea has about 65. So I could have maybe five at a push, but that’s only if I don’t have anything else with caffeine in it, which probably isn’t realistic.

But I’m okay with it – there are actually some really nice herbal teas out there. I’m not talking green tea – actually, I hate green tea. It makes my mouth feel dry and ‘orrible. But have you tried fennel tea? I could easily have a few cups of that a day. It’s a really subtle flavour. And evidently the aniseed in fennel has been shown to help soothe the digestic system. (In fact, my prescription-strength Gavison is aniseed-flavoured, so they must be on to something.)

Image credit: Justin Mclean

Week 6, Day 3: First dr appt

So today I had my first appointment at the GP – to confirm the pregnancy and get a referral. LOTS of red tape to take care of me, but she imparted these food-related morsels of advice, which she called “the big four”:

• Avoid soft cheeses, particularly ones with rinds. Hard cheddars are fine – but nothing spreadable. (BOO! I love cheese!  But goodbye Brie, Camenbert, soft blues – for now.)
• Make sure all meat and eggs are fully cooked. (So no lovely nearly-blue steak, pink lamb, rare burgers. To be honest, this may mean I avoid some red meats – I’ve never been a fan of ‘well-done’.)
• Bagged or prepared salads: Even if it says it’s been washed, wash it again yourself. (I think I do this anyway.)
• Alcohol: current advice is to avoid it completely. (Not sure about this yet, more on this later no doubt.

But this isn’t all of it – a quick look on the NHS’s EatWell website tells you more. Bless ‘em, they’ve done their best to make it clear, but in some ways it just makes me nervous. For example, listeria’s been found in loads of things, not just soft cheeses: lunchmeats, packaged sandwiches, and so on. But we don’t need to avoid them. SO WHY EVEN MENTION IT???! (Okay, rant over. Hormones flaring.),

A blog about pregnancy and food

I’m six weeks pregnant – hooray! As someone who’s always loved her food but also tried not to lose the battle of the bulge, these next 8 1/2 months (and the rest of my life) is likely to be a roller coaster. What can I eat? What can’t I eat? Will I get morning sickness? How much should I eat? What will I stop liking? What will my cravings be? So many questions – and all ones I’ll be exploring. I love cooking and creating new recipes, so will hopefully come up with lots of ideas to share with you, all the while keeping an eye on my burgeoning belly.