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.

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

• 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.),