Pregnancy Adventures: Things I did not know about pregnancy before I got pregnant

Just found out today that our friends Nate & Marissa are expecting, due in July---yay! This got me thinking to writing a brief post about things I didn't know about pregnancy before becoming pregnant...many things I discovered earlier on but couldn't talk about since I was still in the "non-safety" zone of the first trimester...so hopefully I can jog my memory a bit here. Now, there were a few things I knew about like how you shouldn't smoke, drink alcohol, etc...and some things I learned through some of the few friends that have had children in the last couple of years...but there are a number of things that I did not know until I got pregnant, got the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book, and really started learning about the do's and do-not's of pregnancy. Here they are:

• No more hot baths. I knew that pregnant women weren't allowed in hot tubs based on all the signs posted around hot tubs...but I never really translated that to hot baths. Now, I LOVE my hot baths...but once I started asking about it, my OB was like "well, try to keep the belly out of the bath" or "keep the temperature not too hot". I'm like "what? what's the point then?" Now, I know there are many opinions on this...and like with almost any of the "do-not's" of pregnancy, it's more about doing things moderately and not excessively. Still, I can't help but worry about the temperature of the water when I take a bath now and try my best to just keep it short and not make myself sweat too much.
• What I shouldn't eat/drink. Now, I knew about things like tuna, raw sushi, alcohol, etc...but these are the food items (that I care about) that I didn't realize I had to essentially remove from my diet during these 9 months:
  • Lunch meat (this is one where I try to be "moderate")
  • Hot dogs (I'll admit I ate one German sausage while visiting Leavenworth)
  • Alfalfa sprouts (wah--salads and sandwiches aren't as good w/o sprouts)
  • Oysters (in retrospect, this should have been obvious)
  • Bananas -- this is just a Chinese thing---my mom and aunt practically ripped a banana out of my hand over Thanksgiving...I'm not really sure why bananas are banned. Again, this is something I'm more "moderate" with.
  • Caffeine -- I really had no idea about this. In reality, the advice is no more than 200mg of caffeine a day (a standard tall latte at Starbucks is about 75mg for reference) As a result, though, I've basically stopped drinking coffee (which was really tough for me initially) and have just substituted with an occasional chai latte or uncaffeinated herbal tea. It probably doesn't hurt to chill out on my bad caffeine habit anyway.
  • Unpasteurized cheese -- I LOVE cheese. Now, I have to look out to see if any cheese is pasteurized or not. Fortunately, most cheese in the U.S. is pasteurized...but what in the world do pregnant women in France do? Again, I'm sure this falls under the "be moderate" category...but it's not like there are any major cheeses I love that I can no longer eat. I just find myself paying more attention to it.
  • Items with "raw eggs" such as hollandaise sauce, tiramisu, mayonnaise. This is another "be moderate" for me....but again, most of these items are things I rarely indulge in anyway. Supposedly, pregnant women should also avoid runny eggs (such as sunny-side-up) but again, I tend to eat scrambled anyway so haven't thought much about it.
• Don't touch the cat litter! This is one that's worked in my favor. Pregnant women are susceptible to an infection called Toxoplasmosis. As a result, when you're pregnant, ladies, time to tell the husband to pick up after the cat.
• Dyeing your hair. Here's another "be moderate" for me -- but supposedly, pregnant women should be careful about the amount of hair dyeing that may do during those 9 months...and if you are to do it, better to do highlights rather than all-over hair color. I would also throw this into the "hold off on this during the 1st trimester" category but otherwise, I'm sure it's fine. Again, I have no plans for this.
• Lighten up on that reflexology! This I'm a bit bummed about. There are apparently pressure points in the feet that can lead to premature contractions...as a result, MOST massage therapists will either totally NOT touch your feet...or they will only give it a pretty light massage.
• Got acne? Just deal. Now, I knew that Accutane was forbidden during pregnancy...but I figured that I'd just dab the occasional salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide over-the-counter acne treatment when I'd break out...but apparently, those are things I have to be careful with (not enough conclusive studies I believe...so some would say this is just hogwash). I think this also falls under the "be moderate with" category but I've just been too worried to choose my vanity over the baby's health.....and that lovely "pregnancy glow" that women get? Well, ladies that have a history of acne--expect it to get worse!

That's about all I can think of for now. Now, I'm not sitting here avoiding everything like the plague and truly take the advice to just do things moderately...but it's been really fascinating for me on this journey to learn about what pregnant women should or shouldn't do, can or cannot do, etc.

Only in recent weeks have I finally started feeling her kick...and just in this last week was I able to physically feel her kicks on my belly. Just a few days ago, Matt was able to feel her kick for the first time which was so awesome. The kicks come and go and they vary from a very light tickling feeling to a big jab right in the middle (it's a weird feeling, kind of like a major gas burp but in the wrong place and obviously without the gas) It will be eerie when she gets big enough that I can start actually seeing waves of baby movement on my stomach.

I still have a weird aversion to meat, particularly in the evenings. The feeling comes and goes but at times, the taste of meat can make me absolutely nauseous. One observation I made, though, was that I can almost always eat meat when made with an Asian-like preparation, such as Thai or Chinese...but for example, I wasn't able to eat much turkey during the Christmas dinner because it just sat with me the wrong way. I still can't enjoy a good steak and can only eat beef when it's stir fried with broccoli or chow fun it seems. Strange eh?

I'll sign off this post with a lovely baby picture of our friends Betina & Justin's recently born daughter, Madeleine Poppy, who came to this world on Dec. 19th---she's so cute!