Saturday, July 05, 2008

Things I Never Thought About Before


...before I got pregnant, that is!

1) I never thought there would ever come a day when I needed to buy (and consume) Metamucil! Okay, I realize this is probably TMI, but things are changing so much in my body and ailments and "issues" I've never had before just seem to be popping up! We get lots of fiber in our diet, so I was surprised that now that I'm pregnant I'm having "issues" with...well, you get the idea! The doctor suggested taking Metamucil, and so far it seems to be working like a charm.What's even funnier is that I never thought I'd actually like it! Not so sure about the original/regular flavour, but the orange one tastes okay. It sort of reminds me of vitamin C tablets in the orange flavour.

2) I never thought I'd have issues with food. I love cooking, I love going to nice restaurants with friends and family, I love creating new dishes, I love watching the Food Network and making some of the dishes shown on TV, I love sampling international cuisine...I'm a foodie at heart. However, now food and I are not the greatest of friends. In fact, we're pretty much enemies at the moment. Everything seems to make me nauseous. I thought I'd be craving the things my friends keep telling me that they craved while pregnant...like chocolate, ice cream, dill pickle potato chips, etc! Nope. Sadly, the thought of anything sweet grosses me out and the thought of anything fried or greasy grosses me out even more. We never really ate sweets, junk food or fried food before (except on the odd occasion or when we are at a party or out with friends). I think it's good that I'm not craving those types of food. Wouldn't want to start now...especially with my family history of diabetes!

I haven't been able to eat a full meal yet, but I have been able to graze throughout the day on small things (even that is a challenge though). Yesterday, while Hubby was having a sausage on a bun with sauerkraut and mustard, I could not stomach looking at the meat...and I hate bread! I had this overwhelming craving for sauerkraut though! I had a few spoons of sauerkraut and was satiated. Hubby looked at me and said, "You must be pregnant if you're just going to eat sauerkraut and nothing with it!"

Poor Hubby. I haven't been able to cook any meat because just the thought of it sends me running to the bathroom. My toilet bowl and I have a very intimate relationship right now. Hubby's been going to my parents' house for meat! Haha! My Dad feels sorry for him and always feeds him. Again, hopefully this all the time nauseous feeling will magically disappear in a few weeks! I do feel badly for my husband. I'm fine without eating meat. I went without meat for 7 years. Hubby's a meat person, so I'm not so sure he'll be able to survive this pregnancy without meat.3) I never really thought much of old wives' tales or superstitions. Recently, many people have been trying to predict the gender of our little one. Hubby and I have decided that as much as we really want to find out the gender of the baby, we are going to keep it a surprise (at least for baby #1). Anyway, my good friend, Super Girl told me last week that she thinks I'm going to have a little girl. She said this because I have been super, super sick all the time. Apparently, according to popular belief, if a mother has a lot of nausea then she's probably having a girl. Well, I know several people who have had terrible nausea and they've had baby boys.

Another one that I really found interesting was about how the baby's heart rate can be an indicator of the baby's sex. This one was first mentioned to me by Sandy. I thought that was really neat. Karen and a few other friends mentioned it to me too! It is said that if the baby's heart rate is 140 or higher, it's most likely a girl. If it's below 140, then it's probably a boy. I mentioned it to Hubby, and he said that females generally have higher heart rates than males. I spoke to my aunt, who is a nurse and she said that at this age babies all have high heart rates and they slow down later on. I also went on a few websites and pregnancy boards online and saw that some women had boys even when the heart rate was in the 150+ and conversely, some women had girls when the heart rate was less than 140. It's a really neat thing to think about though!

One wives' tale suggests that if a mother craves sweets, then she is having a girl. If she craves salty or sour things, she is having a boy. This is something that many older people have told me. My grandmother even mentioned this to me. I'm definitely not craving anything sweet. Isn't that horrible, Jeanna? I did enjoy two handfuls of the yummy Bucky Badger Low Fat Caramel Coated Corn Pops you sent me! I had a bit here and there throughout the day yesterday and it was helped me to have something in me that I could keep down. Thank you!
I tried a tiny piece of chocolate cake my friend made last week, and immediately got really sick. Boooooo :(

A neighbour told me that if I have bad skin or acne during pregnancy, it's a girl. She said that this is due to an increase in female hormones. I don't know how much of that is true. I have to look into it, but my skin is pretty darn good! No acne (I've never been one to have any problems with acne in the past). Oddly, I do find my hair and nails to be growing faster and healthier than before!

This one is the funniest! One belief is that if the FATHER of the baby puts on weight during the pregnancy, then the baby will be a girl! That one cracked me up! I haven't gained any weight yet (mainly because I haven't been able to keep much food down), but my husband seems to be making up for that! My sweet Hubby seems to be having sympathy cravings and is putting on a little weight. He works hard in the field every day, so I know he needs all the fuel he can get for enough energy to work on the farm. Anyway, this old wives' tale has no scientific weight on the gender of the baby. It's just really funny to hear all these ways of predicting the baby's sex. Luckily, Hubby's been too busy to check out my blog. Hopefully this post will go under the radar and he won't know I mentioned this! ;)

Sooooo...If I were to go along with all of the popular beliefs on predicting the baby's sex, then I would be having a boy AND a girl! LOL! Lots of nausea = girl. Baby's heart rate over 140 = girl. Craving salty/sour food = boy. No acne or skin problems = boy. Baby's father putting on weight during pregnancy = girl.

The only way we'd really find out the baby's sex would be at our 20th week ultrasound...or when the baby arrives!!!

33 comments:

Rick Rockhill said...

actually, there is some stuff my other half takes called Fiber Sure and has no taste or wierd texture. it's not bad and does the trick

Anonymous said...

OMG Chris! You are so funny. This post cracked me up; Can I tell you how funny the metamucil thing was? Its been awhile since I've been by. I have to check your blog at home because our boss told all of us that we are not to use the internet for personal use anymore. Can you beleive that!

Hope you are able to eat more soon. Poor John!

J said...

Oh, sorry about the metamucil. I had that problem too. And meat, Oh, meat, was the GROSSEST THING ON EARTH. Blech.

My mom told me when she was pregnant with my brother, the doctor told her a fast heart rate meant a boy. Then my doctor told me it meant a girl. I asked, "what are your chances of being right?" His answer? "50/50" Of course.

Anonymous said...

i have to tell you that the dh was really sick every morning even before we even found out we were expecting baby #1. isn't that funny; i guess old wives tales are always right 50% of the tiime! hah!

later on when youre really showing alot you're going to get alot of people telling you if your having a boy or a girl by the way your carrying the baby- i can't remmeber if high is for a girl and low is for a boy. the guessing game is always fun .we found out for baby#2 and #3. the first one we wanted to be surprised.

louann said...

Oh C, the 1st trimester really sucks. I really hope you feel better the soonest and get to totally enjoy this wonderful experience! Well at least you will have LOTS of stories to tell the little one!

Momisodes said...

Wow! I haven't heard of those other old wives tales :) With my daughter I craved it ALL! At the beginning I was VERY nauseated and never craved sweets (I even shunned BROWNIES *gasp*). Then towards the 2nd and 3rd trimester, I craved sweets galore ...too bad I became a borderline gestational diabetic :(

And just ONE MORE thing to add to your baby superstition/old wives tale/ crystal ball list of ways to predict your baby's sex is the Chinese baby sex predictor (to try and break the tie): http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/PredictSex.htm

All of my female colleagues swore the calendar predicted their child's sex correctly...for me, it was wrong :(

Nabeel said...

the hand heart gesture, it will be cool, if both of you use your hand (one each) and make the symbol :)

Anonymous said...

If you can drink a pint of Guinness in one go, you are going to have a boy. If you can't drink it down in one shot or if you get sick doing so, it's a girl.

I just made that one up, C. But there's a 50/50 percent chance of it being true.

-Pete

Unknown said...

Rick:
Oh! I may try that! Thanks! There is a slightly odd texture with Metamucil. I've noticed that if I don't drink it right away (or in one gulp) it sort of congeals! LOL!

T:
Hmmm. The having to take the Metamucil isn't really that funny! LOL! Then again, neither is having log jams. Ick. TMI!

Unknown said...

J:
Tee hee! It's true! The chances of being right are 50/50!

We had family visiting the Island from out of town and my parents had us all over for supper last night. I was so happy because yesterday was the first day that I was able to EAT!!! We had Korean BBQ. It was the first day in my first trimester that I didn't get sick once...until the end of the evening came. I was horribly ill from 9PM on! Hmph! Just when I thought things were getting better! LOL!

Unknown said...

Hot Mommy:
Funny you should mention that! My Dad was really sick in the mornings when my Mom was pregnant and she didn't even know she was already 3 months pregnant! Dad was just having terrible sickness in the mornings! LOL! I wonder if men really do have sympathy pains or sickness when their partners are pregnant?

Louann:
I hope so too! Apart from the nausea and a few other things that have come up, I'm so excited about being pregnant! It's amazing! :) It's still so hard to believe that there is something growing inside me!

Rachie-Babe said...

I use Fiber One products--the yogurt, the bars, the cereal. No metamucil for me--the bars taste awesome and definitely "do the trick."

Jeanna said...

No sign of twins though, right? That would be funny. It looks like John is losing weight from that photo.
So sad about the candy. I've been craving sweets like nobody's bidness.
Hope your tummy settles down.

Unknown said...

Sandy:
I checked out that Chinese calendar link and according to the calendar, we're expecting a girl! I'm curious to see if we're going to have a son or a daughter! LOL! We'll find out when he or she arrives! Exciting!!

Nabeel:
Great idea! I think we should try that!

Pete:
Hmmm...Don't know if I can manage that! I have a hard enough time drinking Guinness on a good day! LOL! One of my friends from the UK told me that her doctor actually said a pint of Guinness a day keeps the doctor away and that it wouldn't be bad to have a bit of Guinness each day throughout her pregnancy. Apparently there's lots of iron in Guinness. I don't know, but I'm super paranoid and wouldn't ever think of drinking anything alcoholic at all during my pregnancy.

Unknown said...

I could never be around raw meat while I was pregnant. And my daughter had a very fast heart rate so the doc predicted girl. But my my first son had a very fast heartbeat, he was so hyper and the doc predicted wrong.

Surprise is fun. :)

Unknown said...

Rachie:
Oh! I've seen the Fiber One ads on TV! I think I'll look for the products at the grocery store next time I'm doing groceries. Thanks for that!

Jeanna:
I'll tell Hubby that you said it looks like he's losing weight! He'd be happy to hear that! LOL!

No sign of twins! I must say that I was a bit relieved. Twins would be fun, but for the first time, I think one baby would be enough! I was a bit anxious to find out though because we have twins on both sides of the family!

I know! So sad about the candy! However, Hubby is enjoying the fact that he gets to eat all the candy you sent! I have hidden the Cow Pies and the Badger Claw though...in the hopes that my aversion to sweet things won't last the entire pregnancy! LOL!


Lisa:
You are so right! Surprise is fun! :)

How neat about the heart rates though!

Calfkeeper said...

So sorry you are on intimate terms with the stool and the metamucil. Keep this in mind; "This too shall pass."

I was told because I had heartburn so badly that the baby would have lots of hair. She did too.

You will also get lots of odd advice too; like don't hold your arms over your head or you'll tangle the umbilical cord. Please!

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Jeanna said...

You'll be over that soon I'm sure. But that's not such a bad thing is it?

Anonymous said...

I love all the old wives tails. :) I think a delivery surprise is great! I didn't do it, but I was more controlling back then ;) Hey, come check out my new place...

Anonymous said...

With this one being a girl I felt more nausea but both pregnancies the same. about Metamucil...never had it!

Right now I eat what I want so lots of ice creaM!!!

caninecologne said...

hi c! don't try to eat full meals. you may end up getting heartburn. plus when the baby gets bigger, s/he will take up more space and you really won't have room to eat a big meals. it's betters to eat smaller meals throughout the day.

by the way, the grosses thing (in retrospect) that i ate when pregnant---AND THIS WAS NOT A CRAVING BTW--- were canned black olives and boiled eggs. Okay, maybe that's not so gross, but that combination didn't seem right at the time.

caninecologne said...

i meant it's "better" not betters.


i'm not ig'nant!!!!

Unknown said...

Calf Keeper:
You are right :) All of these things shall pass. Hubby was being funny when he told me that very same thing. He said, "Don't worry, this too shall pass" and "This is a very moving experience." Hmmm...very funny.

Jeanna:
I'm doing better! Sunday was the first day that I actually felt like eating AND I didn't get sick! I went all day Monday without any nausea...until evening hit! Ah well! I'm making some improvement!

Unknown said...

Autumn's Mom:
Checked out your new blog last night! I LOVE the design! Very fresh!

Mrs. Mogul:
That is interesting! A lot of my friends who have had a son and a daughter have said that they have felt more nausea with their daughters. This said, I have a friend who was sick the ENTIRE 9 months of her pregnancy and she had a boy.

Any flavour of ice cream in particular that you're craving?

Unknown said...

Canine:
Black olives and boiled eggs? TOGETHER??? I really love black olives. I think it's the salty factor!

I'm taking your advice about not eating full meals and just grazing throughout the day! My doctor mentioned that the other day to me too. That and perhaps trying to take my prenatal vitamin at noon instead of first thing in the morning.

Row and Sow and Mow and Hoe and said...

Oh no! Metamucil memories! I'm sorry to laugh at what might be your misery, but your post just brought back one of the funniest memories of all time (27 years old!) I was miserable at 5 months pregnant with my first case ever of constipation (not funny!) I called doc. Hubby answered the return. I heard him say "yes sir, she hasn't been in about 6 days." Then I heard "she needs to meet who?" He got quiet and then said "does she know who that is?" He was looking to me for help. I got on the phone (I'm giggling so hard right now.) We laughed for YEARS (he had written down "she needs to meet the mule .. Mew Soul." hehehe

Craving Kraut! (good stuff) Mine was chocolate covered, cream filled donuts and pizza (together) The bad part - we had a bakery and pizzeria two blocks down. (probably why I needed the mule and why hubby gained over 15 lbs! :)

Best of luck with your movements and the rest of your pregnancy!

Calfkeeper said...

Have you tried the accupressure wrist bands? I don't know if anyone has mentioned them to you yet or not. They helped me with the nausea.

Also my doc recommended a B vitamin; B6 I think. He said 50% of women it helped with nausea and 50% it didn't.

Uncivil said...

Haha
I take Citrucel for my fiber!!!!
Of course I'm an old fart!

Unknown said...

Rowing and Sowing:
Yay!!! So good to see your comment! I've missed you! Can I tell you how much you had me laughing with that last comment of yours!?!?! "she needs to meet the mule .. Mew Soul." That just about had me in tears!!! Thanks for my morning laugh!

Calf Keeper:
Ooooh! Thanks for mentioning the acupressure wrist bands! I'm going to look into that. What would I do without you? ;)

Unknown said...

Uncivil:
That's really funny! :) My cousin's fiancee called me and asked how the pregnancy was going. I was telling her about all these weird things that are happening to me that I've never had to deal with before...like the Metamucil thing. She started laughing hysterically when I told her that. I think she said, "Isn't Metamucil for old people who have problems pooping?!" LOL! *sigh*

Just to clarify things, I'm doing muuuuuuch better this week! I think this post has gotten a bit toooooo personal! LOL! ;p

xo

Unknown said...

P.S. Uncivil, whatcha talkin' 'bout?!?! You're not an old fart!

Deb said...

hi!!! i think it is wonderful that you and hubby are waiting to find out the sex of the baby. i find it very unfortunate that you have lost your craving for sweets...sauerkraut??!!!!! you must be pregnant! :)

Sherry said...

I am cracking up (not really funny) but it is!
I have been busy and haven't been on line much but wanted to drop by and check in!
Hope your feeling better girl!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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