Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ode To Cheese

15 Weeks

I’m finally starting to get rid of the nausea and for that I’m eternally grateful. But now that the nausea is gone, an intense hunger has taken its place. It absolutely amazes me how ferociously hungry I can get without any warning at all. One minute I’m sitting down minding my own business, and the next minute, if I don’t get something to eat IMMEDIATELY, I feel like my stomach is going to drown me in acid and I’m going to die a slow, painful death. (And yes, it is that dramatic!) Along with this new found hunger has come a whole host of interesting cravings. I haven’t started craving pickles and ice cream yet, but I have started an intense love affair with cheese. Cheese is a wonderful thing. You can eat it cold or hot, on top of other food or by itself, and it comes in a wide a variety of flavors and textures so you never have to get bored. You just can’t go wrong with cheese. I’m so infatuated with cheese that when I saw a truck go by with a giant picture of some cheddar cheese painted on the side, I thought to myself, “Wow, I LOVE cheese!”, and didn’t realize I had actually said it out until my husband started laughing at me. Sighhhh, he's just jealous.

I have to admit though, that it’s really hard to give myself permission to eat all this food, even my beloved cheese. Every time I step on the scale, I dread the number that I’m going to see flashing up at me, even though I know that I have to gain weight. It’s a very difficult thing for me. I’ve struggled with my weight all my life, including a bout with Bulimia, and had just finally leveled off at a weight I was happy with, and then WHAM, pregnancy happened. I have this deep rooted fear of looking like one of those rolly-polly Little People toys that wobbles from side to side around the room. Even when my doctor told me at my appointment last week that I need to gain MORE weight, I just looked at her like she was nuts. I feel like I’ve gained a ton of weight already (okay, maybe just a few pounds, but on someone as short as me, it feels like a LOT!), but I know I’m really only at the beginning of the body ballooning process. If I keep thinking this way, I’m going to feel like a whale through my entire pregnancy. Hopefully, by the time I truly start to show, I’ll be so enthralled with the growing baby in my belly that my growing body won’t be such a big deal anymore.

And now I’m off to have a piece of cheese…

3 comments:

cynthia said...

cheese is a great thing, don't worry about it and just eat cheese, its good for the baby....

Anonymous said...

I had the same kind of intense hunger when I was pregnant. I would even feel it 30 minutes after having a huge meal. Consequently, I gained 60 lbs! I lost some during breast feeding and then later gained it all back and thensome. Argh!
I also craved cheese like crazy. Before the pregnancy I was nearly vegan and rarely ate cheese. What's funny is that my son to this day is a dairy freak. He absolutely loves cheese and yogurt. It's a wild ride but I bet it's a huge relief to be done with the nausea.
--Michel--

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad I found your post. I am 21 weeks into my first pregnancy and I was searching for some reference online to the intense hunger that just pounces on me. I almost feel like I am going to cry and breakdown emotionally if I don't eat something right now! I was certain there must be a medical explanation. Having found none, I am glad to have found your blog where you describe something similar - it puts me at ease to know others have experienced the same pregnancy symptoms!