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Baby wants, baby gets

Am I crazy or does this baby love spinach and sushi?

Carrie Linder

Pic: iStockphoto.com

Article originally in Parent24

We’ve all heard stories of pregnant women munching handfuls of soil or eating whole tubes of toothpaste in one sitting. Cravings? Or thinly veiled insanity? While many people pooh-pooh pregnancy cravings, I am completely aware that they are a reality and are often impossible to ignore.

I learnt about cravings pretty early on. In fact, it was before I even knew that I was pregnant that I started having the strangest urge to stuff spinach in my mouth at all times of the day and night. Creamed spinach, raw spinach, phyllo spinach parcels, spinach curry, spinach muffins, spinach quiche, spinach sandwiches (don’t knock them ‘til you’ve tried them)… you name it; I was eating it if it contained the good green stuff. I nearly put Popeye out of a job. I’ve since found out that spinach has high levels of folic acids, something essential during the first trimester.

More recently, after being told by numerous friends that sushi is a no-no, I started craving it with absolute alacrity. I’m not sure if it’s because I half believed it was illegal, or if it was actually my body telling me it needed it, but one night I literally could not sleep for thinking about those delicious raw fish parcels. To distract myself, I tried planning my week’s exercise regime: “Jog on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then must sign up at the gym so I can start swimming…Oh yes! There’s that nice little sushi place right next door to the gym! Noooo! Come on Carrie stop it! This is pure mind over matter!”

Then I tried thinking the most mundane thing possible: my impending dentist’s appointment. There is surely no way that one can combine thoughts of dentistry and sushi. Right? Wrong. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say that it is entirely possible (those pink rubber things they make you chew on even resemble delicious slivers of raw salmon). Bordering on insanity and starvation I got up and had to settle for a midnight nibble on a piece of raw ginger which helped somewhat.

First thing in the morning I was on the phone to my ever-patient gynae. I needed to know if sushi was safe, and if it wasn’t, I wanted to know just how unsafe it was. I almost wept with relief when he said that he thinks it’s a healthy meal. As he pointed out, sushi is a staple diet for many Eastern countries and you don’t see them denying themselves while they’re pregnant. That was enough for me. I phoned my husband and informed him that he was taking me out for sushi that night. And the next. And the next.

Midnight sushi madness aside, I haven’t started nibbling paint off of the walls or sucking toothpaste straight from the tube. Yet. I am just trying to listen to my body and keep my diet as healthy as possible. Except of course when the baby wants a chocolate. Who am I to deprive the little thing?

Do you think pregnancy cravings are real? Did you have any weird ones?