[fashion16]

I just found out that I am pregnant and I went online to make sure I was eating only what was healthy for my baby and avoiding what could be harmful. I was a little overwhelmed to say the least. This is what I came up with:

You shouldn't eat:

soft cheeses
lunch meats
any diet sodas/drinks/artificial sweetners etc
no caffiene including sodas, coffee,tea etc
Tuna (b/c of the mercury)
Some fish including shark, mackeral, swordfish etc
any processed meats or cheeses such as jerky, cheese spread, bologna etc
Nothing with raw eggs including homemade icecream or eggnog (non alcoholic of course)
no alcohol consumption (I hope that is a given!!!!!!)

Anyway...the list goes on and on but I feel like I am living in panic. I love eating at Subway but b/c lunchmeat & cold cuts are out...I guess so are they.
I love my morning mochas but no caffiene.
I love Diet Coke...that is a double wammy...no caffiene, no artificial sweetner.

I haven't seen my doctor yet so this is just stuff from the internet. For those of you that have seen a doctor...do they recommend avoiding all of these things? I don't understand the cold cut issue....Thanks!

[Brasilian_Babe]

I was told by my doctor to avoid eating cold cuts or cold meats whilst pregnant because they're an ideal breeding ground for a bacteria called listeria that can cause a food related illness which in most women can go unnoticed, but if the woman is pregnant it can lead to a miscarriage or stillbirth. Other ideal breeding grounds for listeria also include the soft cheeses, pre-cooked chicken, uncooked seafood (such as oysters and sushi or sashimi) and pre-prepared salads.

As for caffeine, my doctor also told me to cut down on it but that it is OK to have the occasional coffee or tea, but not at the same time as you're having your daily servings of calcium or iron because the caffeine will prevent your body from absorbing those nutrients.

I have also been told to avoid eating peanuts as this may reduce the chances of the baby being born with a nut allergy.

Oh, and by the way, congratulations on your pregnancy fashion16!!!!

[fashion16]

Thank you!!!! I was really craving a Subway Turkey Breast sandwich. Ugh. Oh weel. Thanks for the advice :)

[juicy couture jen]

You can still have your caffeine as long as you limit yourself to 12 ounces a day.

That was funny because I craved COKE during my entire pregnancy.


BTW, congrats on your pregnancy!! It's such a beautiful & fun time.

[ILuvMyHusband]

And you can have lunchmeat as long as you reheat it in the microwave until it's steaming hot. I craved hot dogs during my first trimester and would just put them in the microwave until they exploded lol. I ate a few a day and never had any problems. I also warmed up lunch meat a few times but found that not as appetizing since what I wanted was a COLD sandwich. So I switched to my lettuce, avocado and bell pepper. And I know everyone is different but my doctor said up to, I believe it was something like 300 mg of caffeine is ok. There is a good website called Babyfit.com. There is a forum section on there and a nutrionist can answer questions like that you have.

[jfhave]

I gave up diet soda when i got pregnant for the first time and actually never went back to it. Found out what crap those sweetners are! I actually never went back to tuna either because of the mercury. A lot of the stuff is hard to really NEVER have. I ate cold cuts and stuff and didn't really worry about it.

[Savannah]

I didn't eat any of that stuff when I was pregnant with my first. Second pregnancy I craved sweet tea. Third pregnancy I ate whatever I wanted.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

[rileygirl]

I ate a whole lot of the things on your not to eat list while pregnant with my two kids. Sooo naughty...but just letting you know that if you slip every so often you'll be A-okay.

Enjoy your pregnancy and congratulations!!!

[weekender2]

it's best to ask your doctor what is good/bad for you at this time, but I still had my morning coffee when I was pregnant, just 1 cup it did wonders for me and was ok for baby. congratulations on your upcoming arrival!

[Danica]

I've been eating alot of strawberries (folic acid) and Almonds (calcium) that's been my healthy snack at nights. Otherwise I'm just trying to eat enough vegetables and fruits in-between my french fry cravings.

[BagsAreMyBabies]

With my first pregnancy I was worried about lunch meat too. I also liked to hit Subway a lot. I was told by my OBGYN at the time that once or twice a week is perfectly fine. Also, like someone else mention above, if you want it more than that, just heat it up in the microwave.

[alanalovechanel]

I never got told to avoid lunch meat, I've only had a couple cold turkey sandwiches here and there though. I was told not to eat any turtles, tuna, shark ect. Limit your fish intake to like 12 oz a week. or maybe it was 8...
But nuts are a good source of protein, if you don't like to eat a lot of meat,
or if you're a veg. A lot of low fat dairy, and of course fruit and vegetables, and the daily supplement.

[BagsAreMyBabies]

Turtles? People eat turtles? I did not know that.....

[tiedyed21]

When I was pregnant with my daughter I ate whatever I wanted. I think a lot of the food allergies, etc. are caused by women avoiding certain foods while they are pregnant. The only thing I avoided was Tuna b/b of the mercury and a lot of caffiene bc i wanted to get some sleep at night... and of course alcohol. Other than those, I ate whatever I was craving and I was happy and she was (and still is) happy.

[k2sealer]

When I was pregnant I craved pineapple. I would eat a big can of it every day. That and fruit was the only thing I craved, so I indulged it whenever I wanted. I figured that wasn't so bad of a craving.

I've heard that one good thing to take is Vitamin C. A woman I worked with told me about a study she had read years before about women in 3rd world countries that were given mega doses of vitamin C every day. (3-5 vitamin C pills - not sure what milligram they are) The study found that not only do the children end up with really good teeth, but the moms tended to get no stretch marks. I don't know how accurate the study was, but I took at least 3 vitamin C tablets a day and even though I gained 50 pounds, I did not get a single stretch mark. Oh, and my almost 6 year old son has great teeth too.