Monday, July 20, 2009

Pregnancy Food Craving - Myth or Reality

The sight of boiled shrimp, crawfish and crabs will either be the answer to a pregnant woman's craving or it will send her running to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.

For me this pregnancy food craving was both - a myth and a reality.

While pregnant with my first child I ate a healthy breakfast and a healthy dinner. However for lunch I had a bag of Cherry's Barbeque Potato Chips and a strawberry sundae from the Rinky Dink*. (I don't think they make that brand of potato chip anymore.) This was every day for months. My friend Sandra will attest to this, as she always accompanied me there for lunch. She and other friends visited me in the hospital after the baby was born and gifted me with a bag of those chips and a strawberry sundae. Immediately after the baby was born it seems the craving ceased and I emphasize the word "immediately". And here we are, 35 years later and I have never reverted to my lunch "fix" of Cherry's Barbeque Chips and a strawberry sundae.

My second pregnancy served to expand my love of seafood. I have always loved shrimp, crab and crawfish, but this pregnancy introduced me to the world of oysters (I thought I hated oysters, even though I had never tried them until I was pregnant this second time.) I now craved oysters, fried oysters, oysters bienville, oysters rockefeller and had to have them every Friday for dinner. This craving stayed with me. After the baby was born I even graduated to consuming oysters on the half shell, i.e. , raw.

While pregnant with baby three I did crave chinese food sometimes. But it was no more than an average individual would crave chinese food in a nine month period. Pregnancy three was actually "food craving" free.

With the same urgency my first baby sent me to Rinky Dink for lunch every day, baby four sent me to the snack counter at Wal-Mart. It was "deja vu" only this time my friend, Pam, accompanied me for lunch. This time it was nachos and cheese for lunch, each and every day and it had to come from the Wal-Mart snack counter. No other nachos and cheese could satisfy this craving. As with baby one, this craving also ceased after the baby was born. Although I still enjoy nachos and cheese, I just don't enjoy the ones from a Wal-Mart snack counter.

I would really enjoy receiving comments on your food cravings or lack there of during your pregnancy.

*The Rinky Dink was a drive-up establishment that served a large variety of excellent food. It's not as though my choices were limited.

1 comment:

  1. I'm not pregnant nor have been but I crave these foods all the time to. My conclusion--myth.

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