I'm having trouble conveying the extent of my eating woes. When I tell people how hungry I am, they respond by either a) remarking that I'm obviously feeling great, or b) leaping to the conclusion that my main concern is pregnancy weight. My main concern is feeling like dogshit.

I am literally sick with hunger. I try to keep up with my appetite, but there's just not enough room in my gastrointestinal tract for all the food I'm craving. Throw in an unpredictable aversion here and there and I sometimes feel like I'm starving to death and at the same time unable to eat. It's a cruel and unusual form of torture*. About once a week the whole thing culminates in a puking migraine, from which I take twenty-four to forty-eight hours to recover. I have been reduced to tears.

Now, as far as pregnancy concerns go, this isn't the worst - it is not, for example, anywhere close to knocking "dead baby" off the top of the pops - but nevertheless it is a real and immediate problem and I need to find a solution, the sooner the better. For a start, I'm not sure all this is conducive to the best nutrition, and secondly, I'm a little worried about what my blood sugar's doing in there.

So on Saturday morning I gathered my wits together, having got to the end of them, and set upon a three-point plan. Part A was buying a new cookbook, because I've noticed if there's one thing I'm craving it's novelty, and that afternoon I found The Well-Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook. The back cover spoke to my soul. I nearly wept with relief right there in the shop**.

Thus armed, I embarked on Part B - home delivery options for groceries. We don't have a car, and the nearby markets are not always inspiring, meaning I have a problem keeping the house adequately stocked with a good range of food. The first online order is arriving this week.

Part C is to even out my exercise a little. With the end of semester coming up, I've been yo-yoing between sitting, reading and writing for one entire day, and running around the next. I need to be doing some gentle exercise every day instead, and probably more of it in general.

Mr Bea also proposed a Part D, based on his timing of my hunger pangs over the weekend, I think in self-protection after I had a semi-violent hypoglycaemic meltdown. He says I need to eat a light meal every four hours, day and night (with snacks in between - ie six meals a day plus snacks). He wants me to set an alarm so I can begin preparing in time. Hopefully my three-point plan will allow me to settle into a less demanding regime.

I'll let you know how it goes.


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*And yet still more fun than infertility! I feel like there's scope here for someone to compile a list of things infertility's not as fun as, just to prove a point. "Certain forms of cruel and unusual torture" can go down first.

**I'm not exaggerating for effect or amusement. I actually teared up a bit. A lot of things make me tear up at the moment, though, so it's probably not as dramatic as it sounds.

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P.S. Note to all those who promote a do-gooder idea of adoption, with the implication that those pursuing ART are do-badders: news story for you. Yeah, that's your "save the children" idealogy at work for you right there. Want to join me in the "choices for families" camp?


10 Comments

Anonymous said...

I really chuckled when I read your post. Not that feeling so hungry but food averted is funny but just because I can so relate. I'm going on 14 weeks pregnant and I have many such situations over the past weeks so had to reply. All parts of your plan make total sense and for me Part D has been crucial. I have always been susceptible to having hypoglycemic meltdowns but, since being pregnant, instead of having the usual 30 mins warning between lowering to GONE, I now have about 5-10mins tops. I have snacks available with me at all times. Anything from a muesli bar, mini packet of nuts or chips to an apple or small bottle of milk will buy me at least half an hour, sometimes more, until I can get something more substantial into me. Valuable minutes to prepare or buy something in order to avoid said meltdown. So , good luck with following the plan. I think it will definitely all help, and, if it doesn't, it should settle down in a few weeks (or that is what I am told). So far, the food aversion/nausea thing is settling but the hunger is growing for me!!! I'd better get off to the shops - all this talk of food is making me hungry :-)

Clare

Serenity said...

Mr. Bea is right. Seriously, I was eating a snack every TWO hours. It's completely counter-intuitive, but I ate BEFORE I was hungry, which made it so that I had very little nausea. But it means carrying food with you, which I'm sure is new to you. It'll help though.

Personally, there's really not much worse than being hungry and not being able to eat. I hope it gets better for you - and soon!

Anonymous said...

I feel you. I can't stop eating either.

Anonymous said...

I had one of those hypoglycemic meltdowns Saturday while cleaning and decorating my house for our Halloween party. I think I was dehydrated too. All of the sudden I just sat down and bawled for like 5 minutes straight. Then I went upstairs, had a sugary drink and took a 2.5 hour nap.

It sounds like you and Mr. Bea are really listening to your body and making some smart changes to your diet. Good for all 3 of you!

ColourYourWorld said...

I think your plan is very sensible.

Also just a suggestion is perhaps (if you are not already )to try a low GI diet, that is meant to help keeping you feeling fuller for longer. And should also help with your sugar levels and avoidng gestational diabetes.

I hope you foind the perfect comibination.

Anonymous said...

Can you figure out a way to put ice cream in that plan?

I hope you find some way to curb your appetite so you feel a little more normal.

Cibele said...

I so can relate, I am hungry and he worse I don’t know what i want to eat... you put it very well, different things is really what a crave. I actually dream about food LOL but for me nothing sounds good... My plan is plan D... I eat small meals several times a day

Schatzi said...

Plan D sounds like a good addition. Puking migraines for 2-3 days do not sound like fun. I hope your plan works!

Geohde said...

That's a whole lotta eatin!

J

Aurelia said...

If you want to be ambitious, do---but you could also just eat whatever you feel like, whenever, and surprising the baby will do just fine.

Follow your cravings, you will get the nutrients you need.

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