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25 Things I’ve Learned About Pregnancy by Week 25

1. The appetite is not a myth.  They were not making it up.  I am actually hungry every 2-3 hours.  Plus, my stomach doesn’t hold as much because baby is pressing against it, so I can’t eat as much in any one sitting. Which means I’m hungry more often.

2. Don’t buy maternity clothes before you actually need them. You end up with a bunch of clothes that don’t fit because someone told you “You’re gonna need all that room eventually”.  Don’t listen.  Don’t buy until you need, and then buy what fits NOW.

3. A good Babydaddy must be a good masseuse.  This should be a prerequisite for Babydaddies everywhere. Fortunately, mine is (a good Babydaddy AND a good masseuse).

4. Unfortunately, my back hurts most days.  Fortunately, arnica massages (see #3) do actually bring some relief.

5. Invest in good pillows. Don’t skimp here.

6. Hydrate.  This helps keep back pain at bay.  Not to mention constipation.

7. They weren’t making the constipation thing up either.  Until pregnancy, I had never been constipated a day in my life.  Must. Eat. Fiber.  Must. Drink. Water.

8. Prenatal yoga is the ultimate.  I love it.  It keeps me limber and fit, and helps prepare me mentally for labor, and helps mitigate the back pain.  It also has the added bonus of getting me in a room with 20 other pregnant mamas, all in various stages of pregnancy, which makes me better at accepting all the weirdness that is happening to my body.

9. Pregnancy is a really good reason to CHOOSE not to stress.

10. Some days, you just have to take a nap.

11. If you crave something bad, just have *a little* of it and move on.  The other day I had a random craving for Doritos.  So I ate some and got over it.  Now I’m back to wanting to eat fruit all the time.  No biggie.

12. Pack a snack.  This should probably have been number 2 on this list.

13. You really will feel better if you take a walk.

14. Don’t be alarmed if you find yourself huffing and puffing.  This is not necessarily a reflection on your fitness level.  At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

15.  The boobs.  I cannot get over the boobs.  I cannot get used to them. They startle me every time I look in the mirror.

16. A cardigan covers a multitude of backfat things you want to cover up.

17. If you already have the Curse of the Saggy Bottom Jeans, it’s only going to get worse with pregnancy.  Yet another reason to only buy what fits now.

18. Don’t touch my belly without asking.  Unless you’re Babydaddy.  If you ask, I’m usually happy to let you, but please do me this courtesy.

19. My baby is a person who is with me all the time.  I’m already pretty mama-wolf about her.  I will go to great lengths to get upwind of cigarette smoke on the street because of this.

20. A pregnant lady is not necessarily guaranteed a seat on a crowded bus.  At least a 6-month pregnant lady isn’t. People will pretend they can’t see your belly even though you situate your cardigan so as to make it obvious.  But who cares — I’m strong because I do yoga and walk up hills, so standing on the bus is really just another balance exercise.

21. It isn’t that I can’t lift heavy things.  It’s that my belly is in the way of my lifting heavy things.  And my back hurts.

22. Don’t read, watch, or listen to labor/birth horror stories.  Instead, fill up on positive birth stories from mamas you admire.  I don’t need any fear-mongering.

23. I’m allowed to change my mind about how I want to do things. Or rather, I’m allowed to adjust my plans if I need to.  And I’m allowed to do things my own way.

24. Praying for the kind of birth you want is not naive.  It’s totally legit.  If someone says “well, don’t get your hopes up,” politely tell them where they can stick it, and then go back to your praying.

25. People will tell you all sorts of things.  You don’t have to listen.  You don’t have to listen to anything I’m saying here.

Posted in pregnancy/birth | 5 Comments »

Allergen-Free Kid Food

One of my friends, L,  has a sweet 13-month-old baby boy who is very sensitive to several foods, including eggs, milk (dairy), wheat, fish, beef, chicken, pork, corn, and lamb.  Basically he has to be on a gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, vegan diet.  Eosinophilic esophagitis is the name of lil fella’s particular trouble.  I think they’ll do great on the allergen-free diet, and it should be able to provide everything Little Guy needs to grow and develop healthily.

I have another friend, A,  who also has a sensitive child.  Several months back, she was getting pressure from her pediatrician to give her little girl dairy milk to provide her with necessary fats. My friend didn’t feel good about this intuitively, as she notice her child had a runny nose after drinking milk, and was asking me for ideas for alternatives.

I myself have a history of food sensitivities, and, with my own little one on her way, I’m definitely keeping in mind the possibility of her having some too.  I’m also thinking about how best to eat now, so as to prevent her from having immune issues in the future.

So that’s all to say I’ve been thinking quite a bit about kid and food allergies/food sensitivities.  Parents should be on the lookout for signs of food sensitivity.  In particular, runny nose, excess mucous, skin rash, GI distress, headaches, and frequent infections can all be signals of a food sensitivity. Food sensitivities aren’t the end of the world, and usually there are plenty of ways to provide kids with the nutrition they need — it will just require a bit of extra planning and learning on the parents’ part

Here are some things I’d do if I had a child with food sensitivities (to dairy, soy, corn, wheat):

• Feed her avocados, coconut oil, and fish oil or flax oil for healthy fats.  Kids need DHA, which is found in high concentrations in fish oil, but if my child couldn’t tolerate fish, I’d give her flax, which contains the precursor to DHA: alpha-linolenic acid.  Coconut and flax oil can be mixed into foods like oatmeal or rice cereal or mashed veggies.  Coconut oil is an excellent source of healthy saturated fats (remember how not all saturated fats are bad? I’m reminding you.).
• Feed her a wide variety of legumes for protein (this is more important after weaning).  If she’s older than 12 months, I’d feel ok about giving her smooth almond butter and sunflower butter.  I’d wait till she’s older for peanut butter, as peanuts are more likely to be allergenic.
• I’d try to choose higher-protein grains like quinoa and amaranth, and always use whole grains that have all their fiber and minerals in tact.  Quinoa is actually a complete protein, containing all of the necessary amino acids, and is very versatile.
• In place of cow’s milk, I’d choose hemp, almond, and coconut milks; and I’d rotate them.  I wouldn’t give exclusively one or the other.  Hemp milk has approximately the same percentage of fat content as cow’s milk, roughly 3%, except the fats are a good mix of omega-3, 6, and 9. Cow’s milk has a higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids, and it contains arachidonic acid, both of which are pro-inflammatory and may bother little immune systems.
• I’d supplement vitamin D, especially after weaning, unless I was certain my child was getting adequate amounts of sunlight.
• I’d supplement with a high-quality probiotic.  Studies show that kids who get probiotics have fewer ear infections, colds, and runny noses, and their immune systems are healthier.  Kids need healthy bacteria, especially, ESPECIALLY if they’ve been on antibiotics.  (Incidentally, I think nursing and pregnant moms should also supplement with probiotics.  Well, actually I think everybody should.  So there.)
• I’d try to nurse as long as I could.  We have tons of data that tells us that breastmilk helps kids have healthy, balanced immune systems.  Since food sensitivities are an immune system issue, I’d try to support my child’s immune system with breastmilk.
• I’d routinely offer a wide variety of fruits and veggies, in all colors.  This would ensure that she’s getting a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, as well as fiber.
• I’d do my best to feed her organic food.  If I know I’ve got a sensitive child, I want to try to keep toxins to a minimum to avoid over-burdening her already-hyper immune system.
• To try and prevent the appearance of food sensitivities in the first place (not always possible), I’d wait to introduce solid food until she was at least 6 months old.  Until then, I’d give her breastmilk. Some people with sensitive children wait even longer for solid food.
• I’d be vigilant about introducing new foods one at a time, and watching closely for any reaction.  The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, which is a great resource for low-allergen recipes, has an excellent section on introducing solid foods to infants
• And I’d try to remember that kids have sensitive, immature little pallets; if she doesn’t like it today, she may like it tomorrow; or it may take several introductions.

That’s where I’d start.  I’m not a doctor; nor am I a Dietician. I’m a person who just finished up a Master’s degree in Nutrition, and who has had food allergies/sensitivites myself, and I have my own bambino on the way.  This is what I would do, and I’ve based it on my own education and research.  You should talk to your trusted healthcare provider if you’re unsure about something.  And by all means, you should educate yourself; if my friend A. had just blindly done what the pediatrician told her to do and given her child cow’s milk, her kid would have a constantly snotty nose and who knows what else — but she went with her gut and made the decision to educate herself in order to help her child be as healthy as possible.

I think the chapter on feeding children in Natural Baby and Childcare by Dr. Lauren Feder, which I’ve posted about before,  has some great advice and would be worth reading through for parents of food-sensitive children.  However, I differ with her about coconut oil.

Do you have a food-sensitive child?  Have you developed strategies for feeding him/her that work? I’m all ears…

Posted in Baby/Child, health | 1 Comment »

Oh How I Love Iowa

Iowa Businesses Face New Rules on Breastfeeding, from MSNBC…

Posted in General | 2 Comments »

Mung Beans

A while back I bought some dry mung beans, not knowing what to do with them.  I think I had read that they are in the same family as adzuki beans, which I love for their versatility and low-gas-producing factor.  Mung beans are little green beans common in East Asian and Indian cuisines.  You may occasionally find them sprouted in the grocery store. Nutritionally, they’re a great source of protein and fiber, with other surrounding minerals like magnesium and iron, as well as B-vitamins; and they’re reputed to be easier to digest than larger, starchier beans, causing less gas and bloating. Economically, most beans are CHEAP, and mung beans are no exception. Unfortunately, my mung beans have stayed in their jar ever since…

Until today, when I decided to get adventurous and try my new bean.  It’s kindof difficult to find recipes for mung beans – there just aren’t many I could find online or in my cookbooks — they seem to be a bit obscure.  But, once again, Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, has proved its worth.  Mark has a recipe for Mung Beans and Rice, for which he offers several variations.  I chose the “Spiced Mung Beans and Rice with Carrots” option.

You can use white or brown rice (he tells you how either way), but I used red rice.  Red rice from Thailand is my current favorite – a while back I found a big bag at World Gourmet so I use it whenever I would use long-grain brown rice.  The recipe calls for Garam Masala, but I didn’t have any, so I used curry powder with a pinch of cardamom and cayenne instead.  Oh, and I used coconut oil in place of butter (that’s how I roll).

When I told Hubs of my plan to make Mung Beans and Rice, he made the Ick Face. But I think he’s going to be surprised when he gets home and tastes them.  They’re quite yummy!  It is not fancy food.  It’s plop-in-a-bowl-and-plop-down-on-the-couch food.  But the dish tastes like something you might find on the buffet at an Indian restaurant.  It would be perfect with some naan and chutney and saag paneer.  It remains to be seen whether they live up to their low-gas reputation…. but, hey: live it up.  Cook mung beans.

*Incidentally, Mark Bittman cooks, and tests recipes for his many enormous cookbooks, in a tiny kitchen. I don’t feel so bad about my kitchen when I see his.  Having a small kitchen isn’t all bad — it has its perks.  Like: you have to clean it up frequently or else you can’t do anything, and everything is just within reach, and it forces you to be organized.

Posted in Budget Eating, Food-related | 2 Comments »

Scones and Homemade Ricotta

I don’t usually post about dairy recipes.  I don’t usually make dairy-related recipes.  But today when I came across ecoMILF’s post about homemade ricotta and how easy it is to make, I had to give it a try.  See, several weeks back, Hubs and I had a lovely tea at a place called The Tea Cozy, in Cambria, CA. Hubs had the Ploughman’s lunch, which is a traditional English workman’s lunch of crusty bread, English cheese, apple, chutney, and a pickled onion.  And I had the Duchess Tea, in which I first sampled Double Devon Cream with jam and scones.  Ohmygoodness.  Double Devon Cream is soooo delicious.  You should never try it, or else you will be ruined forever, especially if you’re not a fan of having too much dairy in your diet.  And, it’s pretty much impossible to make because it requires raw (unpasteurized) cream, which is hard to find; and it’s kindof a complicated process.  You can make fake Devon cream out of cream cheese and regular cream, but it isn’t the real thing. Or you can buy it for a lot of $$ online or in a specialty shop.

So ever since my lovely Tea Cozy experience, I have been searching for something that approximates the taste of Double Devon Cream on a scone, without having to resort to processed cream cheese. And I wondered if the ricotta might do it.

First, I made the Classic Currant Scones from The Joy of Vegan Baking (which I own).  I used white whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose, and coconut oil in place of non-dairy butter (duh, of course I did). And I left out the currants.  The scones are super – moist yet flaky, perfectly scon-ey.

For the ricotta, I used a locally-produced, humane-society certified, organic milk.  I followed ecoMILF’s directions exactly.  I was surprised at the very small amount of ricotta that a liter of milk produces — less than a cup.  This was somewhat disappointing to me, but I’ve never made any kind of cheese before so what do I know.  I think maybe I squeezed too much of the whey out of the ricotta at first, so I added some back in so it didn’t seem so dry. Also, I sweetened my final product with the subtlest touch of honey.

The verdict: the ricotta is very tasty with jam and scones. The flavor of it is right on target.  But ricotta has that crumbly texture that does not even come close to the creaminess of Devon Cream. I’m not sad I made it.  But it’s no Devon Cream….  It’s probably just as well.

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Rainbow Grocery Adventure

I had already planned to go grocery shopping this morning, but after my snapping from the Midwife this morning, I decided to high-tail it to Rainbow Grocery, in the Mission District in San Francisco.  It’s a worker-owned co-op grocery.  It smells just like the co-op in Iowa City (Do all co-ops smell this way? this lovely, herby, homey way?).  But it is huge and has everything imaginable. Granted, I’m a bit of a bumpkin, but I have never been so impressed with a Bulk section — it is magnificent: beans, grains, flours, teas, granolas, nuts, pastas, soup mixes, dried fruits, spices, you name it….  They have all the cool vegan products, from hemp ice cream to Gardein meatless meats, to all kinds of vegan cheese I’ve never seen before.  And a great selection of personal care and supplements.  I was in vegeater-heaven.  I spent way too much money. I only wish I had been better-prepared, like with a list of things I know I need and some meal-planning already done.

It won’t make sense for me to shop there all the time, but maybe more like once per month.  Trader Joe’s seems to have the best prices I’ve seen, but they often don’t carry things I’m looking for (coconut milk and coconut creamer, for instance).   For fruits, veggies, and other weekly items, TJ’s will do.  And next time I go to Rainbow I’ll take along a grocery list and my fella so he can schlep my bags around for me

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Vegeater gets Oh Snapped

This morning Hubs and I had our first official appointment with the lovely Midwife we have hired.  It was a fun visit, and baby I are doing great.  Lovely Midwife is a very smart and experienced lady who shares my firm belief that the food we eat determines how healthy we are, and can profoundly affect our quality of life, not to mention the health of unborn babies.  We are very simpatico in this way.

The past few days I haven’t had much in the house in the way of groceries.  I was completely out of fresh vegetables.  Not normal — bad vegeater.

While taking my blood pressure, she asks: What did you have for breakfast this morning?
me: I’ve only had First Breakfast so far, and that was a slice of toast with almond butter on it.
her: And you’re going to have another breakfast later?
me: yes.  or maybe two.  (I feel best when I eat small meals regularly)
her: What did you have for supper last night?
me: (embarrassed) oh well it wasn’t anything good cause I didn’t have much groceries so I just ate peanut butter and crackers
her: And what did you have for lunch yesterday?
me: a grilled cheese sandwich (I also had an apple)
her: And WHERE ARE THE VEGETABLES?

oh snap.  I didn’t eat any vegetables yesterday.

me (with Hubs backing me up): we didn’t have any groceries….I’m going to buy some as soon as we’re done here, really…that is not normal, not representative of (it really isn’t)….and we don’t usually do chores like grocery shop on Sundays….yadayada…. And internally: omg what kind of Nutritionist am I, what kind of mother am I, to be 6 months pregnant and not eat any vegetables…how mortifying…

snap.  snap. SNAP!

I’m having humble-veggie pie for supper.

Posted in General | 4 Comments »

I miss marshmallows

The other day I realized it: I really really really miss marshmallows.  I miss s’mores. I don’t think this is a pregnancy-related thing; I think this is a result of long-term marshmallow deprivation.

I don’t eat marshmallows because they are made from gelatin, which is made from boiling down animal parts (like hair, bones, ligaments, etc.).  And I don’t eat boiled-down animal parts.

But I really want to eat a marshmallow.  A melty-gooey marshmallow.

So, off I go, on the Great Vegan Marshmallow Hunt.  Chicago Soy Dairy, the makers of the luscious Temptations Ice Cream, makes them; as does a company called Sweet and Sara. I will be making a trip to Whole Foods to see if they have any. Amazon has none, and neither does Pangea.

Meanwhile, has anyone made vegetarian or vegan marshmallows?  How do they turn out? Do they make nice s’mores?…

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

Good Suppers; and How I Make Mushroom Gravy

I have made two brilliantly delicious suppers in a row over here.  Monday night I splurged on a Celebration Roast, and cooked it in the oven pot-roast style with mushroom gravy and baby carrots, over short-grain brown rice, with a side of sauteed green beans.  To make the mushroom gravy, here’s what I did:

• sautee diced white mushrooms, a few minced garlic cloves, and some onion in olive oil in a medium saucepan
• once those are soft and the mushrooms are cooked down, add a little more oil, and a few handfuls of flour.
• fry the veg-oil-flour mixture for a couple minutes.
• deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine
• add some herbs like sage and thyme
• pour in 2 cups of veggie broth, and maybe a little more wine if you’re feeling sassy (I was)
• cook it for a few minutes till it’s thick and starts to look like gravy
• salt and pepper to taste

As I said, I put the Celebration Roast in a covered casserole dish with some baby carrots (I could’ve added potatoes also, but opted for rice as my starch instead.  What can I say – my soul loves rice n gravy.), then poured the gravy over it all and baked till the carrots were tender.  It was comfort yum food.

Then last night I made the Hot-Sauce Glazed Tempeh from Veganomicon.

I recently wrote a paper about tempeh for my Food and Culture class, so I’ve been in the mood to play with it.  I didn’t have any wine around, so after pondering my dilemma for a while, I decided to use orange juice instead.  I’m brilliant.  It certainly changes the undertone of the flavor of the marinade, but it was so yum. Killer even.  I stole a bit of the marinade in which to toss some halved baby new potatoes, then roasted them in the oven.  We had those with a side salad dressed in a citrus vinaigrette, but Monday’s green beans would have been just as nice of a green veggie accompaniment.

Both of these meals are fiber-full, traditional protein/starch/green-veggie meals.  Very balanced, homey vegan fare.  I think after all the transition in my life lately, what with moving, growing a baby, and adjusting to a new city; I’m hungry for some traditional (for me) home-cooked meals.

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San Francisco Soda Ban

Here’s an interesting thing: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in April that bans calorically-sweetened sodas from all vending machines on city property.  It’s part of his effort to “combat obesity and improve San Franciscans’ health, similar to a national effort being championed by first lady Michelle Obama,” says an SFGate.com article.

Wow. That’s putting your money where your mouth is. I’m kindof in awe. Newsom has pretty much removed high-fructose corn syrup from government vending in this city.

However, while it’s certainly a health-promoting move, the directive still allows diet (artificially-sweetened) sodas to comprise no more than 25% of the items offered in any machine. (To be fair, the directive states that there should be “ample choices” of water, and dairy and non-dairy milks, and that juices must be 100% fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweeteners.) Diet sodas are bad.  Aspartame (and Nutrasweet, Splenda, Equal) is bad. And studies show that these sweeteners don’t actually fight obesity – studies show that consumption of artificially sweetened beverages actually increases your chances of gaining weight; plus, they alter your brain chemistry and the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake, making you more prone to overeating  Don’t believe me? — check out here and here. Or, you could read this well-referenced article. Plus, the proof is in the (jiggling) pudding: Americans consume more artificial sweeteners than ever, and they’re fatter than ever; all the major health and medical organizations agree about this.  So artificial sweeteners aren’t the answer to our obesity problem.

Want to know what is?  get ready, it’s pretty revolutionary: WATER.  Yeah, just drink water.  The purest, cleanest you can find.  If you were my client and you came into my office and told me you drink diet soda regularly, I’d say: STOP.  Drink water, or herbal tea, or decaf tea, or squeeze some lemon into your water.  Folks, if I learned anything in my graduate nutrition program, it’s that we can’t be healthy if we don’t drink water. And if you must have a sweetened beverage, please use pure stevia, or a small amount of honey or cane sugar (unless you are insulin-resistant or have diabetes). ( I’m writing this as I sip on a homemade mocha made with decaf coffee, coconut milk, stevia, and cocoa powder…..mmmm.)

Kudos to you, Mayor Newsom, for doing something, anything, to combat obesity.  It’s certainly more than the Feds are doing, even as obesity costs the US around $150 billion dollars annually, according to the CDC.  But to be truly health-promoting, we need to acknowledge that diet sodas are just as destructive as regular ones, and should be limited just as strictly.

Posted in General | 8 Comments »