Hellobee

Actually, deli meats are ok as long as you heat it up past 165 degrees to kill any potential bacteria before eating. Just make sure you eat it fairly soon; in other words, don’t let it sit around for 3-4 hours before eating your sandwich. When I found this out in my 3rd trimester, I ate sandwiches almost every day.

I kind of gave up on my prenatals… I took them diligently at first, but into my 2nd and 3rd trimesters I rarely took them. I just didn’t feel comfortable with taking a vitamin– I ate incredibly well throughout my whole pregnancy, and my baby is well and thriving.

By the way, I slept on my back until it got uncomfortable. Believe me– there was a point when I just couldn’t sleep on my back. It left me feeling faint. But until that actually happened, I did sleep on my back.

I’m laughing with you on your cookie dough decision. Like you, I decided, “Ah, hell. I’m gonna taste the cookie dough!” I had one or two little tastes, and I ended up with the WORST case of salmonella ever! I was in the hospital and had to get 3 liters of fluid. The baby’s heart rate was over 200 and this was at about 16 weeks. I still hadn’t gained any weight and then I had this huge set back where I was vomiting copiously for 3 days and lost even more weight.

I’ve never been that ill before or since! So while I salute your bravery in trying the cookie dough, I wouldn’t recommend it. 1:8 chickens is infected with salmonella and an estimated 1:20,000 eggs harbor salmonella. Far higher percentages than the listeria in the deli meat! Having said that, listeria is far more serious, so I appreciate your decision.

Just sharing an anecdote and wishing you good pregnancy health!

Personally i would rather eat deli meat (heated until steaming) than cookie dough, because cookie dough has raw eggs which is a much higher risk than deli meat. But everyone is different.

I thought I was also in the middle, but I might lean more towards relaxed than you do on some of these things. For example, every time my husband has a glass of red wine, I have a sip (or two). I just like the taste! I’ve also indulged in a few deli meat sandwiches (and hot dogs) throughout my pregnancy. Soft serve? I’ve had quite a bit of that, too. I LOVE salted caramel pinkberry. I also love coffee, but I’ve only had decaf since I’ve been pregnant (and even that is a once or twice a week treat). I used to have a terrible caffeine addiction – I’d get headaches if I didn’t have a cup of coffee by 8am – so I’m trying to stay away so I don’t develop the habit again. I have had caffeinated soda, but not much. I find it painful to sleep on my back, due to my heavy uterus putting pressure on whatever vein or artery, so I’m always on my side. I’ve also had sushi a couple of times…

My doctor didn’t tell me I should or shouldn’t eat/drink/do anything! When I asked at one of my early prenatal appointments, he said, “Food? You should eat it.” When I was having a lot of fainting spells, he told me to make sure I was drinking a lot of water and eating every couple of hours, but that’s it! I’m glad he is so relaxed because it definitely helps me feel less guilty if I commit one of the pregnancy sins.

@Red: I have actually done that once – heated up the meat – but it doesn’t help when you’re at a restaurant or somewhere not near a microwave!

@Mrs. Jacks: Oh no! That’s terrible. And trust me, it’s not bravery on my end as much as giving into temptation…I have such a weakness for cookie dough.

I indulged in a couple deli sandwiches early in my pregnancy because I craved them so bad! I felt horribly guilty about it, even though I didn’t get sick. I vented to a friend who then asked me why I didn’t just roast my own meats in the oven and use those for sandwiches. Genius! My sandwich cravings have since subsided, but if they ever hit again, I’ll either roast my own or go for a hot sandwich.

I think there is a lot we can learn from modern advances in science and medicine, but there is also a lot we can learn from the history of thousands and thousands of years of women having babies in harsh, harsh conditions without access to proper medical care, nutrition, vitamins, fresh fruits/veggies or refrigeration. In short, I eat meat I trust like I did before pregnancy, and I don’t beat myself up if I have a small glass of wine now and then, skip prenatal vitamins now and again, and eat my fried eggs runny along with a cup of joe on the weekends.

I’m totally guilty for eating deli meat but I do heat them up to piping hot and I do get the no nitrate or nitrites kind. Every time I buy some deli meat my husband eats it up FAST so I don’t eat so much. He sucks. But I don’t eat it often at all. I did crave sandwiches during my first trimester. Super craved. I even got a Vietnamese sandwich but with grilled chicken and I told them to hold the mayo. Hmm…now I want one! I quit anything caffeine in my first trimester and for most of my second but have indulged in a decaf latte here and there, especially when Starbucks had gingerbread latte over the holidays. I will eat chocolate of all kinds from time-to-time b/c I want something sweet. What else? I also LOVE chips and we know most chips have MSG in them which in huge quantities is also not good for the baby. Oh, and I did sleep on my back until I started having a hard time breathing. Now I have to sleep on my side with a little support. Sometimes I just hug my blanket b/c I’m not cold so don’t need it over me. I’m probably every Asian mom’s worse nightmare when it comes to pregnancy b/c I also climb short step ladders and do many things I shouldn’t do physically. I have an almost 3-year-old who needs to be held or picked up from time-to-time so I do it. I just think of it like working out…if you did it before you got pregnant, then it’s okay to continue doing it while your’e pregnant.

No soft serve? I’ve never seen that on the CDC or other official websites (maybe I missed it). The risk of listeria is SO low that I have had some turkey deli meat on occasion, but I’d rather not worry about the what ifs. I also have occasional raw fish sushi because I couldn’t find any hard statistics showing the miscarriage risk, plus fish served raw should be flash frozen to kill parasites anyway.

Oh yeah, I had a bite of my husband’s ham sandwich the other day and I think I swooned. I had that sweet, wonderful taste of lunchmeat in my mouth and I couldn’t stop craving it! A BLT did help curb my hunger for it for the night, though. I don’t like the idea of all the work of heating up my lunchmeat – it’s meant to be cold, not hot! And when you want it, it’s not like you have time to heat it up, then cool it back down!

I cheated with one small soft-serve cone from DQ, as well. I haven’t had any wine although I have smelled my husband’s beers here and there just to remind myself of the deliciousness I will someday get to enjoy again. I’ve been pretty good about not eating what is on the no-no list and it doesn’t seem like that big of a hardship to keep doing it this way. Donuts are replacing the “bad” foods for me for now.

I think everyone has to trust themselves and their body when they decide they want to eat or drink something others may find taboo. I’m not here to judge anyone for it (you know, unless you’re smoking or drinking heavily…)

yep i too had deli meat cravings so when i order my sandwhich i always tell the guy to make it really really hot cause i’m preggo! and they will normally cook it or heat it up for me.

i’ve given up the caffeine, alcohol and deli meats. but i let myself have pinkberry, baked ham & cheese croissants, and runny eggs at brunch.

I never drank tea or coffee, so that hasn’t been an issue for me. I had one glass of wine, back before I actually knew I was pregnant, so I don’t feel terrible about that. I’ve had cold cooked ham plenty of times, but from shops I trust. I don’t care for mayonnaise so didn’t have to worry about that. I’ve been super careful on a few things, even where there’s no proven risk- I no longer carry my phone in my pocket -and so keep forgetting it- and I have cut right back on the bottled water cos of the plastics in the bottles. The downside of that is that I haven’t actually been drinking as much water as I should:(
I gave up colouring my hair- I had vague memories of reading something, so I asked my doctor and she said just don’t, as the chemicals sit on your scalp long enough to potentially leach into the bloodstream. Same reason, no hair removal cream, razors only for me. Boo! I miss the hair dye more than the wine, I’ll be grey as a badger by Christmas if I’m bf’ing!
Christmas was annoying as I was avoiding nuts and every bloody tin of sweets was full of nuts- of course when I started researching it I found current medical advice does in fact recommend nut-eating while pregnant.
I’ve been sleeping whatever way I can sleep, if I feel faint or anything on my back I’ll move.
Someone recently asked me what I was giving up for Lent- I’m no more observant a Christian than the cat, but it’s pretty much a fun tradition here at this stage- and my answer was ‘absolutely nothing, I’ve given up enough for my babas already, Lent can go and jump!’

Can I just ask what, exactly, are pinkberries?

@aunt pol: it’s a soft serve frozen yogurt that’s delicious!

i didn’t do any of the no-no’s while pregnant – no caffeine, alcohol, deli meats, soft serves, nothing! even now i won’t have any alcohol…. for some reason i feel too guilty!

I only had coffee occasionally. Avoided alcohol, soft cheeses, deli meats (though I did have a few hot dogs here and there), and slept on my back until 20 weeks or so… I also had sushi toward the end of my pregnancy (like 3 times)

I did not know that you can’t have soft serve while pregnant! I had it all the time!

Okay, back with more research – soft serve is not noted as a high risk food during pregnancy by any US government organizations. It is on the ‘avoid’ lists in some countries, like New Zealand, though. Use with that info what you will, but the overall risk of listeriosis is so low overall with deli meats and raw milk products being by far the worst offenders (and canteloupe this year) that I’m not giving up my coveted soft serve yogurt.

I’m nine weeks preggers and the food restrictions are just killing me! Tea, coffee and booze aren’t a problem because I don’t really drink them anyway but I am seriously missing the ham and tomato sandwiches I used to eat for lunch every day! I can’t wait for my second trimester when the gossips in my office know that I’m pregnant and I can nuke the cr*p out of my ham!

I have had soft serve from McDonald’s once, I figure they have pretty good food safety and cleaning procedures but I’d probably steer clear of anywhere that looked even remotely dodgy. I’ve even told my Mum that the minute I go into serious labour I want a ham and egg sandwich and DH is under strict instructions to bring me chicken and bacon sub post delivery!

Hell hath no fury like pregnant woman deprived of her deli meats…. And forgive me but I ate some chocolate brownie mix this afternoon… and it was awesome!

I had to sleep on my side, if I was on my back I got all short of breath.

I avoided caffeine and alcohol, but neither was a big deal for me. I still had raw milk, cheese and eggs…I trust my sources, but I never would have eaten unpasterized food from the store.

I definitely had many a blizzard while pregnant, so I obviously wasn’t too concerned about soft serve. I did avoid raw dough and sushi and cut back on caffeine. I don’t think I ate much deli meat, but only because it didn’t appeal to me. And while I would always start out on the left side for sleep, especially since I had pregnancy hypertension, I almost always ended up more comfortable on my right.

@Mrs. Bee: I’m also still not drinking alcohol. I’m mainly just too lazy to want to risk a pump and dump situation, and since I’ve only ever been a social drinker, I don’t miss it much.

@aunt pol: I love Irish figures of speech!

I have read that the issue with soft serve is that they can’t/don’t clean the machines completely out and because it’s a dairy product there’s more likely to be problems.

I stuck with the rules while I was pregnant. I worked on the principle that if the worst happened I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I had indulged. A ham sandwhich or soft serve is not that great that I would take the risk, no matter how small. Someone has to make up those stats, I would prefer it wasn’t me.

@Mrs. Yoyo: Happy to entertain:)

Am I the only idiot going around with grey hair for my babies’ sake? Is that a usual restriction stateside?

@aunt pol: I think current thinking is that it’s a very tiny risk, but if you want to be very careful, none in the first trimester.

i broke a lot of rules. i do eat chocolate and i indulge in occasional decaf caramel macchiato (both have caffeine)…. i’ve eaten, rarely, tuna tartar/carpaccio (mmm)… i’ve had like 2 medium rare steaks. i’ve had a handful of roast beef sandwiches (mmmmm what i’d give for a rare roast beef sandwich)…. i haven’t had the glasses of sangria that looks so good though.

I ate whatever I wanted when I felt like it while I was pregnant. I really believe you have to assess the situation and know your providers. I’ve eaten sushi with a beer, coffee, medium rare steaks, roast beef sandwiches…the only thing my doctor told me to avoid was a certain type of lettuce, but I extended that to salad bars or anyplace with open food, too.

I did not avoid much while pregnant, I just did a lot of research and determined the risks for myself before avoiding everything and making myself miserable. I drank coffee, I LOVE coffee but cut back to usually just one cup a day. If I had more, I didn’t worry about it. I had a small glass of wine or beer a couple of nights a week, any time I felt like it (except when my mother in law was watching, ha ha). I don’t really like lunchmeat or soft serve ice cream anyway so those were not a big deal. I ate sushi. And I tried to sleep on my side but sometimes I would wake up on my back, which I wasn’t too worried about.

It wasn’t hardship cos I don’t drink coffee, alcohol, eat sushi or much sandwiches pre-pregnancy. I ate lotsa soft serve (root beer floats!) and had a few Vietnamnese sandwiches. I did avoid runny egg yolks. Despite my high risk pregnancy (twins), I still carried my LO (2 years old then) occasionally but was on modified bedrest so I couldn’t go shopping for hours and that kinda sucked, hahaha! With my first, I had to sleep on my back simply cos my LO was not a happy camper if I slept in my side! With my twins, I made an effort to sleep on my left even though my preference is for the right. Post pregnancy, I am happily enjoying my runny egg yolks and sleeping in any position that I desire

I cut back on my caffeine (one cup of coffee each morning and that was it) and no alcohol– got harder in the summer as my baby was born in the beginning of August and summer BBQs with cold beers were just not the same
But I’m BFing the little guy so still no alcohol and limited caffeine. I totally did not think about this while pregnant! I imagined giving birth and then coming home to a margarita or 3. I don’t produce enough milk or have time to pump and dump so I don’t drink any alcohol. It’s been a long time since my last glass of wine, so I’m sure once I can have a drink again I’ll either be tipsy off one glass or fall fast asleep.
I make up for it with extra soft-serve!