I survived...

... to week nine! I am not sure why this feels like such an accomplishment, but I have been waiting for this day since we first found out we were pregnant.  When we found out we were pregnant, we thought we were already 9 weeks along.  In hindsight that makes me laugh out loud, as if I could have made it to 9 weeks without knowing it with all this morning sickness!  But here we are at week 9 and while I feel accomplished, the next three weeks are stretched out ahead of me, looming in their unknown.

Will I feel better?  Will I have more energy?  Will I be able to get out of bed each day?  Unsure of what the next 3 weeks holds, I am just happy to be where I am.  The past 3 days have been a welcome relief.  The nausea has been very slight and only sporadically throughout the day.  I have been able to keep dinner down which is much different than where I was at the beginning of the week.  I pray that this will stay.  It is amazing that while I still feel so sick all day (think: a  mild stomach flu or hangover) it is still so much better than where I was.  I find myself feeling "normal" even though I still feel sick.  I am welcoming this level of illness with open arms.  What I would to give to truly feel "normal" if that will ever exist again!

Since I am on an upswing momentarily, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite pregnancy foods thus far, and the worse!  Let's start with the bad shall we...

Foods Tanya Avoids like the plague:

• Anything from my 7 foods fast, still can't stand the sight of sweet potatoes or avocados and even apples.  I have bags of almonds still in my pantry that are going to waste and I may never eat tofu again!
• Vegetables in any form, except the rare vegetable soup on a really good day.  I can also eat romaine lettuce smothered in dressing.
• Most foods that I've eaten once usually make it to the no-eat list.  I had pizza last week and it was so good, but I'm afraid that it makes me sick to think about it now.  Shannon made this amazing vegan quiche one night that was so delicious at the time.  She sent me home with leftovers and I made Alex get them out of the fridge as fast as possible.  It's weird how my mind is working these days.
• Coffee and all hot beverages.  The weather has turned cold this week and yet I still can't warm up with hot tea!
• Peanut butter, although I have had a few PB&J sandwiches that was all I kept down for a few days.

Cravings:

Some of these have gone out of my life as quickly as they came in...nonetheless these are the foods I have been wanting at some point over the last 4 weeks!

• Pickles.  Yes I am that cliched.  And salt and vinegar chips.  Something about the salt and vinegar dries out your mouth to help ease nausea.  I understand now why pregnant women crave these things.
• White potatoes, fried, baked, hashbrowns, tator tots, etc.  Anything white potato!
• Kid foods like fruit snacks and granola bars and pop tarts.  I did at least grab the organic ones!
• Sweets, although once I would eat them, they would make me feel worse.  That is a terrible catch 22!
• Buttered toast and crackers.  I have survived full days off just these foods.
• Eggs and Cheese.  Yup, who am I?  Did I satisfy the cravings?  You betchya!  Every great once in a while I get a craving for an egg and cheese sandwich and the other day I even had sausage on it at Panera.  That was the first meat I have eaten in 3 years!
• Speaking of meat: I have been craving chicken fingers dipped in honey mustard so the other day I finally gave in and shared an order with my friend Jill at lunch.  Yup, they were good.  I remember saying, "Oh, this is what chicken tastes like!"
• Spaghetti.  At the beginning of my pregnancy it was all I wanted.  And it still comes up pretty often.  
• Iced Tea like nobody's business.  I know it has caffeine, so I finally bought decaffeinated to make at home.  But there is nothing better than $1 king sized half sweet, half unsweet tea from McDonald's when we are out running errands.  I swear it is the only thing that keeps me alive when I am out of the house!

The oddest thing for me during this pregnancy is the food aversions and cravings.  I don't know what my body is thinking but I have resorted to "college Tanya."  I want anything out of a box or bag, prepackaged and hopefully void of all nutrients!  No wonder I am so ill!  If I have to do anything to it (heat it up) it loses point value with me. 

Even better than packaged foods, is food from a restaurant where I have to do nothing to prepare it, or see it prepared, or smell it prepared.  Panera is my number one choice of food lately, although I did deviate to find chicken fingers at Duckworth's this week.  While I have lost my vegan ways, I am still trying to be mindful of where my food comes from.  With the exception of the chicken fingers, I try to only eat eggs and cheese and especially meat if it comes from a reputable source.  Preferably organic, or at least natural.  Panera is wonderful because most of their cheese is organic, their meat is all-natural, hormone free, and while I don't believe the eggs are organic, they are cage-free. 

That is about as good as I can do for the moment.  To be better, I could purchase my own organic meat and cheese and eggs, but that would require me to cook them and that would be the worst thing to ever happen to me!  I am still not sure how I feel about not eating only vegan anymore.  Alex has assured me he is sticking to his vegan ways.  I know we will probably always remain vegetarians in the home, and him vegan since he can't have dairy.  I just wonder if this meat-eating thing will continue.  I am already excited for my trip home at the end of this month so I can sink my teeth  into a Wib's Combination BBQ sandwich (shaved pork with pimento cheese)!