This one couldn't touch raw red meat, that one still gets ill at the sight of eggs, a third couldn't stand the sight of anything meat except liver. Chicken, cheese, ground beef, pork, fish... The list seemed to be made up entirely of proteins. Armed with this knowledge, I prepared myself for the protein that my child would choose to despise whilst en- eutero.
Imagine my surprise when the second trimester shows up, the morning sickness drains away slowly and I can eat everything again. Everything except for vegetables.
Vegetables.
Something that made up about seventy five percent of my diet before I got pregnant is now completely foreign and disgusting. For my entire life I thought that children who would develop a gag reflex over their green beans were seriously stubborn and just didn't want to eat the dreaded little veggies. Imagine my surprise when I start to have the same reaction (albeit a little less pronounced) over one of my favorite veggies of all time!
I worked to keep veggies in my diet, even if it was only salad and maybe a carrot or two every once in a while. All the time thinking how strange it was that this was what I couldn't eat. Not chicken, not hamburger. Vegetables.
By now, I have managed to introduce most vegetables back into my diet. Everything except for cabbage and its cousins. I found myself picking out the red cabbage (usually my favorite part) from my salad one day. Cauliflower and broccoli, no matter how raw or steamed they are, or what type of toppings they have, still make me gag a little.
But there is an end in sight. If all goes well, in less than two months I shall have a child outside of my belly instead of inside. I'll be able to eat and enjoy cabbage in all its forms again, and Baby will, too.
First meal after baby? Maybe, just maybe, a big plate of steamed broccoli (but more likely ice cold water and my nurses and family members telling me I need to eat something)
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
