Are you a strict or relaxed pregnant lady?

[LeeBee]

Are you a strict pregnant lady- no lunchmeat, caffeine, only healthy foods, ect.- or do you take a more relaxed approach to things?

I personally am finding that I'm much more relaxed this time around. I eat lunchmeat, drink a little soda, and indulge in chocolate whenever I please I take hot baths every day (with my last I used to bring a thermometer in the tub with me, LOL) and eat my steak medium. I think the only things I absolutely won't touch are alcohol and cigarettes.

Just wondering if I'm alone here? Is anyone else finding themselves relaxing a bit the second time around?

 

[Miss Wright]

When I was pregnant I didn't touch cigarettes or alcohol, I limited caffeine but didn't give it up entirely. I didn't eat runny eggs either. The other things you mentioned I don't eat anyway. I reckon I'll be the same next time around- moderately strict i suppose!

 

[Blah11]

very relaxed. No alcohol or smoking or anything and obv I avoid big no, nos like pate and liver but I do drink coffee/tea/coke as I wish.

 

[Laura2919]

I was a bit funny. I used to have no more than 2 cups of tea, no coffee, I didnt eat raw meat, runny eggs, pate or ofal and I didnt smoke or drink.
I did drink fizzy drinks but not loads. Really I did everything by the book and still had them early lol

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Relaxed xx

 

[Sarahkka]

I was more relaxed on herbal teas. Over here, just about anything, including chamomile tea, is labelled as "not for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Consult a physician". Some of the things were so counterintuitive to me that I looked a bunch of stuff up and found out that a lot of these things simply aren't rated.
We ethically can't go monitor a fetus while its mother consumes an unknown or possibly risky substance, so we wind up with a lot of "don't take this" in a precautionary way. I agree that it's rather safe than sorry, but I also try to use common sense. Having a cup of herbal tea a couple of times a week is not posing a huge risk to my unborn child. At least not in my estimation, it isn't.

As for caffeine, I stayed within the 300mg/day limit.
No alcohol.
I don't smoke, anyway, so not a problem there.
And no lunch meat or softserve ice cream for me, either.
We have had several big listeria outbreaks in Canada in the last few years and I just didn't need any of that sort of anxiety, so I skipped them. They weren't a big part of my diet normally, anyway.

 

[bky]

I was pretty strict. Only 1 cup per day of various herbal teas, no lunchmeat, sushi etc. I did eat a load of chocolate though which was unusual for me (I read an article that chocolate cravings fulfilled means you have a happy baby, lol, so far it's true), but I had almost no other caffeine. I think I had 1-2 cups of black tea the whole time and it was that or pass out from sleepiness. No coffee, no salads from restaurants, no deli anything.
I had a smoked salmon bagel once and felt awful about it .
I'll be a little more relaxed next time, but caffeine and such aren't a regular part of my diet anyhow.
I did take a few hot baths (not like I could fully submerge myself anyhow).

 

[Sarahkka]

I was pretty strict. Only 1 cup per day of various herbal teas, no lunchmeat, sushi etc. I did eat a load of chocolate though which was unusual for me (I read an article that chocolate cravings fulfilled means you have a happy baby, lol, so far it's true), but I had almost no other caffeine. I think I had 1-2 cups of black tea the whole time and it was that or pass out from sleepiness. No coffee, no salads from restaurants, no deli anything.
I had a smoked salmon bagel once and felt awful about it .
I'll be a little more relaxed next time, but caffeine and such aren't a regular part of my diet anyhow.
I did take a few hot baths (not like I could fully submerge myself anyhow).

Oh, do I ever hear you on that one!

 

[LeeBee]

Why aren't you suppose to drink tea? Because of the caffeine?

 

[Sarahkka]

Black or green tea contain caffeine, so you have to watch your daily limit, or choose to abstain altogether.
Green tea consumed in enough quantity can interfere with the body's ability to absorb folic acid, so should be avoided for that reason as well, or at least consumed very moderately. (This is more recent research, but all I could think when I read it was whether or not they have a higher incidence of things like spina bifida in the Asian countries that consume a lot of green tea. ??? I've never heard that they do and you would think that would be the case, right? )
Herbal teas have a lot of potential problems:
1) they are unregulated, so there is no standard dose medicinally for whatever you are consuming. One chamomile tea could have x mgs of whatever, and another could have a very different dose.
2) lots of herbs contain medicinal properties or pharmacological chemicals that might not be the best for pregnancy
3) the "untested" factor - if it hasn't had clinical trials and studies to prove its safety in pregnancy, no one can really say for sure what its effect might be

I went with herbs that were traditionally used in pregnancy and just made sure that I wasn't drinking too much of any one kind. And I made sure that I avoided anything that was questionable.

Again, it's all about perception of risk at the end of the day. What was acceptable for me might not be for another. I would never ever consume alcohol during pregnancy, but I will drink caffeine. Some mums are completely the opposite.

 

[Parkep]

was more strict last pregnancy,

This one so so much more relaxed!

 

[tallybee]

Well let me think, it was a while ago I'll probably be the same again if we succeed TTC though! I cut out all alcohol and cigs straight away - both times my bfp was enough of a shove to make me do it! Both times I cut caffeine too, replacing with herbal teas. I think first time I was less strict with foods, because I had a lot of sickness that didn't really go away so I was grateful to keep anything down!

xx

 

[Nibblenic]

I was pretty relaxed.

I have never smoked so that wanst a issue. I had a maybe 3 glasses of wine in 3rd Tri.
I didnt eat certain foods but that was more about what I didnt want to eat rather than following any guidlines. As i think they change regaurding foods quicker than I change my pants.

 

[vaniilla]

I pretty much did things by the book but in a relaxed way, I cut down how much caffeine I took but I had pretty bad reflux and the smell of tea made me feel ill so it wasn't hard doing so, as for meat I'm not a big fan of it anyway and I only eat it well done, same with drinking - the smell used to make me wretch as did smoking but I'm not a smoker so it wasn't a bad thing I ate as healthily as I could considering I had problems with smell and keeping things down, I was pretty much living off apples, lemons, rennie and plain toast until mid second tri

 

[nov_mum]

i did it by the book with my first, not so much with my second and with my third I am incredibly relaxed. I avoid sushi as it has been sitting out often and I have half a glass of wine once a month, I don't smoke. Everything else is fair game : ) I have no more than three cups of coffee a day but that is because of my risk of preeclampsia. Otherwise, I eat meats and mayo and runny eggs (there hasn't been a case of listeria in eggs since hte 70's here) takeaways, subway and everything else which is banned. I use my head and don't eat in places which are dodgy. I think a lot of restricted foods are a bit over the top.

 

[discoclare]

I was pretty relaxed. I never smoked anyway so that wasn't an issue. The only thing I mainly avoided was liver. I took hot baths, ate runny eggs, medium steak, caffeine in moderation, seafood, cold meats, smoked salmon etc etc.

 

[allaboard]

More relaxed this pregnancy. This time I have the odd hot chocolate that contains sweeteners, I eat the odd bit of soft cheese if there's nothing else i fancy on the menu when we eat out, I sniff the air a tiny bit when i smell cigarettes (i used to old my breath last time i was pregnant!), I eat poached/boiled eggs with the middle fairly soft, i aim to drink decaf tea but if i'm elsewhere or i run out of decaf I'll happily have a normal tea. Erm can't think of much else. I don't drink or smoke at all.

 

[LeeBee]

so we're not suppose to eat smoked salmon either? Why is it that anytime I hear of something I can't have I CRAVE it...

 

[OmarsMum]

I dont drink alcohol, fizzy drinks or caffiene. I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning & I didnt change it when I got pregnant. I quit smoking & I didnt eat any raw meat or soft cheeses when I was pregnant. Other than that I was soo relaxed.

 

[amie-leigh]

i was quite relaxed i quit smoking the week i found out i was pregnant didnt drink at all during pregnancy didnt eat any of the "banned" foods because i don't like them anyway but i did drink frizzy juice and had to have a cup of tea in the morning and ate chocolate if i fancied some