Expectant Prayers ®

Most people have food cravings from time to time... that favorite late night snack, a favorite candy bar, a bowl of ice cream.   I think it's pretty normal to have a hunger for something occasionally.  

I am always amazed at the cravings I have during pregnancy.  I think it was the first "tip off" to my husband that I was expecting.  He actually suspected way before I did!   I believe it was during a dinner in December when I decided to woof down a ton of mustard that he took notice.  Whatever we were eating didn't really go with mustard, but that didn't matter to me.  The kids were looking at me like I was nuts!

I don't know what it is about mustard.  When I was expecting my oldest son, Titus, I remember eating mustard on just about anything I could.   Then it was the meat. I couldn't get enough meat.  From cold cuts or beef jerky to Kansas City strip... I devoured anything I could get my hands on.

This pregnancy has been so different.  They have all varied, but this one takes the cake!  I have been twice as sick than "normal", twice as tired,  and twice as hungry... and putting on the weight twice as fast.  Honestly, I have been eating normal sized portions, drinking water, and exercising almost an hour every day!   I just don't understand.  Maybe it's my age?????  

In similar fashion to other pregnancies (usually the boys) during this pregnancy I have craved meat, mustard, vinegar, and lemons.  Could that mean another boy is on the way? 
With Celeste it was all about the sweets.  I think there is something to the old rhyme, "What are little girls made of?  Sugar and spice and everything nice!  What are little boys made of?  Snips and snails and puppy dog tails!"  Is there a connection to cravings and the gender of the baby you are carrying?  From my personal experiences, I would tend to say, yes!
 
I had to laugh at our family pediatrician a few years back.  When he started at the practice, he had no children.  During the years we have seen him, he and his wife have had 3 children; 2 boys and a girl.  He mentioned during a visit when his wife was expecting #3 that his wife ate one cookie every night.  She did very well to manage her consumption of sweets, but she just had to have them.  I looked at him and said, "Well, you must be having a girl!"  He looked at me amazed and said, "Yes, we are!"  BTW- I think it's also funny how pediatricians tend to change their views on some things once they actually HAVE children! 

So here's to all of us today who eat strange things... whether we are expecting or not.  To each his own!  To each his own taste.   Now, would you please pass the mustard???????  And when you're out today, pick me up some beef jerky!