“Why is everything delicious in the world, chocolate?” I asked as I rummaged through the cupboards last night, looking for a treat to satisfy my snackyness that would also not leave my infant in fits of cranky, gassy, wails.
The midwives have been very specific about what not to eat (and drink) for the first twelve weeks.
Twelve weeks, three months, basically a fourth trimester. They smiled and nodded patiently along with me when in my prenatal appointments I talked about the pure pleasure I would experience from having coffee again, enjoying a glass of wine with dinner. “Just a few more days,” I would say joyously, toward the end of my pregnancy.
They didn’t rain on my parade until after the baby was born and they announced pleasantly that for the first twenty-four hours I could eat or drink anything I wanted—chocolate cake, a big glass of wine, cheese…
“What do you mean the first twenty-four hours?” I wanted to know.
“Well your milk doesn’t come in for a day or two so your body will have a chance to process everything out before you start making milk!”
“Uh-huh…”
“And then you should avoid foods and drinks that typically cause irritation in babies to make sure there aren’t any sensitivities.”
“Like…coffee and chocolate"
“And alcohol and dairy and vegetables that typically cause gas like broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage. Then you can slowly start to introduce back in those foods one by one to see if any cause an issue with the baby.”
Well, broccoli and cauliflower I can certainly live without for a few months but chocolate? Red wine? Caffeine? For another three months? It didn’t seem fair. Haven’t I abstained long enough?
I always bragged that I could eat anything when I breastfed Twila but now that I have indeed seen a correlation between what I eat and Jada’s temperament, I wonder if in Twila’s case ignorance played its role in that bliss.
I remember her two fussy hours each night and think, could that have had anything to do with the coffee I drank every morning?
The other day after days of being very, very careful, I ate four dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in black cocoa powder—oh man, delicious! Within a couple of hours Jada was arching her back when she nursed and screeching angrily. I wanted so badly to believe it was coincidence. But mentally, I scratched chocolate off my list.
The conundrum of course is this: I need cookies right now. How can I be expected to raise two children cheerfully, write a novel, cook and clean and not have delicious cookies on hand to satisfy my hunger? As I pillaged the cupboards last night I realized that the world is terribly prejudiced against people who cannot eat chocolate.
Before I got pregnant, I was never a big sweets fan so my eyes weren’t open to this obvious social injustice. But now as I sit in post-holiday piles of treats and sweets I see clearly that everything delicious in the world is made of, or covered in chocolate. You will find this hard to believe but we actually got chocolate covered potato chips for Christmas this past year.
Fortunately, this tragic story has a happy ending. I made a very delicious discovery at my local co-op today. Matt’s Real Cookies. This brand of cookies contains no artificial ingredients, no corn syrup (you know how I feel about corn syrup) and nothing I feel ashamed of eating and there is a wide range of non-chocolate containing flavors like peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, cranberry walnut. They are amazing and I think the world needs to know about them.
Matt’s Real Cookies, do yourself a favor, buy some right away and lavish on yourself a soul and body satisfying treat. Prove to yourself that you don't always have to be ignorant to experience bliss.
The midwives have been very specific about what not to eat (and drink) for the first twelve weeks.
Twelve weeks, three months, basically a fourth trimester. They smiled and nodded patiently along with me when in my prenatal appointments I talked about the pure pleasure I would experience from having coffee again, enjoying a glass of wine with dinner. “Just a few more days,” I would say joyously, toward the end of my pregnancy.
They didn’t rain on my parade until after the baby was born and they announced pleasantly that for the first twenty-four hours I could eat or drink anything I wanted—chocolate cake, a big glass of wine, cheese…
“What do you mean the first twenty-four hours?” I wanted to know.
“Well your milk doesn’t come in for a day or two so your body will have a chance to process everything out before you start making milk!”
“Uh-huh…”
“And then you should avoid foods and drinks that typically cause irritation in babies to make sure there aren’t any sensitivities.”
“Like…coffee and chocolate"
“And alcohol and dairy and vegetables that typically cause gas like broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage. Then you can slowly start to introduce back in those foods one by one to see if any cause an issue with the baby.”
Well, broccoli and cauliflower I can certainly live without for a few months but chocolate? Red wine? Caffeine? For another three months? It didn’t seem fair. Haven’t I abstained long enough?
I always bragged that I could eat anything when I breastfed Twila but now that I have indeed seen a correlation between what I eat and Jada’s temperament, I wonder if in Twila’s case ignorance played its role in that bliss.
I remember her two fussy hours each night and think, could that have had anything to do with the coffee I drank every morning?
The other day after days of being very, very careful, I ate four dark chocolate covered almonds rolled in black cocoa powder—oh man, delicious! Within a couple of hours Jada was arching her back when she nursed and screeching angrily. I wanted so badly to believe it was coincidence. But mentally, I scratched chocolate off my list.
The conundrum of course is this: I need cookies right now. How can I be expected to raise two children cheerfully, write a novel, cook and clean and not have delicious cookies on hand to satisfy my hunger? As I pillaged the cupboards last night I realized that the world is terribly prejudiced against people who cannot eat chocolate.
Before I got pregnant, I was never a big sweets fan so my eyes weren’t open to this obvious social injustice. But now as I sit in post-holiday piles of treats and sweets I see clearly that everything delicious in the world is made of, or covered in chocolate. You will find this hard to believe but we actually got chocolate covered potato chips for Christmas this past year.
Fortunately, this tragic story has a happy ending. I made a very delicious discovery at my local co-op today. Matt’s Real Cookies. This brand of cookies contains no artificial ingredients, no corn syrup (you know how I feel about corn syrup) and nothing I feel ashamed of eating and there is a wide range of non-chocolate containing flavors like peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, cranberry walnut. They are amazing and I think the world needs to know about them.
Matt’s Real Cookies, do yourself a favor, buy some right away and lavish on yourself a soul and body satisfying treat. Prove to yourself that you don't always have to be ignorant to experience bliss.
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