So first things first, I got my permission to fly and all is set to GO GO GO for tomorrow! I'm not entirely looking forward to the long flight, but I am super super looking forward to spending 3 weeks with my family in various entertaining situations. I really can't wait.
I could do a whole post just on the level of excitement I'm currently buzzing with... but instead I thought I would share some more pregnancy-specific stuff that's happening these days.
Mainly, cravings.
I haven't mentioned them before because they were all so normal and uninteresting and then went away. Basically, I went back and forth between two during the first few months. I would either want anything salty (mostly olives and pickles) or I would chain-eat apples. One week salt, next week apples. For a couple weeks I randomly started wanting lemons, but then it was back to olives and apples. And then it went away. I still liked them, of course, but I no longer needed them or anything else specific for awhile. But recently I've started getting cravings again, and they don't seem normal (even though everything I've read says they are). It seems like I have developed a bad case of pica (an appetite for non-food substances). I've had it before - when I was younger I used to always suck on metal and went through a stage where I desperately wanted to (and often did) eat chalk. I have memories of sitting in class and not being able to concentrate because I was so focused on the chalk the teacher was writing with... I can't really remember how it was resolved, but I think it came down to iron... don't know. Anyway, I shouldn't have been surprised that it cropped up again because pica usually shows up in young children and pregnant women... but, here it is!
So what am I craving? Here is the rundown:
Cleaning sprays. Not all of them - the antibacterial stuff for the kitchen does nothing for me. But the two with limescale remover (the general bathroom one and the toilet bowl one) I can't get enough of. I clean the toilet a LOT just to smell it and the urge is there to eat a bit (I'm not an idiot of course so there is no way I'm actually going to, in case you were concerned... I just want to). Luckily the smell satisfies me enough that I'm happy.
Musty stuff. Again, I can't eat these things... but the smell is so satisfying that it hits me in the gut and I want more. I've found myself taking a detour at work through a particular part of the basement that has an amazing damp musty smell. And, when no one is watching, I will get right up next to the air-conditioner and just drink in the smell. Many of the underground stations have a nice musty smell as well, which makes me happy.
Chalk. This one isn't too much of a problem because I only want it when I see it. If I see it, then I desperately want to eat it - but luckily one doesn't come across chalk that often!
Ice. This one I'm loving because I CAN eat it! It's doing a number on my teeth, so I'm trying not to indulge too much but I would eat it all day if I could.
On an upside, because so much of what I want to eat, I can't, I've found a handy sideways solution. Many raw vegetables have a dark earthy taste that is almost right and make me really happy to eat them. In particular I'm chowing down on lots of raw peppers, spinach, carrots etc. And there's nothing bad about that!
So that's the update of what I want to eat, as strange as it may be! Let's hope it goes the way of olives and apples, but in the meantime I will just have the world's cleanest toilet and will often be found hanging out in the Science Museum basement...
Of course, not for the next few weeks - because I'm off to America!!!! Woop, woop, woop!! So excited.
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