Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Eating for Two

I would like to dispel a pregnancy untruth once and for all - this whole "you're eating for two" business. Let's think about that for a second. I'm 16 weeks pregnant. One quick note on that. I lost track of how many weeks pregnant I was, and my "Week 16" post was actually still my 15th week. I signed up to BabyCenter.ca and now I get weekly e-mails to tell me how far along I am. No more confusion!

Anyway, I digress. As I said, I'm 16 weeks pregnant. According to literature, this means that little PK is about the size of an avocado. Hardly the size of a full person. In fact, when PK is born, he or she will weigh 3.2kg (7 pounds, for you non-metric people - shame shame!). Again, hardly a full person. This begs the question: if the wee little person currently taking up residence in my innards is about the size of an avocado and will weigh ~3kg by the time it comes out, HOW EXACTLY AM I EATING FOR TWO? More like 1.15, if you ask me.

For those of you who are misinformed, the only additional food you eat on top of your regular pre-pregnancy diet (assuming you're not hugely overweight) is the equivalent of a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk. I would hardly equate that to being a license to pig out. Besides, the more crap I eat while I'm pregnant, the harder it will be to lose after the baby pops out. That alone is incentive for me not to feast on chocolates and candies, thank you very much.

2 comments:

Fawn said...

Well, you're not just feeding baby, though - you're growing and developing whole other body parts (placenta, gearing up for milk production). Not that I'm saying it's a licence to pig out, but I did enjoy worrying less about quantities. Quality's the thing. :)

IndyComp0T1 said...

Very true. I just have this fear of turning into a big pregnant whale. I've seen it happen to so many people, so I guess I'm extra-self-conscious about it. I have adjusted my eatings habits to meet the needs of my pregnancy by eating heartier breakfasts and having a couple of snacks a day. Like you said though, it IS all about the quality. I think nowadays I'm more adverse to eating junk than I was before. Just yesterday, I co-worker offered me some Oreos. If it were up to me, I'd eat the whole bloody bag. I politely declined and went on to eat my fruit snack. :P