by AngieTTC Journey | - July 18, 2018

What Do Lemons, Pickle Relish, and Milk Have in Common?

Lemons, pickle relish, and milk make up the foundation of Baby K. But, seriously. I get asked all the time about pregnancy cravings; if pregnancy cravings are real, if I have any funny cravings, and if my cravings have changed. This is one of my favorite pregnancy topics to read and talk about because it always gives me a good laugh and brings out some incredible facial expressions from everyone involved in the conversation.

Even with the extreme pregnancy sickness, I have had very strong cravings throughout pregnancy. The positive part about my pregnancy sickness is I very rarely vomit (aside from my 2 found food aversions: lettuce and pineapple), so I can give in to all of my cravings and feel satisfied.

In the first trimester, I definitely possessed the funniest, strangest, and most disgusting food cravings (most of which were satisfied while laying in bed, of course). The main cravings included lemons, pickle relish, milk, and candy…mostly sour candy. I remember laying on the couch one night and asking Kyle to dig through the pantry and refrigerator for pickles. When we failed to have any, we called my mom (who shockingly didn’t have any either since she practically has a grocery store in her house). I resorted to eating pickle relish straight from the jar and drinking the juice. As disgusting as it sounds, it was so incredibly satisfying at the time and I’m not ashamed. Between that and asking Kyle to slice me up a whole lemon and serve it with a giant glass of 2% milk, I am not sure it could get any more unappetizing. I seriously have a saint of a husband for tending to every single one of my little needs.

I figured out during this time that the only way I could get through a day of work is to constantly eat (my desk drawers were filled with sour patch kids, jelly beans of all varieties, M&M’s, granola bars, and all sorts of goodies). I mainly munched on all types of fruit throughout the day and sour candy became my guilty pleasure. My body was surviving on this diet and I have no idea how. Thank God for Prenatal Vitamins for Baby K! I was also drinking a ton of water, gatorade, and decaf tea with lemon (lots of lemon).

After I began taking my pregnancy sickness medicine, my appetite started opening up a little more, well, kind of. I ventured out to places like Red Mango and Jamba Juice because that’s what my body was craving and wanting. This was becoming a nightly occurrence and the sweet workers at Red Mango were some of the first strangers to learn about my pregnancy, haha!

I felt like my first trimester cravings were so uncontrollable. Mainly because I was so worried that my pregnancy sickness was completely taking over my life and body and that I was not providing the proper nutrition to Baby K because I couldn’t stomach anything outside of these specific cravings. It even got to the point that Kyle couldn’t cook his dinner in our house and would have to use the grill outside or my parents house to cook his meals because it would make me so sick. The thought of meat or a meal that had flavor nauseated me to no end. Luckily, this improved once I hit my 2nd trimester.

Since my 2nd trimester hit, I have craved more sweet treats. If you know me well, you know that I am not a big dessert girl. My mom is an incredible baker (ask anyone who knows her) and I never even eat her sweet treats. I think growing up with always having sweet treats around kind of made me immune to them? Who knows. All I know, is I have been my mom’s best customer this trimester, haha! I want all the sweet treats, all the time!

I always start my day with breakfast. Don’t get me wrong, I try my best to eat overnight oats or a breakfast sandwich, or my Kashi cereal…but sometimes my breakfast cravings are so strong that I have to give in. I typically wake up craving donuts, cinnamon french toast with syrup, or blueberry pancakes. The stickier and sweeter…the better!

Aside from those strong cravings, I find myself having the diet of a 5 year old. I mean, pizza, chicken nuggets/patties (I’m obsessed with the Morning Star “fake” ones to be honest), grilled cheese, buttered noodles, and sugary cereal. Basically, if I eat outside of my 5 year old diet it’s because I see a picture or the actual food (thanks Instagram), but I won’t crave any meals unless I see them. It’s the weirdest thing! Choosing a restaurant or meal planning is near impossible for me right now. I like to remind myself that “it’s all about balance.” If I have something that’s not the healthiest for breakfast, I try my best to make up for it at lunch and dinner and vise versa, BUT I always end my day with a dessert 😉

What were some of your crazy pregnancy cravings? Leave a comment below! I love hearing about everyone’s experiences with this fun/slightly chaotic part of pregnancy!