Guest Post by T.J. of Any Given Moment

Pregnancy Hunger

Are you ready to talk pregnancy hunger? I am. Well, at least I was and I thought about opening with that cutesy little writer trick of hooking you in with a definition:

HUNGER (courtesy of Merriam-Webster)

1 ) a : a craving or urgent need for food or a specific nutrient b : an uneasy sensation occasioned by the lack of food c : a weakened condition brought about by prolonged lack of food

2) : a strong desire : craving hunger for success

Yeah well, one glance at that and I knew it wasn’t gonna cut no mustard. Ladies, I’m here to talk to you about hunger during pregnancy, but I’d be fooling us all to call it anything less than CONSTANT STARVATION. You think I jest? Oh no. That pit of the stomach feeling is there, solidly, through at least a trimester and a half for me. It happened during my first pregnancy, and good heavens it’s happening during this one. No amount of food seems to ease it for any more than two hours and most days it's more like two minutes.

I follow all the tips my midwife gives me: I take my vitamins and eat small meals regularly. Our cupboards aren’t familiar with potato chips, nor Hostess doughnuts. The fridge holds no gallons of Kool-Aid and yet, with each swallowed calorie far from being empty, I am still hungry. Why is that? Does it mean I could go ahead and eat Burger King 24/7 rather than meals of couscous or turkey or beans and kale because if that would do the trick I’m willing to try it; I’m just about willing to try anything at this point.

I hear of these other pregnant women, the type who “can’t keep anything down” and I find it impossible to wrap my head around it. I sympathize with them, send them my blessing, but understand it? Here I am the Cookie Monster, Audrey II , Hannibal Lecter of all foodstuffs and these women can’t even nibble a cracker- where is the fairness in this? What those poor gals would give to eat anything, something and what I would give to have a moment where I’m not chewing.

I’m trying, trying to embrace the broader picture here. Pregnancy is an individualized, amazing journey and it affects us all differently. When I really focus on it, I do suppose it’s true, to each yin there’s a yang, but that makes me think of a black and white cookie, which reminds me of a bakery, which makes me hungry…

Hungry or not, TJ regularly blogs over at Any Given Moment where she revels in her love of children, photography, natural living and yes, food. Have a moment? Come visit her there or drop a line to amomentwithtj@gmail.com.

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