These were a few of my favorite things....

One of the annoyances of pregnancy is all that you cannot do: the list of foods you cannot eat; the list of things you cannot drink; the list of medications you cannot take.  Everybody knows the obvious ones -- alcohol,  caffeine -- but even these have caveats (an occasional glass of wine after the first trimester is fine, a cup or two of coffee is fine).

To think that just a few years ago there weren't many limitations and women had perfectly healthy babies. I love the show Mad Men and its amazing how much women smoked and drank through their pregnancies in the 60s.  My mother was totally suprised that I was limiting my caffeine intake - she had plenty of coffee back in her day.   And no raw or smoked fish - do women in Japan and the Scandinavian countries refrain from this stuff when they're pregnant? I doubt it.  But, if there is one time in my life to avoid pushing the boundary (and we all know I like to do that), this is it.  It's just not worth it. 

Not to mention my husband has become my food inspector (actually all around inspector - but that's for a future post). We were at a wedding this past Sunday and when I grabbed some black tea at the end of the night he yelled - and I mean yelled - "DON'T DRINK THAT!!".   Granted, he had downed about 15 shots of vodka (it was a Russian wedding).  I told him to piss off (nicely).

So here are a few things that I will never, ever take for granted:

Lox (smoked salmon) - I know, I'm an old Jewish lady in disguise.  What can I say?  I truly looked forward to having a fresh New York bagel, lathered with cream cheese (no light crap!) with a layer of lox, topped off with some campari tomatoes, a sprinkling of kosher salt and cracked pepper on Sundays.  Give me a NY Times and I was in heaven.  I've already told Seth that the morning after this child is born, he will be taking a drive to the Upper East Side to H and H Bagels.

Champagne - I've always enjoyed a glass before a nice dinner. How I missed a good prosecco in August! Sparkling cider? Bleh! 

A Medium Cooked Steak - A well-seasoned ribeye on those really tough days would make me feel so much better (filet mignon on "healthy" days). And nowadays its a hockey puck.

Allergy medicines: I've suffered from allergies for most of my life - dogs, cats, dust, etc.  I have been taking a nasal spray, but I normally take double the amount that I take now along with a pill.  As a result, the skin under my eyes has darkened and I always have a bit of congestion.  And the sneezing in the morning!

Yes, I know, its all worth it in the end - yada, yada.  But funny things are happening to my body and I'm out of breath - can't a gal get some lox?!

Here's 17 weeks (in front of Seth's parents' home).