A Real Take on Pregnancy!
One of our dietitians, Bella is pregnant with twins! We interviewed her to get a real perspective on pregnancy.
Here’s what she shared.
What have you discovered about pregnancy that you didn’t expect?
I didn’t expect all the mixed emotions! I am SO grateful to experience pregnancy, and yet, it is also such a roller coaster to be on.
What are some ailments you’ve experienced and how have you handled those?
1st trimester: fatigue, morning sickness and food aversions
2nd trimester: none that I can remember! It was pretty amazing with little to no ailments.
3rd trimester: heartburn, carpal tunnel, insomnia, fatigue, and a little back pain.
I handled each situation differently but my current favorite are my Amazon compression gloves that I wear to bed that help the carpal tunnel, haha.
Has pregnancy impacted your perception of your body? In what ways?
Yes! I really wanted to be a pregnant person who embraced all the changes gracefully, but it can be difficult at times! As I get closer to my due date, and with more reflection, I have a sense of gratitude and can appreciate my body in a lot of ways – but it wasn’t that way in the beginning, and that’s okay! I found it both really terrifying and really cool that the body can grow (in my case, two!) tiny humans at the same time.
What are you noticing about your eating? What foods do you crave?
I haven’t had any super interesting cravings, like what you see on TV, but I have craved breads/crackers, sour candy, and fruits/veggies at different points in the pregnancy! I was a little paranoid about listeria after all of the outbreaks this past summer, but read Emily Oster’s “Expecting Better” and found it helpful. I’m now way less worried and have been enjoying all sorts of foods I had been intimidated by!
Did you have morning sickness? If so, how long did it last and what helped?
Yes! Really terrible morning (aka all day) sickness from weeks 7-11. My doctor had mentioned it should calm down around week 11 when hormones typically start to level off and this was very accurate for me! The thing that helped most was getting ahead of my hunger (trying to eat before I sensed hunger in my belly), leaning into ALL the beigy foods, particularly grains — toast, crackers, cheez-its — and eating small frequent meals throughout the day.
What are some ways others have reacted to your body or treated you differently and how has that been?
Hmmm… great question! People haven’t treated me too differently. But when people have commented on parts of my growing body, it generally makes me uncomfortable. I know everyone has the best intentions, but it can still feel a little invasive when people comment.
How has being pregnant affected your work with clients?
It has given me a lot of perspective! Pregnancy is uncharted territory and so I have a lot of empathy for anyone going through it while navigating their nutrition. I have really enjoyed working with clients who have gestational diabetes and dispelling misinformation around it. I also have really enjoyed working with clients who are working on ED recovery while TTC or are currently pregnant.
