Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Power of Suggestion

I never realized it before, but apparently commercials are made for pregnant women. Ok, not all commercials. I mean, obviously, we can't take any medicine, or have much fun at theme parks, and maybe we're not in the market for a snazzy new convertible. I am talking specifically about commercials for food. I don't remember this in past pregnancies; maybe because I have had more time to watch television this time around, but pretty much every food I see advertised on TV, I think I have to have it. No, I don't just think so, I am CONVINCED that I need it. And it's not even just limited to commercials. If someone is eating something on any show I'm watching, I have to have that, too.

Right now, for instance, there is someone eating popcorn on a sitcom, and the last commercial break featured an ad for the new Thin Mint Blizzard from Dairy Queen. If microwave popcorn and a Thin Mint ice cream treat doesn't sound like the best dinner ever, I'll be darned. All plans of salisbury steaks and mashed potatoes are out the window. It's all about DQ and Orville Redenbacher now. Oh wait ... change of plans, looks like it might be a pepperoni pizza, Pepsi, and some divine looking chocolate dunking sticks from Pizza Hut. Chocolate dunking sticks are an appetizer not a dessert, right? So, technically, I can still swing by the Dairy Queen for a Thin Mint Blizzard, can't I? Uh oh, hold up, it looks like it might be the $5 roast chicken combo from Arby's now complete with an icy cold Pepsi and some curly fries. Yikes. I can't keep up.

It all started with a day a couple months ago when I was in bed for a few days. I had been laying on the couch dozing, reading, and watching TV, and I was desperate for some Honey Nut Cheerios. I don't know why. I even called a couple friends to see if they had some because I didn't have any at home and I NEEDED Honey Nut Cheerios for some reason. LaVerl finally found a box out in the garage behind some other food storage. Best bowl of cereal I ever ate. I didn't even realize until later that night that there had been like 15 of those Honey Nut Cheerios low cholesterol commercials throughout the day.

It's only gotten worse since then. Even in my sickest moments, there is still something irresistible about the food I see on TV. I don't know what has come over me. I've never been so vulnerable to suggestion. It's a little ridiculous, actually.

Well, I'd better turn off the TV and get back to my dumb salisbury steaks. Don't think I'm not getting that Blizzard later, though, Hey, the baby wants what the baby wants. Who am I to stand in the way?

The Alien Inside

So most, but maybe not all of you, know that I am pregnant. I have had a pretty scary first trimester and thought for a while that I might lose the baby, so I haven't spread the news as readily as might be expected. That being said, things seem to be going well for the time being. I have been diagnosed with complete placenta previa (placenta covering the opening of the cervix - if you can handle all those gross words.) Best case scenario, it will resolve on its own. Worst case scenario, I will need bed rest towards the end and a C-section. This news is far from the worst, and I am hopeful that everything will be just fine - whatever happens. My estimated due date is 2/1/2010 so I've got a long way to go yet!

Enough with the seriousness already. I know that I have been out of the blogging world for some time now, and I figured this was as good of a way as any to re-announce my entrance into the WOB (world of blog.) I am also hoping that this will be a good enough motivation for me to post AT LEAST weekly. That's my goal anyway. We'll see how it goes.

I went to the doctor this morning and everything seems to be going just fine. Translation: the baby's heart is beating, the fundus is measuring fine (not to be confused with the fungus, which is something that I would need to go to a different type of doctor for altogether,) and I have gained infinitely more weight than I would like. I am now about 15 weeks, which according to my weekly pregnancy e-mails means that the baby is the size of an apple. I'm not sure why, but every week it seems to be the size of a different food. Maybe people like to think of their growing uterus as holding a whole, wiggly, undigested food? A pecan, an olive, a lemon, an apple. I am eagerly anticipating the later e-mails: "Your baby is currently the size of a gallon of milk." "This week your baby is approximately the size and volume of a meatloaf." I can't wait to see what kind of food my baby is growing to be. By the time I give birth, I am really hoping for a bucket of chicken.