Milky Ways are now a food group, deal with it.
– This pregnant mama (me) at approx. 37 weeks
To sum up the way pregnancy has completely changed my tastebuds, by trimester, here is my attempt in three run-on (but right on!) sentences:
First Trimester: My old standbys of chocolate, most meat, and fish are out (and disgusting, how did I ever like them?!) — when I can eat without getting sick — pickles, saltines, ginger, and vanilla flavored ANYTHING are in.
Second Trimester: Chocolate is back in (especially on donuts!) but make it milk chocolate — fish and meat rotate between being gross and acceptable, and pickles are boring, but I WILL take a big ol’ salad to attempt healthy eating (with Babybel cheese and a baguette on the side).
Third Trimester: Salad is OKAY, but hold the bread for a snack later because as of now I’ve physically run out of room in my stomach — and honestly, other than a few greens, screw any kind of ‘clean eating’ — Milky Ways are now a food group, deal with it.
Much to my surprise, I was far from alone in the sudden cravings and aversions department! In fact, everything from pickles to peanut butter is extremely common as far as cravings go!
Want to know more about what your cravings might mean? Check out this awesome expert article on The 10 Most Common Pregnancy Cravings and Why We Have Them.
For a personal account of what this mama couldn’t get enough of (and what I avoided like my life depended on it!), see below!
First Trimester Cravings & Aversions
What I Loved:
This is an unfortunately short list! BUT the things I loved, I really loved. My must-eat items were:
- Dill Pickles
- Lemon drops (by the bag)
- Saltine Crackers
- Gingerale
- Vanilla yogurt (and I’d never liked Vanilla anything before in my life.)
- Plain wheat thins
- The occasional Babybel cheese (though it was an aversion sometimes, too! It’s funny how that works.)
What I Avoided:
Basically everything else (our dog ate exceptionally well for three months and I think was sad when it ended!)… but here are the top ones:
- Salmon… my formerly favorite food was now a foe.
- Chocolate suddenly sucked (my formerly favorite flavor)…. in favor of it’s complete opposite, vanilla!
- Chicken, beef, and meat of ANY KIND.
- Anything my nose didn’t like that day and it ROTATED. Things like decaf coffee or raspberry dressing that were delicious one day were gross the next…
- EVERYTHING ELSE, pretty much.
Weirdest Craving Combo:
The aforementioned lemon drops on TOP of wheat thins… sometimes with a piece of Original Flavor Babybel cheese added, too!
Second Trimester Cravings & Aversions
While it took a couple of weeks to get there, the fatigue and consistent fog of crumminess dissipated as promised by so many pregnant mamas before me, and it was ON with food again.
My appetite came back and everything was tasting amazing (and I was craving it in larger quantities!).
What I Loved:
So many things jumped back onto the list, but the finicky nature of my cravings continued! Here are the main things I couldn’t get enough of:
- Milk Chocolate, mostly as a flavoring, but my chocolate/sweet tooth was back with a vengeance and I wasn’t mad at it.
- Cheeze-Its
- Wheat Thins (Now tomato basil flavor, yummmm)
- Babybel Cheese (Seriously, try this stuff in EVERY flavor if you haven’t! I’m in no way affiliated but wish I were. Yes, please, on free cheese! There’s nothing like this stuff.)
- Vanilla Yogurt
- Oatmeal for days
- Hawaiian Pizza (it started giving me heartburn at the end, but I loved it so!)
- Mediterranean Bowls from Panera Bread and ONLY Panera Bread
- Breaded Chicken (and only breaded chicken)
- Ranch, ranch, baby!
- AVOCADO on everything.
- Lemonade by the GENEROUS glass.
What I Avoided:
- Alternating levels of aversions to salmon
- The same with chicken and beef
- Dark chocolate that had formerly been my diet staple (it suddenly tasted like chalk)
- More than a few sips of coffee (who am I?!? lol).
- Anything that happened to give me a bad smell, and what might be “bad” one day was delicious the next, so I can’t really narrow it down.
Weirdest Craving Combo:
The uniqueness of this one was less about the combination and more about the quantity. When given the opportunity, I devoured almost full JARS of pepperoncinis. With just a fork. It was THE BEST. No regrets!
Third Trimester Cravings & Aversions
While I’m currently a couple of days shy of 37 weeks and still in the thick of it, it feels like I’ve been in the third trimester for a LONG time. You mamas know just what I mean, I bet!
More of my former tastebuds seemed to miraculously come back. My appetite ROARED in the first half of the third trimester… until I started running out of room. My baby boy is still sitting breach, and I’m only 5″0, so I’m simply out of space.
With that said, I have been all about the seasonal indulgences this Fall (and even before it was fall!). Other than the birth of my son (I can’t believe we’re so close, I’m so excited!) I’m ready to say buh bye to 2020… who isn’t? So now on to…
What I’ve Loved:
- Pumpkin spice anything and EVERYTHING, starting back in August! The DAY Starbucks released their pumpkin spice latte, I was there for the caffeine-free steamer version of it. Other related indulgences have included pumpkin spice cookies, cupcakes, bread, scones, and everything basic. Absolutely zero shame here about that. 🙂
- PIE. PIE. PIE. From the local eatery that consistently gives this pregnant lady two MASSIVE “slivers” of dutch apple and silk chocolate pie and calls it a “piece of pie” to baking a whole Sara Lee Pumpkin Pie… it’s been ON with pie. Something about the buttery crust and salty sweetness gets me every time.
- Milky Ways. I’d blame Halloween, but I think it has WAY more to do with the fact that I suddenly like Caramel for the first time in my life. And that I became allergic to peanuts during pregnancy, so Peanut Butter Cups are out! A sweet tooth evolution, perhaps!
- Veggie wraps. This boy may just be a vegetarian! I LOVE a good spinach wrap so much that my husband and I learned how to make them ourselves. Fully loaded with avocado, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, pepperoncinis (of course), hummus, and spinach (for the greens I know I’m supposed to be eating).
- Pretty much everything else unless I have a sudden weird aversion, which is totally unpredictable. Much like my son and whether or not he’ll be doing acrobatics when it’s bedtime each night. 🙂
What I’ve Avoided:
I’ve had aversions to very little here at the tail end. And if so, it’s typically for only one meal. No explanation, it just happens. I’m so curious how common this is, so please do let me know if you’re in the same boat!
Meanwhile, here’s a great article on the general subject of cravings listing the most common cravings, why they happen, and some tips around managing them.
Weirdest Craving Combo:
COMPLETELY different types of pie, right alongside each other. A few of the strangest include Cherry and Chocolate Silk, Dutch Apple and Chocolate Silk, and Lemon Cream with Apple. All delicious.
What Were/ Are Your Cravings Like?
Going down cravings and aversions memory lane was a lot of fun! I’d love to hear about how yours were/are similar and how they’ve differed! You can either comment below or check out the Mama Forum on this topic and more.
That’s it for now because I’m off to eat some pie and I totally recommend it to you! Take this as your sign/permission/whatever it is you need to indulge.
This is a very brief time in your life, even when it doesn’t seem so! So enjoy every moment and remember, you are perfection, mama! As is!