Nutrition stuff

Hey, Shannon here, still finding my way around this site and learning all about "blogging"..

Gee... I remember when a friend of mine had her first baby a while back, she would tell me she could eat pretty much what she liked, and most of all, what she felt liked. She once had a craving for raw bacon....yes.....raw bacon......and she ate it! I don't really believe her....she is quite a lot older than me.
Biazarre as it sounds, I don't remember too much, how, or what I did in regard to food preparation and tastes when I was pregnant with Ben.
Since my last appointment with Emma, she's given me a whole lot of stuff to read, about the Do's and Don'ts to do with eating in pregnancy. I'm too tired, and my lack of concentration is at its peak! Do they call that pregnancy brain, or what?!? It's also too frightening for me to read, I'll worry if I eat something that's undercooked, or has been sitting around too long! Then, I'll be made to feel I have killed my baby.......not on!
One of the things that stands out in my limited brain capacity is the "NICE" guidelines, 2003. I don't think the're "NICE" at all, they scare the living s**t through me.. There's pages and pages of stuff, but I'll tell you a bit about the diet stuff. Nutritional Supplements for example, it says to take a dose of 400mcgs daily, I thought you could take up to 800mcgs, that's what I remember my last midwife saying, and you can buy it in tablet form at the chemist.
"Pregnant women and those intening to become pregnant, should be informed that dietary supplementation with folic acid, before conception and up to 12 weeks gestation, reduces the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects -(anencephaly and spina bifida)...P.8 Gee man, I'll take that, I want a healthy baby eh? I think that's something to do with the nervous system in the developing aby. I had to ask Emma what these scary sounding words are?!?

I thought all pregnant women were advised at some point to take an iron supplement. I remember having heaps of blood tests last time, and my iron was borderline, or something..And mum keeps telling me to eat LIVER and KIDNEYS yucko! Mum says liver and kidneys have heaps of iron, but I keep telling her that thse guidelines say no to that as that stuff has too much Vitamin A! Mum says Bullocks to that! ( ha ha)

I am fortunate at my age to still have a grandmother alive, some would beg to disagree with me, but anyway, you have not met her, so I'll be polite! :-) She still lives on the original dairy farm mum and her great herd of fellow siblings grew up on, and still milks a few cows - (my uncles pretty much run the farm for her now)....but anyway, she's full of pride with her with her fresh milk, and makes her own butter...still, but is not speaki ng to me at the moment 'cause I won't accept her endless supply of unpastuerised milk! Yes, I did love it once, but not now. According to these guidelines, unpasteurised milk can contain the bacteria "listeria" which can cause miscarriage. Also, soft cheeses, and pate. That's ok, don't like that anyway.. Bruce is not a great fan either.
Salmonella is another biggie here where I usually love my eggs real runny, but now it seems I need to have them cooked through.
I feel like I am a student again, which was in the real dark ages mind you, I don't enjoy reading, and I find all this stuff tedious. Bruce is way too busy to help, he thinks it's all my responsibility. Whatever, he's still a cranky so and so. I guess I'll food Emma with all my questions, afterall she's the expert eh? I believe everything she tells me, and I'll just do as she says......
The other thing of interest to me was what the guidelines say about alcohol and smoking.
According to these "NICE" guidelines, 2003, "Excess alcohol has an adverse effect on the fetus" P.10. Yeah, how many times are we told that? But, you can apparently that means you can limit alcohol consumption to 1 standard unit per day. What's 1 unit? well, it equates to a single measure of spirits, a small glass of wine, and half a pint of beer, which I'd guess would probably be about 300 mls or so. I have chosen not to drink at all. A small price to pay to eliminate one risk, I suppose.
Lastly, another was om smoking. I do know of women who have continued to smoke right through their pregnancy, and also been exposed to secondary smoke. The guidelines, of course, advise against this habit, as it can cause low birth weight in new borns, and possibly pre-term labour.
The guidelines go on and on, and I thank Emma for providing me with all this info. She gave me loads of stuff, web addresses etc etc, but these guidelines just stuck out in my mind. Anyway thanks for reading, I'm lonely today, Bruce is out working, and Bens at playgroup.