Recently I was thinking about a story my mother told me about her very strange cravings during her pregnancies with all three of us: she compulsively chewed wads of sewing thread. Obviously this is a type of pica, and I don’t want to go into the dynamics of that. I’m just very curious to find out what other very unusual/strange/bizarre pregnancy cravings other Dopers or their loved ones have had.
When I was pregnant, I didn’t have any cravings that stand out to me. I did, however, develop something of an aversion. I would get very nauseous when I smelled meat cooking (although it wasn’t a true aversion, because I could eat the meat). My sister, on the other hand, developed an INTENSE aversion for shrimp during both of her pregnancies. It was so extreme that she would barf if you said the word “shrimp” to her. This aversion started early in her first pregnancy, but lasted for many years after her second (and last) child was born, obvious classical conditioning. So I am equally curious about food aversions other Dopers (or loved ones) have had during pregnancy.
When I was pregnant, I craved Breyer’s mint chocolate chip ice cream, probably because it was the only thing that helped my constant heartburn. No other brand would do – had to be Breyer’s. I scarfed about a half-gallon a day.
I couldn’t tolerate spaghetti with meat sauce. All of the ingredients were fine on their own, but combined, I got queasy every time I ate it.
Everything else tasted pretty darn good to me. I ate like a fiend. That was one of my favorite things about being pregnant – food just tasted so GOOD!
My best friend was revolted by Pop-Tarts during her first pregnancy, to the point where she couldn’t stand the smell of them. Oddly she suddenly developed a liking for mayonnaise, which she had always hated before. Her affection for mayo lasted until her second pregnancy, when she began hating the stuff again. Weird.
Same best friend had a craving for almost anything from Taco Bell during her second pregnancy. Unfortunately, she lived in Germany at the time, and it wasn’t readily available. She used to call her mother in the U.S., sobbing, begging her to overnight some Taco Bell to her.
Another friend had hideous morning sickness, and the only thing she could keep down were the chicken fingers from Captain D’s, a fast-food seafood place that was more than a 20 minute drive from where she lived. Her husband used to make a 45-minute round trip three times a day to get them for her.
With Aaron, I craved dried apricots. I’d eat them by the bagful. The bad thing was, they’d give me really awful gas, so I couldn’t eat them during the day for fear of repulsing my co-workers.
The worst aversion I got was to Taco Bell. I got a couple tacos one night for dinner, only to find out that he didn’t like them much. Strangely, he liked regular Mexican food, which is still one of his favorites. Odd child.
With my oldest, it was black licorice and strawberry soda. And fresh shelled peas; I have no clue why. But I had them with just about every meal starting my second trimester. With his sister, it was prime rib and peach shakes. My husband (who was a bartender at the time) would bring home a peach shake every night at 1am. He got rather bored with it.
For the first I had a major craving for Taco Bell. I ate it at least 5-6 times a week. Lots of fire sauce. I suppose it contributed to the weight gain I had. :mad:
Luckily, this second one, I had a craving for green salad. I must have had salad 3-4 times a day. Perhaps it was the vinegar in the dressing? All I know is that I did not gain as much as the last time.
I hated ketchup before I was pregnant. Once I got pregnant, I couldn’t eat french fries without them. I had a craving for it one day, tried it, and it was so good that I could not eat fries without it from then on.
I couldn’t eat any sliced lunchmeat on bread sandwiches for the length of my pregnancy due to an unfortunate morning sickness incident involving a turkey sandwich. They were find if the sandwiches had veggies and mayo, but no plain bread and meat sandwiches.
That one has lasted, I still like ketchup. I don’t recall any other weird cravings for stuff I usually hated, or aversions to stuff I usually liked.
PEACHES!!! When I was pregnant with my first child, I could NOT go to sleep unless there were at least 3 fresh peaches in the house. It was weird. I like them okay now, not crazy about 'em and I would rather eat a good orange anyday. But boy, I was nuts for peaches back then. I also couldn’t stand the smell of cooking meat, especially hamburger and chicken. Ugh.
The missus has told me that she craved dirt during one of her pregnancies. Not that she ate it, mind you, just had the craving.
Of course, I actually witnessed her eat cheesecake with tartar sauce on it. I have no idea what the bloody hell she was thinking.
I think I would have paid real money to see her chow down on some dirt, though
Hmm…I’m thinking of an idea for a new reality show / fear factor deal. Something that pits ordinary people against pregnant women with cravings…'scuse me while I phone Fox.
I also ate a lot of Taco Bell when I was pregnant. Usually, I eat bean burritos, but when I was pregnant, it was BEEF burritos every day. I also had an insatiable craving for onion bagels one day that was so severe, I pitched a fit and cried until Harborwolf drove to the store to buy some. Danm, they tasted good.
I knew a girl that wanted to eat raw chicken breast fillets (she didn’t actually give in to the craving) - kind of calls bullshit on the ‘cravings are your body’s way of telling you what you need to eat’ theory, doesn’t it?
With the last kid, EVERYTHING had to have A-1 Steaksauce on it. I used it like ketchup.
With the first kid I really had a thing for cold pizza. I would get a pizza, bring it home and put it in the freezer so it would get cold so I could eat it.
I could not stand shrimp until after I had my third kid. Now I love it.
Let me see, now. First kid, cravings: Good n’ Plenty’s, orange juice. Aversions: none. Second kid, cravings: Nachos Bel Grande from Taco Bell; aversions: I worked at a place that required me to drive past a brewery every day, and I had to hold my breath for as long as possible to avoid smelling that brewing beer. Didn’t ever puke from it, but the nausea was pretty bad. Third kid, craving: egg foo yung (preferably shrimp, but pork would do). Aversions: only one. We were in a dinner theater, and the guy at the next table ordered the salmon, and I thought the smell was gonna make me hurl for sure. Had a little perk during my third pregnancy, too; I complained to the nurse practitioner that I was having dizzy spells, and she recommended eating ice cream before bed! So I used that as an excuse to indulge in Godiva Dark Chocolate Truffle ice cream. It was so rich that it actually took me two nights to eat a pint.
With my first child I craved fresh fruit. Not so bad until you know I was in Alaska in the wintertime then. The fruit prices were outrageous. I couldn’t stand the smell of hamburger cooking, my husband had to brown the hamburger and I could take over after that. With my second child, I craved oatmeal, not too exciting. I can’t remember any specific aversions, but lots of nasty smells set off the nausea meter. I had a hard time emptying the garbage can.
When my Mom was pregnant, my Dad got morning sickness. I always thought that meant he threw up with my Mom, but he said he’d be miles away puking his guts out. I think it’s a part of couvade syndrome. I thought it was funny when I heard about it.
Cravings - Taco Bell (wow, there’s a lot of that around here!), specifically the Nachos Bell Grande or a double decker taco. Aversions - Pretty much everything else. Chicken was the worst one. I still have a hard time eating it and my son’s 11 months old!
Uuuugggghhh. Having finally (at 18 weeks!) escaped the torture of pregnancy nausea, I had a hard time reading some of these replies. But bravely, valiantly, I perservered and survived without hurling. So here’s my story.
With my first pregnancy I craved cucumbers. Every freakin’ day I ate cucumbers. Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches. Cucumber and tomato salad. Cucumbers with ranch dip. Unfortunately, they produced some regrettable gastric results, I suppose is a good word. Don’t remember any aversions.
This time, I’ve had an intense aversion to feta cheese. Even now I can’t think about it without turning green. And chicken, milk, yogurt. I’m having a hard time getting enough protein. Not a good thing with a history of preeclampsia OTOH, I’ve been craving onion rings (yummy!) and, stereotypically, pickles (see sig line).
I’m going through two big jars of vlasic zesty bread and butter chips a week.
I craved anything that smelled musty. While I was pregnant, I was working for a friend who had a great damp, musty garage. I used to stand in there and just breathe in the smell before I started work. Kind of in the same vein, the smell of cigarette smoke was fantastic when I was pregnant. I really wanted to actually smoke a cigarette (I don’t smoke regularly, although I had in the past), but I didn’t give in to it, of course.
I didn’t really have any food cravings, except for ice. I would chomp on ice from the time I woke up until I went to bed. I had an aversion to chicken. It’s funny that people are talking about Taco Bell - when I was pregnant, there was an ad on for Taco Bell that showed one of their chicken dishes. I couldn’t watch it or I’d be nauseated. Blech.
During both of my pregnancies, I ate spinach just about every day, in copious quantities. I was going through 5 pound bags of frozen leaf spinach in a week’s time. I was eating it in everything; mac and cheese? Throw in spinach. Make a sandwich? Thaw and throw in some spinach. Salads? Spinach only. (Not the frozen kind.) Soup? Eggs? Pizza? Spinach, spinach and more spinach. I was even eating bowls of spinach with garlic salt and olive oil for breakfast.
I won’t talk about the insatiable need for spicy jelly beans, because that’s just a painful, terrible, hurtful memory.
Chicken was the worst one. I still have a hard time eating it and my son’s 11 months old!