My third trimester started with a blast of energy that allowed me to get a lot accomplished with the nursery and some deep cleaning, but eventually slowed back down with fatigue. Being exhausted all the time has made it very difficult to eat cleanly. I’ve had to manage each day to limit what I check off my to-do list with many breaks (and naps) to allow myself enough energy to attempt to cook a good dinner!
Another pregnancy revelation for me was discovering my cravings only got worse if I tried to ignore them. If I tried to overcome a specific craving (usually for sweets..) for days, eventually it grew to intense hunger for anything and everything I could get my hands on! I’ve started to take a craving seriously and just have a small amount of it instead of it snowballing into a major food binge.
Things I couldn’t get enough in the first trimester now make me cringe. I ate a lot of grapefruit, oranges, cucumbers, and asparagus, then moved on to bananas and peaches. Now I only want red grapes and blueberries with the occasional cucumber – but no more of the oil and vinegar with spices and tomatoes, onion, and avocado – just eating them peeled!
Since around the 32nd week, I’ve noticed some feet swelling. I talked to my OB and was told it was fluid retention. With NSNG, when you aren’t consuming a lot of processed foods with high sodium, you actually have to increase salt intake – the good sea salt. But now with the fluid retention, I’m having to reduce my use of salt with meal preparation.
With the increased fatigue, I’ve also adjusted my grocery shopping to reduce my time in the kitchen. I’m usually strictly purchasing fresh vegetables, but choosing several frozen items such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, and beans that I can just quickly throw in a pot with water, butter, and spices.
One of our weekly home-cooked meals includes burgers and sweet potato fries. We get locally farmed grass fed 80/20 ground beef at a bulk discounted price for our burger patties. I split one pound packages into two large patties with spices. To make preparing the meal easier, I can sit comfortably with a tray table and large baking dish to cut the sweet potatoes into fries. They get drizzled with olive oil and several large pats of butter, then sprinkled with desired spices such as pepper, parsley, and minced garlic before placing in the oven at 400°, stirring often. Sweet potato fries will soften and edges will crisp when ready, usually for me about an hour. I fry up several slices of bacon in cast iron grill pan then cook the patties in the remaining bacon fat. My husband prefers them cooked this way because he says they are so juicy compared to the outdoor gas grill! But be aware it makes a mess on your stove with all the sizzling and splattering. We like to pile on slices of cheddar, onion, tomatoes, and pickles and just eat it with our hands! If you want something to wrap it in, we sometimes use a whole collard leaf, tough stem removed. After cooking in your grill pan, add a little water and place the leaf flat in the pan and let it soften on medium low for about 1-2 minutes for each leaf, flipping halfway. Remove from the pan and pat dry before wrapping burger.
Third trimester is flying by – just like this entire pregnancy! I’m very happy to have found NSNG well before this pregnancy because I truly believe I’ve avoided many complications from eating real, whole foods!