During my first pregnancy, I gained 50 pounds and only 10 pounds of that was baby! Obviously, I ate well and used my pregnancy as an excuse. Actually, I have always been a picky eater and could never eat large amounts until the pregnancy hormones kicked in. All at once, I could eat all the foods I had always wanted in any quantity. When one meal was finished, I was already planning the next. What was even more convenient for me was that preparation of raw meat made me extremely nauseous, so we had to eat out, a lot!

The restaurants in my area must have noticed a large increase in business. I certainly took advantage of many. Among my favorites were East Side Marios (seafood cannelloni), The Jewel of India (lamb korma), our local Chinese restaurant (kung poa chicken), Pizza Pizza (all dressed no onions, green peppers or anchovies), and the local bakery (fresh crusty french stick with jam or my absolute favorite, Nutella chocolate spread). And when I wasn't hungry I still craved chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.

My first born, finally arrived well fed and healthy. We were ecstatic about our first child and began our journey into parenthood, all but forgetting the pre-birth feeding routine of the mother. After a few years, we decided to have another child and were doubly blessed when we found out we were going to have twins.

Having whittled my weight down from 180 lbs to 145 lbs before getting pregnant again, I was hoping not to have to loose so much again after the twins were born. It turns out I did not have to worry, as this pregnancy was completely different than my first. I never felt hungry, just thirsty. I had never in my life drank so much water and milk. I would never drink a glass of milk, but now I was having at least two a day. I still craved chocolate but I only had two other food cravings. Honey Nut Cheerios with milk and a peanut butter and Nutella (chocolate spread) sandwich layered on so thick that it would ooze out when you took a bite.

My second born (twins) went to term and were born a healthy 9 lb and 7 lbs (yes, 16 pounds of baby) and I only gained a total of 30 pounds! With three kids in the house the next couple of years are a blur (thank God for video cams and cameras to help record what I did when I was too tired to remember).

Now, many years later, when sitting at the dinning room table trying to coax my twins into eating something besides Honey Nut Cheerios and peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches and filling up on their drinks so that they had no room for their dinner, I had a revelation. There has been no change since they were conceived. They have made their cravings known since the beginning. I then thought of my first born. She loves to eat, especially Italian, Indian, Chinese, and fresh baked goods and has had to work hard to make sure she stays at a healthy weight. Also, it is quite interesting that she gets ill just looking at raw meat and refuses to touch it. I know who will be eating out a lot when she is on her own.

Coincidence?

No way!

Learn more about this author, Elke C.
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