How strict are you?

[VioletRain]

How strict are you with what you do and do not eat? I have friends who are annoyingly paranoid about every morsel which passes their lips, and others who have gone through their pregnancy not even realising that they weren't meant to eat peanuts etc.

Do you ask every cafe whether their mayo has unpasteurised egg in it? Do you strictly limit yourself to 2 portions of tuna per week? What about meats - do you eat sausage rolls, cold crispy bacon?

I'm interested to know what people's attitudes are ...

can I just add a plea to be careful?

With DS, I was very casual, ate loads of raw milk cheese, sushi, etc with no probs.

I'm now 20 weeks preg with DC 2, and over this weekend have had the most terrible food poisoning which I am still scared might be listeria, from finishing off a tiny bit of unpasteurised soft cheese in a sandwich on Fri afternoon. I was SO ill, and so worried about losing the baby or it getting birth defects or whatever.

I'm feeling more or less ok now, but I would just say to the casual ones, don't be too casual because I was and I do regret it, just hope babs is OK!

I'm really lazy with it. I did try very hard to cut down and didn't eat brie for months - but there comes a point where you go to a restaurant and you can't have a single thing on the menu.

Which is totally pointless. I'd rather take the risk and be happy - I try to make a dividing line between things I don't mind risking and things I do. So I'm still pretty good on the unpasteurised side of things, and keep within the limits for mercury anyway - but I totally ignore advice about peanuts because I would die of shock if my child with these genes didn't have eczema and asthma anyway.

This time i have eaten whatever i have fancied. I sort of think that as i didn't find out i was pg until i was 11wks (3rd pg) i had been eating everything i shouldn't have anyway.

And as for the lastest thing about only having 2 coffee's or 4 teas a day as it will effect the size of the baby. Thank god i drink 8/9 cups of tea a day as both dd's have been over 9lb and hate to think how big they would have been if i stuck to 4 teas a day.

I was quite relaxed. I ate the occassional packet of nuts in late pregnancy, had the occassional glass of wine. I did cut out all soft cheeses however as I didn't feel the risk of listeria was worth it.

Hi all

Wow, just come back to check my thread and glad to see it has aroused some interest! I am really happy that everyone seems to have the same opinion as me and just tries to eat a reasonable diet. I was wondering whether I should start doing the "EXCUSE ME does your mayo have unpasteurised egg in it" thing ... that really made me laugh!

I think the thing about peanuts is not to eat them if someone in your family has allergies or asthma although I agree that small amounts probably actually help in this respect.

Having said all this, I am a bit worried about the salad and unwashed fruit/veg on holiday thing now ... Bootus, I am going to Thailand too (Langham in Koh Lanta) ... any advice on what sort of things to eat out there?

And is goats cheese mould-ripened?

I'm not strict at all, but most of the foods they say to avoid are things I don't like anyway. I've never heard of bacon or sausage rolls being dodgy though, that's odd.

The caffeine thing annoys me.. some people seem to think it's completely off-limits during pregnancy when in fact you're allowed the equivalent amount of SIX cans of coke per DAY! I only have about two cans a week these days as I drink nothing but water the rest of the time, but even when I'm not pregnant I don't think I could manage 6 cans a day!

is smoked salmon out then? then is dc3 and never heard that before (I've been eating it )

smoked salmon is fine - apparently the smoking process kills off anything nasty - so it's effectively like being cooked.
I've been eating it! yum

Thanks, that's one less thing to worry about then!

Gemzooks, if you're going to eat mould ripend cheese it's actually BETTER if it's unpasturised as the natural good bacteria help to protect it from infection by outside nasties like listeria. Pasturised soft mould ripened cheeses are much more suseptable to infection.
Are you going to get tested for listeria infection?

I've had a couple of glasses of wine per week, always have my steak medium rare and fois gras. I have never understood the English love of pre-made sandwiches and would never have one of them anyway, so no need to worry there. And I've had toxoplasmosis, so don't need to worry about that one.

unwashed salad is another listeria risk. if they wash salad and fruit in places like Thailand you are still risking "delhi belly" from the water, so better to wash it yourself in bottled water, also make sure you clean your teeth with bottled water.

I've been very lax this time.

I even had the most delicious great big wedge of Brie a couple of weeks ago. I would never have done that with DS.

I also eat runny eggs too, far too delicious.

I wonder why our bodies haven't evolved to automatically avoid "banned" foods during pregnancy. We are supposed to be able to sniff out poisonous food especially whilst pregnant.
I think unless you have an allergy in your immediate family then don't be too hard on yourself. Enjoy food!

I thought unwashed salad was a toxoplasmosis risk- is it listeria too?

Oh yes fruity, have had runny eggs and creme brulee too.

In Thailand etc use bottled water not boiled, as most of the belly-bugs will withstand being boiled in a kettle.

i eat runny eggs but not unpasteurised cheese
would kill for some sushi but will stay off it
do eat prawns though and had scallops the other week (yuuuuuuuum)
i also drink a little bit of wine from time to time
don't eat that much tuna anyway and never eat meat in any case

Cat, you can have sushi, but not sashimi.

Ooooh creme brulee, hmmmm, I might have to go and add some of that to my Tesco delivery
I didn't know prawns were a no-no. I'm addicted to the Tesco Finest Prawn cocktail. It's soooooooooooo good! Got 2 pots coming tomorrow and I can't wait!

bubbaluv - listeria is a soil born organism, so effectively anything grown in the ground and not washed properly is a risk. It also grows below 5oC which most bactieria don't which means it can still grow in refrigerated conditions.

pre=prepared bagged salads you buy in the shops are usually washed in a weak solution of sodium chloride, to kill off any bugs.

not sodium chloride - doh! I mean the stuff they put in swimming pools and make Milton fluid out of....am having a pregnant moment..

There you go. You learn something new every day!
Fruity - prawns are fine. They don't live long enough to build up dangerous mercury levels.

Are brie and camenbert (sp) ok if cooked/melted or not?
Ive not had any but like others said its always on menu and fancy it!!!
Thanks

Cooked is fine. Needs high temps though I think, so if it's just warmed through it won't do the trick.