An Alternative Drink for Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes

Most pregnant women will tell you that their taste buds aren't the same as they were pre-pregnancy. I've heard many times that the taste of water, and even an expectant mother's own saliva, can make her feel sick. Ginger ale drink is quite adept at settling an uncertain tummy, but the sugar content puts if off limits for women with gestational diabetes.

An 8 oz serving of most ginger ales has about 22 grams of sugars, or about 8% of your recommended daily intake. This adds up quickly with multiple servings and is a definite no-no for pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes who must watch their dietary intake like a hawk.

If your partner is one of these unlucky women who has been placed on a restricted diet, yet can't stand water, a fantastic alternative is a naturally flavored sparkling water.

My wife loves the Poland Spring lime essence sparkling water; it tastes great and isn't overly flavored, has 0 grams of sugars and isn't loaded with suspect ingredients. Polar (if it's available in your area) has a similar offering and it's usually less expensive as well.

I actually really like the taste myself, which is good considering my fridge is now crammed with the stuff. Poland Spring has 4 flavor offerings as well as an original sparkling water. I'm sure other brands have similar offerings, just check the nutritional label to make sure there isn't any added sugar or artificial ingredients.

So expectant dads, why am I telling you this?It's your job to take care of her and help her feel better. Bringing home a feel-better alternative shows that you're thoughtful, you care about her comfort and her health. By proxy, this also shows that you care about your unborn child's health. Just remember to buy the plastic bottles; she's hormonal and may end up throwing them at you if she doesn't like the taste.

8 reasons why pregnancy makes fathers tired

Pregnancy can be rough on fathers as well as the mothers. It's clearly understood that pregnant women undergo lots of changes which leave them feeling tired, but it's not always addressed that those who are on their way to fatherhood can experience fatigue as well. Based on absolutely no laboratory research of my own, yet backed with a keen eye, I've assembled the 8 reasons why pregnancy makes fathers tired.

1. Late night snack runs.
Quite a few times during this pregnancy I have found myself out at night , past my normal bedtime, on a hunt to find a candy bar, a coconut cake or some macaroni and cheese. I don't have any problem doing so, and it's not like I'm out for hours at a clip, but it is a change to my schedule. More often than not, I end up eating some of what I buy for my wife.

2. Changes in diet.
An expectant father's diet is going to change from pre-pregnancy norms. Like I said in #1, I often end up eating some of the tasty treats I've gotten to feed my wife's hormonal hunger. In addition to the periphery of snack foods, the first trimester diet is often bland, and also includes less whole grains. This, combined with more snackey foods, leads to an increase in sugar and carbohydrates which may cause your insulin levels to gyrate, pack on a few pounds and make you fatter and sleepier in the process.

3. She wakes you up on the way to the bathroom.
Pregnant women pee with a regularity and frequency to which you can calibrate sensitive instruments. She's going to pee all the time, and the nighttime hours are no exception. In the process of making nocturnal bathroom trips she will inevitably wake you. This is particularly intensified in the later months when The simple act of getting out of bed requires a complex series of movements that look like a drunk man trying to get on his feet after falling from a bar stool. Several hundred calories are burned in the process, by the way, so you may need to get her a snack.

4. Baby room preparation.
Depending on how much work is going into your nursery, baby room preparation can be a black hole of energy and sanity. I personally removed more than twenty bags of plaster, each weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 pounds each in 90 degree heat. Needless to say, it made me tired

5. Increased household duties.
A pregnant woman's energy level and physical ability to do certain things around the house will diminish, and the slack must be picked up by you, the expectant father. While my wife has a decidedly severe clean streak in her personality, she has begun to slow down and isn't able to do quite as many things as she used to. Assuming that you usually split household duties, you'll have to pick up some extra slack to make sure things get done.

6. Getting yelled at takes a lot out of you.
(Please note, this has not happened to me. My wife is a saint.) It's emotionally tiring to be crabbed at and complained about. It may not happen often, or it may be several times a day depending on her personality and how far along she is, but most likely your pregnant partner will yell at you. Even if it isn't straight out yelling, there will be some emotional turbulence ranging from crocodile tears to women wanting to punch you in the nuts. She's hormonal and maybe scared, so you should do your best to get through it and not explode at her. Biting your tongue burns lots of calories, thus tiring you out.

7. Reduced exercise and activity levels.
As your schedule fills, the time available for exercise or peripheral activity decreases. Even if you don't work out five times a week, things like outside work, walks, pickup basketball or the ability to move more than ten feet away from your pregnant partner without her clinging to you affects your energy levels. Exercise is invigorating and makes you feel more energized. Pregnant women steal free time with the ease and glee of a bully stealing lunch money at school.

8. Increased stress levels.
Health, finances, nursery, pushy advice, family, work and health insurance are a subset of the things that increase the amount of stress that you'll experience as an expectant father. Stress works in a a tricky way. First, it makes your mind run like a Kenyan marathoner so it's not always easy to wind down at the end of the day. You expend more energy and can't sleep as well. Second, stress causes a release of cortisol in your body that not only helps pack on a few pounds by messing with your blood sugars, over time it will make you feel depressed and anxious.


On an interesting side note, items 1,2,7 and 8 also contribute to weight gain, which is part of the notorious couvade syndrome.

Pregnancy nutrition, a healthier grilled cheese sandwich

So I was awoken the other night as my wife flopped around in a hungry, hormonal tantrum. It turns out she wanted some grilled cheese. She burned the first batch and almost cried in the process, so I got up and made us a snack.

Grilled cheese is a tasty and relatively easy and tasty treat, but can also be an unhealthy dietary addition. I had just written a post on real food, so I thought this might be a good tie in to eating healthfully in the face of a violently hungry pregnant woman.

With a few minor tweaks your can turn this perennial favorite into a much healthier treat.

1. Use multi-grain bread.
Multi-grain bread has more fiber and more complex carbohydrates, so it won't break down as quickly and cause insulin spikes.

2. Add slices of tomato or onion.
This is a quick and easy way to add some nutritious vegetables to your diet. These two veggies always add great flavor as well.

3. Use healthier cheese.
Typical American cheese is very high in fat. Using provolone or low-fat cheddar will cut at least half the fat and calories of American cheese slices.

Follow these steps and you've got a much healthier spin on an old classic.

Pregnancy nutrition, an ongoing tale of night time snacks

The pregnancy-induced cravings are getting increasingly frequent and terribly tempting for me.

Last time it was macaroni and cheese, but on tonight's menu a particularly tasty, nutrition-light offering: two freshly-baked chocolate chunk cookies sandwiching a layer of ice cream and a generous spread of peanut butter. She's definitely trying to sabotage me so I don't lose any more weight.

Pregnancy nutrition, another tale of night time snacks

It was mint chocolate chip ice cream at 9:45 last night. By 10:45 we were halfway through the macaroni & cheese. Pregnancy nutrition is a strange and wonderful thing.

“Do you want some mac and cheese?” Alison looked at me sheepishly as if it was an off handed idea not prompted by ravenous hunger or impulse cravings.

By her expression I knew she felt funny about eating so late at night, self conscious about weight gain feeling hormonal. So, I played the role of eating buddy again. I love macaroni and cheese anyway, plus I didn’t want my choice not to eat prevent her and the sprout from getting the food they needed, so why not.

It was incredibly tasty and I’m glad I did it. Not only was it a great treat, hopefully it will help preserve the gap between my body weight and my wife’s.

Incidentally, if you love the yummy, inexpensive and non-perishable glory that is macaroni and cheese as much as I do, there is an alternate way to prepare this delicious dish that reduces the amount of fat, sodium and calories per serving.

On the side of the Kraft mac and cheese boxes there are instructions which include using unsalted butter in a smaller quantity, among other small tweaks. This cuts the fat of the dish by 65% and the calories by 25%.

Couvade, weight gain and other gems of expectant fatherhood

With the addition of ice cream as the fifth basic food group of the pregnant household, it can be difficult for father to avoid any collateral weight gain. Especially during the second trimester when women tend to feel better and are able to shop for themselves (not as much morning sickness, but not yet immobile), do not be surprised as to what types or quantities of food may appear at your house. Nor should you be surprised by the times at which she chooses to eat. She will ask you to join her and before you know it, having waffles at 10:30 pm seems completely reasonable… like it did last night.

She’s going to become an eating buddy; like a geriatric version of that kid in college who always had a fifth of Jack Daniels ready at a moment’s notice, but with peanut butter cups instead.

This leads me to the topic of paternal weight gain and other pregnancy symptoms wrapped up under the blanket of the Couvade syndrome. This is basically a set of sympathetic changes in expectant fathers that mimic certain aspects of pregnancy, the most notable of which is weight gain. I have personally lost 13 pounds since the beginning of my wife’s pregnancy, but it’s not for lack of trying and the pusher-like tactics of my wife. Regardless, this change in diet is one of the reasons why exercise is so important for pregnant dads. The catch-22 is that although your caloric intake will increase, your free time will decrease leaving you less time for exercise.

A very easy way to get some exercise during the day is to go for at least a one mile walk during your lunch time. Use the stairs instead of elevators, walk in place of driving or riding when possible and drink plenty of water. The water helps your body metabolize fats and improves your digestive system, skin and overall health.

Other symptoms of Couvade include insomnia, indigestion, nausea, changes in appetite and aches and pains. 1

Some of this could easily be attributed to proximity to a pregnant woman who, for example, tosses in her sleep and wakes her partner at the same time. Changes in stress, diet, schedule and exercise levels could easily account for weight gain, indigestion and many of the other apparently pregnant-sympathetic experiences.

Regardless, it is important to make sure you’re eating healthy and taking care of yourself or you’ll never be able to manage caring for her.

1. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couvade_syndrome

First hamburger in 21 years.

Last Sunday my wife agreed to something I never thought I'd see; she ate a hamburger of her own free will. A real hamburger, made solely from beef. No bean patties, no soy derivative. Meat.

It was her first burger in 21 years, all because of the pregnant crazies.

My wife had been a vegetarian for the past couple of decades (with the recent exclusions of fish and chicken) so you can imagine my surprise when she gave the idea of a burger even a glancing consideration. Further more, she didn't just tolerate the burger, she loved it. She had a second one a couple hours later.

Now it's not like she's not eating steak at every meal, but it was significant in that the idea of eating red meat used to make her feel sick. Obviously certain cravings may be tied to different nutritional requirements, but it's a good example of the unexpected changes that pregnant women go through. I've said it before but remember, the pregnant woman is a fickle being, feed it well and it won't turn on you.

The diet of the pregnant woman

I looked down at my grocery basket as I strolled up aisle 7. Hot dogs, mac and cheese, coke and cake. Oh, and organic baby carrots, check.

I felt like I was carrying someone else's basket. My wife is (mostly) a vegetarian, we don't drink soda and we haven't had macaroni and cheese since college. And although she tries to make as many organic meals as possible (hence the organic baby carrots) everything in the basket was a specific request of hers. She really wanted those foods, but oddly enough that was the only time she craved them, and not once afterwards.

You'll hear lots of stories about strange cravings, along the lines of pickles and ice cream, but how quickly those cravings change is what can really be confusing.

The next hot item was ginger ale. She couldn't drink enough of it, and as soon as I stocked up with a dozen liters, she couldn't stand the site of a bottle of Schweppes. She then ate cracked-pepper smoked turkey twice a day for two weeks. Soon after she declared thinking of turkey made her want to puke. She'd feel terrible and nauseous if she didn't eat and not much better when she did.

My point is that you never can tell exactly what or how much of a particular food a pregnant woman will want. Nor can you tell how quickly her tastes will change. I've given away excesses of food that she couldn't be without only a few short hours earlier, and been sent to the grocery store for coconut cake at 9:30 at night because nothing else appealed to her.

The pregnant woman is a fickle being. Feed it well and it won't turn on you.

Your job really is to keep her happy and make sure the baby gets what it wants and need. Consistently our staple item has been ice cream. There is a steady supply of it in the house at all times, which leads to another important point;

there is a very high likelihood that the father will gain weight right along with the mommy to be.

Be conscious of your diet and try to exercise as much as possible.