Tonight I spent 3 hours cooking, the kitchen looks like a tornado struck! The fruits of my labor though are:

Lamb & Spinach Soup (substituted millet for couscous)

Almond Bread(substituted a bit less water for yogurt)

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Steamed Artichokes

Pumpkin Pies

Turkey Meatballs

Rice Milk

12 oz. fresh Lemon Juice

It all turned out wall, no disasters! That almond bread is good, reminds me of a dense whole-grain bread, but it's grain free and nonnie compliant.

Where's the beef? Still thawing in the refrigerator. The stew was nice though.

Now to figure out where to put it all...I already put some of the artichokes and bread in the freezer.

Amazing how much my pregnancy food needs and tolerances match up with a very strict O-non-secretor diet. Well, I'd like to eat carbs and various avoids, but really pay the price when I do. When I eat meat or eggs and vegetables my body functions much better. I can hardly even handle a little rice, and it'd better be brown rice or my low blood sugar gives me big trouble soon afterwards.

Last night I'd eaten some goat cheese on rice crackers, needless to say it didn't agree with me, I ended up in a very bad mood. When the kitchen was too messy to cook, I figured I'd order out what I wanted to eat because it couldn't possibly make me feel worse. So I ordered P.F.Chang's Spicy Chicken. It's gluten free, but has an assortment of other avoids. Guess what, I did end up feeling worse. Totally dragged out, cold and tired. Today I am avoiding the avoids, and I feel better already.

Today for breakfast I had 3 poached eggs and two boiled beets with their greens. I couldn't finish the beets, but loved the greens.

I'm waiting for the relaxin hormone to kick in. That's my happy pregnancy hormone because it relaxes tendons and ligaments, etc. in preparation for expansion and labor. Nice thing about it is that it relaxes my back and helps me sleep better. I slept pretty well last night, so I think it's kicking in. Before my first pregnancy I was fearful because I'd had some back problems, and expected the pregnancy to make it worse. Instead it made it better, so that was a nice surprise.

I keep forgetting to mention my very first pregnancy symptom, long before I suspected I was pregnant...clumsiness. I practically threw a cordless phone across a room just trying to hang it up. I'm always clumsy during pregnancy, but at least once I know I'm pregnant, I can look out for it and be a little more careful.

Later, sweet 'taters.

My tummy has been so loopy lately, not surprisingly. It seems like eggs are the main thing that agree with me. Fortunately they're a pregnancy beneficial, especially organic omega-3 eggs. I ate 6 of them today, but the last two meals had ground beef and onions thrown in, that tasted good with spices, and agreed with my tummy. The protein powder is great too, it saved me this morning, after sleeping in I had to hurry and get something down before I could cook breakfast, so I had some protein powder in diluted cherry juice.

I think I'm figuring things out. The only thing I ate today that didn't agree with my tummy was a carob brownie (nonnie compliant, carob powder, butter, eggs, fruit sweetener, and sweet rice flour mainly), but apparently carbs really cause indigestion for me.

I'm finishing off a bunch of brazilian collard greens now, and trying to deter myself from eating another brownie. It's been quite a compliant day...other than a few drops of Tabasco. Why I crave Tabasco during pregnancy, I cannot explain, but I craved it last time too...added to food of course.

We'll see how tonight goes, I've finally taken away my son's pacifier, and he's so tired but refuses to fall asleep without it. I'll stick to my guns though, he has to sleep eventually. I don't want him stealing the baby's pacifier once the baby comes, or visiting the orthodontist a zillion times when he's older. I can't believe it's taken me so long to do this, something always comes up and I back out, but not this time.

This morning I had 3 poached eggs, made with a little lemon juice in the water, on a bed of sauteed spinach, drizzled with my trocomare, lemon juice, olive oil dressing. It was a great breakfast. I usually don't have more than 2 eggs at a time, but since I've been a few days without eggs and they're beneficial during pregnancy, I splurged. My son even ate some.

I have a fresh batch of beef jerky that I snack on, but I need to make more lemony pickled eggs. A pot roast got me through the last few days, but it's almost gone now. I sure get panicky when I realize I haven't eaten for a while, between low-blood sugar and morning sickness, it's a rush to get food in my stomach fast enough sometimes. I try to get protein, though sometimes I grab anything compliant, usually if I can't round up some protein fast enough, I have rice crackers with almond butter and jelly, or pumpkin seed butter and jelly.

I also discovered an herbal tea combination I like: elderberry & rosehips. Next I'll try raspberry leaf & rosehips (Later addition: this combination tastes great! Raspberry leaf didn't sound good, but now that I've tried it, I love it!). The rosehips add a bit of brightness, and round out the flavor nicely, not to mention being a good source of vitamin C. I've been fighting off a virus or gastroenteritis, so I figure the tea is a good boost. I think it's a virus, since my family had a touch of it too. Stuffy nose could be from pregnancy though, I'm the only one with that. Thank goodness for my neti pot, don't know how I got along without it; when you don't take decongestants it certainly makes life more comfortable. So far my nose hasn't started bleeding like it did with my first pregnancy, I think I can avoid that this time. My gums are definitely showing signs of pregnancy, every night I floss and they feel like I haven't flossed in a month. They haven't bled too much though, I think that's under control. I wonder if Os have more nosebleeds and bleeding gums during pregnancy? Would make sense. The rose hip tea and the folic acid in the prenatal vitamins should help in that regard too. I love the Healthy Start prenatals, so much more gentle than the prescription kind I took my first pregnancy. It doesn't matter so much when I take them, with the Rx type I had to keep switching time of day depending on whether I had morning sickness or nighttime heartburn. Of course, it's also easier on my system to space out 4 capsules than take one big one.

Yesterday I opened up a new jar of pumpkin seed butter. It was a great St. Patrick's Day food, because it's dark green. Reminded me of the green-food-coloring tinted meals my family made when I was a kid, but this was natural. It actually doesn't look that appetizing, the oil is brown, stirred into green butter, but it tastes great...very mild compared to nut butters. Today for one of my many frequent snacks, my son and I shared a rice cake smothered in pumpkin seed butter and all-fruit cherry preserves. It's very messy if you put too much on.

Ironic that about the same time I started my frequent protein-filled snacks, I embarked on a condition that requires them...I'm pregnant! Just found out about a week ago, only almost 6 weeks along. It happened right when I hoped it would, but I expected it to take longer, due to simple logistics. (Look out for that green tea!) Funny how all babies are different even from the very beginning. This baby is pretty demanding compared to my first it seems. Part of me fears it could be twins, but I think that's just my imagination, as twins don't run in my family and that would be very rare indeed, but hey, like I said, look out for that green tea.

We're quite happy, though I'm sure my son will compain once he understands...

Warning: Pregnancy details follow: (men usually don't like to hear all this stuff, so I'll warn you before starting) My first symptom was breakthrough bleeding, right when I expected my period. It was very light, and lasted less than one day, but I assumed it meant I wasn't pregnant...until I thought about it and decided to do the test, and got a positive. My only other symptom was skin changes, a little bit of breaking out, major dandruff, and itchy skin. Within another week I started having to get up in the night to use the bathroom, and I also started feeling burpy if I didn't eat often enough. The burpyness has worsened somewhat since then, as has my tendency toward hypoglycemia. I don't think it will get bad enough to make me start vomiting though, I have a pretty strong stomach.

The price of artichokes is finally going down, and they're looking better. My son and I enjoyed one today with lemon juice, olive oil, trocomare and garlic powder dip. How many 2 year olds know how to dip and scrape an artichoke leaf? I know of one, he's always loved artichokes, he loved the dip even more though, and wanted to drink it. The choke inside always creeps me out a bit, but it's worth it, to get to the heart. They're beneficial for all Os and As.

I put together some ground buffalo-stuffed red peppers yesterday, they've been yummy, I had one for breakfast and one for dinner today. Didn't really follow a recipe, but they turned out quite good. I'll add more spices next time.

My day of food has consisted of those stuffed peppers, artichoke, a couple lemony deviled eggs, leftover creamy parsnip soup...it's been a good day!

I'm starting to get excited about trying different herbal teas, for variety. My first purchase wasn't good...Rooibos tea with hibiscus and pomegranate. It tasted like cough syrup! I know I'll find better combinations.

It's been a long road for me to permanently give up avoids. Not sure I've done it yet, or ever will...but I'm usually getting closer to the goal. Some blood type dieters just jump in and swim with it, others of us flounder at times. I fit the flounder category. Over time, with many slips and cheats, I figure out what my own reasons for avoiding each avoid are. If I were on a higher plane, I could just avoid them for the reason that I know the diet works and that the good doctor is right, but I'm not on that plane, so I'm still discovering my own reasons...

What & Why

Wheat: 1) number 1 reason is that I'm a celiac and wheat contains gluten which makes my digestion very irritable to say the least, and also contributes to autoimmune problems and raises the risk of cancer. Good reason. My other reasons are: 2) makes me sad, weepy, and moody for more than 24 hours after eating, 3) makes me gain weight fast (even as a celiac) due to the lectin causing insulin resistance, 4) haven't had a sinus infection since I stopped eating wheat in 1999.

Milk: 1) makes me irritable/mean/grumpy for 30 minutes or so, which I can't handle especially since I'm a mom and that requires patience and tolerance. 2) induces digestive problems due to lactose intolerance 3) makes my nose and ears stuffy, contributed to former bouts of sinus problems and the like. Oh, I amost forgot #4) if I eat milk during the day I almost always wake up in the night with a pointedly stubborn itch in the back of my throat...you know, the kind of itch that makes you want to claw it out, but you just can't get rid of it until it decides to leave.

Corn: 1) Deadens my mind, which I have recently done intentionally but usually prefer to have a clear head. 2) makes me gain weight steadily 3) some corn derivatives cause headaches and a weird reaction on my scalp.

Soy: 1) causes digestive problems, cramping and maybe a bit of bloating. Might also deaden my mind.

Coconut: 1) deadens my mind

Sugar: 1) causes heart palpitations 2) triggers intense cravings for more sugar and other avoids 3) weakens immune system.

Maybe my reasons will help my readers either find their own reasons faster, or help you decide just to avoid the avoids whether or not you've sorted out your own reactions to them. Keep in mind that non-secretors are more reactive, yet it's still taken me 5+ years to figure all this out. If you're new to the diet, you'll notice that you feel better when you're compliant, but try to avoid my mistakes of second guessing every avoid, if you can. The BTD has still helped me immensely, even though I occasionally treat myself like a lab rat, overall I'm quite compliant and still reaping the rewards for that, but if I can spare any of you the occasional avoid experiment (tasty though they may be), then that is a good thing

I need to get back on the treadmill. I had a weekend laden with catecholamines, and have been too tired and busy since to get on the treadmill and get them out of my system. I've noticed this pattern in myself and other Os, if you don't exercise after being upset over something, you start to go crazy. Then my alcoholic-who-has-never-touched-alcohol self started using my knowledge of avoids in a bad way...some avoids deaden my mind, and so I ate them. Corn seems to be best for that 'purpose', I know, very bad stuff. It certainly does harm. At least I've never touched alcohol...corn isn't as addictive, I hope. I should just stick with the green tea, it's relaxing and it sharpens the mind.

Oh well, things will improve. It'll require missing sleep, but I suppose exercise is more important than sleep as things stand currently. I also need to clean my kitchen, and shop for groceries, finish the work I've postponed, and, and...

.....shhhhhhhhhhhh, breath. Only an O would stress about de-stressing.

Ha ha! I just noticed that there are now at least 5 current blogs about stress, interesting...