Pyramid of Horror

I've been reading about different ways to induce labour. There are quite many activities and herbs that are supposed to help induce labour. I'm not sure why I read about it. I wouldn't want to go over the due date but I wouldn't mind being pregnant until week 40. Differently from most pregnant women I'm not in any pain or major discomfort so I'm not in any hurry to give birth. However, I am getting quite curious whether the baby is going to be like I imagine her and I'm looking forward to finding out that labour went well and me and the baby are both healthy. I am in some distress because the current situation is out of my control. The baby will "tell" my body when she is ready to be born and then contractions will eventually start. It doesn't depend on my decisions... But it would be easy to get back this feeling of control by inducing the labour myself with raspberry leaf tea, castor oil or driving on a bumpy road. I have to fight the temptation to start trying which induction methods work. I think I'll leave those until after week 40.

I haven't worked a minute this week! Yay for me! ...I shouldn't mention that it's only Monday. And it still doesn't mean I'm relaxed in front of the TV. Today I went shopping - I got some fabric which is good enough for a swaddling blanket. I went to the hairdresser's and had my haircut freshened because all the pregnancy-websites kept telling me to "pamper" myself and to go to a hairstylist because I "won't have any time for it for a LONG time after labour." I also bought new sporty walking shoes although if I trust those pregnancy websites, I won't have time to use those for quite some time either.

My hospital bag is packed. I thought it would be just a couple of things but the list just got longer and longer. Hand-written birth plan for the midwife in case I'm not in the mood to talk much, shoes, socks, baby clothing, different small stuff (e.g. pacifier, baby nail scissors) and of course FOOOOOOD! I have 2 different kinds of hematogen bars(cow's blood snack bar), sesame seed honey bar, peanut honey bar, nut and raisin mix. I think I still need to get some beef jerky just in case I'm in the mood for something salty. Labour is definitely not the time to start a low-calorie diet. I mostly want a big selection and I don't want to risk going hungry. I still think pizza is the best food for labour because it's high in calories and high in cheese content (yumm!!!). My plan hasn't changed thought - I'm going to eat real food before I even go to the hospital and, if we have time, I might send Erkki to the store anyway to get some pizza as well. All that food in the hospital bag is just for emergency.

I was browsing through a health food book in the book store and found a food pyramid inside. I've heard of ridiculous but that was just absurdly stupid. The first and largest level of the pyramid was grains - pictures of white rice, bread, crackers, pop corn and other kinds of food THAT MAKES PEOPLE FAT AND SICK. The second level was fruits and vegetables (also mostly carbohydrates), and then on the third level was the "KINDA UNHEALTHY" food that you should eat in small portions - meat, fish eggs, milk products. And then there was the "SUPER UNHEALTHY" level containing all the essential fats. I remind you that many vitamins aren't even absorbed if there's no fats in diet. My idea of a proper food pyramid is very different. The first level should be (unprocessed) fruits and vegetables (except potatoes). Canned pineapple is a sugary treat not a fruit. The second level is proteins - meat, fish, cheese, other milk products, eggs. Can't avoid getting most of the calories from the second level because meat is just way more calorie dense than vegetables and that's a good thing because I wouldn't want to get too many calories from carbs anyway! The third level is good fats - nuts, oily fish, extra virgin olive oil. This is at least as important as the first and second level, but people often ignore the essential fats, so it deserves its own layer. And the fourth level - avoid when possible - is potatoes and grains: bread, crackers, rice, etc.


Heey, I'm not saying I follow a healthy diet. I often indulge on bread with cheese, dark bread with meat, nice white rice with fish. I add sugar to my coffee because it makes it so much tastier. I eat muesli or porridge for breakfast because carbs taste so good in the morning. When offered I gladly eat chocolate. I love smoothies containing ice cream, frozen berries and sweet fruit juice. But sometimes days go by without even a serving of bread, rice or potatoes and I know I have reason to be really proud of myself because I have been eating healthy. And I don't even try to count how many grams of fat that fried pork contained or how many calories I got from those nuts. But when I eat crackers and pop corn , I will definitely not pat myself on the back for "following a healthy food pyramid"!