After reading this agonized NYT article about how some women decide to have a drink now and then when they're pregnant, I am dying to hear some French mom confess to eating a salad:
Many women who choose to drink have pointed to the habits of European women who legendarily drink wine, eat raw-milk cheese and quaff Guinness to improve breast milk production, as justification for their own choices in pregnancy.Next up: Do pregnant Japanese women eat sushi?Of course, those countries have their own taboos. “Just try to buy unpasteurized cheese in England, or to eat salad in France when you’re pregnant,” wrote a friend living in York, England.
The Weighty Responsibility of Drinking for Two [nyt]
Previously: Keggers+Toddlers: You've Come A Long Way, Baby Mama
What is the story on Japanese women and sushi?!?? Giving up drinking hasn't ever been a problem when I'm pregnant (previously and currently), but DAMN if it doesn't take all of my will to walk past the sushi counter at the GROCERY STORE and not stop for a fix - my desperation makes their two day old rainbow rolls look freaking fabulous. Desperate, I tell you. Dessssperate.
We were in Japan when my wife found out she was pregnant. The first person we told the news to was a friend of a friend (who was Japanese). We followed that up with a question about whether or not she could eat sushi. Her response was, "What do you think the japanese women eat?" And so she enjoyed her sushi (at 6 weeks gestation).
she wasn't quite as comfortable continuing that when we got back home.
[the great/worst part of the article is how wigged out people get about seeing a pregnant woman at a bar. -ed.]
The best is waddling your massively pregnant self through the check out line with a six pack of beer for your husband (because you're the one who does the grocery shopping). People look at you like you're the devil. I always wonder why they automatically assume I'm a lush, rather than assuming it's for someone else.
[hey, I just read your comment and I still think it's for you ;) KIDDING. -ed.]