Cry When You’re Hungry

Hi there. Sorry I’ve been away for some time. I was off having a baby! That’s right. I haven’t blogged about being pregnant, though I might still write about the experience, as so many different food and body image issues arise during pregnancy.

Two of the most prominent for me were the following:

1. Food grossed me out. Food never tasted quite the same to me when I was cooking our little bun in my oven. People often asked me if I had any weird food cravings, and aside from milk and grapefruit juice, which I couldn’t get enough of during the first six months, the answer was mainly no. Way more bizarre to me was the long list of foods I normally love that I just could not stomach during pregnancy.

2. My body became a conversation topic – anywhere and everywhere I went. It’s a good thing I am in a healthy place with body image, because the moment I became pregnant, my body – it’s size, shape, growth or lack thereof, was on the table for discussion. Publicly. And now that I’m not pregnant anymore, it actually still seems to be. Quotes from the last 12 days include: “Wow, your belly really went down since yesterday!” “How long will it take for you to not look pregnant anymore?” Said over laughter, "You still look pregnant!" (hysterical, right?) And my personal favorite, “Why do you still look pregnant?” Hmmm, let me think for a moment -- because I had a baby 12 days ago? Just a guess.

Anyway, all sarcasm aside, I am now a very proud mommy to my little pumpkin. And though this blog is not about pregnancy or babies, it’s all a part of who I am now, so I thought I’d better make the announcement here.

Plus, I have a sense my little girl is going to have a lot to teach us all about intuitive eating and listening to our bodies. During the past 12 days I’ve already learned volumes about what intuitive eating looks like in babies.

It’s called CRYING. And lots of it until you give them that milk. Sometimes it takes my husband and me an hour to figure out that – though she just had a great feeding an hour prior– our little pumpkin is still hungry. And the moment mommy gives her some milk, she’s calm as can be.

So…..here’s to intuitive eating from birth. More regular blog posts (including some, perhaps, about pregnancy and about the intuitive eaters present in all of us from birth) to come when I have a little more sleep in my system.

To the right....pregnant Maggie, and Mommy Maggie with Baby.