Forbidden Fruit

So far, I have only gained 10 pounds, which is largely due to the fact that I don't like food anymore. On one hand, I'm lucky. After about 20 weeks or so, everything I've put in my belly has managed to stay down (another contrast in this pregnancy compared to when I was carrying Arwen.) The challenge now is just to get food into my mouth, chew and swallow. I seem to have an aversion to everything that can be put onto a plate. Except one thing: a cold deli turkey sandwich. This would not be such a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that cold deli meat is a forbidden indulgence during pregnancy. The fear is that cold deli meats can harbor a bacteria called Listeria. Catching Listeriosis is very unlikely, but the potential consequences of being infected are very scary and include stillbirth.

I think every pregnant woman is allowed at least one random, needless freak out during pregnancy. So far, my only one has been over cold deli turkey. I ordered a spinach and turkey salad at a restaurant a few weeks ago. When the salad came out, it was topped with cold deli meat - something I was not expecting. Fearing that I would be late for work, I did not request they re-make the order using heated meat. Instead I pushed the meat to the side and ate the salad anyway. During the drive back to the office, the pregnancy hormones took over. My mind could not drop the fact that the the cold turkey TOUCHED the spinach that I ate. It took this thread at mothering.com to talk me down.

Listeriosis from soft serve? Seriously? How many pregnant women give up soft serve?! I have eaten more soft serve ice cream during this pregnancy than I have eaten during the previous two years of my life combined. And what about those women in Asia eating sushi? I couldn't find any hard references backing up the claims that Listeriosis is no more common in Japan than in the U.S. despite sushi consumption, but if it is true, it challenges the forbidden fruit status of cold deli meat in the U.S. I've made it this far without eating cold deli meats so I will continue to abstain (grumble, grumble), but I haven't stressed any more about cold meat that touched my spinach.

I have my order ready for baby boys birthday: I want a cold turkey sandwich with spinach and Swiss cheese on wheat bread and fruit instead of chips from Jason's Deli. Mmm...