I Have Turned Into a Bloodhound

Josh and I have frequently discussed what type of dog we would like to get once we actually get one, and one of my favorites is the bloodhound. Who could resist that droopy face and those adorable long ears? Well, we have not found our dream dog yet, but as of late, I feel like I myself am turning into a bloodhound. No, this is not me thinking I am the next star of "The Shaggy Dog," I am just referring to my incredibly heightened sense of smell.

I have always heard and seen on movies and TV shows that pregnancy gives you the nose of a bloodhound, but I often wondered how exaggerated that was. I was not noticing any change in my sniffing abilities for the first bit of my pregnancy, but that has slowly changed. I first noticed it about a week ago. It was not the smell of food, which I hear most women complain about, but it was the smell of the city. I would walk past a dumpster, or over grates on the sidewalk, or a sewer, and the smells were too much. It made me want to go back to my small city in West Texas where we don't have the "city stench," and well, even if we do, everyone drives in cars all the time, so you don't notice it! Now, we do get the stockyard odor in the air on occasion in Lubbock, so I guess I would have to deal with that.

This week smells of certain foods are starting to get to me too, and at times have been linked to food aversions, which seem to be developing at a rapid pace (another symptom I was skeptical of pre-pregnancy). In my previous post I mentioned eating asparagus at a meal. I ate that because I had not felt like eating almost any vegetables, but those seemed okay. I was excited when I ate them and thought this would be one of the few vegetables I could actually eat. Well, that didn't last long. I bought some asparagus the other day, and when I took them out of the fridge yesterday to have for lunch, I could not take the smell and had to put them back. So I ate my lunch sans vegetables.

I feel like my aversions are taking me back to the palate I had as a child. I was a horrible eater as a child (my mother can attest to this). I wanted nothing to do with vegetables at all. I loved pizza, hamburgers, tacos, and chicken. Well, you know what has been one of my number one cravings lately? Pizza! It is one of the few things that really sound good. Actually, most Italian food sounds very good to me. This baby has an Italian uncle, so Zach, maybe you will be its favorite uncle!

I have been trying to eat more fruit, since I find that a little more bearable, but depending on the texture, I am not always sure of it (generally staying away from mushy fruits-bananas, raspberries, etc.). Apples have been great, so above is a picture of a healthy snack I am able to partake of without gagging.

As a result of my strange new taste buds and the limited kitchen I have to work with here, I have changed the way I shop for groceries. I am spending more time in the freezer section of the grocery store. When I went shopping the other day, I bought this microwavable vegetable lasagna. I figured a vegetable lasagna would be a good way to get my veggies in since the vegetables are so small and mixed in with everything else (I have to trick myself into eating them, okay). This one was Amy's Organic vegetable lasagna. It was very good. I also bought garlic Texas toast which I know is not healthy, but who cannot admit that it is absolutely delicious with lasagna? I also bought some frozen pizzas. I found Newman's Own makes some, and they were really good!


Another way I am trying to get in good nutrients and fruit is in yogurt. Stonyfield Organic yogurt was on sale, so I bought a few of those. It's one of my favorites. This morning I had White Chocolate Raspberry flavor for my mid-morning snack-yum!