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Weird Pregnancy Behaviors...

the things no one talks about.

originally dated 2/25/11
Since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve been having thoughts and urges that scare even me.

Namely, the urge to lick things.

I’ll wait for you to laugh. I find it hilarious, myself.

I’ve asked my mom if she ever had a similar urge, and she only giggled. I’ve googled it and found nothing. Even my husband can only smirk when I get a certain look on my face because he knows I’m actively holding myself back from licking something in my vicinity.

Now before you get any ideas, I only have had urges to lick food, and stranger still, the television when there’s an image on food on it. I haven’t ACTUALLY licked the TV (yet LOL), but this anxious NEED to lick the screen comes over me whenever something tasty appears! LMAO

My theory is that I’m having too many cravings to actually fit all these foods in my tummy at once, and lately I can only eat about half what I used to, but get hungrier much more often…so I guess maybe I want to lick things just so I can taste them without actually ingesting them? IDK…it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Also, I’ve much more aware of textures in my food lately, so maybe I get the urge to lick things because I’m not interested in chewing them…(?) Any ideas/theories would be appreciated (and probably laughed at).

I’ve heard of women eating chalk and dirt while they’re pregnant, so me wanting to lick a chicken wing or a tamal isn’t THAT strange…is it? ;)

This was something I wrote on my blog back when I was about 7 weeks pregnant with my son. Have you experienced weird or unexpected inclinations during your pregnancies? I'd love to hear from other mommas so I know I'm not the only weirdo! hahaha ;)

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Some of the responses to WIO/CIO...

"I think it's about paying attention to what your kid needs that day/night. Like there are nights when my kid is sick and I'll do whatever it takes to get them to sleep...even if that means holding them up on my chest all night. Or if my son is feeling especially anxious or scared about something I will let him sleep in our bed. But there are times when absolutely nothing is wrong and all their needs have been met and maybe they're just overstimulated and need to be alone in their crib/bed and they will probably cry until they fall asleep. And that's actually what they need in that moment. And we mustn't neglect the needs of the mom and dad. Sometimes a parent desperately needs sleep so they can function properly and that might mean they have their kid CIO/sleep train. Or maybe a couple really needs their alone time so that means no co-sleeping. There's no way you can know every single family's needs/dynamic. People can't judge parents who CIO or cosleep or whatever they choose because you don't know what that family's needs are. And every mom knows their own baby best not some stranger or "sleep expert."' -KA

"I'm definitely against CIO. Babies and children need nurturing and by crying, they are showing that they are in need...Studies show that babies who have more physical touch with caretakers and who have not been left to CIO are more stable as they grow. Society today is in too much of a rush to push their children out of the nest so to say. And more 4 month old breastfed son does sleep through the night so a child's sleep pattern should be natural, not forced upon him by making him feel alone and helpless. However, parents who dont believe in crying it out, if at all for any reason they feel as if they might snap or get violent that then they should put the child down then. CIO is better than physically harming a child." - MVC

"We did CIO with our daughter at 6 mo. Well she would cry for like a minute and just fall asleep and now at 3 she sleeps perfect and there's nothing wrong with her. and my son is 18 mo and we didn't have to do it. We just let him sleep in her room and he must have took notes from her." -CG



What are your opinions on Waiting It Out (WIO) versus Crying It Out (CIO)? It's a controversial topic that divides a lot of parents, and even a lot of households, but I am curious to get a RESPECTFUL dialogue going about sleep training/teaching/coaching your child or waiting for them to settle into their own rhythm...

Thank you for sharing!

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I'm researching using supplements while TTC...if anyone has any insight or would otherwise like to write a piece for me to feature on the blog with your journey and/or success story, I'd be honored to share it on my blog!

Please email me at MommaFriendly {at} gmail {dot} com if you'd like to share your experience, tips or information regarding supplements (or anything, really) to help increase fertility.

Thank you.

I have to say, it's really humbling and truly an honor to be able to share all these stories of strength through pregnancy, labor and even trying to conceive and dealing with loss...I'm speechless that so many of you are willing to share with me and to allow me to share with the world. Thanks once again to all the brave, beautiful women that have contributed their experiences to the blog, and to those that have committed to do so.

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A Call for Guest Contributions...

The motto/mission of my blog is "Support for every path to motherhood"...I want to provide support to anyone that feels like they need it as they prepare for pregnancy, birth, and beyond...but I understand that I can only speak to my own experiences and the best way to be able to relate to a wide variety of parents is to KNOW a wide variety of parents and their experience of motherhood!

That being said, I'd like to invite you ladies to write a guest post for me if you'd like  about your experience of motherhood. Be it from the perspective of someone who is a single parent, divorced parent, adoptive parent, someone who has tried a VBAC or elected for RCS, I want to hear from you all. It could be a birth story, but it doesn't have to be...it could be about why you chose to vaccinate or not, why you became a crunchy/green parent, if you had an unassisted birth, if you chose not to find out the sex of your kids, the journey to TTC, miscarriage survivors, rainbow babies...as you can see, I'm not picky lol I just want to be able to share all kinds of stories in hopes that reading them might help someone else going through something similar.

It will help me learn about how others relate to parenting (as I'm a postpartum doula in training), and also it will possibly help someone relate to your experience when they can't relate to mine.

I'd love to hear from anyone that is willing to participate and potentially help someone out there by sharing their experience! My email is MommaFriendly@gmail.com and the blog facebook page is Facebook.com/MommaFriendly. Thanks!!!!