Mmmmm. Sushi.

I ~love~ sushi. And I was totally craving it. Not a pregnancy crave, as I honestly don't think that exists anymore than an non pregnant woman craving something. I get cravings all the time when I'm not pregnant. Why is it that when I am pregnant and crave something, it's all contributed to pregnancy? But I digress.

Sushi. I like all kinds, but my absolute favorite is tuna. Just the plain raw tuna on rice or a more fancy spicy tuna roll. I love it all. And I wanted it.

So guess what?

I HAD IT.

Oh yes. I did. See, I'm not one of those pregnant women who get "what to expect when you are expecting" and follow all the rules word for word. I follow the ones that I know are all-the-time harmful, like certain medications, but all these rules for food? I use the rules as a guideline.

Yes. Getting the different types of food poisoning can be very very bad. In fact, I know a girl who got e-coli and ended up having a micro preemie from the downward spiral of getting sick. (Her being sick caused severe dehydration, which lowered the amount of amniotic fluid, which had her in the hospital for weeks on IVs, which her amniotic fluid never recovered, which put her into pre-term labor, which they weren't able to stop ...) And this is why I will ~not~ eat anything that I find suspicious. Nor would I take the chance at something undercooked from someone/somewhere I don't trust completely.

Lunch meat, rare steaks, raw fish, undercooked eggs and things of that nature ~are~ candidates for serious food poisoning. But these are the foods I eat all the time. I know which places I trust and I know which places I would have no idea whether to trust or not. For example: Sushi. I have eaten raw fish at Juns here in town for over 10 years. I have never gotten sick nor has the dozens of people I know who eat there all the time. I know their quality of their raw tuna. I know it's safe. And I trust that I would be able to tell the difference if something was off. I wouldn't go trying something I'm not familiar with, even at Juns, nor would I have my favorite tuna from the sushi bar in the mall's food court.

I wouldn't go ordering very easy over eggs pretty much anywhere, but make it myself when I know it's not cross contaminated in anyway? Sure. Same thing with rare steaks and lunch meat. I do pay extra attention to these types of foods and I would step back if anything caused me to second guess it.

And please tell me that OBs in Japan tell pregnant women to give up their main staple of food. They don't. It's simply ~not~ the food that is bad for pregnant women.

My friend who I mentioned above who got e-coli? She didn't eat raw fish or bad lunch meat. She ate a hamburger. The investigation determined it was the lettuce on her hamburger that was the culprit. The restaurant kept their lettuce near the pan of thawing chicken breasts. Some of the juice from the chicken breast pan dripped into the produce, contaminating the lettuce. The way we are here in the US, I'm surprised there isn't a new rule directing pregnant women to stay away from lettuce!

All food is risky. We run the risk of sickness when we eat anything not made in our own kitchens. Our own kitchens can sicken us, but we are in control of our environment and can avoid such hazards.

This post is totally ~not~ to try to convince any pregnant woman that they should go and eat everything that is "off limits". It's simply to give a little insight as to why I have made my choices.