Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cravings

Yesterday I was asked if I had any crazy cravings during this pregnancy.  I wanted to give the funny story he was hoping to hear, but honestly I couldn't think of any cravings I had had yet.

I can think of some now.

I wanted pickles in the first trimester.  We didn't have any in the house though, so after Christmas when I had come home from seeing my parents my husband had stocked up on pickles for me...I didn't really want them anymore.

A few weeks ago I wanted Oreos.  I blame this on NPR which had a bunch of different shows run a story on how Nabisco had to find a new marketing strategy for Oreos in China.  Now it's a big cookie over there.  They talked about Oreos so much I wanted some for weeks, but held off because they aren't exactly the best snack.  I finally got a package, finished it off in a few days, and now I'm over it.

Yesterday I wanted Halo Halo (a Filipino desert).  The nice thing about living in Hawaii is that you can just get Halo Halo mix (dried fruits, beans, etc in syrup) at any supermarket.  Not only is it that easy to get it I actually had some in my pantry.  Even better.  I also found a package of pudding mix (my Dad always made Halo Halo with pudding instead of condensed milk - I like it that way better).  So, right then and there I craved a food and I could make that food.  The jar of Halo Halo even said "easy open."  Perfect.

It was not easy to open.  I spent 20 minutes trying to whack that thing open enough to turn it.  I finally gave up on the Halo Halo and had a peanut butter sandwich.

And here's the real problem with me having those typical crazy cravings and crazy times.  With Emily we were in Korea where my husband had a curfew at night.  It was an attempt to keep military members safe and out of trouble in a land of bars.  So if I did wake up at midnight and crave, say, ice cream - I was out of luck.  He couldn't go out and get me any.  I couldn't really either because a woman walking around Songtan alone at night is not-a-good-thing.

Now that we're in Hawaii there is no curfew anymore.  However, my husband works the wonkiest schedule ever.  Sometimes three days on, sometimes five.  Sometimes in the day, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes at night.  During the week.  During the weekend.  Sometimes he has to go in for 8 hours, sometimes it's 12 - usually it ends up 20.  So it sucks.  Bad.  I never know when he'll actually be home and I never know when he's home if he'll be awake.  And a wonky schedule with a tired husband and a crazy toddler means that half of my house is often off-limits just so he can get a little shut-eye.

So during my Halo Halo attempt he was actually home.  He could have helped me open the jar.  In a normal family he could have driven down the street and actually bought some real Halo Halo.  But he was sleeping because he had been out at 5am to 1pm and was gearing up for work starting at 8pm.  Incidentally, I'm writing this at 7am the next day and he's not home yet.

The thing I'm taking away from all this is it's exceptionally inconvenient to be pregnant when you're in the military, but if you are going to be pregnant - don't be typically pregnant.

I don't crave pickles and ice cream: I crave my husband.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So many people still cling to that "pickles and ice cream" myth. For me, with Gavin, it was toasted bacon and cheese sandwiches, English muffins with cheese and garlic salt on top, and tacos. As you can see, I craved cheese and carbs for the most part. :)

Mmm, food...

Unknown said...

I like how you wrote you crave your husband. I'm a new Army wife; we've been married for 9 weeks and apart for 5 of those weeks with 3 more weeks to go. We're getting ready to move to Oahu in 6 weeks.

I too crave my husband.

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