Kicking the Habit

I've got an addiction.  Admitting you have a problem is one of the 12 steps to recovery, right?  Well i've got a pack a day addiction... to saltines.  In the blink of an eye I can polish off one sleeve like it were a glass of cava.  With 24/7 nausea they are the only thing that seems to pacify the waves of sickness caused by the massive overdose of hormones my body is keen on producing.  In the beginning it was just a few crackers here or there.  Then I started carrying them around in my little lime green indian bookshop bag, as a crutch in case the nausea kicked in and i needed a fix.  Now I wake up to a pack next to my bed.  Hell, i can't even sit up in bed until I've devoured at least half a sleeve.  My pre-breakfast snack.   And people it doesn't just stop at saltines, my husband is like a little school boy - he's never seen so many crackers and snacks in our pantry before! Triscuits, water crackers, sourdough pretzel nuggets, if you're a carb-packed snack, you're probably in my pantry.

So today, at week 12 day 7, the last day of my first trimester i have pledged to eliminate Saltines from my life and cut back on my daily crack(er) intake.  What's brought on such conviction, you might ask.  Word around the snack isle is that there is this glorious time during pregnancy where the nausea is infrequent, energy has returned to your weakened, less toned limbs and you remember how much you loved protein, they call this euphoria - Second Trimester.  So with the power of positive thinking on my side and visions of eating chicken parm and blackened cod, I'm going to think myself into being nauseated no longer!  If this girl can give up wine, beer & prosecco for 9 months (sort of) what's a couple of puny little starchy cardboard squares.

The next dilemna, without that saltine fix what will i be able to handle, if anything, for breakfast?  Options in the past have been oatmeal with walnuts & raisins (when i'm feeling exceptionally well), the usual whole wheat toast and peanut butter, a bowl of cereal preferably lucky charms with a splash of milk, or one hard boiled egg between two slices of whole wheat toast doused in hot sauce for the days when the guilt of not consuming enough protein takes over.  I'm going to think big and in this post-cracker era imagine my mornings to now include quiche lorraine,  spinach and feta (pasteurized of course) omelets, pumpkin pancakes and bacon or eggs benedict! Ugh...maybe i should hold off on such thoughts, day 1 of the Second Trimester isn't until tomorrow.

SQUAK! Lopa want a cracker!