Well, I just found out yesterday that my husband and I are expecting our first child.
Since we have not been to the doctor yet to 'confirm it' (as hubby says since he does not trust the tests that you get in the pharmacy), we are being fairly hush hush about it. I letting everyone here know simply because since I will not have my appointment with the gyn until next wednesday, I am trying to figure out what I can not eat and what is good to eat. I do know that I am at risk or what ever for the toxoplasmosis ( ) or something like that. Does anybody know?

Diana, can't answer your question but----a big congratulations!! How wonderfully exciting.

Congrats Diana!

The things you need to avoid are unprocessed cheeses, cured meats, raw eggs (no tiramisù, mousse, homemade mayo, etc.)and raw meat and fish. For allergy reasons you need to avoid strawberries, all nuts and all shellfish. Your child can have severe allergies to these items when they are born if you eat them now.

You also ned to avoid changing cat litter boxes. Once you go in for your first visit, they will have you get a blood work up. One of the tests is to see if you have had toxoplasmosis in your life and if you have then you can eat the soft cheeses, cured meats and change cat litter boxes. If not the it is 40 weeks without.

I stayed away from all alcohol for the first trimester but then had a glass of wine with my dinner which according tothe iTalian medical system is fine.

Prenatal vitams here are really not that good. The folic acid you have to take is expensive and it does not come mixed with other vitamins so if you can get someone to bring them or send them (mailed via postal service but make sure they are sent express, registered, less than 15 days and that you do not write vitamins or medice on the package as it will get held up in customs) You should also have someone send you the big cannisters of Tumms as you may have acid stomach (this was the only negative of pregnancy for me) but it is also a GREAT way of getting calcium.

If you get morning sickness, do not getout of bed until you have eaten a package of crackers (salted) and try to limit water in the morning.

Hmm, what else? ENJOY. I loved being pregnant. It was so wonderful (except the acid stomach) and I would do it a million times over.

CONGRATULATIONS

Auguri!
(I am so happy no one knew all this stuff when I was pregnant. Not that I could actually drink or smoke or take coffee without throwing up, but the option was still available.)
Folic acid cost me $1 per pill here, so Jim brought me some bottles. It is not just for pregnancy. I wonder if any of the Brit resources offer it cheap?

I can't offer much advise as I haven't been there myself (yet), but just to say congratualtions!!! How exciting!
I have heard that to carry a packet of crackers with you - as Cristina suggested - is a good idea. I'm sure you're in for lots of great info from the other mums on the board.

I am also pregnant and have been having a pretty great time now that the nausea has passed. (We are at 4 months and have a baby blog if you want to read about all the procedures I had to go through. Then email me and I will send the link.)

Folic acid in Torino is cheap, a box with 20-30 costs about 2-3 Euros. I started taking this before I got pregnant too. The prenatal vitamins from the States are cheaper but don't start taking them right away necessarily, they have a lot of metallic elements in them and if you are sick and nauseous, it will make the nausea worse. I was told to take them after three months by my doctor here.

There are many, many schools of thought regarding what you can and cannot eat. Being Chinese, we believe a little bit of everything is okay, my mom has 5 healthy girls and my grandma had 13 healthy kids.

I am still changing kitty litter with gloves on, I am not too careful about the foods I eat as when I was in Seattle, many of my friends had gynos with Asian decent and had no problems with my friends eating raw fish at all, in Japan they encourage more raw fish in pregnant women. I can't tell you what to eat and what not to eat, the only things my doctor told me to stay away from (he is Italian) is raw meat.

I second Cristina on the acid problem, I am taking a prescription strength antacid from the doctor that helps me to sleep through the night and is okay for the little fetus. It has worked wonders for me.

The grocery store pregnancy test was fine for us, and when we went in to the doctor we were able to see the pregnacy via ultrasound. I hope this helps you and if you want to contact me or call me send me some mail and we can compare experiences if you like. Have a great first trimester! Tanti Auguri!

GIA!!! You've been holding out on us for 4 months!!?? Did I miss this announcement?

What a day, Auguri, Auguroni!!

When I asked about allergies and raw fish, I did question why people in Japan are not warned of raw fish problems and why people in India and Thailand are not warned about nuts and was told that they carry an enzyme or something that blocks the problems whereas people from Europe and US for example who only eat those foods sporadically do not have this enzyme. That is why for example, so many people in the US have peanut allergies as even though we eat a lot of peanut butter nationwide, it is not a staple as it is in Thailand for example.

Gina, when changing the litter box, you need to wear a mask too as (at least this is what I was told) the dust particles can carry the disease not only touching the feces.

AUGURONIto all these new, prospective little 'Expats in Italy'...

So I guess we'll have to have a creche at next year's Monster GTG for all these little 'sprogs' - Bless 'em!


Carole B.

We might have to hire a "gang" of little babysitters at our next GTG to take care of all the little ones that are on the way. 2006 is a big year for babies I think!!!

Congratulations!!

Cristina's list looks pretty complete, but I think I heard something about no homegrown, uncooked greens/salad. When our gynocologist friend was pregnant last year she wouldn't eat them.

AUGURONI!!!!!!!!

Thank you everyone
I have had the first set (or whatever) of blood tests done (to check the toxoplasmosis and other things) and I have not been exposed to it, so I know about not eating raw meats/fish, etc. I do have one question that I will probably have to ask the GYN to find out, but I do use cat litter for our dog. He is allergic to grass and almost everything else so we have a huge litter box for him on the balcony. Do I still have to stay away from it?
Thanks also for the tip about the vitamins and the tumms.. I am starting to get the nausea, but today I tried the crackers and they seemed to help a lot.
thank you!!

Congratulations

Congratulations!!

My sister (a Vet) assures that it is much easier to get Toxoplasmosis from a salad that has not been washed well or by making some polpette (touching raw meat) than from a cat, especially if the cat lives in the house and never goes out. The toxoplasms live in the grass and plants and the animals get it from there. A cat that goes out gets in touch with the grass and can get it but if it lives only in the house and doesn't eat plants or grass than does not have contact with it. The cows, lambs, sheeps etc get it because they eat the grass.


Dora

About Toxoplasma, it is a protozoa and lives in the intestines of animals where it breeds and then is excreted in the feces. The parasite enters the muscles of a bird or animal when it eats raw meat or drinks the milk of another animal that is infected.

It does not live in plants although it maybe excreted there my other warm blooded animals. (This is how you get it from salad greens which need to be washed throughly before eating. Some women stay away entirely for the duration of their pregnancy.)

Care should also be taken whan gardening, because of the risk of soiling by domestic and wild cats. People at risk should wear gloves when gardeing and hands should be thoroughly washed. In the US, sandboxes should have covers so cats don't use it as a litter box.

Cats get toxo from eating wild things like mice and birds etc... dogs can also get it but since we don't touch their poo as often then are not mentioned as a risk factor as often. If a cat is toxo negative and does not go out and does not eat raw meat then it probably not get toxo and you are fine.

Farm animals become infected from eating contaminated food (pasture, concentrate feeds, hay etc.) and when you eat contaminated meat that is not cooked well enough you could get the disease. I hope this information helps and makes everything more clear.

Here is a useful link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

Another thing about the nausea, I tried everything, peppermint tea, ginger teas and infusions, mints, they all helped a bit and I wish you luck.

When I was nauseous I was miserable and could not even ride in the car. It gave me a great excuse to avoid the DH's driving.

Toxoplasma is a paraxite protozoa. It is not born with the cat or other animals but it needs them to reproduce. A cat or another animal is a host of the paraxite. It is not born with the paraxite (unless it gets it from the mother) but gets it in a way or another. If the cat is not exposed to the paraxite it won't get it. If it is an indoor only cat and does not eat mice or grass or raw meat it won't get it and won't transmit it to his humans. We can have indoor only cats but not indoor only cows or salads.
50% of human population is infected by toxoplasma gondii, about 18% of north Americans get it, 20% of British, 30% of italians and over 80% of French.
If you get it, it usually doesn't show or it shows like a regular fever, if you are pregnant then it is dangerous for the fetus.
If you get it before the pregnancy you develop antibodies that protect you from future infections.

Dora

AGURI x x x

My advice is don't freak out about anything...I spent nine months worrying about all kinds of stuff (so maybe it's inevitable) but try to get things into perspective if you can! I remember when the doctor told me Lila had a small head...god I cried for like three hours...and of course her head is a perfectly normal size

I didn't eat salami, proscuito (sic), unpasturised cheese and raw eggs. I did have the odd glass of wine and the occasional beer. My tips for morning sickness are; try to limit the time you spend in cars, eat dry bisuits, drink flat coke (?) and suck lollipops.

On the cat litter thing - I wouldn't change it if I were you, there's no point taking uneccessary risks...surely hubby can do it? Same goes for you Gina...they need the practice anyway for all the nappy changing that's a coming!

I'm so pleased for both you girls...I love being a mum...It's the best thing I've ever done and wish I'd done it sooner. I'm trying to convince myself to have another but I can't imagine loving anyone else like I love Lila...

Can I just apologise for my terrible spelling in this post...I'm busy and rushing - sorry

Di! Congrats.. I agree with Yael.. just be sensible about everything.. the food thing, your stomach will tell you what it won't tolerate. you probably will craze weird things.. mine was Ice cream and these porkchop sandwiches that were from this restraunt that I use to work at.. you should be fine..!! thats so exciting!!! little Expats! 2006 will be a great year!!

Ciao!
MamaMia