I went out for happy hour with some friends from work past and present - one of whom is 34 weeks pregnant. I haven't seen her since well before her pregnancy, so I have no idea if this is what she is always like as a pregnant person. First off - yes people were asking her about her pregnancy and yes, of course she should answer. (She's one of those pergnant women who is pregnant only in the belly - it's disgusting - not that I'm jealous) But it seemed like everything she said was in relation to pregnancy - everything. It made me feel anxious and sad and jealous - and I'm 8w pregnant! Granted, no one knows so I wasn't mentioning it but... ugh.
Anyway, I had ordered a small snack of bbq chicken strips and they were served with blue cheese dressing. She decided to order some but asked me about the dressing then expressed sadness... "no blue cheese" she said. I asked if she didn't like it and she replied with "no, I can't" and pointed at her belly.
Really? Blue cheese dressing? For crying out loud I'm sure it's out of a big jug and pasteurized to the nth degree.
I just continued to dunk my strips into dip, fishing for the hunks of cheese and shoving them in my mouth.
Re: Seriously - no blue cheese dressing?
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"When it comes to sleeping, whatever your baby does is normal. If one thing has damaged parents enjoyment of their babies, it's rigid expectations about how and when the baby should sleep." ~ James McKenna, Ph.D., Mother Baby Behavioral Sleep Center, University of Notre Dame
Your little nubbin is fine
If we observed ALL the food items across ALL countries' OB advise we'd be starving. Just think of all those women in France, Greece, Bulgaria and Italy that eat a bunch of our "no-no" items and live to have very healthy babies
At the end of the day it's what you feel most comfortable with. If you find it best to exclude these items do. That way you won't have any regrets either way.
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They just say that you should avoid b/c its one of those "soft" cheeses......but if its pasteurized its fine. I am sure your was pasteurized. They don't really serve non-pasteurized cheeses here in the U.S. and almost all dressings are pasteurized. Your baby will be fine!
I have eaten deli meat and feta this PG (gasp!).......as I also did with DS who is now a healthy 19 month old. Just don't eat it all day, every day
a chef friend of mine told me that it's very rare to find cheeses in the US that are NOT pasteurized - b/c they spoil very quickly and are therefore, very expensive. Only super fancy restaurants use them, or places with expensive cheeses sell them -so in general- you are just fine eating any soft cheese here in the US.
I eat blue cheese dressing all the time. Love my hot wings!
NO! Don't worry. It bothers me that even OBs spread misinformation on this. I don't have the link now as I'm currently holding a bottle with my chin to type, but look on the FDA website. They have recommendations for pregnant women. The only thing to avoid is cheese made from unpasteurized milk, like you said. Years ago, soft cheeses like brie and bleu were made from unpasteurized milk and imported. Any cheese or dressing made in the U.S. must be made with pasteurized milk. I'd be willing to bet my house that any dressing served with wings is from an Aramark jug pasteurized out the wazoo. So unless you're about to chow on a nice French cheese, you have no worries. (And even then, I'd do it. But that's getting into personal opinion...)
The jar/bottle stuff that is shelf stable is fine - I doubt it is "real" blue cheese anyway.
The actual cheese itself is probably fine as long as it is pasteurized (most but not all cheese in the US is pasteurized), but there is a concern that Listeria can grow faster in it because it is soft and sugary. ?So just eat it all up as soon as you open it. ?:)
And apparently I did not read the part about no soft-serve ice cream since I have had frozen custard about three times in the past two months. ?Oh well, avoiding all the other stuff balances it out. ?:) ??
On Good Eats two nights ago, Alton Brown was talking about how the best cheeses are unpasteurized--and how you have to go out of the country to get them as they are technically illegal to sell in the US. You should be just fine!!!!
I LOVE, love, love blue cheese dressing. I had my 1st OB appt yesterday and my doc is pretty laid back. He said what all the pp have said - as long as it is pasturized it is fine. He did tell me to always double check especially if we were buying speciality cheeses from a gourmet shop or high end cheese counter as he has seen plenty that are made from raw milk and therefore not pasturized.
He also said, which I had no idea, that the FDA recommendation for EVERYONE (not just PG women) regarding deli meat is to heat it up first! He then followed that up with, "I have never seen anyone, pregnant or otherwise, die from eating deli meat. If you want a sandwich, enjoy it!"
I think it's pastuerized usually, but I avoided most dressings not sure why...
I love REAL blue cheese that my FIL usually has and I know that is not pastuerized, but dressing - it should be.
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Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
Just adding to the "it's pateurized, it's fine" chorus. Unless you're eating somewhere really swanky, that stuff probably came out of a big ol' jar.
Of course this is coming from the woman who ate a salami sandwich from Jimmy Johns *in* her breastfeeding class. I might not be the most overly cautious...
Amber
TTC since March '06
MFI, LPD, possible PCOS
3 chem pgs * m/c identical twins at 9w 10.06
IVF w/ICSI #2 - beta - 187! (9dp5dt), beta - 367! (11dp5dt)
IVF w/ICSI #3 - it's a girl!
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