Thursday 30 October - The test is positive!

I've come back from the hospital with a helpful leaflet entitled "Eating in Pregnancy". Its advice ranges from statements-of-the-bleedin'-obvious ("wash your hands after using the toilet"), through lots of useful stuff to sweeping statements which must need breaking down further. For example, "No pate, not even vegetarian pate". Surely, if this is the case, other pastes like hummous, taramasalata, sandwich spreads must also fall into that category. Equally, it's difficult to imagine how a vegetarian pate, bought freshly from Marks & Spencer and consumed without letting it rise above fridge temperature or exceed any dates could possibly do any harm. I must ask.

Friday 31 October - shopping

I've been looking at the baby sections in shops, amazed at the amount of paraphernalia needed. It's taking a while to adjust to actually being pregnant - doesn't feel real yet.

One thing that does feel real is much larger breasts. I went to M&S to be measured today, and have gone from a 36A to 36C already. Apparently on this basis I should end up a 40E. Lovely.

An Article in Gourmet magazine from earlier this week

Food politics and Eating While Pregnant

Day 1

This is an unusual situation. Having had IVF, I have today had two embryos implanted, count as pregnant until proved otherwise. Or, I count as not pregnant, but have to behave as if I am. I feel a lot in common with Schrödinger's Cat. We've apparently got a 1 in 3 chance of it working, and a 1 in 15 chance of twins. Great.

I've always been sceptical about the the various thou shalt not rules which are regularly broadcast for what pregnant women shouldn't eat, and am interested to know whether my perspective will change when it's me. Or how much my tastes will change so that I don't care. What I want to examine here is whether the various injunctions relate to a level of risk you should accept, or one which you should definitely avoid. I'm going to try to look at them all in turn, and compare them against a very dangerous activity that none of us are willing to give up: crossing the road.

My initial thoughts on things to look at are pâté, low fat food, cheese, alcohol units, handling and eating raw meat, salmonella in eggs, caffeine, differences across nations in these rules, foreign travel and vitamin A. I've been inspired partly by an article I read by Zoe Williams and a discussion on mumsnet, but mainly through pig-headedness.

We shall see how I get on....