God Bless Shrimp Tempura

There's certain things even a novice knows about pregnancy.  You're supposed to be sick your first couple of months.  Your last few months are going to be hot and uncomfortable.  Oh, and there's this whole long list of things you can't do or eat while pregnant.

There are some things on this list that haven't been a problem, like alcohol (easy to give up something you didn't eat or drink in the first place).  My beloved bleu cheese?  Eh, I'll just order ranch instead.

I worried about caffeine.  Prior to last summer, I was an avid coffee drinker.  I loved the taste of it and drank it every day.  That said, I usually only drank one cup a day, so I thought it would be easy to kick  the habit.  Over the summer, I switched over to decaf.  That was a little rough, but after two weeks of half-caf (thank you person who invented this), I was all decaf and didn't look back.  Once I got pregnant, I actually lost the desire for coffee.  Now, I drink a cup of decaf once every two weeks or so.

Didn't want the baby to come out a caffeine addict

During operation "decaf," I switched over to Diet Sierra Mist, which was the only tolerable caffeine-free diet soda I could find.  I would have the occasional Diet Coke or something, since doctors agree that a little caffeine isn't a big deal.  Then I got the bad news on my first trip to the doctor -- diet drinks are a no-go.  Whaaaaaat? *pouty face*  They told me to temporarily switch over to regular sodas.  Regular Coke after years of diet = blech.  Caffeine-free friends = cherry 7up and ginger ale.  Both are pretty tolerable when you're eating soda-must-have meals like burgers or pizza.

Ok, so I'm getting through pretty well.  But there was one thing I had dreaded giving up -- sushi.  Jason and I adore sushi.  We don't go often, so when we do, we're like two ravenous roll-eating fiends.  The culprit with sushi is the raw fish (though honestly, the chance of anything bad eating that small quantity of quality fish is teeny tiny).  Solution?  Shrimp tempura rolls and deep-fried rolls.  

Yum!  The shrimp are cooked, and the deep frying cooks whatever fish was inside the roll.  Is it quite the same?  No.  Does it get me my sushi/ginger/wasabi fix?  You betcha.  So God, thanks for shrimp tempura rolls.  You know how to make this pregnant lady happy.