little feet, big sky

As if nutrition during pregnancy isn’t confusing enough, there’s more than plenty misleading advice on eating fish while pregnant. Some say eat more fish, as it’s a great source of lean protein and high in valuable omega-3 essential fatty acids, important for brain development and more. Others say to avoid it for possible mercury contamination, possibly linked to autism and other developmental disorders, or for environmental concerns with overfishing, etc.

So when standing in front of the seafood section at the grocery store, or when eating out, how do you know what to choose?

I’ve come to rely on the Green Guide’s Smart Shopper Fish Picks, from National Geographic. It’s a handy list of seafood choices ordered into three categories: YES fish, NO fish and SOMETIMES fish. YES fish are selections that are either low in mercury (L) or not overfished or farmed destructively. SOMETIMES fish are either moderate in mercury (M) or recovering stocks, and NO fish are either farmed destructively, overfished and/or high in mercury (MM). The list makes distinctions between species from different locations (ie., Atlantic vs. Pacific cod) which helps to make local choices, as well as other important facts like farmed, trap-caught, wild-caught, etc. For example, while Atlantic mackerel is low in mercury and listed as a YES fish, the note that it’s “purse seine-caught” reminds me that this method of fishing often captures other than the intended catch, such as dolphins or turtles, and also can lead to catching more than can be transported or processed, leading to waste and overfishing. I don’t think it’s a fair tradeoff for my child to be mercury-free and healthy, if there’s not much of a world left for him or her to enjoy!

On a side note, I would suggest pregnant women stay away from farmed fish. While it may seem like the healthier or more ecologically-friendly option, farmed fish often are limited in room, which makes them more susceptible to disease, which in turn leads to the use of antibiotics. Not only does that imply our consumption of said antibiotics, but run-off from fish farms contaminates fish and sea life in the wild.

If you have a mobile web phone or PDA, add a bookmark to the mobile version of the Fish Picks guide: m.thegreenguide.com/fish.mhtml.

Personally, I’ve been disinterested in most fish while pregnant, though I’m still happy to eat shellfish and such. Has anyone had any interesting stories with eating seafood while pregnant?

I’ve decided against having the classic baby shower. I’ve hosted a few before and I think they’re cheesy and over-the-top. :-) I don’t like the games, do not want a diaper cake (cloth diapering!!), and honestly, do not want all the presents. The spouse and I are trying to get rid of things in the house, not get more stuff and we’ve made a conscious decision to get only the absolute bare necessities for the baby. Plus, it’s a eco-style idea to re-use, rather than splurge. Here’s some of the things we’re planning:

• Have a “baby party” rather than a “baby shower”. Set expectations right from the event title.
• Do online invites through Evite or MyPunchBowl. Save trees and postage while gaining cool event tools like picture uploading and tracking things for guests to bring.
• Ask guests to bring food instead of gifts, potluck-style. Again, using an online invite service helps here, as you can often specify list items like “2 entrees” on MyPunchBowl and have two separate guests each select to bring an entree and have that item disappear from the list of available items to bring. Neat!
• Specify in detail on the invite “No gifts, please” for moms, grandmas and other types that might need a more direct approach. :-)
• Optionally, offer a more acceptable way to give for those who just have to give something, like a link to donate to your favorite charity. Sometimes this helps cut down on the misc. gifts that people bring and whisper, “Oh, it’s just a small thing…” One idea is to have them make the donation in the baby’s name and bring a print-out of the donation with them. You can add this to the baby’s scrapbook for posterity, with a note that “Aunt Jo helped make the world a better place for you”. Personally, I’m going with Oceana; I can explain to our kid down the road that before he/she was born, our friends and family helped make things better for all the animals in the ocean.
• Instead of those god-awful cheesy shower games, think of ways to make the event memorable for you & the baby in years to come. Set up a video camera and a chair and let guests record messages to the baby. Have a blank canvas and paints setup and let guests contribute to a communal painting that can hung in baby’s area for years to come. You can also do this with the scrapbook, letting guests write their own messages to baby in the book. Keep easy-to-use scrapbooking stickers, stamps and color pencils nearby for guests to “pretty up ” their own messages.