Top 5 Wine & Food Must-Haves After Pregnancy

At 39 weeks pregnant, there's only so much you can do on a day to day basis. Relaxing is at the top of the list, followed by walking to help stimulate labor and eating right to stay nourished for the big day.
 
To say my husband and I have done a lot of baby preparation is an understatement. We've been together almost 12 years and have wanted to start a family for quite some time. So when we got pregnant, we couldn't help ourselves but to start the baby preparations early.
 
Now, as we wind down to very the end of pregnancy, everything is in its right place. We are ready, and while there's been a lot of serious discussions lately about the kind parents we will be, how to keep the temperature steady for the baby in our old home and just the overall emotionality of transitioning into new parenthood, there's been a few other "less serious" things on my mind as well.
 
Take for instance the restrictions that are placed on pregnant women. I have to admit that as we near my due date, I've started to daydream about all the things I've gone without for 9+ months: sleeping on my back or belly, jogging, sushi and of course… wine! (And beer, too—I'm an equal opportunist when it comes to finely crafted fermented beverages.)
 
Before I was pregnant, I was gifted a bottle of 2000 Chateau Clerc Millon Grand Cru from my former boss, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, when I left my position at Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. Although at the time I didn't intend on saving it for almost a year, I knew I was going to want to open it for a special occasion. After not opening it for a couple months and then learning I was pregnant, I immediately logged this bottle in my mind as the wine that I would open after the baby was born.

So with lightheartedness and an eagerness to enjoy some of the things I've gone without for 9+ months—granted I know there will be restrictions and a learning curve with enjoying wine and beer here and there, given that I've chosen to breastfeed—here's my top 5 wine and food must-haves that I am looking forward to enjoying once our baby boy has arrived!

1. 2000 Chateau Clerc Millon Grand Cru – As I already noted, this was a gift from the talented Lisa Perrotti-Brown. This bottle holds a special place in my heart, because working for Robert Parker's Wine Advocate for almost two years was instrumental in my wine education and career. I'm looking forward to tasting this 18-year-old Bordeaux—hopefully my husband will be willing to chef up a nice steak to pair with it.
2. Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier & Russian River Brewing Co. Little White Lie – Now, I may have more education in wine, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying beer just as much. I'm a sucker for excellent craft beers and do very much enjoy both internation and local brews. One of my favorite international Hefeweizens comes from the ancient Bavarian brewery by the name of Weihenstephan—it doesn't get any more class Hefe than this. And for my local choice, my go-to favorite is without a doubt the Little White Lie, a spice-filled, unfiltered wit beer from Russian River Brewing Company. And hey, I hear brewer's yeast is good for breast milk production so, that's a plus!
   
3. Sushi – I love sushi enough to not have been able to resist eating cooked fish sushi a couple of times during my pregnancy, but I'm looking forward to the real thing. And on that note, bring on the tasty tuna tartare hors d'oeuvres that kept seeming to pop up at every public function I attended during my pregnancy!
   
4. BenMarco Malbec – This is a throwback wine from my college days and in fact, it was probably the first "nice" wine my husband (then boyfriend) and I bought together. I guess you could call it my gateway wine. In the small college town of Arcata in Humboldt County, we went to a local wine shop on Valentine's Day. They were pouring Argentinian flights and this was our first time experiencing a wine tasting of this nature; we fell in love with the BenMarco Malbec. Although I don't remember what vintage we tasted, I've always wanted to pick up a bottle and revisit this wine.
5. Eating What I Want – Now, I don't mean gorging on chocolate or eating a bunch of unhealthy food, but rather just feeding myself and being able to eat unrestricted by the weirdness that pregnancy brings to food. Throughout my pregnancy, I had a lot of food aversions—mostly to meat, all the way up until the last two months of the pregnancy. And then there were other unexplained aversions like kale, which I normally love! And different kinds of fruits and vegetables were unappealing at various times. Then for some reason, I couldn't eat scrambled eggs during the last couple of weeks, even though I nearly lived off scrambled eggs for my entire first trimester. It's been strange as a foodie to have so many different food restrictions and aversions, so I'm very much looking forward to being able to eat what I want!
   

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