Weird Pregnancy Cravings: I Crave Tar

I’m pregnant and crave the smell of tar or the ink on a newspaper.  Now that I got that out of the way, let me start by saying no I have never indulged in the consumption of either; some cravings are best to be avoided.  All pregnant moms have cravings during their pregnancy, some are rather bizarre and go beyond the usual pickles with ice cream. Cravings are a perfectly normal part of pregnancy, yes even the weird ones, as long as you don’t act on cravings that are not edible or healthy for you.

In each of my pregnancies I have had the exact same cravings.  Beyond the smell of tar or newspaper ink, by the end of my second trimester I crave and consume buckets of ice.  My husband either loves the sound of ice crunching in his ear nonstop or he knows better than to say anything; I’m thinking the latter of the two.  I have a glass of ice on the go all day long and when I don’t have one, I feel extremely parched; with the amount of water consumption this cannot be the case.

The more I talk to other moms, the more I realize a craving for ice is actually quite common.  The usual explanation is because the pregnant mom is low on iron or anemic and treatment for either seems to help.  I can tell you that I have had low iron in previous pregnancies but that is not the case this time around; my iron levels and sugar levels are at a normal range.

Some of the more common inedible cravings could be considered unbelievable, carvings like chalk, dirt and coal, are on the uncontrollable radar of some pregnant moms.  What could craving something like these oddities possibly mean? Well, it usually means that the woman is lacking nutritionally in one way or another.  The only way to know for sure what you are lacking is to have your doctor test you.   Of course this doesn’t mean there will be a deficiency at all; sometimes there just isn’t an explanation for all the weird things women crave pregnant.  Cravings like these are not something pregnant moms want to talk about but knowing these cravings are perfectly normal for some women while pregnant should help put your mind at ease.  Acting on these unhealthy or inedible cravings should obviously never be considered; seek out testing from your doctor to see if you are lacking something to easily rectify the cravings. Above all, enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and remember this will pass.

Did you have any weird pregnancy cravings?