10 weeks pregnant and had my sweet husband pick me up a chicken bacon ranch toasted sub with a whole pickle from Jimmy John’s, and to top it all off, with a crispy sprite. Except there was one major issue… it’s just not the same without my usual turkey tom. I know some women say to just eat the sub anyway, but I would feel so guilty if I did. My baby is due July 26th and my favorite food I can’t eat for 7 more months (yes I’m aware this is dramatic but just let me have my moment) 😭

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  • This is my 3rd pregnancy and Im over it. I eat jersey mikes at least once a week

  • Thought you meant a subreddit about quitting smoking cold turkey during pregnancy lol!!

    lmao i thought the exact same thing! i feel like there have been a lot of posts recently about people kicking vapes.

  • My OBGYN told me to not eat raw shellfish. She said to be extra safe no raw seafood at all but if you’re in the USA it’s all flash frozen and should be fine if dining at a reputable restaurant. She said deli meat and soft cheese was fine and the risk is so minimal. But if I wanted to stay away I definitely could. But said I was fine to eat any of it. She said to stay off the internet, it will scare the crap out of you. I get if you won’t eat it and I’m sorry for the never ending craving. I’ve eating quite a few turkey sandwiches, so far so good.

  • I’m on my 4th pregnancy and if only I could tell you all the pregnancy rules I’ve broken šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚ girl get the sandwich. Especially if it’s only like once a week or so, fulfill your destiny, celebrate NYE with a turkey sandwich.

    At least you know that these food places technically have to abide by food safety laws, so risk is low. It’s not like it’s a charcuterie board sitting out at a company party ya know? I would stay away from those types of deli meats šŸ˜… hope you reconsider and are happy 🄰

    Im on my second and I stopped caring about most of the rules too LOL I'm at Jersey Mikes so often now I'm friends with the employees

  • Ive been eating turkey sams because it’s something I can actually stomach. I think it’s okay.

    I craved turkey sandwiches soooo bad during my second pregnancy and my doctor told me so… eat one then. Just make sure it’s decent quality meat. The risk for listeria is pretty low, so if it’s the only thing you can stomach, you’d be hurting yourself more by not being able to eat anything than you would be risking getting listeria. If you’re unsure of the quality, heat it up first to kill any bacteria just in case and let it cool if you really want a cool turkey sandwich and not a hot one. But lorddddd if you’re able to stomach it, if you have an air fryer, butter some bread, put your turkey on there, some cheese, and make a turkey melt. Only way I can eat heated turkey. Make sure the cheese kinda hangs over the sides so it covers the turkey and the edges of it don’t get crispy and hard, unless you like the crunch of the crispy turkey, but I personally don’t.

    Girl, if your body is keeping down the turkey sammie, that's a win. The pregnancy police aren't gonna raid your kitchen. Fed is best, and that includes you.

  • Honestly go for it. The cold cuts and soft cheese recommendations are so outdated. I read a study that said something like 1 in every 500,000 servings of soft cheese are contaminated. The chances are so low and there are so many real risks to worry about. I work full time while pregnant with a toddler so if I can’t buy it prepared or prepackaged I would probably never eat another fruit or vegetable again. I’ve had two high risk pregnancies with so many complications deli meat is at the very bottom list of things I’m going to panic about. I just limit myself, pick a product with a good reputation, and stay up to date on past and present recalls.

  • I think you could theoretically heat it until steaming then eat it after it cools down? Ask your OB

    I’ve tried this and it’s unfortunately not the same.

  • I’ve eaten turkey sandwiches and raw sushi during my pregnancy- once you do it, it stops feeling like you NEED to and the cravings calm down. Before I decided to eat the sandwich, I was walking by delis tearing up at the thought that I couldn’t have one for 9 months. As long as it’s from a place that has a good reputation and standards, it’s not more risky than eating anything else

  • I ate JJs about once a month when I was pregnant. I had GD and could have their lettuce sub.

    I think I was more scared of the listeria risk from lettuce and produce than meat.

  • As long as its from a reputable company/business or fresh sliced from the deli youre generally fine.

    The risk of cold cuts comes from the risk of listeria and salmonella....which are usually what vegetables like lettuce are recalled for.

    Of course dont eat anything that isnt fully cooked (so no uncured or smoked ham, turkey, salami etc) but in general you're just as at risk from the illnesses by eating a salad.

    Edit...ive had a club wrap from mccalisters roughly once or twice a week since I got pregnant. Just turned 22 weeks today.

  • I totally get the craving struggle, but a lot of OBs now say deli meat is fine if it's heated until steaming (like a toasted sub would be). The listeria risk everyone worries about is actually pretty low and heating it kills the bacteria anyway.

    might be worth asking your doctor about it! I'd hate for you to spend 7 months missing out on something that might actually be okay. The "rules" around pregnancy food have changed a lot and some of them are way more cautious than they need to be. Either way, solidarity on the pregnancy food struggles. It's the little things that hit the hardest sometimes šŸ’•

  • My husband had the most epic looking roast beef sub the other day and I was just looking at the picture he sent me like 🤤😭

    I'm not even big on roast beef subs but it just looked so good.

    My MIL brought me an Italian sub around 11 pm after I had my son and I think I'll be asking for the same after this labor. If it's not at 11pm I'm sending them to the roast beef sub place!

  • Honestly? I’ve had subway, and I’ve had meet shaved from a deli. I feel like it’s fine if it’s not the packaged 5 dollar meet containers from like Walmart?(I’ve read other posts saying the same) now maybe don’t have it daily? But like once in a while I feel like it’s okay. Apparently there is more risk in bags of lettuce

  • Dam I ate everything cold meat sub, sushi , the only thing I would not eat was pistachios because of recall and raw oysters or tuna

  • Involves thinking ahead, but this is what I do: I microwave my ham, then put it in the fridge. Next day it’s cold and cooked! :)

  • god i feel you 😭 i’ve been craving soy marinated soft boiled eggs so bad. i know some people are okay with eating these things throughout pregnancy but im already high risk and don’t want to add any more potential for complications

  • I’ve pretty much eaten whatever I want with this second pregnancy. Also due in July. Statistically you have a higher chance of contracting listeria from unwashed lettuce.

  • OP I'm totally with you here. I know a ton of people (including what seems to be the majority of comments here despite your acknowledgement of the total risk) say to go for it. And I know ultimately the total risk is still very low. But I just think of how terrible I would feel if something were to happen just because I wanted a sub? I would have so much trouble reconciling that.

    Objectively cars are riskier, but I can't realistically avoid riding/driving a car. I can easily avoid cold lunch meat. So why risk it?

  • With my pregnancy, I steamed my turkey in the microwave and then let it cool down

    I tried this and it tasted so bad to me šŸ˜•

  • honestly not dramatic at all imo, i watch people eat sushi on tiktok because i can’t eat it. it’s been over 8 months since I last had sushi (8 months pregnant today, haven’t had it since a few weeks or so before i found out), and i have almost cried several times over it. 🫠

  • I lived on turkey subs my first trimester. I probably got one every 2-3 days. I got them toasted and then I’d let them cool down a bit. Not quite the same as a cold one but enough to satisfy my cravings! And it went away after the first trimester. I’m 29 weeks now and I think it’s probably been several months since I got a craving for one.

  • I feel you! I've been getting toasted subs every once in a while, but I want a dang cold cut sub! I think it'll be one of the first things I eat after giving birth (in MAY 😭)

  • I definitely caved and at my turkey sandwich from Subway twice during the first and beginning of second trimester, I was so sick and not eating anything, I was desperate and it was the only thing that sounded somewhat appealing. I wouldn't eat it everyday, but giving in to it once or twice wouldn't hurt.

    My OB also told me I have a higher risk of listeria if I were to eat salads.

  • I feel you. I may have told my in-laws they need to bring me a turkey salami sub to be admitted to the hospital room after I deliver.

    And yes, I know the risk is minimal, but I got a horrible case of food poisoning last winter (before I was pregnant) and I just don’t even want to chance going there right now.

  • Girl just have one. I was eating lox bagels like nobody’s business šŸ˜‹

  • I only gave up smoking weed and drinking. I eat sushi, raw oysters (east coast), deli meat, medium rare steak, and sunny side up eggs. I’ve only gotten sick once while pregnant, and it was from motherfucking Chipotle.

  • I’ll be honest, between weeks 10 and probably 18, one of the only things I wanted were subs and I probably had like 4-5 a week. Primarily Italians on flatbread with a bunch of veggies from subway, mixed with the hunters club from JJ, and the Italian on flatbread from potbelly. I also ate many poke bowls, continuously had rare steaks the entire time, and many many runny eggs.

    Sub places like subway, Jimmy John’s, and potbelly go through so much meat a day, I highly doubted it’d be around long enough to be worrisome. Same with the place I get poke from and I always bought high quality eggs and meat. I wouldn’t trust a supermarket or gas station sub, sushi, etc, but I didn’t have many worries with the places I got ā€œriskierā€ food from.

  • Wait we're not meant to eat turkey??? Why?

    Cooked but not cold cuts due to listeria risk

  • I wanted a turkey tom sooooo bad when I was pregnant with my son. I swore I could NOT wait to have one. He was born in May 2024 and I still haven’t had one šŸ˜‚ now I’m pregnant again and the craving is back. I think I just want it because I can’t have it.

  • Heat up the turkey to steaming. Then let it cool back down in the fridge, then put on sandwich and enjoy.

  • How many times have you gotten listeria from deli meat? That’s the risk of eating a deli sandwich in pregnancy

    Yeah, I found this paper to be an interesting perspective: "the model estimates 1 case of listeriosis in 83,000 servings of deli meat"

    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2939108/

    Personally I am only taking risks seriously for things with like a 1%+ chance. 1 in 83,000 = 0.0012%.

    Exactly!!!

    I honestly couldn’t even tell you of anyone I know who has gotten listeria at all, let alone from deli meat.

    Based on that stat, you’re twice as likely to die from a severe weather storm than get listeria from deli meat… eat the damn sandwich, people.

  • you should have seen my face when my OB told me I couldn’t eat hot dogs. I was so gobsmacked that my husband couldn’t help but laugh— they’re my ultimate guilty pleasure 😭😭

    WAIT WHAT?? I literally have been eating them at Costco every week??

    I ate them during pregnancy and was fine. Same with Jimmy John’s.

    They’re technically a deli meat which makes sense. They need to reach a certain temp to be considered safe—I looked it up and you can have them if they’re deep fried LOL.

  • I would die for a cold roast beef and swiss šŸ˜­šŸ’”family friend told me that her best friends son has severe developmental delays and the doctor said it could be from bacteria from food though so i'm not going to risk it

  • I’ve been eating cold cuts from the beginning. Choose your battles. I’m good with omitting alcohol even thought I’ve had plenty of people tell me ā€œit’s okay, one glass of wine is fineā€ šŸ™„ but I need something good!! Sandwiches are a staple for pregnant women!!

  • ok

    what’s the point of commenting this? adds nothing to the conversation

    whats the conversation exactly? lmao. she wants a sandwich that she can eat but she doesn’t want to feel guilty so..ok?

    so scroll and move on if you have nothing relevant to say. maybe she came here to commiserate, find people who relate to the struggle.

    oh well, not that serious.

    I know it’s not that serious lol. My pregnancy hasn’t been the greatest so far so just wanted to vent.

    fuck them OP, you vent away!

    i desperately want tuna nigiri and an edible. and an espresso martini. not necessarily in that order!