Freeze Your Gizzard Camping

We are getting out of the city for a day and night of car camping with two other couples! Originally, we were gonna head up north to the Superior Hiking Trail and then decided Taylor's Falls and Wild River State Park would be a good, more comfortable choice for all. Our campsite won't be far from civilization, but naturally we'll have our cell phones and cars close at-hand. I've asked our buddy to get a site close (but not too close, egh! smells) to bathrooms and given everyone heads-up not to expect the 100 lb pregnant lady to carry much! This will be hubby and my first camping trip together, so we are looking forward to it!

From what I can tell, there are just a few general rules for pregnant women to follow: stay hydrated, continue to eat healthy, don't carry heavy weight, watch your footing, go slowly, take breaks and don't overexert. It will be unusual not to take advantage of the campgrounds' 35 miles of trails and play backpacker, "MacGyver" girl, but it will be nice to get outdoors. I keep hearing that pregnant women have a higher risk of overheating, but I am still constantly cold. The weather this weekend should be in the low 60's for highs, and low 40's for lows. Let's hope the potential dangers of breathing in campfire smoke are overzealous because I will be sitting by the fire a lot, unless baby turns it up!

In addition to the usual supplies of tent (yay! wedding present!), Thermarests/sleeping pads, sleeping bags/mummy sacks, clothing, cooking equipment and food, we are bringing extra blankets for warmth and padding, real pillows, my body pillow, and our super-padded-fold-up-dish-chairs (not your basic camp chairs!). There will be potable water, and thus no real concerns about iodine, filtering and boiling water. Nevertheless, I'll probably stick to bottled water, so long as we've got room in the car. I'm all about taste and prefer to drink my vitamins, if I can. Gatorade, Vitamin Waters and extra fortified soy milk are on the top of my grocery list! We'll also be bringing lots of healthy snacks to keep mommy-to-be happy. I'm thinking Luna bars, trail mix, and s'more stuff (well, I can't get rid of all the tasty camp treats!) are a good start. I'm going to forego the beef jerky because I'm not sure if that falls into the smoked foods/nitrates/deli meats "no-no" list. Any other suggestions?

As for meals, the car camping allows us a little more leeway to indulge! Each couple is taking charge of one meal and we picked breakfast. Normally, a backpacking breakfast for me is oatmeal, maybe some dried fruit, and a hot beverage like cocoa, coffee, tea or cider. Since we'll have a cooler and I don't have to think about putting oil, salt, pepper, etc. in tiny containers, we are thinking eggs, potatoes or pancakes, fresh fruit, maybe doughnuts, bagels or English muffins, and cheese would be yummy! Can't wait to see what everyone brings.