There are many things about pregnancy that you don’t get told until there’s no turning back. The grim details of labour, the less well known and less wonderful side effects of carrying another human being around for nine months and the highs and extreme lows of becoming a feeding station for the little one when it arrives. (I’ll spare you any more detail as I’m just not that cruel.)

But there are some aspects of preparing for motherhood that are so well-known people talk about them as if they’re rites of passage. Morning sickness and tiredness are classic examples. As soon as you let on you’re in the family way people’s first reactions — obviously after telling you they knew and you look fat — is have you been feeling sick? tired? etc etc.

The other question people often ask is whether I’ve had any cravings. Cravings are seemingly another common denominator in all pregnant women. We create a life inside our belly and start desperately scrambling for our fill of ice cream and gherkins, chunks of butter and even coal. It’s pitched as this uncontrollable desire that we are powerless to fight. And once I joined the pregnancy club I too started waiting for the moment I would sleepwalk to the fridge in the middle of the night to swig at the vinegar bottle or eat a block of cheese.

But to be honest I’m not really sure my food habits can qualify. I do like crisps. I like ice cream. I’d rather eat crisps and ice cream than lettuce leaves at least most of the time. On some occasions I have made my husband drive to the petrol station to pick me up supplies. I often eat my meal in anticipation for the ice cream or crisps that might follow. I have justified the second packet of Walkers on the fact that I am pregnant and like all other cravings, I am powerless to stop any urge to eat them.

Thing is, I could refrain. I could eat an apple and ditch that magnum that I’ve been looking forward to since breakfast. I could. But I won’t.

It might not be a proper craving per se but it’s the best I can do and it is my rite of passage to gorge on the snack foods I desire. After all, so much of pregnancy is miles from fun and I am going to get fatter anyway so I may as well do it in style eating tasty foods rather than seeds and oats. And an ice cream and gherkin sundae just isn’t my thing.