Marina Mayer, Executive Editor, is eight months pregnant and experiencing Oreo madness. Find out what innovations are curbing her cravings.

Growing up, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with cookies. It didn’t matter what kind of cookies, as long as they had chocolate chips, M&M’s, peanut butter, cinnamon, oatmeal or well, okay, anything of substance. I loved eating them, but hated the aftermath (did I really just polish off a sleeve of Oreos? By myself?).

But then I grew up and grew out of my cookie phase and instead turned to what I considered to be healthier versions of quick pick-me-ups, such as granola bars, Pop-Tarts, cinnamon raisin bagels and even muffins.

My, how the tables have turned.

Now that I’m in the home stretch of my pregnancy (as of presstime, one more month to go and counting), I’ve redeveloped a craving for what I call, “youth food”-items that I remember eating as a child but eliminated from my diet as an adult.

As a result, those beloved Oreos have re-entered my life, and thanks to the assortment of varieties, my unborn baby girl and I are able to rekindle fond memories of my childhood while diving into a sleeve-no questions asked.

The love affair started when grocery shopping a few months ago with my husband, and we noticed mounds and mounds of Oreo options-very different from the original twist-and-dunk kind we both grew up with. To make matters more interesting, we had a buy-one/get-one-free coupon for any Nabisco brand products.

Grocery shopping just got a bit more interesting.

Unlike the good ‘ole days when all that was available was the original Oreo cookie, now there are so many varieties that I can’t even keep track of them on two hands-Cakesters, Golden sandwich cookies, Double Stuf, fudge-covered, sandwich cookies smeared in white fudge, peanut butter and mint and mini bite-size offerings.

Then I received samples of the Triple Double Oreo, which combine two layers of Oreo crème (one chocolate, one original) with three layers of crunchy, chocolaty Oreo cookies.

I wouldn’t say that I was necessarily craving Oreo cookies beforehand, but now I can’t get past lunchtime without having just three Triple Double Oreos.

Yes, I’ve created an Oreo monster out of myself, and there’s no turning back.

And if that isn’t enough, the makers of the Oreo portfolio, Kraft Foods, Inc., Northfield, Ill., produced a “twist.”

To help launch the new Triple Double Oreo, Kraft enlisted the help of both Oreo fans and Team DSRL, the double stuf racing league that includes basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, football star Eli Manning, tennis pro Venus Williams, Olympics champion Apolo Ohno and of course, Stufy, the DSRL mascot.  

Kraft is promoting this league in TV ads and through a series of online games available at www.Oreo.com and Facebook.com/Oreo. Fans who participate can enter to win a trip to meet a member of Team DSRL.   

To compete in a DSRL “lick race,” each person twists their cookie open and licks off all the crème. Then, each contestant shows their cookie to their opponent, dunks it, eats it and drinks the glass of milk. The first to finish twisting, licking and dunking wins.

With a bit more time to perfect my own “twisting” skills (and oh yes, prepare for the impending arrival of Baby Girl Mayer), I’m sure my inner competitiveness to plow through a sleeve of Oreos can win just about any cookie-eating contest, especially since I’m eating for two.

Bring on the sleeves-and keep the Oreo innovations a comin’