For someone who proclaims to have the “biggest sweet tooth,” Team Canada star Natalie Spooner’s current pregnancy craving has her looking in a different direction.

“In the first trimester I could care less about food almost because things [smelled] so bad but now I’m like, I’m hungry, but the only thing I really crave is fruit,” she said.

Spooner played a big role in what was a golden year for Canada’s women’s national hockey team, winning gold at the 2021 Worlds in Calgary before capturing her second career Olympic title in Beijing. Now her whirlwind year continues, announcing on social media Wednesday that she is pregnant and expecting a baby with husband Adam Redmond in December.

While she won’t be lacing up for the 2022 Worlds in Denmark this August, Spooner will be taking her followers along for the ride as she will be documenting her pregnancy journey on TikTok, aiming to post up to three times a week.

“I think obviously pregnancy in sports, especially female sports, is something sometimes is not as shared,” Spooner told TSN on her decision to document the journey. “As a female athlete, who is still wanting to compete, it’s tough to lose your job for a little bit or hope that your job may be there or will you lose your job is definitely something that’s scary but also exciting.

“It also just felt like the right time for us to start a family after this Olympics with having a bit of a longer break post Olympics and I think it’s a new challenge for me and I’m going to be learning a lot.”

After a busy post-Olympic schedule, Spooner says she was able to get pregnant fairly quickly and is currently in her second trimester. She has already begun to train differently, cutting down her usual five days of workouts to three, as well as using her twice-a-week on-ice sessions as more cardio.

As she adjusts to the new body changes, the Scarborough, Ont., product has looked to teammate and The Amazing Race Canada partner Meaghan Mikkelson, who has two children, for advice.

“She gave birth and came back twice to play so I’ve definitely asked her a lot of questions and got a lot of advice from her,” said Spooner who added that she has followed along with Mikkelson’s blog she wrote while pregnant for guidance.

While she is excited for her pregnancy, she admits she will miss being out on the ice.

“I’m going to miss playing with my teammates and how much fun that is,” said Spooner. “I haven’t missed a World Championship since I started in 2011 so I think in that sense I’m definitely going to miss the game and my teammates. But at the same time, you know come August, it’s getting that much closer to when the baby is going to arrive and I think that that is really exciting.”

Spooner is adamant about continuing her playing career after giving birth and is already looking ahead to the 2023 tournament, set to take place in Canada at an unannounced city.

“To know that at least I can have that goal of coming back for the Worlds in April, I think will be a nice goal to have,” said. “It may be tight but we’ll see hopefully. As long as everything goes smooth, it can work out.”

Now 31, Spooner has emerged as a veteran leader on Team Canada. Pairing with 2021 Worlds MVP Mélodie Daoust and star 22-year-old Sarah Fillier to make up the “Fill Da Spoon” line, Spooner had four goals and nine points at the Worlds before racking up three goals and 14 points at the Olympics.

“I know how intimidating it can be as a young player to come in on Team Canada, realizing your dreams and then going to an Olympics,” said Spooner. “I just tried to make the young girls feel as comfortable as they could and to have that confidence that they belonged and they could play at this level and dominate this level.

“Because now the young kids are so good. They’re getting so good so young. You look at someone like Sarah Fillier, she’s [22], and can take over hockey games. So to have her as a linemate and to just let her know that we believe in her, go out and do her thing, that’s really all it takes.”

Coming off a year of double gold, Spooner is already looking ahead to four years from now.

“That’s the goal,” said Spooner when asked if she has another Olympics in her future. “I think one more might be my limit but for sure one more.”