First off, when pregnancy symptoms begin, you basically feel like you have caught the flu! Most woman will feel morning, noon AND night sickness, at least I did. It wasn’t so severe that I needed medicine but just enough for me to stay in a lot. The exhaustion also kept me home napping most of the time. I didn’t have much of an appetite. I solely survived off of Ritz crackers, apple juice and an occasional snickers! I also have the sniffles although I don’t have a cold, go figure. But the most naseauting of all, are my prenatal vitamins that you have to continue to take during pregnancy. That was the magical first trimester 🙂
Currently, in my second trimester I am feeling much much better. I do sleep less though (with crazy dreams) and my stomach feels obnoxiously bloated. I’m showing! My appetite is better but I can’t eat a lot in one sitting. I can only do small meals throughout the day. Another new fun symptom I recently discovered is heartburn! If I eat anything remotely spicey, chocolate-y or just too much food in one meal, I will feel the burn! Here’s an article to help you with that…
Since there are many sleepless nights, your body may feel aches and leg cramps. Your hips might feel sore because your uterus is expanding to make more room for your baby, which opens up your hips! More fun stuff!
But besides all of those symptoms, the best feeling of all, is reading about the development of your baby week by week, going to ultra sounds, watching them grow and hearing their speedy little heartbeat. There is NOTHING more magical than that! It makes all the nausea, aches & pains worth it!
I came across this amazing website…
www.womenshealthcaretopics.com
which is an excellent source that lets you know what to expect week by week of your pregnancy. This way you don’t freak out when you feel an unfamiliar symptom. By the way, it’s spot on. Trust me, you’ll love it!
BIG FAT POSITIVE! I woke up that morning and just like every other month, I grabbed my last remaining digital pregnancy test and hoped for the best. To my shocking surprise, it said… “pregnant”. Completely and utterly stunned, I called the nurse immediately and asked when I can come in for a blood test. I went in right away but she said they wouldn’t have the result back from the lab until 4 or 5pm. Mind you, it’s 10am now and I have no idea how I’m going to wait 6/7 hours to find out if I am indeed preggers or if my home pregnancy test was just a fluke!
As I restlessly went on with my day, I finally got the call from the nurse at 4:30pm… and the words came out of her mouth like honey…”You are pregnant”!
The feeling I had when I heard those words was complete happiness. I was still shocked of course but I had a gigantic smile on my face that nothing could wipe it away. All of the failed attempts month after month and finally these words I’ve been waiting for are finally here; “You are pregnant”!
Months ago I had decided to have a plan ready for when I finally got pregnant to tell my husband and my parents. It started with our chalkboard in the kitchen, where I wrote: “Bun in the oven, Bake at 98.6 Degrees for 9 months, take out June 7, 2016. Next, I put out two Dr. Suess books that I previously bought for this occasion, “Oh, the places you’ll go” and “Dr. Suess’s ABC”. I left both books on our dining table and placed the ABC one on top. When my husband came home, I sat him at the table and told him to open the ABC book. He was totally clueless to what I was up to and said, “What’s this all about?!” As he turned the pages from A to B… he saw it.. I circled the word BABY and wrote “we are having a baby”! It took him a minute and he looked up at me and said, “REALLY?”. I said yes, really, we are having a baby!! He was even more shocked than I was.. he couldn’t stop saying “really” and then turned to the chalk board and realized the new menu I put up. He was so happy of course but still astonished.
Next were the parents! I had bought these ultra cute baby faux lambskin booties with bows on them and went over to my parents house with my husband that night. We handed them the box and as my dad opened it, he turned to my mom and said, “is this what I think it means?” My mom said, “I don’t know.. is it true?” YES, we said. We are pregnant! My sister was just as happy to hear the news and I had everyone promise to keep it a secret until I hit 3 months and was in the clear!
Patti Smith rockin a “fuck the clock”, shirt couldn’t be more on point with my mood today.
Singer song writer, Patti Smith best known for her song, “Because the night…” Rocked punk rock like no other. despite what her shirt says, Patti went on to have two children; a son Jackson and a daughter Jesse Smith.
If you want to become pregnant, or have been trying for some time, here are some tips that can help you prepare your body, mind, and soul for the journey of bringing life into the world.
1. Clean up your diet.
When I prep someone for pregnancy, the first thing I do is remove unhealthy foods from her diet and add healthy foods. Here’s the way I look at it: A gardener always gets the soil as nourished as it can be before he plants precious seeds — the healthier the soil, the more vibrantly those seeds will grow. Our bodies are similar: the healthier we are physically before pregnancy, the better the environment to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Eat organic, hormone-free, GMO-free, whole foods that nourish you.
2. Start limiting your exposure to toxins.
A test done by the EWG found over 287 toxic chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. Of these, the EWG found 180 toxins that are known to cause cancer, 217 that are toxic to your brain and nervous system, and 208 of the toxins found cause birth defects and abnormalities. You can find more tips to reduce toxins here.
3. Heal your gut.
My go-to holistic nutritionist Elissa Goodman recommends that you take 50 to 80-billion-count probiotics, 4 to 8 ounces of aloe vera, and 1,500 mg of L-Glutamine daily for a few months pre-pregnancy.
4. Eat warm foods
I asked a few of my acupuncturist friends what they recommend for fertility and they all said to eat warm foods like (lentil soup, or stir-fried veggies and brown rice). The thinking is that a warm uterus is better for fertility.
5. Nourish your body and balance your hormones with my fertility smoothie and a folic acid supplement.
Make this fertility-boosting smoothie. It’s also great to ensure you’re getting enough folic acid — best to take at least 400 iu, at least three months before conceiving to help prevent neural tube defects like spina bifda. If you hope to conceive sooner than within three months, keep in mind that the earlier you take the folic acid, the better.
6. Go gluten-free.
Studies have found people who have unexplained infertility often have better pregnancy results when gluten is removed from diet.
These poses open , relax and nourish the reproductive organs .
8. De-stress and decompress.
Stress can wreak havoc on your body by boosting cortisol levels, which can suppress ovulation and decrease sperm count and sex drive. Stress also tightens your body, which can stagnate energy and constrict blood flow. Things to help you manage your stress:
Often clients come to me with the hopes of wanting to bring something new into their lives. When our lives are too full, there is no room for anything new to enter. Too much space can make a person feel anxious, so we tend to busy ourselves with things that are no longer resonating or that we outgrew so we don’t have to feel the uncomfortableness that empty space brings. It’s only by allowing for this space that something new can be birthed.
10. Energetically become pregnant.
A great way I’ve found to prepare someone for pregnancy is for them to act as though they already are. Often, I’ve found that women will take better care of themselves during pregnancy for their baby’s sake. I always ask people, “If you were pregnant right now, what would you be doing differently?” … And then have them do it.
11. Get regular acupuncture.
I am a HUGE fan of acupuncture, especially for getting your body ready for pregnancy. It:
Improves ovarian function to produce better quality eggs
Regulates hormones to produce a greater number of follicles
Increases blood flow to the uterus, and increases thickness of the uterine lining
Relaxes the patient and decreases stress levels
Improves success rate of IVF
12. Change those negative thoughts into positive ones.
People with the best intentions will project their thoughts or stories onto you. I have seen countless women literally shut down their bodies from thinking that they were too old or it would be hard to get pregnant and have spent many hours helping them undo this toxic thinking. Our minds are powerful, so watch those thought! Turn negative thoughts into positive affirmations, for example: My body is strong and healthy for pregnancy or I get pregnant easily. Put them up them all over your house where you can see, read, and absorb them daily. Remember women in Africa get pregnant all the time later in life because nobody ever told them that they couldn’t .
13. Trust divine timing.
There is nothing more frustrating then wanting something so badly and it not happening when you want it to. For some, getting pregnant happens right away and for others it takes some time. All beings have their own divine timing; just because you are ready to have a baby doesn’t mean that this child is ready to come into this world just yet. When you can surrender and trust God’s timing, you understand that there is a reason why things don’t always happen when you want them to. In time, answers will always be revealed.
14. Have sex.
That’s right! Sex keeps the energy in your second chakra (reproductive area) moving and open.
15. Take the pressure off by carving out a BIG window of trying time.
As I said before, not all women get pregnant on the first try. If you count on that one window and it doesn’t happen the first month, nor again the next month, it tends to start an emotional downward spiral, which constricts your energy. I recommend carving a window for trying anywhere you feel good about, from 4 to 12 months. After that period of time, you can always open a new window of time for a different path of trying. It takes the pressure off and expands your energy.
16. Add “fertility foods” to your diet.
Some good ones are: yams, eggs, asparagus, almonds, salmon, leafy greens, organic grass-fed whole dairy.
17. Patch up your relationship and heal your childhood wounds.
If there are problems in your relationship, having a baby will just add salt to the wounds. Patch up what needs fixingbefore your baby comes, as your relationship with your partner will set the bar for your child’s relationships down the road. We all have issues from childhood that shaped us into the people we are today — some good and some not so good … If we aren’t aware of our own wounds, we might unconsciously try to fix our childhood through our children.
18. Know your cycle.
When you count your cycle, always start on the first day of your period, which is Day 1. If you have a 28-day cycle, the fertile window is normally two weeks before your next suspected period, so that would be around day 14.
19. Visit your dentist.
During pregnancy, gums tend to bleed and teeth can become loose. Also, periodontal disease is linked to preterm and underweight babies … so make sure you’re up to date with your dental exams.
20. Establish a good exercise routine.
Pregnacy isn’t a time to start a new exercise routine; the best time is before months before you conceive.
Here are some reasons why exercise is important to do during pregnancy. Working out:
Gives you more energy
Helps you sleep better
Reduces stress
Eases constipation
Lifts the spirits
Helps you feel good and be happy from all the endorphins being released
Makes for an easier labor
Helps your body bounce back faster from birth
Reduces the risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure
21. Visit your doctor and get a full check up.
You should also get a pap smear and breast check. If you chose to vaccinate, make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines.
Regardless if you are pregnant or have children, this show, “Parenthood”, is great for anyone who belongs to a family or wants to make a family. There are so many beautiful lessons throughout the series with the relationships portrayed by these magnificent actors whom will teach you how to love each other with respect and dignity. There was one scene in particular that was filled with awesome advice for a pregnant mom at her baby shower, about to embark on motherhood.
Here is the dialogue that took place during Amber’s baby shower. Her family sat around the table and gave her advice on motherhood. Season 6 episode 14 :
Christina (Aunt-in-law): Motherhood – you’re going to get a lot of curve balls thrown at you. Sometimes they’re going to make you want to run and hide, but my wisdom for you is to embrace those curve balls and to own them.
Julia (Aunt): I know you will do right by your child but you have to also do right for yourself. A huge part of being a mom is being a good role model. Don’t ever give up on your own dreams and don’t ever let anyone tell you you can’t do something.
Jasmine (Aunt-in-law): Don’t ever feel too proud to ask for help, because we are here for you.
Sarah (Mom): no matter what, I will always have your back.
Milly (Grandma): I would say to you that life is short, you can not know how impossibly fast it goes by, so just enjoy this baby, cherish this time, cherish every minute of it.
While trying to conceive, many woman look to Western Medicine in hopes that a pill (Clomid) or a surgical procedure (IVF), will give them the quick cure they are looking for. In many other cases, people have used the alternative route of using Eastern Medicine such as acupuncture in order to correct their blood flow and to also align your energy points or what the Hindus call, “Chakras”.
Before any type of invasive surgery or medication prescribed to you by your doctor, I highly recommend checking all natural less invasive options first.
Acupuncture consists of needles being placed on pressure points which help release blood flow as well as release any negative emotions in your spirit. It helps you relax, which is what you need most while trying to conceive.
There are many great Acupuncturists out there and don’t be afraid of trying them.
A great acupuncturist to try is Dr. Gilli, www.gilliwellness.com . She’s In Culver City and comes highly recommended for patients trying to conceive.
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