Things you take for granted when you aren’t preggers:

Parking in a tight spot and being able to slide through your door and their passengers, it’s impossible with a bump!

Tying or buckling your shoes, not happending with a bump!

You no longer get out of bed. You ROLL out of your bed.

Shaving your legs… good luck with that when you can’t even see your toes!

Drinking milk, juice or hmmm just water? Heartburn is coming!

Heaven forbid you catch a cold during your pregnancy, there is no end to your nose running or stuffiness!

Want to sleep flat on your back, stomach or right side? Lol! Sorry hon, only your left side and literally sitting up in bed is recommended!

Try doing pigeon pose in yoga while pregnant, it’s comedy!

How about brushing your teeth when you’re 8 months pregnant, tell me how soaking wet your shirt gets after?!

It’s all hilarious!

This article just made me feel SO much better about my big ass that is growing larger than my belly at the moment. Read below and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

“To produce breast milk, mothers melt their own body fat. Are you with me? We literally dissolve parts of ourselves, starting with gluteal-femoral fat, aka our butts, and turn it into liquid to feed our babies.”

Sounds gross but on the flip side you will lose the fat quickly if you can breast feed. That’s good news to me!

Read more here:

Breast feeding is good

“We still need wisdom, not data, to raise good children.”

I just finished reading this very insightful article that opened my mind up to new possibilities of children’s learning curves.  I always felt that the system was rigged to show us our failures rather than our strengths. Meaning, our schools in the US or at least in California,  does not celebrate the differences of children but makes us follow a guideline of rules that if a child doesn’t follow according to the schools timeline, then the child is a failure to society and is diagnosed with medical terms such as ADHD or dyslexia or myriads of other “failure as a human”, terms created by society.  Even though the child might have strengths in art,  imagery etc. they are not given the right amount of freedom to discover what their true essence or strength is as a child because they are constantly monitored and forced to learn things when their brain might not be ready for that information yet.

There is a natural process of learning to walk and talk and some toddlers might do it sooner than others but we know that children will learn on their own time. That’s how learning in school should be as well. The more we force something the more turned off the child will feel as well as more of a failure and they might not revisit that subject again.

It’s a long article but totally worth it, if you want to expand your mind on children’s learning possibilities.

http://schoolingtheworld.org/a-thousand-rivers/

“Your baby is the size of a banana!” Lol, well that’s what my app, “What to expect”, says. I’m 21 weeks today and the baby is kicking more than ever before. It almost feels like he never rests but apparently babies at this stage sleep 14 hours a day. Lucky little monkeys! It’s so hard to get a good nights sleep when you’re constricted to sleeping on the right or left side of your body!

I’m hoping all this kicking is training for my sons professional soccer career! Although there are many moms that won’t feel the baby kick, not for another few weeks, it definitely makes it all feel very real now. What’s even more special is that my husband was able to finally feel the baby kick! He placed his hand on my belly and felt a few swift ones. It’s an amazing bonding experience to have with your partner.

My appetite has also increased. Well more like, I get nausea and know it’s time to eat, again! My babies taste buds are all intact. For example, if I eat spicey Mexican food, he will taste it! So it’s more important than ever that I eat healthy foods such as broccoli, carrots etc. because my baby will more likely continue to eat those foods and like them later on.

As for me exercising, I have taken on prenatal yoga 2 times a week because it makes me feel great! Although its a prenatal class, it challenges me and makes me stretch all the parts of my body that ache every morning. I highly recommend it for any pregnant mommy to be. Start slow so you don’t hurt yourself!

Ever take a prenatal yoga class while pregnant? Most classes are pretty easy with many modifications to keep a low impact workout.  Other classes like the one I took yesterday at Yoga Works, Montana was a level 2 prenatal class that seriously felt like a regular level 2 yoga class. There weren’t any real modifications. Woman in their first, second and third trimesters were all bending and stretching like crazy! It was pretty shocking to watch and I kept feeling like, my body can do this but am I suppose to?

I stayed after class and spoke with the professional instructor from yoga works and she said yes, your body can handle it.

But as I dig deeper and read more about yoga and pregnancy there are a lot of descriptensies  about which poses are safe and which are dangerous throughout your pregnancy. I always believe you should be your own doctor in addition to having a professional one. You should research and feel comfortable before doing anything that a professional tells you is ok to do.

Don’t get me wrong. Yesterday’s class felt AMAZING! It felt so good to stretch my body after being so stiff and sleeping badly, now at week 20 of my pregnancy.  But again, we must be careful of over extending while we are creating a human!

Here is what I found in terms of danger of pushing yourself too hard in yoga during pregnancy numbers 1-6:

1. “Avoid or modify poses that compress the belly. This might mean that you offer a prop or two (like blocks under hands in a standing forward bend or lunge), present spinal extensions as forward-bend alternatives (such as dandasana, or staff pose, in place of a seated forward bend), or suggest a wider stance.  It also means that pregnant students should avoid lying on their bellies (especially after the first trimester). In place of belly backbends like bhujangasana (cobra) or shalabhasana (locust), offer similar-ish poses that can be done on all fours, like cow or opposite arm/leg extensions. Compressive “closed” twists—i.e., twisting toward the front leg side (in an asymmetrical standing twist like a lunge), or the bent leg side (in a seated twist like ardha matsyendrasana)—should be avoided for the same reason. Offer “open twists” to pregnant students instead. This basically means “twist in the direction opposite to that of everyone else.” Pregnant students should also focus on opening up through the chest as they twist, not twisting from the belly.” -yogainternational.com

2.  “During pregnancy, the hormone relaxin increases flexibility (the name itself is a bit of a giveaway!) and helps to prepare the body for birth. Because this influx of relaxin causes the ligaments to become more lax, pregnant students should take extra care not to overstretch. This can lead to pelvic and joint instability and/or pulled ligaments (which take a really long time to heal). To avoid overstretching, students should focus on strength and stability more than flexibility during pregnancy. This is especially important to keep in mind when it comes to hands-on adjustments. As a general rule, avoid giving “deepening” assists to pregnant students (i.e., assists that help them to experience a deeper stretch in an asana), and offer stabilizing assists instead (such as rooting a student’s pelvis in tadasana, or stabilizing her back leg in side angle).

3.  “In general, if inversions feel good, students can continue to practice them, but it is a good idea to avoid inverting near the end of the first and beginning of the second trimester (weeks 10-13), when the placenta is attaching to the uterine wall. Pregnant students should also avoid inverting for long periods of time (stick with 30 seconds or less). If you’re teaching long holds in inversions, a supported bridge pose (with a yoga block under the sacrum) with feet on the floor or legs in the air, is a great pregnancy-friendly alternative for most students.

4.  “Plank/Chaturanga: Encourage pregnant students to practice these poses with their knees on the floor, which will be more stable and supportive for their lower backs than practicing the poses in their traditional forms. (And it goes without saying that lowering all the way to the floor in chaturanga should be avoided! Stick with a few well-aligned “chaturanga push-ups” instead.)

5.  “Cut Out Kumbhaka: Pranayama practices involving breath retention (kumbhaka) should be avoided during pregnancy (as should powerful practices like bhastrika and kapalabhati). Remind pregnant students to breathe smoothly, evenly, and continuously, and suggest nadi shodhanam (alternate nostril breathing) or bhramari (bumble bee breath)—which are both wonderful to practice all through pregnancy—as alternatives to pranayamas that are contraindicated.

6.  “Avoid Lying on the Back If It’s No Longer Comfortable (or If You’re Not Sure): lying flat on the back for an extended period of time can compress the inferior vena cava (an important vein which returns deoxygenated blood from the lower body back to the heart).”

More like food aversions! I’m currently 4.5 months (18 wks) pregnant. I still have an aversion to chicken! I won’t eat it unless it’s fried or basically unrecognizable.  In general I’m not craving any meat which is horrible because its a great source of protein!

The only foods I crave are any kind of cheese (that are allowed during pregnancy) and bread! I will say that I do crave Johnny Rockets chili cheese fries from time to time but generally speaking no meat.

Its important to get natural nutrients from healthy organic foods during your pregnancy. Taking a prenatal Vitamin is recommended by doctors but in addition, you should be eating a lot of vegetables, greens, protein etc to get the vitamins naturally.

Foods you should be eating during your pregnancy for the optimal health of your baby: Healthy eating guide

Foods to avoid while you’re pregnant: Foods to avoid

A friend of mine accidentally sent me this article via Facebook messenger when she actually intended on sending it to her husband. It was a stroke of luck since this article contains such great information on how to raise your child and therefore; I can pass it on to you!

http://time.com/4079009/arguing-with-your-child/

It teaches you that if you want your children to listen & respect you, you have to listen and respect them first no matter how impatient you are getting. In the long wrong, that extra time you take to really get to know your child and understand their personal needs, will help you as a parent as well as help your child grow expadentially.

Almost everything  you need to know about ultra sounds is in this article: ultra sound guide

If you are under 35, you will usually only need 2-3 ultra  sounds throughout your pregnancy. If you’re over 35, your doctor might have you do more scans to make sure your baby is developing healthy.