In this picture, Debbie Reynolds, known for her leading role in Singin’ in the Rain, and co-star & husband Eddie Fisher during the filming of “Bundle of Joy” (1956). At the time, Reynolds was pregnant with their daughter Carrie Fisher. They also had a son together, Todd Fisher, in 1958. (Photo by RKO Radio Pictures/Getty Images)
Starting off as a model, and then on to Broadway, only to become one of the most well known actresses of all time, Lucille Ball was one of a kind. In 1962, she became the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu. She also won four Emmy’s and many other awards throughout her career.
In 1951, at almost 40 years of age, Lucille Ball gave birth to her first child, Lucie Desiree Arnaz. A year and a half later she gave birth to their second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, jr.
During her pregnancies, CBS, wouldn’t allow the word “pregnant” to be said on TV and used the word, “expecting” instead. Here in the following pictures, Lucille is “expecting”.
Brigitte Bardot, the French bombshell, actress, model, singer, and animal rights activist was best known as a sex symbol of the 50’s & 60’s. She had her only child with her second husband, Jacques Charrier.
She is pregnant here with her son, Nicholas Jacques Charrier, born in 1960.
Natalie Wood was an American actress that starred in movies like; “Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story.” She started as a Child actress and went on to receive Acadamy Award nominations throughout her career. She was born to Russian parents who immigrated to San Francisco, where she was born.
Natalie’s first love and first husband was actor, Robert Wagner. After they divorced, she married Richard Gregson, a British producer and Wood became pregnant with their daughter Natasha Gregson in 1970. They seperated soon after when Natalie over heard an inappropriate telephone conversations between her secretary and her husband Richard. In 1972, Wood resumed her relationship with Robert Wagner and they remarried that same year. Their daughter, Courtney Wagner, was born in 1974. They remained married until Natalie passed away seven years later in an undetermined drowning in Catalina Island, California.
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.
Mark Ronson is an English record producer, musician , singer, former DJ to puff daddy and the step son of English guitarist, song writer and Producer, Mick Jones, from the band “Foreigner” not the Clash (which also had a Mick Jones in their band)!
Mark was born in London and then moved to NY around 10 years old. Hip hop was big during that time and he picked up the scene-y street sound and DJ’d a lot of big events for artists like puff daddy and biggie.
He went on to do magic when he produced, one of my all time favorite albums, “Back to Black”, with the legendary Amy Winehouse.
His new song that he played with Bruno Mars,”Uptown Funk you up”, hit the top of the music charts and is on his new album, where he has collaborated with many different popular artists.
Check out his interview on NPR, click the link below to hear his story.
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaimanis an English author of novels, short fiction, graphic novels, comic books, audio theatre and films. He said something genius once and NITCH, my favorite website posted his quote:
“Do the stuff only you can do. The urge starting out is to copy, and that’s not a bad thing. Most of us find our voices only after we sound like a lot of other people. But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you: your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself, that’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”