The Womb Trilogy: Healthy Pregnancy

I just finished my blog post on fertility and if that is something you're struggling with, please go read it here.  This blog post will focus on a healthy pregnancy.

I have been pregnant with two full term pregnancies and had one extremely early miscarriage.  I'm speaking from personal experience and research and this is NOT intended to replace questions with your midwife or doctor - only to assist in your own research.

 I conceived early February both time, 3 years apart.  First child was a boy and second was a girl.
Starting weight with #1 was 147(a little too heavy for me, but I was really healthy!) and ended at 189.  Came home from the hospital at 169 pounds.  (pregnancy gain was 42 pounds, I was 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant when I delivered my son and 27 years old.)

Starting weight with #2 was 171 (way too heavy for my body type, but again, very healthy!) and ended at 200, and was back down to 176 after the birth.  (pregnancy gain was 29 pounds, and I was 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant when I delivered my daughter, and 30 years old. (psst, my daughter was 2 pounds larger than my son also!))

I chose midwifery care for both pregnancies.  Home births for low risk women have been proven SAFER than low risk women having hospital births.  There's a lot of other reasons why, but I can tell you they are extremely educated, they devote an HOUR to your visit - really get to know you and your family situation, it was cheaper for me as a cash patient to hire them than choose a hospital birth, I also enjoy the midwifery approach to pregnancy - your body is amazing and your pregnancy is your's and your's alone...they truly nurture you into the happiest, healthiest pregnancy you are made to have.  There are several different types of midwives - lay midwives, licensed midwives, and certified nurse midwives.  I used licensed midwives - a mother-daughter team, and they are freaking awesome.  If you are looking for a different approach to pregnancy and delivery than your OB will provide, look into the possibility of midwives in your area.

Now, I'll break into what I did or didn't do while pregnant and break it into trimesters.
PRE-PREGNANCY:
You want to be on a good multivitamin (with FOLATE, not folic acid, read the very end of my fertility post for the article reasons why).  A good prenatal/multivitamin BEFORE pregnancy has been shown to be beneficial to fertility and the baby's health...of course, I can't find that article now :-\  This is the prenatal that I used with baby #1, and this is the one with baby #2.

This is the omega supplement I used with baby #2.  I don't need to mention the one I used with baby #1...it was okay, this one is much better.

And iodine.  Pregnancy changes all the hormones in your body...it can wreck your thyroid...at least 1/3 of America's women is iodine deficient.  Iodine is super important for breasts, brain, glands, etc. AND for your developing fetus.  I take this all the time - pregnant or not.  It is called iodoral, it is a 12.5 mg supplement.  My chiro recommended it for basically all people to take.  I take it while nursing too.

Eat lots of protein!  A high protein diet is good for insulin levels, and it is good to help offset pre-eclampsia.  In my fertility post, I also talk about the benefits of a high fat diet for hormone health.  Eat quality fats!

I want this disclaimer put out - While medications make pregnancy tolerable for women when it might not ordinarily be, or even provide life saving measures, I want to encourage you NOT to use medications if at all possible.  I have so many friends who are willing to take Zolfran instead of magnesium for nausea, or steroids for allergies, instead of an herbal allergy alternative.  There are MANY natural options for a variety of ailments, you just have to educate yourself about them.  I got pink eye while pregnant when out of town, as well as 2 ear infections.  I didn't take antibiotics.  I also had terrible allergies, as most of my county did this year, and took no meds - but used a neti pot.  Many of these commonly prescribed meds can have severe consequences on the baby, as many aren't tested for safety or efficacy on the fetus or the pregnant mom.  (Same goes for the "universally" recommended TDaP and Flu vaccines now offered to pregnant women).  Some women NEED zolfran to keep ANY food down, and I'm not judging that decision...not at all.  But I think many women are given these options before they've tried alternatives and many doctors are willing to write these prescriptions before trying to find the real cause of the problem.  Even tylenol while pregnant is recommended by doctors, but has been proven unsafe.  If you seek relief from pain - epsom salt baths, chiropractic care, and acupuncture are all better options!  I never had so much pain in pregnancy that I needed pain killers...and I broke my ankle at work, 32 weeks pregnant, with #2!

Now, trimesters:
This is assuming you are already taking the prenatals, omegas, and iodine.

First Trimester:
You will be at the very least slightly nauseous and slightly more tired by the time you hit 6-8 weeks.  With baby #1, I was EXHAUSTED and STARVING all the time.  Baby #2, I had more nausea, but my energy levels were good and I had a fairly normal appetite.

B vitamins help with nausea.  So does magnesium - which incidentally, helps with pregnancy constipation(very common).  I took Natural Calm magnesium powder to help offset the nausea and it also helped with my constipation...I took .5 tablespoon every time I felt like I needed it.  It didn't taste bad and almost immediately helped my stomach.  Garden of Life just released a whole food magnesium powder - if I am blessed to carry another child (or more ;) ) I will likely use it if I have nausea like I did with Baby #2.

Try to get as much sleep as you can - sleep gets harder the more pregnant you get.

Take vit d!  Vit D likely helps prevent gestational diabetes, it is important in uterine health and hormones too!  I have used all the vit d options from garden of life - the chewable (tastes great!), the spray, and the capsules - they are all great, and I highly recommend!  Try to get 5,000 ius daily and sunshine several times a week.

If you have the time and energy - stay active - moderate exercise is great!  I worked my fairly physically intense job until 39w4d with baby #2 (even on the broken ankle) and I think it contributed greatly to my wonderful birth with my giant baby!

Second Trimester:
Nausea should subside, energy should increase.  You might be more prone to headaches - drink plenty of water and don't forget your morning vitamins!

I started taking cal-mag at night for pregnancy insomnia and the off-chance of leg cramps - it also helps with developing strong teeth and bones in the baby.  It is important to continue this while nursing also(see my healthy delivery and post-partum blog post that is to come!).

If you have used antibiotics in the recent past, and haven't used good probiotics, you should consider these.  You will be tested for group B strep at 36 weeks, and having good probiotic balance is key to testing negative - (which is what you want!). Good gut health is important in absorbing nutrients, it is critical in immune health too!  I ate a lot of yogurt, and haven't been on antibiotics since 2007 and generally use antibiotic-free animal products.

Third Trimester:
Game time!  You have 13 weeks-ish left to nourish this baby into good health!  Keep taking your vitamins and eating well!

If you have an OB, you will be strongly urged to get a TDaP vaccine and a flu vaccine at 28 weeks or so.  I cannot stress enough how much you should NOT get these vaccines!  Nether have been proven safe or effective...and have been linked to an increase in fetal death....It is a NEW thing to promote these to pregnant women - like last 4-ish years...moms to kids in elementary school likely didn't get them...the whole "all moms get them and are fine" doesn't hold water and I know a lot of women who ended up very ill or had pregnancy complications, even lost their babies, due to one or both of these shots.

Around 34/35 weeks, an extra measure to prevent testing positive for GBS is the garlic clove!
  Read that article!  You do not want GBS because if you have it, that means you get IV antibiotics during labor, and that is not healthy for you or the baby!  I talk about that in the next post - healthy delivery and post-partum.

At 35/36 weeks, I start taking vitamin k complex.  I don't do the vitamin k shot, unless there was a severe emergency that warranted needing it.  Neither of my babies have had it.  BUT, I did take vit k complex the last month of pregnancy and into the first month or more of nursing.  I wanted to provide optimal vit k for the baby in natural ways.  I also do delayed cord clamping to help with risks associated with no vit k shot.

You may test anemic at this point in your pregnancy also.  I used this iron every few days - I wasn't anemic, but I was on the low end of normal.  It is best to make sure you take this WITH vit C and NOT with calcium.  Calcium inhibits iron absorption, and vit c increases absorption!  Eating grass-fed cow liver is an excellent way to get iron and vit a!  If you put a few small chopped up pieces in your spaghetti sauce or chili, you won't know it's in there, and it'll be a nice little iron boost ;)

I think I covered the trimester information.  Now, onto other pregnancy things that may creep up:
Stretch marks- I used a variety of creams and oils with Baby #1, and ended up COVERED in stretch marks.  With Baby #2, I took vit c through the majority of the pregnancy, at least 1000mg (which is perfectly safe), and most of my stretch marks were minimal and healed very quickly.  I also did dry brushing all of this pregnancy on my belly especially.  Here's tips on how to do it.  It helps circulation and I think the vit c and dry brushing greatly contributed to the reduction of the marks and them healing quicker.  I do not think there is a magic cream - some are just lucky and some aren't.

Swelling - I took alfalfa capsules to help reduce swelling.  If you buy these on your own, make sure they are organic as alfalfa is most often genetically modified and/or heavily sprayed.

I think that is all, folks - feel free to message me on facebook with questions or topics you think I should address and edit into this post!

In health,
Becca H.