I know I'm deviating from the topic, ok when don't I? But this is a subject that I feel is relevant for me to talk about. I may combine art and children or move these posts to a separate blog. We'll just play it by ear as I usually do.
Ok so I don't know about you but my Christmas was full with an engagement, 3 pregnancy announcements and 3 births. Holy cow. Currently I've gotten back in touch with an old friend whose 8 months pregnant and she seems to think I'm some great wealth of knowledge so I've been encouraging her as best as I can and now that both a very good friend of mine and my sister in law are pregnant as well... I feel like I should write my experience down that way I can have it for reference.
Congratulations! you have begun your motherhood journey. Fortunately or unfortunately there's this really rugged initiation process called pregnancy [or adoption but that's not my arena... maybe some day] and while there's a lot of advice everyone and their mother are willing to give you and some will conflict here is what I found to be important.
Vitamins. But not just any prenatal vitamin, you want the kind with the DHA omega 3s and omega 6s. Its good for baby's brain and helps prevent postpartum depression in mommy... I should probably take fish oil. While were on the subject of omegas olive oil contains omegas and its recommended you have fish twice a week. No shark or sword fish or any large fish like that ( mercury is bad) but salmon, cod and red snapper are all fine once a week if its wild caught ( there's GMO SALMON?! what the---) if you're a tuna person you should probably do your homework on which ones are safe and which aren't. This is a really good resource http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/fishmercury.htm Shrimp are perfectly fine :) Tempura sushi any one?
Spontaneous hunger and nausea stink. Have like 5 mini meals in your day and keep snacks on you when you go out. Your goal is not to become a taco-bell junkie. Taco-bell should have a sign that says official food of the half crazed pregnant mommies. Mmmmm cheesy potato burritos.... can you believe they closed the taco-bell by my house? the nerve.
Get an ob/ gyn or a midwife lined up. Talk to medical professionals. I recommend figuring this out as soon as possible since most gyns want to see you starting at 3 months. You'll have to get oodels of blood work done but if they find infections or (God forbid) STDs you want to know about and treat that ASAP.
Coffee. You CAN have coffee. Just limit it to 2 8oz drinks at the most. (my dr's advice) My first trimester I quit out of trying to err on the side of caution. One week I ground half real beans and half decaf beans together so when I did decaf the following it wasn't as big a shock. Two days in to my decaf week I decided I didn't like the taste of decaf and I quit for about 3 months. [unless it was peets decaf] In my second trimester I would allow myself one a day as a treat.
Exercise. If you want natural child birth, EXERCISE. Walk, get a prenatal yoga dvd, something and do it soon. The bigger you get the less interested you will be in taking it on. Obviously it needs to be mindful of the baby there's rules about laying on your back (does it really cut off oxygen to baby? ask your dr. )
Keggels. Every one sings the praises of keggels. Find out what they are and do them.
Calcium. You need lots of it. That particular nutrient the baby gets first dibs and he will draw it out of your bones if he has to. (which in a way I wish they could get first dibs on all of the nutrients but I guess mommy still needs to function if there's any hope of getting more nutrients. Knowing this I had cereal with milk every morning and I became a cheeseaholic. I kept string cheese for snack, made quesodillas often and in a moment of snobbishness I went to a local gourmet cheese shop and sampled a few hard cheeses and decided I needed to purchase a wedge of sheep gouda.... pretty much just so I could cut off pieces and eat it as is. You cant have soft cheeses but I hit the hard cheese hard o.o (sorry no feta, brix or bleu... but I like hard cheese better any ways......mmmm parm, gouda, monteray jack, cheddar, Colby jack, mozzarella, pepper jack... I don't think I ever had all those in my fridge at the same time but 5 or so was pretty common. I'm not gonna lie we got into a few fights about how come I kept buying so much cheese, but I think the man appreciated having a few quick cheese sticks to snack on.
Migraines. You'll have them. I had em before I knew I was expecting. Read the fine print before you take anything! Take tylonal extra strength as prescribed and that's about the best you can do. Ibuprofen is ok the first trimester but after that don't push it!! It has been linked to serious problems with delivery. I'm sorry everything smells so bad and I'm sorry the neighbors two streets over use their chain saw and leaf blower so much. You will like music again, you will be able to look at bright screens again. Your car will stop smelling like carls jr that you bought last week and you drove home with the windows down just to be safe. It will happen. I don't think I have to tell you this but stress makes headache way worse. People I knew and loved were splitting up, my work schedule got super weird and there were medical issues none of it was my business but everything came crashing down for them, I spent the next 3 days in bed. That was before I knew you could have tylonal. What I did try was tiger balm. Put that below the hair line... I don't know how but that seriously helped. Then my nurse called back and told me tylonal and that fixed it for good. I could eat and walk again, it was awesome.
Ginger ginger gin gin gin gin ginger... sorry. Helps with nausea... some people like ginger candies, Altoids makes some. I liked Ginger ale had it for brakefast some days so I could get something in my system and then get down real food. I also enjoyed getting the vegetarian sushi and eating the little pickled gingers that come with that :) Ginger tea was alright but I really don't recommend leaving the tea bag in once its reached its desired strength. The ginger and citrus blends were way yummier, made good iced tea :)
Rosemary. I don't want to scare you but did you know there are abortive herbs? Rosemary's the big one. Its mainly the essential oil you want to avoid. and I finally found a list of other essential oils to avoid: basil, cedarwood, clary sage, clove, cypress, fennel, hyssop, jasmine, juniper, lemon grass, myrrh, parsley, pennyroyal, peppermint, sweet marjoram and thyme. Again were talking about whats in essential oils not whats in spaghetti sauce. Please read more here if you're getting a massage or a facial. http://www.naturalbloom.com/articles/aromatherapy-47/ There's also info on beneficial oils and I wish I found that when I was looking for it the first time.
Pampering, Some people swear by prenatal massage. I never had that luxury really though some days I realy realy wanted one. Fortunately my man has a hand held massager and that helped my poor lower back a lot. There were days though that he was impatient with my constant everything aching and I can see why you would want to pay $50 for a pro to be required to spend a half an hour on you. Ummm... You need to be careful not to elevate your body temp too much, jacuzzis are a no, saunas are out, any qualified masseuse will know to turn the heated mat off for an expectant mommie. Here's a fun little wives tale. Apparently if you're having a boy he will become really active during your massage session, if your having a girl she will calm down.
Hair dye. Avoid bleaching all three trimesters but using vegetable dyes such as some henna dyes ( read them, not all are truly vegetable dyes) and Manic Panic are fine during your second and third. :)
Yeast infections. Gross. I had a few. Monostat is nasty and expensive. Eating yogurt every day over half a year cuts your chances of getting it in half, but garlic is good for combating infections you already got. I recently got into cultured butter, wonder if that's preventative? moving right along.
Floss like you've never flossed before! Your sudden increase in hormones isn't so good for your gums and you're way prone to gingivitis, gingivitis can cause birth complications. No one wants that. Its advisable to see a dentist but tell them your pregnant and they'll skip the x-rays.
Fruit... fresh fruits were my cravings (other than cheese, chocolate and raspberry greek yogurt) especially pineapple which is kinda interesting because though I liked it it never stood out to me and I avoided buying it because I didn't know how to pick a fresh one... until I was pregnant... some how I magically knew I could go by sense of smell... My man's also good a picking nice pineapple :) Now that I'm un pregnant hes probably better than me, last time I got an over ripe one and it molded in 2 days :( but yeah, eat your colours! Colours are indicative of different nutrients as I'm sure you know, and as a bonus constipation wont be a big deal for you. If you are blocked up never fear, that's what kiwis are good for! Those things are crazy loaded with fiber :)
Clothes. those things that fit worse and worse unless it was made by omar the tent maker, and then it appalls me that it fits better and better. Most bumpies that I've talked to recently agree that leggings and flowy dresses are the way to go. I also highly recommend the ribbed tanks you can get at old navy for $8. They have a maternity section! who knew? Most things looked like they got hit with the ugly stick but I looooooooooved my ribbed tank I wore it with everything even in the third trimester I think next time I'm prego I'm going to just get two more in different colours and call it good. Prego pants are super ugly right... really comfy once you really get there but until you really need them they offend your senses greatly. or at least that was my thing. I didn't understand the magic of belly bands. Some people in the baby mamas group were saying that took the pants they loved, left the button undone, looped a hairband from the hole to the button and put a belly band over it. the idea of a belly band is that it looks like an undershirt but is snug enough to stay in place... thats my understanding anyways.
The first trimester will end. The second trimester is generally a lot better than the first. I had some lower back pain and trouble with clothes fitting but other than that, that's when I was getting really excited! I started showing and It was nice looking pregnant rather than chunky. It was fun. I loved my belly, I couldn't stop holding it about 18 weeks I would lie very still and close my eyes and feel him kicking... heaven!! At 22 weeks if you have a GYN they'll tell you what the sex is if you want to know but we found out at 16ish weeks through a abnormality/ defect screaming ( It didn't occur to me that I should opt out since the condition of the baby had no effect on weather or not I was going to give birth... but the genetic counseling was good and it was fun seeing all of his organs and know that they were all healthy.)
I think this is where I will stop. My recommended reading is what to expect while you're expecting ( I loved the weekly breakdown of how baby was growing! worth it for that! also told you what symptoms were normal and what symptoms you should call your dr about) and what to eat while you're expecting (It was really helpful not only with delicious recipes but it told you about all the vitamins and minerals, what they do, how you digest and store them, and where they come from in your diet. Very cool. I love that reference. Its especially helpful if you have an aversion and you're wondering how to get those crucial nutrients with out it. )
enjoy your bump! comment If you want another post on the third trimester, my birth experience or the first month after... I just thought this was overwhelmingly large and figured I should stop here.
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