Pregnancy so far...

 I can't believe I'm already on the last stretch, and that soon I will get to meet my little baby girl or boy! It's seemed to go by so fast - I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts and I would love it if other mothers had any advice for me!

     The first two months of pregnancy I felt pretty nauseous a lot of the time and had a hard time cooking for myself or Jordan. The intensity of smells was crazy, and that was what always triggered feeling sickish. At one point I even felt like I could smell water and be sick. After that faded, I felt so awesome! From the 3rd to the 6th month it seemed like I had extra energy, and felt better than normal. I also didn't start to show much of a bump until month 4 or 5, so sometimes I would forget I was pregnant when going about daily tasks, because I still felt like I was just normal "me". (but with super-energy!)  I guess for some reason I thought pregnancy would mean I was out of commission for 9 months, and that I would feel dreadful and heavy most of the time. So far that hasn't been true. Although, during this last trimester, I have been gradually been in need of more and more rest. I'm not able to work all day long any more, and have to take frequent breaks or mini naps during the day. In the last two months (8 and 9 months along) the bump has gotten seemingly suddenly bigger, and even though I still don't feel too heavy most of the time, I am definitely feeling it more now. Since being pregnant I've gone from a 26" waist to a 38" bump, and went from 97 lbs to 126lbs.

I think the most fun of being pregnant is feeling your baby move around inside you. It's amazing to see him/her respond to outside noises - if crazy movement is an indicator, our baby seems to like Jordan's voice and bagpipe music the best. Lol! Baby also seems to find it amusing to kick heartily when I am attempting to eat or rest, and apparently rather likes kicking my ribs until they pop. Ow.

Contrary to what most people have told me about the last trimester, I am not sick of being pregnant, and I don't feel as big as a house. (yet anyway! lol) But I am getting anxious to meet the little person!

We have been working hard on getting our house ready for the new arrival. Since we are planning a home birth, I am especially anxious to make things comfortable and pretty.

Here are some health related things I have been working on during the last 9 months:

Books I have been reading: Nourishing Traditions, Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care,  Active Birth, Husband Coached Child Birth, Making Babies, The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy
(although not everything in all of these books do I agree with, they all have good things to say and lots of helpful advice)

Diet. A few things I have been trying to incorporate into my diet more - fresh greens in salads and smoothies, and good fats and meats. Also have been staying somewhat low gluten- for bread we have mostly eaten Ezekiel bread at home and baked with spelt four. When I can I have been doing some raw egg and milk smoothies as well. I have also been trying to cut out processed sugar. (though I haven't been as firm about that as I should!)

D-3. After my initial blood test early on in pregnancy, we found out I was severely deficient in vitamin D-3. This was surprising to me, and a bit annoying, as one would hope that spending lots of time outdoors in the sun would take care of this, right? Apparently not entirely. We've since heard that it actually takes 48 hours your skin to produce D-3 after being exposed to the sun, and that showers too often can interfere with the process by washing away the oils in your skin. (recently this hasn't been a problem for us, since we don't have real running water yet! lol) Also Jordan was doing some research and D-3 is super important for growing healthy teeth. Despite always taking care of my teeth and having a pretty healthy diet since childhood, I have always had weak teeth, and constantly been fighting cavities forming, and have even had to have a couple of root canals done. :( I always assumed it was genetic and there was no help for it, but perhaps it was because I was deficient in D-3 all this time? At any rate, after beginning to take 5000 IU of D-3 every day at the recommendation of my midwife, something very interesting happened. Around October Jordan noticed I had yet another cavity forming, this time near the gum line on one of my more front teeth. The enamel was gone and discolored, and there was already a hollow spot forming. (sorry if that's too much information!) Well, I was not happy to hear that, and foresaw yet  more dentist visits. In December Jordan checked the cavity, and we were both surprised and pleased that it was gone! Some faint discoloration was still there, but the hollow spot and the enamel had both grown back!!! *happy dance* So, does this mean I am now back to healthy levels of D-3? I sure hope so. (the next three things, cranberries, calcium, and good fats are also important for teeth)

Cranberries/cranberry supplement. So far fresh cranberries are my only very long-lasting specific craving during pregnancy. (although I've always been a fan of eating bags of fresh cranberries when available during the holidays) I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that I have gone through 10 lbs of fresh cranberries each month this fall and winter. I order them frozen from Azure Standard and eat them by the bowlful for snacks. I also have been taking a concentrated cranberry supplement now and then. None of this was recommended by my midwife, though I did check it out with her to make sure I wasn't over doing it!

Butter/Fish Oil/Coconut Oil. Good fats are so important! Especially for growing little baby's brain. I've tried to make an effort to have good butter around the house and to use it lots. Just in the last month I've also taken it a step further and bought organic pasture fed butter. (its yum!) Since July I've also been on a fish oil supplement for the first time in my life. For many years I've been hearing about the wonders of coconut oil, so I've kept a jar of the good stuff (extra virgin, cold pressed and all that) around for incorporation into meals.

Probiotics. Yogurt, milk kefir, water kefir, intestinal flora supplements, and sometimes included in the green superfood. I feel so much more energized when I have a daily source of probiotics. I haven't had near as much of this as I would have wished, but I have been trying to do better about keeping it around or making yogurt and kefir.

Magnesium Oil. Something I've started recently - due to this interesting article. Haven't yet seen any astounding results, but it can't hurt! :)

Aligned and Well Program. This was strongly recommended by my midwife. I have had a 'restorative exercise specialist' coming periodically to see me since late fall last year, and correcting my posture and stance, giving me gentle exercises and stretches to practice throughout the day, and tips for daily movement and walking to make it a permanent habit. I feel this has been very good for me, and hope it will help make things easier during delivery! See the website here.

None of the above things have I been faithful enough with, but I sincerely hope they have helped my baby grow healthy and strong. I am praying for that!

These are simply some of my thoughts and some of what I have learned during my pregnancy. Please do not start anything new without doing your own research! :)

I only have a couple of weeks to go now! My "official" due date is February 14th, though I am sure baby will come in it's own time. Excited!!