I thought I would share some of MY do's and don'ts for pregnancy. (Updated 9/11/12)
DO'S
- Take folic acid at least a month before becoming pregnant. I take 800 mcg a day. Stop this once you start taking the prenatal vitamins.
- Take a vegan whole foods prenatal vitamin (Rainbow Light Prenatal One).
- Take a prenatal fish oil (only because I do not get to eat a lot of fish, since Eric doesn't really like it).
- Take a probiotic (50 Billion Vaginal support) the entire pregnancy to help with digestion and boosting your natural bodily flora. I have also found out that L. Rhamnosus will prevent growth of GBS, which most MD's will test you for at the end of your pregnancy. (If you are positive for GBS, it leads to many interventions and problems even with breastfeeding.)
- I am also taking a colostrum supplement to boost my immune system. The only way to get this, that I know of is through a Naturopath. I have never seen it in a regular supplement store.
- Eat dried papaya and dried pineapple to help with nausea, if that doesn't work, there are always unsalted pretzels. OR take 100mg of Vitamin C and 50 mcg of Vitamin K together 3 times a day.
- Start eating the Brewer Diet!
- Start doing pelvic rocks and squats before bed every night. Skip the kegels.
- Rest as much as possible.
- Try not to stress out about every little thing... easier said than done.
- Drink lots of water.
- Drink Red Raspberry Leaf Tea everyday after week 16, this will help hydrate you as well as give you natural vitamins and minerals.
- Stay at home and eat. Restaurant food is so full of preservatives and artificial colors, it's disgusting.
- Keep the sweets to a minimum.
- Get an excercise ball. It will help when your hips are aching in the middle of the night, as well as during labor.
- If you can afford it, get a monthly prenatal massage starting in the 2nd trimester, or better yet just have your husband watch YouTube for prenatal massage techniques and get this pregnancy massage pillow! ( Then your older kids can "help" too.) If you do go, make very sure they know you are pregnant, because there could be essential oils that they use that could be very dangerous for your baby.
- Seriously take a look at how you plan to birth your baby. Home birth is wonderful!
- Consider a midwife instead of an OB. Midwives are trained in normal birth, whereas OB's are trained surgeons looking for something wrong with you. Most OB's have never seen a woman birthing unless they were hooked up to wires and laying on their backs. Gravity is your friend...
- Consider waterbirth.
- Limit your caffeine intake.This includes chocolate, coffee, tea...
- Take a Bradley Method or Esali birthing class.
- Read, read, read, and read some more! Especially if you are planning on nursing. Don't expect the nurses or even your doctor to know what to do...
- Have support lined up, so you know where to go or call if you have any problems breastfeeding.
- Eat real whole foods, preferrably organic.
- Avoid anything with MSG, nitrates, nitrites, and fake sugars.
***- If you use all natural products, please make sure they do not contain calendula, neem, tea tree, lavender, basil, clary sage, cedarwood, cypress, fennel, jasmine, lemongrass, marjoram, myrrh, origanum, parsley, peppermint, rose, rosemary, thyme, arnica, barberry, bee balm, black walnut, blessed thistle, catnip, chapparal, chicory, colsfoot, comfrey, ephedra, fenugreek, gentian horehound, horsetail, ipecac, juniper berries, lobelia, oregon grape root, rhubarb root, uva ursi, yarrow, angelica, black cohosh (may be used in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy), blue cohosh (may be used in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy), cotton root, elecampane, lovage, osha, tansy, turmeric, borage, damiana, dong quai, licorice, sarsparilla, siberian ginseng, rue, golden seal, juniper, autumn rocus, mistletoe, bearberry, pennyroyal, poke root, southernwood, wormwood, mugwort, tansy, nutmeg, cotton root, male fern, thuja, beth root, feverfew, and sage. Some of the above are safe to use in cooking (sage, rosemary, basil, thyme, marjoram, parsley, and nutmeg) but otherwise avoid them.
- Sleep on your side with lots of pillows for support. Arrange the pillows correctly especially if you are co-sleeping still.
- Consider safe co-sleeping.
- If at all possible, decide to stay at home with your children. They deserve to be with their parents, not strangers.
DON'TS
- Eat raw fish or meat (I don't in the first place, but most fish have so much mercury content and have possible dangerous parasites, and are possibly not handled correctly, if you really like it, you can just wait the short 8 months until you can have it again).
- Drink any amount of alcohol.
- Smoke, or be around anyone who smokes.
- Take ANY medication. If you have a headache, go lay down. If you have heartburn, eliminate what you just ate out of your diet for a couple weeks (or months), drink some soda water with a splash of lime juice, or even eat some papaya or pineapple. If you are in to homeopathy, you could take Carbo Veg 30 or Pulastilla 30.
- Diet. Dieting will only harm you and your baby, because your body needs real food to get the right nutrients to sustain your pregnancy. Your body will gain the necessary weight it needs and then as you breastfeed the weight will come off naturally. (Just in time to get pregnant again, LOL)
-Take hot baths or showers.
- Take being a parent lightly. It is a blessing given to YOU and your spouse, take responsibility of what you are given.
An interesting website:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18828217/Dos-and-Donts-During-Pregnancy
DO'S
- Take folic acid at least a month before becoming pregnant. I take 800 mcg a day. Stop this once you start taking the prenatal vitamins.
- Take a vegan whole foods prenatal vitamin (Rainbow Light Prenatal One).
- Take a prenatal fish oil (only because I do not get to eat a lot of fish, since Eric doesn't really like it).
- Take a probiotic (50 Billion Vaginal support) the entire pregnancy to help with digestion and boosting your natural bodily flora. I have also found out that L. Rhamnosus will prevent growth of GBS, which most MD's will test you for at the end of your pregnancy. (If you are positive for GBS, it leads to many interventions and problems even with breastfeeding.)
- I am also taking a colostrum supplement to boost my immune system. The only way to get this, that I know of is through a Naturopath. I have never seen it in a regular supplement store.
- Eat dried papaya and dried pineapple to help with nausea, if that doesn't work, there are always unsalted pretzels. OR take 100mg of Vitamin C and 50 mcg of Vitamin K together 3 times a day.
- Start eating the Brewer Diet!
- Start doing pelvic rocks and squats before bed every night. Skip the kegels.
- Rest as much as possible.
- Try not to stress out about every little thing... easier said than done.
- Drink lots of water.
- Drink Red Raspberry Leaf Tea everyday after week 16, this will help hydrate you as well as give you natural vitamins and minerals.
- Stay at home and eat. Restaurant food is so full of preservatives and artificial colors, it's disgusting.
- Keep the sweets to a minimum.
- Get an excercise ball. It will help when your hips are aching in the middle of the night, as well as during labor.
- If you can afford it, get a monthly prenatal massage starting in the 2nd trimester, or better yet just have your husband watch YouTube for prenatal massage techniques and get this pregnancy massage pillow! ( Then your older kids can "help" too.) If you do go, make very sure they know you are pregnant, because there could be essential oils that they use that could be very dangerous for your baby.
- Seriously take a look at how you plan to birth your baby. Home birth is wonderful!
- Consider a midwife instead of an OB. Midwives are trained in normal birth, whereas OB's are trained surgeons looking for something wrong with you. Most OB's have never seen a woman birthing unless they were hooked up to wires and laying on their backs. Gravity is your friend...
- Consider waterbirth.
- Limit your caffeine intake.This includes chocolate, coffee, tea...
- Take a Bradley Method or Esali birthing class.
- Read, read, read, and read some more! Especially if you are planning on nursing. Don't expect the nurses or even your doctor to know what to do...
- Have support lined up, so you know where to go or call if you have any problems breastfeeding.
- Eat real whole foods, preferrably organic.
- Avoid anything with MSG, nitrates, nitrites, and fake sugars.
***- If you use all natural products, please make sure they do not contain calendula, neem, tea tree, lavender, basil, clary sage, cedarwood, cypress, fennel, jasmine, lemongrass, marjoram, myrrh, origanum, parsley, peppermint, rose, rosemary, thyme, arnica, barberry, bee balm, black walnut, blessed thistle, catnip, chapparal, chicory, colsfoot, comfrey, ephedra, fenugreek, gentian horehound, horsetail, ipecac, juniper berries, lobelia, oregon grape root, rhubarb root, uva ursi, yarrow, angelica, black cohosh (may be used in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy), blue cohosh (may be used in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy), cotton root, elecampane, lovage, osha, tansy, turmeric, borage, damiana, dong quai, licorice, sarsparilla, siberian ginseng, rue, golden seal, juniper, autumn rocus, mistletoe, bearberry, pennyroyal, poke root, southernwood, wormwood, mugwort, tansy, nutmeg, cotton root, male fern, thuja, beth root, feverfew, and sage. Some of the above are safe to use in cooking (sage, rosemary, basil, thyme, marjoram, parsley, and nutmeg) but otherwise avoid them.
- Sleep on your side with lots of pillows for support. Arrange the pillows correctly especially if you are co-sleeping still.
- Consider safe co-sleeping.
- If at all possible, decide to stay at home with your children. They deserve to be with their parents, not strangers.
DON'TS
- Eat raw fish or meat (I don't in the first place, but most fish have so much mercury content and have possible dangerous parasites, and are possibly not handled correctly, if you really like it, you can just wait the short 8 months until you can have it again).
- Drink any amount of alcohol.
- Smoke, or be around anyone who smokes.
- Take ANY medication. If you have a headache, go lay down. If you have heartburn, eliminate what you just ate out of your diet for a couple weeks (or months), drink some soda water with a splash of lime juice, or even eat some papaya or pineapple. If you are in to homeopathy, you could take Carbo Veg 30 or Pulastilla 30.
- Diet. Dieting will only harm you and your baby, because your body needs real food to get the right nutrients to sustain your pregnancy. Your body will gain the necessary weight it needs and then as you breastfeed the weight will come off naturally. (Just in time to get pregnant again, LOL)
-Take hot baths or showers.
- Take being a parent lightly. It is a blessing given to YOU and your spouse, take responsibility of what you are given.
An interesting website:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18828217/Dos-and-Donts-During-Pregnancy
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