Me: Top Pregnacy Tips

So here I am again, pregnant with baby number six, and even if I don't plan to write a whole blog about this baby, I am still super pregnancy brain focused.  After each baby, I want to improve the pregnancy experience and figure out ways to stay healthy, fit and sane.

Over the last few years I have found it is important to focus on these things:

DIET!  Women, Americans and food do not have the best relationships.  Many people barely make time to eat, while others graze all day long.  When one is pregnant think about nutrition as something one wants to understand better for the sake of the pregnancy and also the health of you whole family as everyone grows.  Eating for comfort is modeled to your children.  So is rushing through food and running off to the next activity.  Sit down, have a healthy meal and even consider sitting down for small snacks.  Relaxing is important.  Also, consider the fact that if you eat proper food you will not feel hungry two seconds later.  When you have morning sickness eat yogurt, an egg, something with good protein.  If you go for a muffin, you will probably still feel sick.  One does not have to cut out all sweets, but think about what is in junk food.  Don't eat too much sugar.  I have to say I have a sweet tooth.  I love ice cream when I am pregnant and when I am not.  I have learned that having a small amount is maybe not perfect, but controlled enough to not cause major harm.  However, with my second child I ate what ever I wanted and I gained the most weight that pregnancy and never lost it all.  When eating what one's body needs it is not impossible to shed baby weight without much effort in the year following the birth.  I am still kicking myself for not being more careful with baby number two.  With every other baby I have focused on eating as healthy as possible.

Then next thing is planning a workout routine.  In the first month nobody wants to workout.  I felt sick a lot this time around, but I still worked out.  I have use Lindsey Brin's Moms Into Fitness workout portal.  There is a monthly fee and and that keeps me motivated to keep working out.  Miss a month, miss out on a $12 investment.  (www.momsintofitness.com )  Plus, her workouts are amazing.  I used her workouts to recover from baby number five, and I lost all the weight I had gained for that baby and a couple more pounds in about five months.  Then I got pregnant again.  My body was in such good shape I did not experience back pain, like I have in my past couple of pregnancies and I feel a lot like I did with baby number one.  I am 20 weeks and 5 days and I have gained 3 1/4 pounds this entire pregnancy this far and I feel stronger than I have in years.  I used to think walking would work, but after a few babies one needs to fix the core.  Let's face it, if you are like me and have about 3-9 months between pregnancies, one needs to improve the body fast.  I never thought I could feel like this pregnant with baby number six.

Then vitamins are very helpful.  I have been working with midwife Carol Gautschi and she recommends a list of vitamins, not just a prenatal.  Check out her list here http://gentlebirths.net/22/getting-started/.  I am telling you it helps keep energy up, prevent illness, and much more.  Plus she has all her clients take and herbal infusion http://gentlebirths.net/17/herbal-pregnancy-blend/.  I have found that taking this I have less morning sickness and each herb has many more benefits.  In talking with Carol at my last appointment she even said it helps prevent postpartum bleeding.  I know I have not had any major bleed problems and I had retained placenta two times before working with Carol. 

I have also been taking Dr Rons doc's best and calcium https://www.drrons.com/key-nutrients-formulas.htm since I was pregnant with my first baby.  I take the doc's best instead of a prenatal.  It has everything in it, just like a prenatal, but I know that is made from good sources. 

To add to being healthy, sleep is also very important.  It seems so easy, but getting into a good sleep routine is not always simple.  With baby number one I rarely went to bed before 11PM and I never wanted to be up around 6 AM when my baby was up.  I felt a mess all day, longing for the naps I could take when the baby was sleeping and I never really felt rested.  I figured if I had to get up so much in the night, I might as well stay up until I was done with the first night feeding.  Now, I just go to bed when I can.  My goal is before 10 PM and closer to 9 PM.  I am a much more fun mommy if I sleep.  Even getting up for feedings is less stressful if I can try to aim for around seven hours of sleep total a day.  Now my husband and I barely use an alarm clock.  We usually get woken up by a baby, but even if we don't we wake up anyway.  It is great.  I hate waking up to beeping. 

So pregnancy is not always easy and fun, but there are a few things one can do to make it just a bit better.  Just remember, take care of you and your baby and just that alone will make you feel better.