What You Put Into Your Body...

I received this article via email from Maren Schmidt at Kids Talk News...   A newspaper article written by a physician summarized a discussion on health with these words:  It's about what you eat and what you drink, what you breathe and what you think.   What you eat.  Putting the right food into our bodies is essential to good health, as well as physical and mental development.  Today we understand more about human nutrition than in the history of mankind.  In contrast, we've never had the opportunity to eat so many foods that are detrimental to our health.  A nutritionist half-joked with me, "If you see it advertised, don't eat it."  It is true enough though that fresh fruit and vegetables get very little advertising time compared to processed and fast foods.  When you have a choice eat more fresh than processed foods.   What you drink.  The best beverage we can drink is Earth Juice, aka as water or H2O.  Certain teas and coffee can have beneficial health benefits.  Juices and soft drinks can create high blood sugar levels that affect the body's ability to metabolize the sugar in the drinks.  The body is about 90% water so it seems to make sense to drink water for optimum health.   What you breathe.  In the past 30 years our society has made great strides in cleaning up our air.  Cigarette smoke is now banned in most public places and the detrimental effects of second had smoke are well documented.  Industrial pollution has been reduced but is still high enough in urban areas to affect our health.  Indoor pollution, in either urban or rural areas, of household scents, animal dander, mold and petroleum by-products can affect the quality of the air we breathe and contribute to headaches, asthma, sinus problems, allergies, ear infections and more.  We need to think about what we breathe, indoors and out.   Also how you breathe is important.  Most of us do not take deep enough breaths to fully oxygenate our blood.  Feeling a bit in a mind muddle? Ten deep diaphragmatic breathes can bring needed oxygen to our brain, resulting in clearer thinking.   What you think.  Attitude is everything.  If we have a happy and healthy outlook on life, obstacles look like bumps in the road instead of insurmountable barricades.  We need to cultivate an attitude of positive optimism.  There will always be things that are wrong in our world.  Learning to focus on the good and the positive, while knowing that the unpleasant is still there, keeps our life moving in a forward direction.    Focusing on these four things-what you eat, what you drink, what you breathe and what you think-might just sum up how to have a happy healthy life.

Amazing

My Baby Journey - 102 Days to go!

Wow!!! I haven't blogged about my baby countdown in a couple of weeks. Time is going by SO fast! Since my last post, we have completely finished the baby room. The furniture is in, bedding is on, changing table is ready and the room is painted. Oh, not to mention the closet - Geneveve has a closet full of clothes to get her started. :D

My diet has changed a little bit - I'm starting to be hungry all day long!!!! It has been challenging to keep healthy foods prepared in the fridge for me to munch on so I have come up with a couple ways to help in this area....

Frozen fruit smoothies - I have been getting mixed frozen fruit and keeping it in the freezer. That way, at any time during the day I get hungry, I can pour it into the blender and have a healthy (no preservative, no sugar added) snack.

Frozen homemade-from-scratch vegetable soups - On the weekends, I've been spending a good deal of time preparing different soups for the week. I start with fresh produce and lean meats - the soups are so hearty and yummy! Freezing them in serving size containers make it so much easier to toss on the stove and warm throughout the day.

I would imagine that for the remainder of my pregnancy (only one more trimester to go!) I will be mentioning these smoothies and frozen soups/stews in my "Today I ate" baby countdown sections.

***
As of today, my baby has 101 days to go before she is due to meet the world! Today, as always, I spent lots of time reading to the other infants I care for and I know Geneveve really enjoyed listening. :)
***
Today I ate
Breakfast: Smoothie (1 cup mixed frozen fruit, 8 oz milk, 2 tbsp peanut butter)
Late lunch: Warm Sausage & Cabbage Stew with celery, carrots & onions.
Mid-Afternoon Snack: Wheat Crackers & Cheese
Dinner: Veggie Saute - Squash, Zucchini, Onion & Sweet Bell Peppers Sauteed with Lemon Herb seasoning & fresh lemon juice. Garlic Bread on the side.
Beverage total: 5 glasses of water & 1 cup of coffee
Daily Exercise: walking for 45 minutes
Total weight gain to date: 7 lbs



3-D Sonogram at 21 wks!

My Baby Countdown: 122 Days to go!

As of today, my baby has 125 days to go before she is due to meet the world!
Today, I read to my baby one of my favorite children's books of all time: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Every time I read this book it makes me cry and I hope little Geneveve knows I will, indeed, love her forever...
***
Today I ate
Breakfast:1 bowl of granola cereal with milk
Lunch: Salad with diced celery, diced green onions, cubed cheese, shredded carrots & thinly sliced radishes. Tossed with a little ranch and salt & pepper.
Snack: 1 apple
Dinner: Quesadilla Salad from Chili's without the chicken. Salad had tomatoes, corn relish, shredded cheese & tortilla strips with citrus balsamic dressing.
Beverage total: 6 glasses of water & 4 glasses iced tea
Daily Exercise: gardening for 45 minutes
Total weight gain to date: 5 lbs

My Baby Countdown: 123 days to go!

Today, I spent an hour or so updating my pregnancy scrapbook. As I put in my new sonogram pictures and made notes about the past few weeks, I read some of them aloud to Geneveve... It was fun to spend this time reflecting and talking to my little one. :)
***
Today I ate
Breakfast:Oatmeal with raisins, dates & walnuts
Lunch: Small cheeseburger with pickles and onions, handful of french fries.
Snack: One apple
Dinner: Salad with chopped celery, green onions, shredded carrots, sliced radishes and cabbage, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. 1/2 cup chicken salad with whole wheat crackers.
Beverage total: 1 cup coffee & 6 glasses water
Daily Exercise: walking the dogs for 30 minutes.
Total weight gain to date: 5 lbs

My Baby Countdown: 124 Days to go!

Today, little Geneveve has 124 days to grow before she is due to meet the world! We marked this day by going to the doctor and receiving great news that she is indeed, most probably, a girl and that she is very healthy.
I spent a good deal of time being thankful and welling up with tears of joy that my pregnancy has continued to go so very well. I wanted to tell her that I love her so very much so again, I read to her: I Love you Forevery by Robert Munsch. I also wanted to tell her a story about children with wonderful imaginations so I read: Where the Wild Things are, by Maurice Sendak. I hope she enjoyed them as much as I did!
***
Today I ate
Breakfast:Oatmeal with raisins, dates & walnuts
Lunch: Hearty salad tossed with ranch dressing, shredded carrots & radishes
Snack: two quesadilla wedges
Dinner: Crock pot cream of mushroom chicken & rice with green beans
Beverage total: 1 cup coffee & 6 glasses water
Daily Exercise: cleaning the house for 45 minutes! lol
Total weight gain to date: 5 lbs

My Baby Countdown: 125 days to go!

As of today, my baby has 125 days to go before she is due to meet the world!
Today, I read to my baby one of my favorite children's books of all time: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Every time I read this book it makes me cry and I hope little Geneveve knows I will, indeed, love her forever...
***
Today I ate
Breakfast:1 bowl of granola cereal with milk
Lunch: Salad with diced celery, diced green onions, cubed cheese, shredded carrots & thinly sliced radishes. Tossed with a little ranch and salt & pepper.
Snack: 1 apple
Dinner: Quesadilla Salad from Chili's without the chicken. Salad had tomatoes, corn relish, shredded cheese & tortilla strips with citrus balsamic dressing.
Beverage total: 6 glasses of water & 4 glasses iced tea
Daily Exercise: gardening for 45 minutes
Total weight gain to date: 5 lbs

My 2nd Trimester Baby Bump!

A Sigh of Relief at my 20wk OB Appt...

Today, I nervously went in for my 20 week OB appointment. The reason I was nervous for my appointment.... For the past month, I have been having some major discomfort in my tummy area... One of the discomforts is on the left side and feels like a runner's cramp. This comes and goes but I usually feel this discomfort more days than not. Additionally, and more worrisome for me, I've been having discomfort & pain in what I would call the "hammock" of my belly... This area is below the belly button and reaches from one hip area to another. This discomfort and the worry was so much that I got a belly band to support my pregnant belly until the day for another doctor's appointment came. I tried to remain calm because I have not experienced any bleeding or fluid leakage which could be associated with any particular negative outcome.
Another reason I was nervous is that I haven't felt my baby move more than a couple of times and from what I've read and heard from others, I really should be feeling her move by now! I thought I felt my baby move last Friday night. I was resting on the couch with my feet up and reading one of my pregnancy books, Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn by Penny Simkin. I felt a little flutter on my right side - this particular feeling I had never experienced and I was just SURE it was my baby. :) So that gave me some comfort.
Anyway, by the time my appointment came this morning at 11:30, I had gotten myself so worked up that my blood pressure, when taken by the nurse, was WAY too high. I explained my worries (and luckily by the end of the appointment my blood pressure was back to normal.)
When I spoke to the doctor about my pains, I was surprised to find that this is actually pretty normal. I kept thinking to myself - really??? But, apparently, that's why baby and maternity stores sell the belly bands - to provide the very, very much needed support to bellies that are growing larger than they have ever been before. And my doctor reiterated that this IS my first pregnancy so I can expect a little more stretching and discomfort for the remainder of my nine months.
Regarding fetal movement, I was very interested to find out why on Earth I hadn't been feeling my little one move. During the sonogram, it was explained that I have an anterior placenta. Anterior placentas are located near the top of the uterus (presently right behind my belly button) and are in the front, rather than the back. As this was being explained, I began to understand the "why" question I had been asking before. Since the placenta is coiled and floating just behind the uterine wall, every time my baby moves or kicks, she kicks the cord instead of the side of the uterus and therefor it cannot be felt by the nerves just under my belly skin. So that explained it!!
Needless to say,  I was so relieved after my appointment that it took a few hours to realize all of the wonderful things the doctor had to say... our baby girl is strong, healthy, growing right on target. :)

Sonogram 9 Weeks

We had our second sonogram and the baby actually looks like a baby now! If you look closely, you can see a tiny foot at the top of the two leg buds. We got to hear the heartbeat too, which was much stronger than last time. You guessed it - we're absolutely thrilled!

My Baby Journey - Vomiting & Vitamin Deficiency

Nearly 10 weeks along, I'm happy, excited, a little anxious, and eagerly awaiting the completion of my first trimester. Since my last post about morning sickness, I have to say that I've continued to feel very nauseated and vomiting more frequently. I'm extremely tired... to the point I literally want to take naps every day (not that I'm actually able to of course!). When my 11 hour workday ends each evening, I eat dinner, take vitamins and, leaving room for little else, find myself retiring to bed for the night... In case you're asking yourself "what's the perfect amount of sleep?", I'll share that averaging about 10 hours of sleep helps me feel the best when I awake each morning.
On another note, I received a call last week from my OB/GYN to discuss my most recent blood test. The results? I have vitamin deficiencies in both iron & b12. I've been borderline anemic during my adult life which has been primarily caused by heavy flow periods. I thought that since I'd been taking a daily prenatal vitamin for the past year (in preparation for conception) that I would avoid any deficiencies once I got pregnant. I was surprised at the blood test results of course, but I'm glad to know now so early in my pregnancy.
My doctor has instructed me to continue the daily prenatal along with a prescription grade supplemental vitamin (thank goodness she gave me samples enough for about a month!). At first, the double dose of vitamins upset my stomach more than usual, but now, I just make sure I eat a carb-dense dinner and go straight to bed. Actually, this has helped me to keep weight on since I had been losing weight due to frequent vomiting.
Later this week, I have another prenatal appointment and I'm absolutely THRILLED to share more sonogram pictures. :)

My Baby Journey - Morning Sickness & Such

I knew long before I got pregnant that "morning sickness" is different for every mommy. I also knew that it sometimes lasts only the first trimester, and sometimes lasts the entire pregnancy....
My "morning sickness" started out as midnight sickness. I would get up during the middle of the night (sometimes multiple times per night) and be sick. Sometimes it was pretty severe with dry heaving, and other times it would be as simple as walking to the bathroom, vomiting, and going back to bed. I try to remember to keep a hair tie on my night stand so I can pull my hair back on the way to the restroom - not glamorous but it works!
I still have to get up during the night, but now, it's happening when I wake up in the morning and sometimes after breakfast! Occasionally throughout the day but not usually.
One thing I've done to cope with the frequent vomiting is to just eat through the nausea. It feels weird to make myself eat when I have an upset stomach but after I do it, I feel a lot better. I'm extremely busy during the day, so I'm wondering if I'm digesting my daytime meals more quickly because of the activity... if so, this is probably helping curb the nausea. It seems that when I wake up during the night, I'm throwing up undigested dinner from 5 or 6 hours before - gross! Needless to say, I have started eating lighter dinners!

My Baby Journey (sonogram & heartbeat)

As soon as we discovered the amazing news, we hopped online to find a new ob/gyn. I have a gynecologist which I've gone to for about ten years, however, the drive to his office is a little far. Since I'm now running a business from my home, I'm opting for a closer ob/gyn, especially for the much more frequent pregnancy appointments.
We found an amazing doctor right in our area and had the first appointment on Wednesday at 4:00. I was nervous all day. (Neither of us slept the night before!) I tried to keep my mind occupied throughout the day, however, my thoughts kept drifting back to the appointment... what would it be like?... will I get to see anything?... is everything okay so far???
We arrived right on time and as soon as we were taken back to our room, the nurse came in and put us at ease. She confirmed our pregnancy! Then, she invited us to the sonogram room where I was instructed to change. One surprise I had was that it was a VAGINAL SONOGRAM. Okay, I should have expected this but for some reason I was thinking it would be the kind of sonogram where they'd rub jelly on my tummy and then we'd see a picture on the screen. No. The vaginal sonogram wasn't as scary as the initial surprise let on. The sonogram wand was about 12 inches long (only about 3 inches were actually inserted) and about 1 inch wide. The doctor had turned off the lights in the room. On the monitor, we were able to see a little pac-man looking circle that kept flashing. She told us that was our baby at 6 weeks - the 'flashing' was actually the beating of the baby's heart. I was so amazed and excited. Tears filled my eyes to the brim. She said that normally, you can't hear the heartbeat this early, so we shouldn't get our hopes up that high. But, after turning the volume up all the way on her machine - there it was! A little thump thump, thump thump. Brett & I just looked at each other in disbelief! We are going to be parents.

My Baby Journey (week 6)

Yesterday, on New Year's Day, 2012, my husband & I found out (after two years of trying to conceive) that we're PREGNANT! I will never forget the look on Brett's face when I brought the at-home pregnancy test into the living room with a stunned grin and handed it to him. I thought he'd tip over the coffee table as he lunged toward me, hugging me, both of us beaming with joy. I had felt that I may be pregnant for a few weeks prior, but, even as a birth educator, I explained away the symptoms. One reason I did this is that I wasn't having morning sickness. Rather, it was midnight sickness. It was always after something slightly different for dinner, so I thought, well, it was just something I ate. Looking back over the past month or so, I admit that I'd been a little more emotional and a little more tired than normal (more very typical signs of pregnancy). But, I'd been feeling great otherwise! So, here we are on January 2nd - about to schedule our first prenatal appointment and - WOW - I couldn't have a wider range of emotions!