Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My Take on Pregnancy

     OK, here is a picture of me when I was almost due with my last baby.  It was 2 weeks until his due date and I wasn't real happy with my darling husband taking this picture.  Anyway, I have actually had 10 full term pregnancies (I had one precious son who was still-born in 2000, but that's another blog post.) Since I have gone through so many pregnancies and also am an RN that worked on a high-risk prenatal floor for 2 years, I thought I would give some "pregnancy bullet points" as I call them.  So here goes:

1.  Morning sickness is yucky and I've tried just about everything to stop it.  Nothing really works, you just has to persevere through it.  Thankfully you will get amnesia regarding this and really not remember how bad those 8 weeks were.  But, I have found that hot tea and toast in the morning is a life-saver, as well as Vit. B6, and eating protein and carbs basically all the time.  Don't worry about weight gain at this time, just get through it.
2.  Keep exercising through out the pregnancy, unless your doctor or mid-wife has told you otherwise.  I usually can't exercise much the first trimester, but when I'm feeling better than I go back to my regular routine of 3 days of cardio alternated with 3 days of strength.  I do love the book "Pregnancy Pilate's."  It has a great routine for each trimester and I do that once or twice a week for my strength day.  Walking is great for cardio.  I did jog through half of a few pregnancies, but I don't think that's really the best for your uterus if you plan on having a lot of babies.
3.  Take childbirth classes (I love the Bradley Method) for your first pregnancy and we even took a refresher course during our second pregnancy.  I really wanted to avoid a c-section and managed to until #8.
4.  Eat healthy and really don't double your intake (which I did with my first baby and gained almost 50lbs).  I love the Brewer Diet (you can google it) for pregnancy, even though I probably only followed it strictly for 2 of my pregnancies.) I do allow myself to have one dessert a day as long as my weight isn't creeping up too much.  I do usually gain 35-40 pounds each time.
5.  As far as getting the weight off, breastfeed and exercise is what I tell women.  Try to exclusively breastfeed for at least 6 months and them keep breastfeeding until at least 12 months.  This keeps your body making lots of milk and burning calories.  Get breastfeeding support.  You may need to do this before the baby is born.
6.  Enjoy the pregnancy.  I treat each pregnancy like it were my last.  You just never know if you will carry a precious little one again.  Buy cute clothes ( I love Target and ebay for this) and indulge yourself some.
7.  Rest everyday on your left side-especially the last trimester.  This keeps fluid down and is good for the baby and you.  Get good sleep at night now and be all ready for baby by 37 weeks, cause you never know!

Well, I know this isn't all inclusive, but it's all I have time for today.  Feel free to ask any questions!  

11 comments:

  1. What a great list!! Thanks for sharing from a Mama who's been there done that. :)
    Jessica

    ReplyDelete
  2. HI there,I totally agree that breastfeeding helps to loose weight quicker

    ReplyDelete
  3. For some reason, this list made me laugh. Maybe because my list would look like this: 1. Hang in there. 2. Endure. 3. Suck it up and deal with it. 4. This too will come to pass. 5. Repeat steps 1-4.

    Can you tell pregnancy is not my favorite thing? And I'm only on #7! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love being pregnant. I miss being pregnant. I see a pregnant woman and want to be her! And by the way..you look fabulous pregnant. Do you think you'll have more children? Do you hate when people ask you that?? :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. You may not have wanted the picture take, but I think you look awesome!! I will have to check out the brewers diet next time. I put on 54 with my first, but to be fair he was 10lbs 2oz 2 weeks early. No GD but Pre-e... Thanks for sharing the list!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post!
    I love being pregnant! When I'm not pregnant, I miss being pregnant. And when I am pregnant, I cherish the time 100%. I can truly say that I am at my happiest when I'm pregnant and holding another baby on my hip. I love this time in life :)

    We were expecting baby #10 this Christmas, but sadly I lost that baby in June at 11 weeks. This is our first loss, my first miscarriage. We were all so sad :( But, time is healing our hearts. Maybe we will be blessed again one day.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have gained a lot of weight with my pregnancies. With my first, I didn't know much about what to expect. I ate everything in sight and gained 77lbs. I put on around 40-50 with each pregnancy after. It really astonishes me, too, since I always lose a few pounds during the first trimester.

    I am pregnant with my seventh blessing, due in November. I am really having a terrible time with being able to eat anything and worried about losing too much weight. I have lost 5.6lbs. in the past three weeks. I looked into the Brewer Pregnancy Diet and think that it may be helpful. I would really like to hear how the diet worked for you. Did it ease nausea? Did you gain more weight?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I was pregnant with my 4th dtr, I basically had anorexia (lack of appetite), and lost 24 lbs in 2 mos. Not fun! But, after the 4th month I finally liked food again! ha ha! I gained the weight I needed, and the baby was fine :) So different from my other pregnancies...I would throw up constantly for about 2-3 mos! Stay strong!

      Delete
  8. Yes, the Brewer Diet did really help me with the morning sickness, even though it never went away completely. I also gained the most weight with my first and then after that, tried to watch it more with the other pregnancies. I always gain around 35-40 pounds, but I found that if I do as close to the Brewer Diet as possible, then I loose it faster afterwards cause most of the weight goes right to the baby and not my hips : ) I did loose alot of weight the first trimester with my second, but he ended up being my biggest baby. With the others, I usually just loose a pound or 2 because I stop working out so much and therefore since I'm not eating as much either, I don't loose very much. Does this make since?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post! I miss being pregnant . . . except for the last 8 weeks which feel like 8 months when you are HUGE and Uncomfortable! But 8 of my 10 babies were well over 9 pounds!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow! I have to say that you are an amazing mother (from what I've read), and look so young!Is #9 blessed with DS? My 4th dtr is, and we love her to death! I'm an RN, too, but haven't worked since 12/03. AND, we homeschool! Praises to you and your family!

    Rochelle
    Elk Grove, CA

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your comments! I love them and they keep me writing. I really do read each one.