Another Raw Pregnancy...

[heabrook]

I am pregnant, 4 weeks. I posted a thread under health related earlier this week because I thought that I was starting my menstrual cycle. I had some lower back pain and spotting. A flow never started and so I started to wonder why. I asked my mom about it and she said that some women spot during pregnancy.

So.. my husband and I took a pregnancy test and... the rest is history!

It was not unexpected, because I had been tracking my fertility (to avoid pregnancy) but then we decided to try on a day when I was fertile.

This is our first pregnancy. I am having some nausea and am feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

I am so glad that I am raw though because I really think that it is going to help both myself and the baby.

I am taking a prenatal by New Chapter. It is a whole-food prenatal, not synthetic.

Also..........We are just trying to learn as much as possible since we have never been through this before.

If anyone has any advice or recommendations that would be great. I know JMD just announced her pregnancy recently, so we are pretty close together on that one :)

One question, does anyone have any experience with stretch marks? What can be put on the stomach to help reduce them etc? I know of cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E. I wonder which is the best, or all together maybe?

[Sharon in Colorado]

So.. my husband and I took a pregnancy test and... the rest is history!




Wow - that *is* history, your hubby taking a pregnancy test! ;)

Congratulations to you!

I didn't experience stretch marks until after the third preganancy and a lot of unhealthy weight gain on the SAD. I believe if you are eating a high water content raw diet and staying active, you will do great.

Have you checked out Jinjee from www.thegardendiet.com? She has an excellent e-book about her pregnancy and her stomach was flat as a pancake 10 days after she gave birth.

[heabrook]

lol, after I wrote that I knew it sounded funny... :)

Thanks for the web site, I will check it out! I am starting to do prenatal yoga and other prenatal exercises. I'm not sure if that is necessary yet... since I am only 4 weeks, but I don't want to do anything too strenuous either so I think it is best to stick with prenatal-approved exercises. I am an active person to begin with.

[faith4u]

Congratulations!!

How exciting! The only advice I have is to do what you can but don't stress about it too much. Your frame of mind is more important than every morsel that goes into your mouth.

Let us know if being raw helps with morning sickness. I have had terrible morning sickness with my last two pregnancies. The first three months I couldn't eat anything raw besides an occasional piece of fruit. I lived off of bland cooked starches like potatoes and rice. I went raw at the beginning of my last three months with my last pregnancy. I have often wondered if I was all raw or high raw if I would have still had the morning sickness. Not only that I would have tried to live off of nothing but green smoothies during that time if only I had known.

[prana]

What a happy time!

You may already be familiar with this site, but if not, check out mothering.com (www.mothering.com) for tons of information on natural childbirth/rearing. They have a discussion forum that is excellent for new moms looking for information.


:D :) :D

[Lunar*Fey]

CONGRATULATIONS Heather!!!! :)
You'll have to post pictures and let us know ALLL about the little one once he/she is born. how exciting :)

[heabrook]

faith4u -- You are extremely right... my state of mind is one of the most important aspects. :)

prana -- Thanks for the web site. I will definitely check it out.

Lunar*fey ---- Thank you :D I will definitely post pictures. I will also post pictures throughout the pregnancy so that it can be a reference for other people who become pregnant and want to eat raw or are already eating raw.

Also, I am feeling nauseated right now so I made a green smoothie. I am hungry, but the nausea is making me feel like not eating. A green smoothie seemed like the best choice.

[moonstone523]

Congrats!

I want belly pictures along the way!!! :cool:

[Denise Nicole]

Congratulations! :)

[Pailani]

Aha! I knew it! You posted a couple of days ago about feeling nauseous, and that was my first thought. Congratulations! Becoming a mom was the best thing that ever happened to me.

[Nenyath]

How wonderful! Congratiolations and all the best for the three of you! :D

Fly forever free..

[shakti17]

congrats! :)

[Guppy]

Congratulations! I do hope your nausea will not be too bad. Rest A LOT!

As for stretch marks, I have 'em. I gained over 50 lbs with each pregnancy on a horrible binge-eating SAD diet. I imagine your diet will be somewhat better, lol! That being said, the silvery stretch marks, the TWO c-section scars, the changes to post-nursing breasts, well they all make me feel like I used my body for its intended purpose. I do not mind these physical changes. They are the marks I got on the path of life!

All the best,
emily

[Pailani]

One question, does anyone have any experience with stretch marks? What can be put on the stomach to help reduce them etc? I know of cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E. I wonder which is the best, or all together maybe?

I never did a thing about them, and, after four kids, I never got any. I'm a pretty firm believer that it's a hereditary thing.

[cassidy]

Congratulations! I am so overjoyed for you!
I got a few little stretchmarks on my lower belly, bum, and boobies. LOL can you tell I'm a Mom by my choice of words?
I used a lot of coconut butter and vitamin E oil during my pregnancy. I actually cherrish my stretchmarks... it is just a memory of my pregnancy and the beginning stages of life for my daughter.
Stay active and have fun. Be happy and laugh a lot.

[heabrook]

Aww thank you all for your comments, you guys are great!! :)

and I definitely will post pictures throughout the pregnancy. I am converting my online journal to a pregnancy journal now. :D

[twinyoga]

Congrats.

I believe that stretch marks are hereditary. I gained just over 70lbs. with my twins and have no stretch marks. True, I did pour almond oil on my belly every day, but I know people who only gain 20lbs. and get stretch marks. My nurses were amazed that I had no stretch marks. And neither my Mom or sister have stretch marks, either.

[heabrook]

Thanks twinyoga.

We are searching for a midwife because we want to have a home birth. I also want to learn more about water births because I absolutely love being in water.

[JMD]

HEABROOK!!!

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO THRILLED FOR YOU!!! I got chills reading this!!!

I am actually using cocoa butter and oil on my breast right now---I am 9 weeks tomorrow and my rack is HUGE!! LOL.

I am wishing so much much love and rest over these next months. YOu can surely email me personally at my yahoo address as I will not be on this site for a while. (I am a teacher and tend not to do a lot of computer stuff over the summer except personal emails.)

HUGS times a million!!!
JMD

PS. Since it is warmer out here--I , too, am eating banana ice cream like it is going out of style.....:) I put froz. raspberries in mine too and mango sometimes for a treat!!! u r not alone there!!

[heabrook]

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it. I wish you the very best during your pregnancy too. I hope you have a great and relaxing time off as well. :)

I would like to keep in touch to see how you are doing, if you are eating all raw or not etc..... I am eating all raw and trying to find a midwife that will not criticize it, especially from the protein aspect because some people believe you can only get protein from animal sources :rolleyes:

[denisedeland]

Congrats.... that is wonderful news.. I wish you a wonderful pregnancy...

Denise

[Sheryl]

Heabrook - check out Amazon - the selection of water birthing and natural birth books they have is simply amazing!!! We haven't started trying yet... but it's fun to read up!

Cheers,
Sheryl

[JMD]

HEABROOK....

:) Feel free to email me anytime at my YAHOO account--i would love to chat with you....

:)jmd

[mrsalf97]

Congratulations! I hope to eventually have a raw pregnancy too. I have horrible stretch marks, I gained 43 pounds with ds. I know of another natural parenting forum if you are interested just let me know.

Shannon

[heabrook]

Congratulations! I hope to eventually have a raw pregnancy too. I have horrible stretch marks, I gained 43 pounds with ds. I know of another natural parenting forum if you are interested just let me know.

Shannon

I would definitely like to know about that natural parenting forum. I am interested in any information or suggestions that anyone has. :)

[cassidy]

Hi there,
Have you found a midwife yet? How are you feeling... I am so excited for you! I am hoping you will keep us updated on your raw pregnancy (for those of us that hope to do the same in the future:) I hope all is well!

[heabrook]

Hi there,
Have you found a midwife yet? How are you feeling... I am so excited for you! I am hoping you will keep us updated on your raw pregnancy (for those of us that hope to do the same in the future:) I hope all is well!

Not yet, hubby and I are going to set up some interviews for this Friday. I hope to find one by then so that I can go ahead and get a check up and etc.

I'm doing pretty well, except for this past weekend.. I was sick.. If you see my thread "Fainted..." in the health section, you'll see that I vomited and lost a lot of liquids and then fainted twice when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I am feeling better today, but my stomach is still uneasy. I hope to feel back to normal by tomorrow though. I must have had a touch of the flu. My sister-in-law said that she almost fainted twice when she was pregnant, and found out that she had a slight iron deficiency. Maybe that is why I fainted too.

[cassidy]

Oh wow! Yuk, I hope you feel better soon. When I was pregnant I had anemia (iron deficient) as well. I felt the same as how you described. I never actaully fainted but I could see how it could easily happen. It is easy to get a quick test to see if you are. It is very common to be iron defficient during pregnancy. I just started taking iron supplements and monitered my calicium intake, as it interferes with the uptake of iron. I hope you feel better soon!

[heabrook]

Thanks cassidy. I think that I will be okay. I don't think what I experienced is anything unusual, and I am feeling better instead of worse so that is a good sign as well. I'm just going to rest today like I did yesterday.

[Summerloco]

Hi Heabrook, you probably haven't seen me before because I just started, but....I saw your post and still wanted to say Congratulations! :D Are you hoping to have a girl or a boy?



Steffie

[denisedeland]

How are you feeling? I hope you don't get morning sickness to bad..

Denise

[IamLoved]

Hi!

I noticed in your journal that you said you drank a cup of pregnancy tea. Would that be the red raspberry leaf tea? I drank a ton of that stuff when I was preganat with #4, and #5 and I really think it helped me a lot. It gets rather expensive to buy all the little individual tea bags though. If you want you can purchase the herbs separetly in bulk and make up you own mixture.
Here is what I used
red raspberry leaf
peppermint
nettle

Buy the herbs in bulk and then mix them together. The nettle is good for your blood, the peppermint makes the tea taste yummy and the red rapsberry nourishes your uterus. You can mix it in any size you want, a good recipe is 2 cups red raspberry leaf, 1 cup nettle and 1 cup peppermint and then use it as you need it. To make 1 cup of tea use a heaping tsp of the herb mixture, allow to steep and then strain. I used to make a big pitcher of this and drink it as an ice tea during the hot summer months. I used 3 Tbsp for 8 cups, let it steep and then strained and stuck it in the fridge overnight to chill. It was yummy.

I hope you are able to find your midwife. I had a midwife for my last 3 births and she was wonderful.

Also I highly recomend getting a doula. They are fantastic. If you can not afford one ask around to see if there are any "doula's in training" that will attend you for free. Your midwife should be able to point you in the righ direction or you can do a search online. They have to attend a certain number of births for free before they become certified. That is how I got my doula, and she was wonderful. The midwife and hospital staff (we could not afford the homebirth we wanted as it was $2000.00 vs free at the hospital) are looking after the baby, hubby is a little lost and not quite sure how to help you but the doula, ah the doula, she is focused on you and your needs. Mine was a gem!

All the best to you! I am very excited for you!!!! I love being pregnant ( I am unfortunaely not right now) and I love being a mama!

Enjoy this amazing, wonderful adventure!

[apuriana]

Congratulations! I hope everything goes geat! :)

[Lay-Lay]

apuriana:

I know you probally didn't mean it in away that would hurt someone, but I found your words on miscarriages a bit hurtful. I don't mean to be overly sensitive, but this is very much a soft spot with me and I many others too. Your talking about peoples babies and I felt you are just throwing them around like statics. Like I said I am sure you didn't mean it that way.

Heabrook,

I am sooooo excited for you. I can't wait to see some pictures of your pregnancy. How is raw going? Take care of you and baby.

[heabrook]

Summerloco -- Thanks. We would like to have a girl, but it does not matter really.. just a happy, healthy baby :)

denisedeland -- I am feeling okay and I am not having morning sickness very badly at all.

Missionary --- The tea that I drank was an already made tea bag of pregnancy tea with organic herbs. I have many bulk herbs and I make my own teas, but I do like the convenience of having the pregnancy tea already made up so I purchased a box. I may go ahead and make my own up though instead of buying them by the box. Thanks for all of your suggestions. We are going to meet with a midwife tomorrow (an initial visit, to see if it is a good match).

Apuriana -- I am sure you didn't mean harm, but I too thought what you said was pretty harsh. It is a personal decision as to when they want to announce, and I do not see anything wrong with announcing early. In my opinion, I think it is sad when people do not announce because they are afraid of miscarriage. They are setting themselves up for possible failure. You have to maintain a positive attitude. Whatever happens happens, but there is nothing wrong with announcing your pregnancy early IMO. And obviously, I am more than 4 weeks along now.

Also, we think that I may have actually been 5 weeks pregnant instead of 4 weeks as we had originally thought. We hope that a midwife can help us figure that out though. I may well be 7 weeks now. I definitely think that I am further along than we had thought originally.

[spicyfull]

Congratulations.........Raw, Raw, Raw...........

[Sharon in Colorado]

apuriana you have the option of deleting or amending your post. I found it inappropriate myself. I am so very sorry that you have had so many bad experiences. However, your negative stories and experiences are not something that belong in this thread, this is a thread about an excited first-time mom announcing her happy news. I have to wonder if you secretly want to bring her down.

I don't think you would like it if someone were to steal your thunder if you were to excitedly announce you were going raw and you got a response about all the terrible things that are happening to them. This is a support board for heaven's sake.

Heabrook you will have an awesome pregancy, and a wonderful delivery. There are many midwives to chose from that I'm sure you will love. When shopping for a midwife, make sure you are completely comfortable with everything, and don't hesitate to look around until you are.

[Apasaraw]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1818222,00.html

Interesting article and mornign sickness being related to cooked foods and non vegan fare...

[Lay-Lay]

Hey just wanted to check on heabrook!

How are you? How is the pregnancy going? How are you feeling?

[Lay-Lay]

I also wanted to ask: what is pregnancy tea?

[Pailani]

Hey just wanted to check on heabrook!

How are you? How is the pregnancy going? How are you feeling?

Bumping this, she's been on my mind and I'm getting worried about her.

[heabrook]

Hi,

sorry for not posting in a while. I have rarely been on the computer. I have not been feeling good :(

I have had lots of nausea.. uugh.. And after I got sick (with the throwing up, chills, etc) I could not eat anything that I wanted to eat. I have been eating some cooked. :( But I decided to not beat myself up over it. I could not help it, everything that I normally liked would make me feel like gagging just thinking about it! :mad:

So meanwhile, I am learning to knit. I hope to be able to increase my food choices soon when the nausea / food aversions decrease. Anyone else experience this?? For example, I had cut up some avocado (I love eating it even just by itself) and put it in a bowl along with other stuff that I was eating. I ate a few bites and then started to feel sick! I pushed it aside and gave it to dh. I tried to force myself to eat things (like the raw pizza bread, I was eating this like crazy but now the smell grosses me out) but it just results in more nausea and the feeling of having to throw up.

I do not understand why my body is rejecting the food that I know is good for me and what I want! I'm not eating bad cooked, still vegan and lots of veggies but still cooked!

My first midwife appointment is for August 5th. We are looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat.

Also ---- pregnancy tea is a blend of herbs that is beneficial during pregnancy. I have some by Traditional Medicines but you can also mix your own. I will probably mix my own now that I have the ingredients.

Thanks for asking about me!!! I'll try to update more.

I had made it to a month raw, and then boom! It is so disappointing, especially since I didn't choose this. I do not understand my body right now. :o

[Jamie]

Heabrook~

I just want to encourage you. First trimester can be soooooo hard!!! I have heard many, many women who have been raw before conceiving, not be able to stay on it during the first trimester. Our bodies are so full of hormones.
So be encouraged, you will start to feel better soon and will be able to get back on raw.
I was not raw my whole first trimester ( I am 33 weeks) but at 14 weeks I began and I have had the best pregnancy I have ever had!!!

Hope you start to feel better soon :)

Jamie

[lifelover]

I had my daughter and I eat naturally. I remember having odd cravings for things that I wasn't crazy about, like cucumbers, which I now love. I also craved coconuts and avocados which I usually didn't eat many of these normally. I remember feeling a little sick at my stomach and would drink citrus water and then I would be fine. It was the best experience of my life and I wouldn't have done anything different. It is such a wonderful gift. I know you will soon be holding your precious baby in your hands.

[English Tracy]

Heabrook - Congratulations!!!

I suggest you read Shazzie's journals as her daughter is now almost two and Shazzie wrote loads of stuff during her pregnancy and since. Her daughter Evie has never had cooked food in her life and is full of energy.

www.shazzie.com

Evie was born in August 2004 so start looking from about Jan/Feb 04 in Shazzie's journals. They make great reading!

Tracy

[Lay-Lay]

Glad you popped in too let us know how you are. Continue to let us know how things are going when you can. So happy for you.

[heabrook]

Okay, this was taken at about 10 weeks. Tomorrow will mark the first day of 11 weeks.

It's not much, but my stomach IS poking out. If I had a before picture it would be more obvious because before I was pregnant my stomach didn't poke out at all.

Dh and I notice the difference, and it is exciting that I have a baby bump :D

I am wearing maternity clothes too b/c my pants are too tight.

I will post another one later when it becomes more obvious that I have a pregnant belly.

http://www.dropshots.com/photos/118708/20020726/183338.jpg

[JennaBoBenna]

How sweet!

[Lay-Lay]

awwwww, how sweet. thank you for sharing!

[Pailani]

I'm so glad to hear that everything is on schedule! It's tough eating halfway healthy, much less all raw, when you're dealing with morning sickness. Please continue to keep us updated, no matter what you end up eating, I'd like to know how your pregnancy is going.

[Hitomi]

Do not feel guilty when you eat something cooked because of feeling sick or tired - it does not mean that you are not able to be 100% raw - those ocassional cooked 'bumps and twists of life' must not let you down.
I started Raw on the first day of my period (June1,2005) after which I got pregnant with my twin girls. During my pregnancy I frequently fell off the wagon - because of nausea, tiredness. Now my baby girls are 5.5mo and still exclusively breastfed. And I am still struggling to be 100% raw. Last two weeks were a complete 'disaster' - non-stop familiy celebrations (weddings, birthdays) and I had eaten not only cooked, I had even some real junk :mad: and one of my daughters' has got some allergic 'rash' - that is the most sever reprimand for me and the strongest argument to go back to raw.

[cassidy]

Oh wow.... what a darling picture. I remember standing in the mirror trying to figure out if there was a bump or not. I'm sorry you havn't been feeling well. I had the same feelings. A lot of foods that I normally loved I couldn't stand. My favorite thing durning my first trimester were berry smoothies. ALL the time with the smoothies. Then towards the end smoothies made me sick. Probably because I drank so many. Anyway it'll pass and new things will start happening. It is all so very exciting! I'm so happy for you!

[Rawkinlocs]

bumping up for Kate....

[rawfoodmommy#1]

Thanks twinyoga.

We are searching for a midwife because we want to have a home birth. I also want to learn more about water births because I absolutely love being in water.
First of all congrats to you. I had my baby at home and it was born in water. It was magical. I would strongly recommend water birth. The warm water helps with the pain. And even though I wasn't 100% raw during pregnancy but I never had any morning sickness or nausea, so it does help being raw vegan during pregnancy and it is the best thing for your baby. Eat small bites but often and eating fruit is good. I would not recommend taking any supplements or any medicine because it might hurt the baby. I never took anything and my baby was born very healthy and is still healthy and strong. Of coarse every one is different, so judge for yourself.
Exercising is very important, too. I jogged all the way till I was 5 months and till the last moment I was walking and doing light exercises . believe me it helped a lot.
Gods blessings to you on your pregnancy