Pregnant AND nursing--need suggestions please

[BlessedMommy]

I'm about 6 weeks pregnant and continuing to nurse my almost 2 year old. There's very little info on raw pregnancy and even less on moms nursing while pregnant. What dietary guidelines should I follow to make sure that I'm getting enough nutrients and calories for my growing baby and milk production?

Thanks!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I recommend to take supplement. Angstrom size mineral have done great thing for me, i took folic acid and vitamin D. I was vegetarian at the time and never have craving.

Now, you will find great nutriments by making green smoothies (fresh greens such spinach, kale, dandelion, persely etc you need to alternate them). There is supplement recommended which i didn't take at the time for i wasn't aware such maca, etc... I believe that Alissa may sell some in her website.

Most of all get follow by a doctor and get some blood test done. I was perfectly fine toward maybe 5-6 months pregnant, my iron was getting low, so this is then that i started to take angstrom size mineral (the only size of mineral that your body will absorb, just google).

Follow your guidance from your body, not your impulse but guidance. I never have food craving or was sick during my prenancy. I was only tired.

Congratulations!

[Veganforlife]

Also check out Jinjee's web site

www.thegardendiet.com

I bet you will find information on there...

You may wanna e-mail her too...

Oh and definitely - GREEN SMOOTHIES!!!

[Arctichicken]

Wow, I'm surprised you even got pregnant while nursing. While I don't really have any advice I just wanted to say congratualtions and best of luck! :)

[faith4u]

I just had a baby 3 weeks ago. I nursed my two year old the whole times and now am tandem nursing.

I didn't have to do anything different or take anything different. Everything worked out great.

Good luck

[Raw Angel Mom]

I just had a baby 3 weeks ago. I nursed my two year old the whole times and now am tandem nursing.

I didn't have to do anything different or take anything different. Everything worked out great.

Good luck

Pretty impressive, could you describe what your diet look like? Such %ratio of legume, nuts seed, fruits, greens and supplement???

Blessings!

[firefaery]

I nursed all the way through pregnancy and am still tandem nursing (a 2 and a 4 year old.) I had a completely raw pregnancy with my babe (well, toddler I guess...lol) and nursed dd copiously through it...she nursed probably 6-8 times a day minimum. I didn't supplement other than magnesium and zinc I believe. My babe was over 8 pounds at birth and neither of them even had any formula supplementation.

I recommend TONS of greens (I did green smoothies multiple times a day) and lots of mineral dense infusions (red raspberry, nettle, alfalfa....that kind of thing.) Best of luck.

And the the suprised pp...most of my friends and community do get pregnant while nursing....that's why tandem and triandem nursing is pretty common. Breastfeeding for various reasons is not the birth control many would like to believe it is.

[rawfoodmommy#1]

I join other women who say that there is no need for supplements. Fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds are perfect food for pregnant mama.

[BlessedMommy]

Wow, I'm surprised you even got pregnant while nursing. While I don't really have any advice I just wanted to say congratualtions and best of luck! :)

Actually most moms resume menstrual cycles before weaning.

My fertility was suppressed for quite a long while nursing, but I ovulated at around 19 months postpartum, and had a completely normal cycle after that, evidencing that my fertility had bounced back to normal right away, a little while later my DH and I decided to have another baby and were successful right away. I know that we were fortunate that things fell into place quickly, I have a friend who's nursing a 3 year old and has been trying to get pregnant for a long time without success.

[Sternenhimmel]

First of all, I think that it is really not neccessary to take folic acid while being on a raw food diet. Raw fruits and vegetables contain plenty of it.

Besides I have a question for you guys:
Don't you think that a ideal diet should be practicable without any supplements even for a pregnant woman?

[Thick]

There'sa book you could look into,"Adventures in Tandem Nursing".I'm not sure if it is published by La Leche but you definately check it out of their library if you have a meeting near you.La leche is also a good place to meet other moms who have tandem nursed.

I tandem nursed a 17 mo old and a newborn. In my experience (not raw at that time) my milk began to lessen around 4 months pregnant, and eventually was almost pure colostrum, I think that is pretty normal.

[Raw Angel Mom]

For the folic acid, it is true that in a raw diet this is very rich in that. I think what is important is to get followed up by a doctor and get some blood test done. Check if you are low in iron, B12 or anything important that is crucial for your child development in you. Sometime, the baby will take the mineral out of your teeth or bone if you don't have enough in your diet.

Dr.Gabriel Cousens has a say that this is more natural to be healthy then to deprive yourself from supplement if you need them. While carring a life within us, we are responsible for this life. So a follow up is very important.

Don't forget that the earth where most of our food growth has been demineralize and deprive of important food. Many typical nutriment aren't completely found in food. The stress level has also increase which lead to many human being with being low in zinc, etc.... so blood test is what i would get for sure.

After i gave birth i read contraversal about folic acid etc.... so doing research might be a good thing. Most of all, follow your gut instint. If i would of crave for meat, you bet that i would of eat it, but i didn't and i had a great pregnancy.

I am thrilled to read about the mommy that were raw and gave birth to healthy baby.

Blessings!

[muppet]

to help keep up your milk supply, i would recommend making some raw oatmeal.

[firefaery]

I will chime in again to say that some folks carry double markers for folate and require twice as much folic acid to meet requirements. As this is one of the major nutrients a growing baby needs, and a deficiency can result in midline defects it's best to be on the safe side IMO.

There are many natural ways to increase milk supply that are totally safe in pregnancy. Really, herbal infusions will be your friend.

[Theogirl]

I nursed my 2 yo through my second pregnancy and tandem nursed for 6 months afterward. I tried to stop during early pregnancy due to family pressure, but my son and I both missed it too much and resumed after a few weeks. Did he ever pack on the pounds when the new milk came in! Looking back, it's kind of good that I was nursing him, because his baby sister was just a touch early, very tiny and weak and not nursing well at the beginning and he sure kept that milk flowing! (We found out later that her little jaw was slightly twisted from the birth; after the baby chiro treatment she started putting on a pound a week!)
I wasn't raw at the time so I can't comment on that, other than wishing I had been so I'd have been getting better nutrition to pass on to them! If you have any extra weight to lose, from my experience, it will be GONE like that!