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!