2 More Days!

Well, we are scheduled to have this baby boy on Monday. Whoo hoo! I'm very excited and a bit scared, but I think all moms go through a bit of that before facing down labor and delivery, right?

It's been a rough week or so; I started showing signs of preeclampsia over a week ago and felt completely awful! I've been in L&D twice to be monitored, was dehydrated both times, had a UTI that needed IV antibiotics, and had high blood pressure that they debated admitting me for (my blood work came back still in normal ranges, so they sent me home). I also gained 8 pounds in 5 days from the swelling, so I was pretty miserable. Yuck!

And then the FedEx man came.

I love the FedEx guy. Not only does he give our dogs treats when he pulls in, he brings packages. This time, it was the Sunrider Calli Tea I'd ordered from my grandmother. I used this after I delivered Emily to help rid my body of the toxins and fluids from labor, and loved it. It's totally safe for pregnancy, so I decided to go ahead and start drinking it in the mornings.

Want to know what has changed?

Everything!

My blood pressure has completely stabilized, my lab work on Friday had remarkably improved, my energy level has shot through the roof, and I've lost five of those 8 pounds of fluids that I had gained so quickly. The keeps me in my goal of gaining 15-20 pounds during this pregnancy (right now I'm at 16 pounds gained). I've always remarked about the benefits of Calli Tea, but holy cow! I'm totally sold. I don't think I'll ever stop drinking it again (it's been about six months since I'd ordered a box).

Thank you, Grandma! :-D

A Slight Change to the Eating Plan

It has been 10 days since I changed my eating plan and so far, so good! I have had to change up a few things, but they are helpful. For instance, instead of my fruit/protein shake for breakfast, I'm actually eating a bowl of Cream of Wheat. Yes, I eat Cream of Wheat. And yes, I also love grits. I suppose I'm multi-cultural!

Why Cream of Wheat? Well, I'm running anemic, but added an additional supplement with my prenatal vitamin is too much for me and my little guy, so I'm back to the old standard I did during college. Did you know that one bowl of cream of wheat has 50% of your daily iron intake? Emily even eats it; I gave it to her as a baby starting at six months (instead of rice cereal), so she has enjoyed having it occasionally for breakfast again over the past week.

So anyway, yes, Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Then when the kiddos eat lunch (about 11:00), then I have my fruit/protein shake. More solid foods come around in the form of a light lunch around 1-2, then supper for dinner. I've actually had a lot less heartburn during the day with eating like this. My energy level goes up and down, but some days I blame on being pregnant. Yet it is nice to know that I'm eating enough calories now, even though half the day is liquid! Liquid is good when your tummy is squished up, so at this point, I don't care if I'm drinking them or not.

Emily and I have also been taking more walks; 4-5 times a week we will walk at least a mile once or twice a day. She loves it, and it's good for me and baby progression! :-) But anywhoo, the husband is asking for the computer, so I need to go. I will update more later!

Day 3 Is Done and Day 4 Has Begun

So yesterday was somewhat a yucky day, but most of that was due to severe lack of sleep. I woke up at 3 am with a bug in my hair; needless to say, there was no going back to sleep after that! I also didn't do my exercise in the morning, but did go on a mile walk before supper. I did sleep wonderfully last night, though; only up twice during the night. I also didn't drink as much as much as I'm supposed to, and I'm feeling the fatigue of that this morning as well.

I did have to see an orthopedic doctor yesterday and get fitted for bi-lateral wrist braces for pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. So I have to wear them 23 hours a day for the next two weeks, and then I'll be re-evaluated. So in the meantime, they make me feel very clumsy! I'm going to have to re-learn fine motor skills, I suppose. I was smart enough to make sure that I took them off before I started cooking dinner!

I'm trying a new combo of fruit smoothie today; 1/2 a kiwi, 4 strawberries, and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. I don't eat a lot of bananas and have been able to tell the last couple of days that I have been, so I think I need to move it to at least every other day.

Day 2: Finished!

So, day two of the new eating plan has come and (almost) gone. It's been a good day, though I'm tired tonight, probably due to the fact that I had to get up five times last night to go to the bathroom. *sigh* The joys of the last month of pregnancy!

Since it is Monday, today is a weigh-in day and I was thrilled to find that I had only gained a half a pound for this week. Yeah! That has been my goal over the last month, to keep it at half a pound a week during this 3rd trimester. Puts my total pregnancy weight so far at 12.4 pounds. As my OB wants me to keep it between 15-20 pounds, I actually think I will be able to manage that.

I did have quite a bit of energy earlier on in the day, and had to force myself to lay down for an hour while Emily napped. I dozed, but didn't really sleep. I did struggle with hunger more today, so I built in a couple more snacks into my menu tomorrow that still keeps me within my calorie goals.

I did love exercising this morning! I actually felt energized after 40 minutes of yoga, and then Emily and I walked a mile this afternoon while I was avoiding the munchies.

The biggest benefit I am doing on my own in all this is getting ready the night before. I plan my daily menu, plug it in, get as much done on meals for tomorrow that I can, and have been working on getting the house picked up as much as possible before bed. Maybe I'm nesting? I don't know... I am tired tonight, but I think a lot of that is the pain in my hands/wrists/arms. I should get my wrist braces tomorrow, and am hoping that will help keep the swelling down and pressure off of the nerves (I've been doing my hand exercises today and doing ice treatments tonight). A huge blessing is that my insurance covers the braces. Yeah!! I was hating the idea of having to pay for wrist braces that I will only use for a few weeks, but I called my company to see what coverage I have with medical supplies, and yep, they are covered so long as my doctor writes a prescription for them. He did late this afternoon, so I'll pick it up tomorrow and Lord willing, have them by the afternoon, if not sooner. :-)

A New Month, A New Eating Plan!

Some of you know (and most of you don't) that I've spent the last month weaning of a medication that I cannot take if I am going to nurse when our little guy is born. During this time, I've been researching healthy, natural ways to "make up" for what the medicine was designed for. I've found out some interesting facts, and have a new, healthier eating plan that I started today and am going use for the next couple of weeks to see if I see a difference.

In addition, I'm tracking my food intake/activities at http://www.fitday.com/, a free site I've used in the past as a food and weight journal while I've been losing weight. I wanted to use it again to make sure I'm eating enough calories, which I know I haven't been the past few weeks. Also, it is good accountability to me with my weight management during this pregnancy, which as of last Monday, I'd only gained a bit over 11 pounds, which I (and my OB!) have been very pleased with. We shall see tomorrow how much my weight has changed over the past week.

So how has my diet changed? Well, the most drastic changes are in the morning. Shortly after I get up, I drink an "activated water". Yes, stupid title, but that's what it is called, and used to get the digestive system and metabolism flowing! Basically, eight ounces of water + the juice of half a lemon + 1 teaspoon of honey + 1 ounce pure aloe vera juice. Shake it up really, really, good and drink!

After drinking my water mixture, it is exercise time, though the exercise can take place within the first 2 hours of waking. Why? Well, my body does not produce a certain hormone very well, and normal production time of that hormone is during the first 2 hours a woman is awake. If she is to exercise during that production time (which any exercise during the day boosts the hormone), it quadruples the amount of hormone produced! Cool, huh?

In the meantime, whether it is before or after exercise (I usually like after), the other big change is breakfast. I've always had it preached to me to never drink your calories, but a high recommendation I've found is to do a liquid breakfast, which a small snack a couple hours later if needed. The point of a liquid breakfast is to help ease the strain on the digestive system, which benefits the brain during hormone production.

Most people doing this will drink a smoothie of some sort, using fruit and a whey powder or peanut butter and flax meal or wheat germ for protein. As I'm pregnant, I'm not comfortable using a protein powder, even though I've found a couple all-natural whey powders, so I went the route of peanut butter/flax meal this morning. It was very good, and I wasn't hungry at until lunch time (though being the weekend, I did eat later than I normally do, so I will see how I do tomorrow).

Want the recipe? Keep reading!

Peanut Butter Banana Fruit Smoothie
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 banana
1/4 - 1/2 cup fruit of your choice
2 TBSP peanut butter
2 TBSP ground flax meal or wheat germ
1 tsp honey
2-4 ice cubes (optional for thickness. I find freezing the fruit the night before eliminates the need for ice and doesn't water it down).

Steps:
1. Put milk in the blender first to avoid it "freezing" or "sticking" while blending.
2. Add other ingredients (if using frozen fruit, let sit out 15-20 minutes prior to ensure the full blending, unless you like chunks of fruit).
3. Blend for 30 seconds! You can add more/less milk to get to the consistency you want. Some drink half for breakfast, and the other half for a later mid-morning snack; I personally did the whole thing for breakfast today.

Nutritional information:
Calories: 403 (using 2% milk and 1/4 cup berries), Fat: 23.3 g, Carbohydrates: 40.4 g, Dietary Fiber: 8.3 g, Protein: 16 g

So for Day 1 of this change in the mornings has gone well (and eating smart the rest of the day), and I've actually had a lot of energy today! I plan on trying this for two weeks to see the results (if any). I'll keep you posted!

Pregnancy & Fitness

Wow, I really need to update! A lot has happened in the two months since I last updated on this site. First of all, I have managed to maintain my current weight after (drum roll please!) almost 8 weeks of pregnancy. Yeah! I'm very happy about that.

Yet with the news of being pregnant, my fitness and nutritional goals have changed. Thankfully, I have a wonderful new OB who is very happy to help me get fit while carrying our treasured Baby #2. One of the first big things is my eating. With the guidance of my doctor, I am on a diabetic diet for the remainder of my pregnancy and postpartum days. It's based on calorie intake, but I don't have to do any counting. Praise the Lord! I hate counting - after 4 or 5 days of counting, I usually get tired of it and quit. So for my first trimester, I am eating 1,800 calories a day, and for my 2nd & 3rd trimester, I'll go up to 2,000 - 2,500. So I get three meals, a snack, and as many low glycemic veggies a day as I want. Oh, and lots of water. At least 64 ounces a day - 80 is preferred.

Instead of actually counting calories, I get "exchanges". For example, for breakfast, I get 1 fruit, 2 proteins, 2 breads, 1 milk, and then 1 cup of coffee. My biggest thing is just making sure I stay with in limits of serving sizes. It actually ends up to be quite a bit of food by the end of the day. Truth be told, I've actually had to make myself eat the past few days, but most of that is 1st trimester morning sickness.

As for exercise, I am working up to two 30 minute walks a day. The morning walk is the hardest for me; that is when the morning sickness is the worst and more than once, I've ended up throwing up on the side of the walking path. The evening walk I plan to start adding soon; I'm thinking the time right after Emily goes to bed is the best, when she doesn't want to come with me! Don't get me wrong, I love walking with her, but we end up stopping every step to pick up leaves and rocks and flowers. It's not very beneficial physically for me!

I'd also like start adding a bit of yoga in every week, too. I just pulled out my prenatal yoga DVD and need to start doing it, too. The only thing about doing so much walking is that I get stiff pretty quick, and I loved doing yoga when I was pregnant with Emily. So relaxing and such a stress reliever! But that is just getting the time during the day to do it... maybe during Emily's nap time after lunch? But it's hard in our living situation right now; we have people coming in and out for a week all the time (another reason I need massive stress relief), and I don't like doing yoga in front of others.

Well anywhoo, I think that is enough for one post! I'll try to post more on a weekly basis again. Adios and goodnight!

Slowly Getting There

So yesterday was a weigh-in day for me, and it was a good one. This past week has been a wake-up call for me. I had my yearly physical last Tuesday and surprise! With my initial results, at the age of 28, I have high cholesterol. Because I am not yet 30, they had me do a fasting lipid panel and I just got the results back. After the fasting, it's not quite as high, but I still need to work more on my diet and exercise.

In this journey to wellness that Jonathan and I started after Thanksgiving, I've mostly been watching my calories and trying to exercise more. Now I'm having to watch what I eat. This has been harder on me; I don't like to be a slave to food and "eat this" or "don't eat that", but as I've totally cut out simple carbohydrates and refined sugar over the past week, I can tell a difference. My energy has come back up, and when I'm tired in the evening, it's not the overpowering, soul-sucking, crushing exhaustion it has been.

Also, I've been exercise more and surprising, with Jonathan. He's very big on interval training himself, and has helped me with creating a bit of a routine with it, and I can tell a difference, so kudos to him.

Anyway, here are my stats for the week:

Starting Weight (11/24/09): 236
Last Week's Weight: 225
This Week's Weight: 222
Total Pounds Lost: -14

Almost 15 pounds! I can't really tell a big difference yet, except that one pair of my jeans is getting a bit baggy, but when I did the math today, I saw that I'm 15% to my goal weight. Yeah! That excites me - so much so, I should probably go get my exercise in for today. :-)