Friday, April 20, 2012

Body for Baby


If you missed the hint in my last post, I am thinking about trying to get pregnant again. thinking about trying which basically means that plans are in the works.

When I tell people that I am trying to get my body ready to have a baby they look at me like I am crazy. I have gotten all of these responses.

"Why would you want to lose weight right before you get fat again?"
"Why would you start exercising before you get pregnant? You can't keep that up when you are pregnant."
"People get pregnant all the time without being healthy so why would you have to worry?"
"Stop stressing over planning, just have fun and go do it."
"There is never a right time to get pregnant, stop thinking about it and just do it."
"You know too much as a midwife, just trust your body and you will be fine."
and more...

Basically I am not listening to anyone except myself and I have changed a lot of things to try and get ready to become pregnant.

First, I am making my husband take folic acid. I heard from a colleage that it makes "supe
r sperm" and can actually improve the sperm. So yes, my husband is taking once a day mens multi vitamins and folic acid.

Second, I started taking prenatal vitamins every single day for the past 3+ months. The ones I am taking are Concept DHA. I chose Concept DHA because look at those cute moms on their website babywearing!!! That is totally me. Hehe. Just kidding. Seriously though I love that they are small capsules, easy to swallow and they have the DHA in them so I don't have to take more than 1 pill. They have 1mg of folic acid, you don't burp up a fishy smell, and I haven't gotten constipated with them. They just work for me. I really think most prenatal vitamins are created equal, the one you tolerate the best it what is best for you.

Third, I started exercising. I want to be able to exercise throughout my pregnancy. I have always exercised but I wanted a good routine. I hike a lot and I started running. I am up to running at least 3 miles a day, but I will cut back once I find out I am pregnant. Either cut back or slow down a little bit, whatever I need to do in order to feel comfortable with a work out routine.

Forth, I am drinking green/spinach smoothies every morning. I really do not like uncooked vegetables so I hardly ever eat salad. I also am not a big meat eater, so my midwife and I decided that the best way to boost my iron stores was to start having spinach smoothies. I can cover the taste of the spinach with a banana, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, or whatever fresh fruit I have lying around. I LOVE my smoothies. They are delicious, they do take some extra time to make, but I am able to drink it on my way to work so I do save time in the morning.

And last but not least (for today anyway) is I have really stressed communication with my husband. We have had ups and downs the past year but I am working on really loving my husband. I recognize the wonderful things that he does for me and I am quick to apologize. That doesn't mean we don't fight (in fact we just had an argument on Facebook 2 nights ago...), it just means that we are working harder than ever before to make sure our marriage is as strong as ever.
Because seriously, nothing is more wonderful than a father snuggling his newborn baby and I want to make sure I keep this guy around for the next eternity or so.

1 comment:

LauraT said...

Good for you! You know you are absolutely doing all the right things. I would prepare my body for pregnancy by taking a a folic acid supplement starting 3 or so months before I would get pregnant. One thing I would recommend: how is your protein intake? Are there some protein-rich recipes you might want to add to your diet and experiment with, taste-wise, so that it's easy to get enough protein every day?That was a challenge for me. Also, can you post that spinach strawberry smoothie recipe? Thanks!