July 27, 2009

One more month to go. That's REALLY hard to believe! The baby is quickly gaining weight and wiggling around to get comfortable and find more room. I'm still happy to report that I've had no swelling of the feet or hands, no incredible weight gains, elimination is still regular, blood pressure is fantastic (last checked was 105 over 58), and I'm sleeping pretty well other than more wake-ups to pee during the night due to baby getting bigger and putting more pressure on my bladder.

The waddle is definitely happening. Lucian and I went on a short hike to gobble wild raspberries and I felt a lot of pressure in my lower abdominal area. It definitely makes me slow down. We came home, I sat down and had some Braxton Hicks. The kundalini yoga I've been doing kept me focused and I smoothly breathed through them and stayed centered.

Backtracking...the weekend was spent at an Ayurvedic workshop at Ananda Ashram with Dr. Vasant Lad of the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico. My last weekend to myself before this little sprout comes out. It was really nice just to be out in nature with good energy peeps and learn some really ancient cool stuff. Ayurveda is the system of traditional medicine in India and literally translated as "the science of life". Dr. Lad could tell what ailments a person had just by taking their pulse on both wrists, looking into their eyes (a kind of iridology) and looking at the coating on their tongue. He checked me out, said I was very healthy and balanced and told me the sex of the baby (hehe). We'll see if he's right! I'm a novice at Ayurveda and am hooked on learning more about the three doshas, pranayama (breathing techniques to cure ailments), and all that Ayurveda has to offer which includes foods to eat to balance one out, working through and clearing past emotional and physical traumas to bring about physical and psychological balance. It may sound very "alternative" to a western medicine-minded person, but its an ancient science that has been proven, for thousands of years, to be beneficial.

So, onto diet. Still enjoying and benefitting from the green juices every morning (juice 1 cucumber, 5 stalks celery, 1/2 bunch kale, 1 apple, and sometimes an inch of ginger). Also having the superfood smoothies most mornings. I'll feature that tomorrow and take a pic to post. I'm also being sure to consume plenty of protein, calcium, B vitamins and iron. I do this through greens, grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.

Today's food:

WATERMELON: I can't get enough cooling foods right now - especially since it just about hit 90 degrees fahrenheit today. Lucian Lovesprout and I shared 1/2 an organic watermelon first thing this morning.

While Lucian was munching on soaked almonds with the skins removed (he calls them "naked almonds"), I made a green juice.

Superfood smoothie - recipe to come tomorrow.

I had all this between 7:30am and 10am. I have found personally and in my research that consuming lots of food with high water (i.e. melon and fruit) content and blended food is highly beneficial in the third trimester. Digestion can be compromised as baby is taking up most room in the belly and putting pressure on the stomach, intestines and colon making it difficult for things to pass. Pre-digesting one's food (by blending and juicing) helps things move easily, allowing the body to assimilate as much of the nutrients as possible and passing the rest through.

Lunch was a big salad and a piece of quinoa pie (high in protein, iron and B vitamins).

Snacked in the afternoon on grapes, soaked almonds and popsicles. We make our own popsicles out of smoothies we blend. Its so super easy. Ooooooo, I'll do a popsicle post later this week!

Dinner was raw sugar snap peas, baked tofu, basmati rice and lightly steamed broccoli. Simple and delicious. I'm not a huge tofu fan, but have really been surprised that I've liked it the past few months. Its been digesting really well too. I take that as a sign that my body is wanting it. Although any other soy product has been revolting and indigestible for me. Go figure.

We got our birth kit delivered today. That is the kit that the midwife puts together (surgical gloves, gauze, syringe, etc.) for the birth. oooo, also a big bag of herbs for the sitz bath. If you're unfamiliar with a sitz bath, research it if you're pregnant. Its so fantastic for soothing your poor little bottom after birth when the vaginal tissues can be sore, swollen, torn and hemorrhoids have developed. To help reduce these symptoms, massaging the perineum during labor and birth has been shown to be quite beneficial.

Sleep has been coming earlier and earlier these days, so its time to dim the lights, bless the day and sleep away.

xoxo