Choosing to let my baby come when she's ready and to leave the process natural has only inspired me to stay as fit and healthy as possible during my pregnancy. The more I've read and learned from my wonderful midwife Faith Morie, prenatal exercise provides huge benefits for the mother and baby. Exercising before you are pregnant reduces your chances of developing some of the aches and pains that go along with pregnancy.
Consistency has been the key for me, when my body allows it. I have days where I need to relax and let my muscles have a break (a.k.a avoidance of muscles cramping). I have been able to stay within my goal weight gain of 25-35 pounds, happily, and have found that exercise during pregnancy reduces stretch marks, keeping your stomach smaller and tight, excessive weight gain, and unhealthy weight gain for the baby. Trying to prepare for the easiest labor possible, exercise can make delivery easier, by strengthening the muscles needed during labor. Women who exercise during pregnancy are able to regain their pre-pregnancy weight and shape more quickly and they are well prepared for the mental and physical challenges of caring for their baby. I want to be as conditioned as I can for the experience of natural birth and I know exercise will help. I have always felt so much better after each workout. Although it's getting tougher to walk and run long distances, I've found plenty of cardio workouts I can do right in my home. Staying loose and limber is also a huge pre-natal benefit. I practice my breathing every time I do yoga; breathing through positions that are uncomfortable or have the "feel good, but hurt" feeling. I hope this will help during my labor transitions!
For some odd reason, I've had the hardest time keeping my protein level up. Every appointment they are slightly low! And even slightly low bothers me. So, Tyler and I drove an hour and fifteen minutes to the Wholefoods store in Tulsa and spent some time looking for the best protein shake to help bring up my levels and help our baby girl grow to be healthy and strong. It's almost impossible these days to find "healthy food" that is actually healthy. You pretty much gotta know your stuff. We came across this....
....and I was excited! It has no fillers, artificial flavors or synthetic nutrients, no isolates or preservatives. It's vegan, gluten free, and dairy free! There are huge amounts of Vitamin A, D, E, and K and 17g of protein per serving. AND... it's RAW & ORGANIC, meaning there are live probiotics and enzymes. Maybe the taste isn't as great as all the protein shakes you find in Walmart, Sam's Club, and Costco, but the health content is far more worth it and it doesn't taste so bad! We scored and I've loved discovering fun different ways to eat healthy while pregnant!
Love that you are giving birth natural! It's such a cool experience:) You have so many girls in your fam who have done it and I'm sure they are great support. A protein powder I have loved is sunwarrior protein powder. It's a raw, organic, sprouted protein powder that is made in utah. I used to use it a lot and haven't been using it as much the past few months. the one you got sounds really good too, I may have to try it when my sunwarrior runs out:)
ReplyDeleteLooking great, Leilani! Keeping fit during pregnancy definitely helps with the delivery! After having to slow down my walks earlier on in pregnancy (about where you are) I was surprised by how far and how fast I was able to walk when I was trying to naturally induce labor. My dad estimates I probably walked over 20 miles in the last few weeks :) Good luck with everything... water birth is the best.
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