8 Secrets of a Pregnancy Unicorn: Part Two (The Pregnant Part)

(This post is part two in a series of posts, “Secrets of a Pregnancy Unicorn.”  You can read about my pre-pregnancy prep work here.)

Not too long ago, my husband informed me of my pregnancy with Landon.  Wanna hear how it went?  Apparently, I told him I was pregnant, several months later he noticed that I had a “bump,” and then Landon was being born.  I sniggered.  Another time he told me that he forgot I was pregnant most of the time.  I’m pretty sure I never forgot.  While I’ll be the first one to happily admit that my pregnancy was pretty uneventful, I dare say I noticed a few more things along the way than my darling Hubsters.  However, I did have a few tips and tricks up my sleeve to keep my body working well for both Landon and me and got me in great shape for labor.  Here are my 8 pregnancy unicorn secrets for an uneventful, low key pregnancy!

(Big Important Side Note: I’m not a doctor, and this is not medical advice, nor should it be used to replace the advice of your doctor.  Please consult your health care provider before beginning any supplementation or physical activity.)

1.  I stayed active…really active.  This is probably the most important thing that I did.  I just kept doing what I’ve always been doing.  A few disclaimers: now is not the time to start a new athletic pursuit (which is why it’s important to be active before pregnancy if at all possible)!  However, if you’ve been active prior to pregnancy, and you have your doctor’s consent, I strongly recommend just keep keeping on!  I continued running (through 35 weeks when it became fun no longer and I had to switch to walking), biking (through 37 weeks, which felt fairly normal except for going up hills when I felt SO heavy), swimming through 39 weeks (which also felt very normal!), and weight lifting and yoga throughout (modifying weight as I felt necessary and avoiding inversions and prone yoga poses).  Now, I consider myself very in tune with what my body is saying to me, and there were times when I just needed to back off, take a day or two or three off completely, or stop doing a certain exercise.  I really felt like I had nothing to prove as far as what I was going to do during pregnancy, but I absolutely loved the extra energy I got from my workouts, even if they felt harder than normal or if I was just frustrated by having to pee all the time!  I was SO glad I kept going.

2.  I lifted weights!  I feel so strongly about women and weight training throughout their entire lives, and I really believe in it during pregnancy as well!  For one, weight training just really seemed to boost my self-confidence while I was pregnant.  Secondly, it’s just oh so good for balancing hormones, and what pregnant woman doesn’t want that?!?  Thirdly, I was so very thankful that I was strong for labor and delivery!  Lemme tell ya…they don’t call it labor for nothing!  Even though I know I lost a good bit of muscle throughout pregnancy simply because I couldn’t continue lifting the same amount of weight as usual, I was still very strong and felt like I was in great shape to do the work needing to be done during labor!

3.  I continued chiropractic care.  This is also a big one for me!  Back pain?  Yeah, I had none of that.  Seriously.  Zero.  (Partly due to the fact that I continued to strength train and partly due to the fact that I maintained healthy spinal alignment with chiropractic care.)  And here’s a scenario where I feel it’s safe to say, even if you’ve never seen a chiropractor before, I would start now if I was pregnant!  I also had a chiropractor who checked the alignment of my pelvis to make sure that everything was lining up well “down there” to aid in a natural delivery.

4.  I skipped the prenatal vitamins and opted for a whole food supplement and fermented cod liver oil.  Now, once again, I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice, but I just don’t like traditional vitamins.  I don’t think they are made in a way that makes it easy for your body to actually use them.  Your body recognizes food.  Real food.  It doesn’t always know what to do with synthetic compounds created in a laboratory.  (For example, ever wonder why women complain about how the iron in their prenatals causes constipation?  Maybe they aren’t actually using that iron!  It’s just backing things up in their guts.  Iron rich foods would not cause constipation the same way that an iron supplement can.)  So, I opted to continue using Juice Plus as well as fermented cod liver oil for additional fat soluble vitamins as well.  Let me tell you, I definitely noticed a drop in energy when I did not take my cod liver oil!  Also, that whole pregnancy brain thing?  Yeah, I only felt like that on days when I didn’t take it.  Seriously.  (Here’s the only one that I use.)

5.  Magnesium, magnesium, magnesium.  Babies are like magical magnesium suckers!  It appears that when estrogen and progesterone are higher, magnesium levels tend to be lower.  If you’ve struggled with mood, depression/anxiety, morning sickness, leg cramps or restless legs, or insomnia, the cause could be magnesium deficiency.  (Here’s a great article that explains the signs of magnesium deficiency and why this seems to be such a big problem for almost all of us.)  It helped me out a TON with restless legs at bed time and helped with regularity and curbing cravings!  (I lathered up my legs with homemade magnesium spray at bed time and also took a topical version as well.)

6.  I avoided stretch marks with collagen supplementation.  I truly believe that our skin is a reflection of the health of our bodies!  I’ve mentioned the link between gut health and eczema/acne before, but here’s another place where our skin reflects our body’s health.  In a nut shell, stretch marks occur when cell walls of the dermis are torn (that’s the second layer of the skin).  These cell walls are located below the top layer of skin (a.k.a. the epidermis), and those cell walls are strengthened and built with collagen!   So, instead of putting a lot of stock in belly lotions and creams applied topically to the epidermis, I used a daily collagen supplement that I mixed up with a bit of juice.  Ideally, I’d be drinking a cup of bone broth every day instead, but if that’s just not always pragmatic, go for the supplement and just be sure to get one that’s made from real, animal ingredients.  (I use this one!)  (For a more detailed description of stretch marks and why we get them, I definitely, definitely recommend the book Primal Moms Look Good Naked by Peggy Emch.)

7.  I drank water with citrus essential oils for digestion and regularity and to avoid water retention.  You’re supposed to drink so much water during pregnancy anyway, so why not flavor it with something?  I used certified therapeutic grade essential oils and just put a few drops in my water every day, and I really do think they helped a ton with digestion, bowel regularity, and water retention.  No swollen ankles for me, please!    

8.  I took naps.  Yes.  That’s right.  You are making a human being!  Give yourself a break when you can!  If you’re feeling extra tired, please do what you can to make sure you’re getting the rest that you need.  I also thought it was very important to head into labor fully rested since labor often occurs at night, and I was no exception.  And then after, likely the most physically challenging event you’ve ever experienced, you head into several weeks of night time feedings…yeah.  I wanted all the extra sleep I could get!

So, did all my crazy things work?  Well, yes, I think they did, and I would do all of them again for round two!  How about you?  Every tried any of these pregnancy unicorn tricks?  What worked for you?  What would you add to the list?

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