Pregnancy Essentials | Week 35

With only about 5 weeks left to our guess date of baby coming, time truly has been ticking by at full speed. It seems like just yesterday it was summer, and now snow has started to fall.

I have been looking out to and for the Autumn season, knowing that this is when we are to anticipate baby. All of the thoughts, the excitement, the preparation is coming to a peak.

So far pregnancy has been different than expected. It seems that a majority of the media and testimonials will have you believe it is all miserable, a punishment, and a time where you feel like everything is going wrong and you are losing your body.

I decided to approach this with a different approach. I realized it is about your mindset.

Mindset is the number one essential.

After finding out I was pregnant and believing it was actually occurring, I decided to not place any expectations on “what to expect,” in fact expecting things whilst expecting seemed to be the last thing on my mind! It seemed like an unnecessary cause of stress and worry plus every situation is unique. Instead, I focused on being the best healthiest version of myself as well as embracing changes with a curious mindset. It seemed obvious to me that now was the time to see my body perform. To properly fuel myself for success via nutrition as well as make sure that my mind, body, & spirit were all in alignment.

This has been a very positive time for me. Writing positively about pregnancy almost feels like a “taboo” that it is the “rare exception” or just pure luck. Yet it is far from that. It was hours of research. Years of learning my body, learning what nutrition works best for me, proper pre-pregnancy detoxification, as well as years of emotional and spiritual development. Pregnancy feels almost like an exam for the female body.

Have you been taking care of your body to develop another life via nutrition, health, and mindset?

Have you been growing up and taking on personal responsibility?

Pregnancy has provided me with confirmation that I have been on a track of health and vitality that I would like to admit that I am proud of. Sure there were moments of minor discomfort. Some nausea and being tired, but you can overcome that. It comes down to willpower, strength, and faith in your body.

There are so many (I like to call them) “traps” I realized during pregnancy. It is such a beautiful time of surrender and trust. You must have complete faith in your body and your creative ability. Belief in the female ability to create. It is pure creation, coupled with the divine creation from God. The traps are internal fears that external entities will prey upon and use to throw off your faith. The internal fears may be personal, but most likely cultural, due to the bombarding of the media/medical/cultural fears and expectations that birthing and creation are dangerous. The traps could be superfluous medical interventions during prenatal care. Unnecessary testing to “ease fears” or see that growth is progressing. The traps could be the anxieties and fears of other people or the envy that you are not miserable whilst they were.

A common remark I have heard repeatedly throughout this pregnancy was, “oh you don’t look pregnant!” Never mind the large belly, but just that I was not completely swollen, or to put it bluntly, I did not look like complete shit, which I suppose is to be expected nowadays. It perplexes me that now healthy is abnormal, and complications and distress are running rampant and to “be expected.” As I said before, my mindset and expectations were to be healthy. This coupled with extensive research to align my body and mind to work together in harmony to create life has been essential.

Proper nutrition is Essential.

Most of my research was about nutrition. How can I best nourish my body for these changes? For me, the best information came from the Weston A Price foundation as well as from the book, The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care by Sally Fallon Morell.

I did not follow a crazy strict diet. I ate intuitively for what my body was craving. Funnily enough, I did not experience those crazy “pregnancy cravings” that people frequently talk about. It was more like, oh I would love some cheese and an apple now, so then I would eat an apple and cheese.

Things I avoided were:

Seed oils, fortified flours, corn syrup, GMOs, and most processed junk that is on the market today. Additionally I avoided makeup and conventional beauty products most days, artificial fragrances, chemicals, tap water, coffee, ultrasounds, toxic people, and mainstream advice.

Foods I ate *controversial use your own discernment here not medical advice:

Raw milk, lots of it. My body could feel the nutrients and benefits as I drank it.

Tons of homemade bone broth! I believe this has helped prevent stretch marks, since so far there are none on my stomach.

Local Beef from our organic grassfed cow.

Lots of butter

Seasonal Organic Fruits & Vegetables from the CSA.

Cod Liver Oil

Funnily enough, most of the foods I wanted were in line with the Weston A Price Foundations’ recommendations. The cod liver oil was an exception, that I started to take after researching.

Supplemental Products:

So far, most of my essentials have been about mindset, responsibility, and nutrition. These things are far more essential than products. However, I did find that some things really helped and I will list them here.

Floracopia Rotuma Oil- for Stretch Marks

I love this oil! Cannot say enough good things about it, decided to use it on my tummy every night. It absorbs quickly and my skin looks great.

Linen Dresses- Summer Pregnancy Essential

I did not want to go out and buy maternity clothing, instead, I used loose-fitting linen dresses most of the summer. I have been eliminating non-natural materials from my wardrobe and focusing on linen, wool, and silk. First of all, because they feel better, and second of all because I despise polyester/nylon/acrylic. Yuck! Just a hot sweaty mess. I did not want to be a “yoga” pant pregnant woman.

Wool Underwear

I cannot believe I did not think of this earlier!! I already could not stand synthetic fabrics, but why oh why is most women’s underwear the cheapest of the cheap synthetics?! It is worse that women suffer in uncomfortable plastic thongs because they think it is sexy or whatever…. It is a disgrace and pure profit margins.

I wanted to have breathable natural materials. So far I have not found 100% wool bras, but the ones from Branwyn have been a lifesaver.

Additionally, I love German brands for organic cotton underwear as well as wool/silk blends.

So there you have it, some of the essentials that I used so far throughout this pregnancy.