WEEK 12 – THE COFFEE DEBATE + FAMILY LAMB

Weekly Baby News

Foetus size: 7.6cm CRL – size of a lime

This week the bones are hardening, and all major organs are formed. Spiral arterial flow is busy, (the flow between uterus and placenta) and your baby’s reflexes are developing fast this week. Toes, fingers will start to open and curl, eye muscles will tighten and the baby’s mouth will start making a suckling movement, just getting in the practice for healthy breast-feeding, the baby actually swallows the amniotic fluid.

Neural Translucency (NT) Scan

This scan is undertaken between weeks 11-14, commonly known as the 12 weeks scan. Detecting neural tube defects, spina bifida and anencehaly, by looking at nuchal fold thickness, angle of nasal bone, arm/leg development, and considering maternal age. The risk of a baby having a neural tube defect is approximately 0.2%. For more information of the risks of ultrasounds, plus a holistic view, please refer back to Week 8.

For my pregnancy I chose not to get the 12 weeks scan, as I wasn’t prepared to terminate from only a percentage of risk. My doctor who is also a close colleague advised that if I wasn’t prepared to terminate with only a percentage it is a waste or time and money getting the test done, plus a lot to put the baby through.

Naturopath Advice

Due to the busy blood flow continuing it is important to continue a healthy blood supply support. We do this by supplementing or increasing in our diet Turmeric, water intake, CoQ10 and keeping active with daily exercise to enhance oxygen rich blood.

The Caffeine Debate

There is evidence to suggest that high intake of caffeine can be linked to miscarriage. A study found that woman whom consumed 200mg or more of caffeine per day had twice the risk of miscarriage, small birth weight and premature birth compared to those who do not drink caffeine. This is a conflicting issue as there is also studies that found caffeine to be safe, regardless of what study you are researching, the consensus states that less than 200mg per day of caffeine is safe.

Keeping in mind it is best for you to be mindful of how caffeine affects your individually and a great topic to speak to your naturopath about. The caffeine is passed onto your baby through the bloodstream and does take your baby longer to metabolise the caffeine than you do, exposing your baby to the effects for much longer also.

Naturopathically we advise against predominantly as we prefer you to experience true energy and support, without the added stress on your body, eg increased heart rate, blood pressure and shortness of breath that you may experience, plus influences of sleep cycle. As you get further into your pregnancy it takes longer and longer to metabolise the caffeine. Plus it is also best to avoid if you are anxious frequently or have a anxiety history due to the stimulation on the nervous system, as at the end of the day we do want to have a chilled little bub. Caffeine also reduces your ability to absorb iron. And iron is what we need for energy and baby growth! It is a bit of a snowball effect consuming caffeine, as you may want it for energy, however by doing so you’re stripping yourself of nutrients that provide energy. Best to check with your naturopath for other energy sources.

Here is a list of the quantities of caffeine in your food and drink sources:

• Instant coffee: 60-100mg per 150ml

• Espresso coffee: 90mg – 120mg per 150ml

• Drip coffee: 100-150mg per 150ml

• 30gm chocolate bar: 20-60mg

• Black tea: 47mg per 230ml

• Green tea: 25mg per 230ml

• Coke: 35mg per 350ml

• Diet Coke: 47mg per 350ml

• Dark Chocolate (70-85%): 23mg per 220gm

Caffeine Alternatives

Organic Swiss water decaffeinated coffee: this is process is done without the use of chemicals therefore isn’t making your coffee a cup of chemicals and it still preserves the aromas and flavours of the coffee bean. You may need to shop around however just ask your organic coffee barista and they should be able to advise the process of the decaf beans that they use.

Dandelion Tea: now a lot of big coffee people may screw their nose up initially with the taste however I have become to love this coffee alternative and make a delicious Dandi coconut milk latte. The brand I use is Kintra Roasted Dandelion that you can buy from most supermarkets. I simply boil the jug add water to the cup with the tea bag in it, let steep for 3mins, take the bag out and add coconut milk. It is delicious! Then I put it in my eco KEEP CUP and away I go, feeling as though I’ve purchased a beautiful latte from the shop.  http://www.keepcup.com.au/

I secretly have an obsession for cups, bowls and water bottles, if I can get a new or fancy one of these it makes my drink or meal so much more enjoyable, plus it helps me get my water intake. Hence #LahlitaBuddhaBowls everything tastes awesome from an attractive bowl, and it fits with my constant snacking through the day rather than 3 big meals.

Other Herbal Teas you may fancy, making cold herbal teas with the hot weather they are perfectly refreshing for an overheating pregnancy body.

If it is the energy factor that you seek caffeine, as advised check in with your naturopath to figure out why your feeling you need the coffee in the first place, common reasoning is iron, B vitamin deficiency and irregular blood sugar levels.

My Journey

The day after I discovered the little pop in my belly, we travelled home to Toowoomba to visit the family. How uncomfortable is it driving for 3 hours when pregnant! Now I am only 12 weeks and not like I’m showing or have even put on weight but man I was uncomfortable. Probably didn’t help that I was working on my laptop in the car, trying to prepare for a nutrition talk to yoga teacher trainers. Nor did it help that I needed to stop to pee at every town. But we made it eventually and gosh were it good to see my family! With periods of ups and downs and uncertainty it was beautiful to be in the loving company of my sister and her 3 girls and both sets of our parents. Plus it was good to be back in the quiet semi-country setting with space and nature surrounding me, being able to slow down and hit the reset button was greatly needed.

My dad has a hobby farm and breeds sheep, not many just enough to keep the grass down and to feed the family and extended family. Now I haven’t ate lamb for over 20 years due to bottle-feeding lambs that we rescued. But in the few months leading up to conceiving I began to crave lamb for some reason, so listening to my body gave it a go and felt good for it. I didn’t go straight for a slab of lamb but did slow cook shanks so they were all broken up and mixed with vegetables (thanks to my butcher John at Eumundi meats who helped this re-introduction to lamb). Dad loaded us up with different cuts of lamb to ‘help the baby grow’, of course the baby is priority now, so nice seeing my dad get all excited about me being pregnant. This is the first time I have taken dad’s lamb, however I was able to get my head around it knowing it was organic and being raised on my dad’s farm with my families energy surrounding it, so surely will be good physically and spiritually for my bub.

This week I also visited my Body Consciousness therapist (Fi Hardy), this was a interesting session. I have been quite stressed this week. Work and its demands have been challenging and me being miss in-control-at-all-times hasn’t coped with things being out of my control. The BC therapist was able to help me with this and identify why I am getting so frustrated and then exhausted from it. We unravelled that my frustration comes not from the work I’m needing to do but my inability to hand over work to others therefore busying myself so much that I have no time to work on my blogging and pregnancy focus. I completely became disconnected from myself in the latter part of this week and I was pissing myself off for doing it, without knowing why haha. My affirmations from session are “I am letting go of pressure and control. Surrendering and trusting my process and journey.” “I have everything I need within me to support myself, my dreams and aspirations”

We will see how this goes and my ability to implement.

Check out Fi on her Facebook page, her posts are very helpful and interesting how they always seem to pop up at the right time Body Consciousness Facilitator Fi Hardy (click name for direct link)

Yours in Health

Talita Sheedy