WEEK 28 – SYDNEY + SMOOTHIES

Weekly Baby News

Baby Size: 37.6cm – 1005gm

The immune system is developing quickly, and bub is becoming super smart by being able to track movements outside the womb. Fat layers are beginning to form as the protective layers in the tissues surrounding your baby.

Baby Growing Nutrition – Smoothies

• Green apple, orange, spinach or kale, cucumber & coconut water

• Almond & coconut milk (frozen), walnuts, almonds, macadamias, hemp seeds

• Coconut water, banana, natural protein powder, spinach

• Almond milk, banana, cacao, chia seeds

• Mixed berries, maca powder, milk of choice, handful of cashew nuts

• Banana, orange, pineapple, greens, natural protein powder & water

• Avocado, spinach, kiwi fruit, cucumber, chia pudding, coconut water

• Coconut milk, pineapple, banana, natural protein powder

Juices

• Beetroot, carrot, ginger, celery

• Cucumber, lemon, spinach, broccoli, orange

• Lemon, orange, carrot, ginger

• Green apple, pineapple, lime

• Spinach, barley grass, lemon, kiwi, apple

• Pineapple, orange, apple, carrot

Adding extra goodness I always recommend. Things that you can add to any smoothie are:

• Chia seeds: great source of omegas, protein, fibre and micronutrients.

• Protein powder to help your energy production as well as bubs growth. I recommend Amazonia Raw Protein Powders or Hemp protein powder

• Seeds or Nuts: Hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts: perfect to add different flavours and provide good fats to your smoothies, or can always use on the top for a garnish

• Yoghurt: natural, greek or coconut (no added sugar or fruit): yoghurt is great way to help build your bacteria, important for your digestion and your bub’s immune system.

My Journey

This week my husband and I began our last holiday without baby in tow. Some call it a Baby moon whilst others call a Babymoon the time after the birth. Regardless we have taken 2 weeks to road trip to Sydney and back, finding waves along the way for Sheeds. I am attending the annual MINDD conference in Sydney to become a MINDD practitioner and to expand my education and knowledge around the integrative treatment of cognitive disorders, very exciting. Being pregnant I have chosen not to fly during my pregnancy due to the radiation exposure on the plane as well as all the scanning devices you have to go through to board a plane.

This has been fine though as we get to utilise the time for a much needed holiday for both Sheeds and I. Saying that while I call it a holiday, this does entail still working from a distance, however to be honest I would be quite lost and a little bonkers if I was completely withdrawn from my work.

We started our trip going through Toowoomba to visit some family, which is always nice to have a big family dinner at my parent’s house. With all my nieces and soon to be my addition our family dinners are getting quite large from the little family of 4 we use to be. From here we ventured on to Brooms Head and camped right on the waterfront, about 20 steps from the ocean. Such a sleepy little town, didn’t help we arrived late and on a Monday night when nothing was open, so we had to have carrots and cheese platter for dinner, that we could throw together from the tiny general store haha – All apart of camping though right, there is always a level of being unprepared. The following day we travelled on to Bonny Hills where we camped for two nights. It was so great to not have any plans or needing to be anywhere, giving us the ability to drive on to where we felt was nice and stay for as little or long as we wished. Unfortunately surf god ‘Huey’ wasn’t feeling the love for my husband and the ocean from Sunshine Coast to Sydney was more of a lake. We were able to embrace this time with coastal walks exploring and Sheeds would join me for my prenatal yoga I would do by myself usually. Time to just BE, that has been sometime since we were able to just BE.

From Bonny Hills we drove onto Sydney the following day and checked into our Air BnB we had found in Coogee Bay that we stayed at for the next 4 nights, while I’m at the conference. Thankfully the swell had arrived on the Friday, and after I left for the conference Sheeds was able to find waves at Tamarama and Mackenzie’s a few points away.

The conference blew my mind. Not only did I get the chance to listen to and meet my favourite practitioner in the world – Dr Kelly Brogan (holistic psychiatrist), I got to be surrounded by like-minded integrated practitioners from all over the world. My adrenaline was pumping all weekend being inspired hourly from the knowledge and new research that was being delivered. The emotions that came with this adrenaline were interesting. After the first day I felt this excitement from integrated medicine and how grateful I was to be working in this field, then I was also saddened by the huge gap there is in medicine between conventional and integrative care. It troubled me how there is evidence and research supporting the change we need for our health care system to improve general health and also reduce psychiatric health conditions from preconception and including the reduction of cognitive behaviour problems in children, however it is being blatantly ignored by conventional medicine. The closed minds of practitioners and governments as they try and ‘fix’ the problems we have by prescribing a drug rather than acknowledging the contributing health factors to these issues. I’m talking about quite straightforward medicine, dietary and lifestyle care. However like anything in society the same issues seem to get in the way of improving our systems such as money, ego, control and the inability to admit when wrong. I do feel quite strongly about this and from the conference has only ignited my fire and drive more to continue the work I’m so passionate in and help be the change our society greatly needs. I do recommend to all to seek a integrated practitioner who is up-to-date with medicine and it’s findings, rather than taking a regular doctors word for it even though it doesn’t feel right the advice they are giving. Research, educate and empower yourself about the health choices you make for yourself and your family. Be conscious of the choices you’re making rather than just taking someone else’s word for it. Don’t accept a doctors recommendations as gospel, as perhaps they haven’t had the latest training or don’t specialise in the area you are presenting to them. Then in that case find someone who does! I for one will always refer clients to another practitioner that specialises in the field required, while we can let ego step in the way and believe that we can heal and treat everyone, it isn’t reality and does not provide the care the client deserves. Seek a practitioner that specialises, and has an integrated holistic view – always! For example in pregnancy, don’t follow the recommendations that a GP doctor is advising, he/she is a GP not a specialised midwife or obstetrician. I recently had a friend who the GP recommended THREE (3) ultrasounds in a period of 10 days at only 5 weeks gestation, thinking he was being precautions however not acknowledging the harm from these 3 ultrasounds to the baby. He totally ignored one of the traditional and oldest physician’s oaths by Hippocratics,  ‘First Do NO Harm’. This is absolute bonkers, thankfully the mother-to-be listened to her intuition and didn’t follow his advice. Point being = seek a practitioner who works in this department of health you require. You can see how incorrect medical intervention or advice is in the leading top 4 of causes of ill health and hospitalisations.

Sorry can get on a bit of a rant with things I am passionate about. Back to my week 28. While in Sydney we caught up with some of our bestest friends who gave us a bag of the cutest hand-me-downs, plus some little rainbow knitted booties which are divine! Catching up with these old friends made me appreciate the value of true friendships and have so much gratitude for these souls in our life. We only get to see them once or twice a year, however the time we do spend together definitely fills my cup of goodness.

Interestingly this week, each day mid-morning I have become very fatigued. Not sure if it is from a big weekend at the conference or sleep changes. Sheeds and I have got up each morning and gone for a walk that wouldn’t usually be an issue for me. Except one morning we walked from Coogee along the beach cliff walk to Tamarama (one point before Bondi) so this was quite big. The fatigue was insane, my whole body was heavy. Also this week I have been waking between 2:30am and 4am, wide awake thinking about work, friends, birth or anything. I’d lay awake for at least an hour before I would have to put my rain music on my earphones to get back to sleep. Perhaps just being away from home without routine has thrown me. I have been increasing my Chinese herbs to help with blood building in case that is a factor. These herbs will also assist with my breast milk production.

One last thing Sheeds has started calling me a Telly Tubbie this week due to my increasing belly size haha. From having a good size belly now I do feel as though there is now three in the bed each night, which is quite nice and snuggly, I am definitely glad I am at the larger end of pregnancy during winter.

Yours in Health

Talita