WEEK 3 – OVULATION, A TATTOO AND BACK TO AUSTRALIA
Weekly Baby News
Around day 10 of your cycle OVULATION occurs by the elevated levels of oestrogen and then elevation of luteinising hormone (LH) which sees the egg enter the fallopian tube where it is ready to meet and greet your partner’s sperm.
The LUTEAL PHASE then takes place for the next two weeks where the egg bursts from the ruptured follicle that transforms into the corpus luteum. This is where progesterone is starting to be released which helps the thickening of the uterus wall for the egg to implant.
*Naturopath Note: Progesterone is very important to hold elevated here, we do see issues arise from the inability to hold progesterone and the fertilised egg can be lost. If this has been identified from a naturopath or health practitioner in past cycles we are able to support by certain herbal supplementation.
Important Days – Post Ovulation
Day 4 is when it is decided with the dividing of cells whether you are going to have one or two babies.
Day 7-8 is when implantation occurs. During this time you can experience lower abdominal pain due to the burrowing of the embryo into your uterus lining. Also it can be common to have cold symptoms, due to the immune decline and spotting during this time. The spotting is nothing to be worried about unless it turns into a full period.
(Both happened to me – check it out below).
Day 8-9 is when the excretion of the hormone, Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is the hormone they test for pregnancy through urine sample, it can never test false positive only false negative. Your pregnancy can then be confirmed through a blood test if you wish. The hCG receptors in the brain can cause a surge of hCG which that can cause nausea and vomiting, this can be regulated by supplementation of zinc. hCG promotes the growth of the umbilical cord and differentiation of foetal organs.
Day 9 is Sex Selection Day!
Your embryo is a HUGE 4mm ball-shaped Blastocyst that creates 3 layers called Endoderm, Mesoderm and Ectoderm. The Endoderm becomes the internal organs, the Mesoderm becomes the bones, skull, sex organs and heart, and the Ectoderm becomes the baby’s skin, hair, spinal cord, and brain. Outside the blastocyst 2 layers start to create the placenta and the amniotic sac. Developments are happening VERY quickly.
Naturopath Advice
Immune system support is a focus this week. If you do get quite sick please contact your naturopath, as they will be able to advise correct doses for your repair that won’t harm your pregnancy. You may not know if you are pregnant at this stage so ensure that you always advise your naturopath if you are trying or there is a chance you could be. I personally always ask my female clients where they are at in their cycle before prescribing. Here is a list of things you can implement at home to help your immune system:
Echinacea Tea: good old Echinacea is an excellent herb that is highly beneficial for modulating your immune system, organic loose dried herb is always best, or an organic tea bag.
Vitamin A, C, E and bioflavonoids: Increase your fruit and vegetables intake of foods that contain these nutrients, these nutrients improve your antioxidant status and immunity, reduce inflammation and also support adrenal function to assist energy levels.
A + C + E + Bioflavonoid Foods: Blueberries, raspberries, green vegetables, apricots, carrots, almonds, egg yolks and citrus fruits
Caution with supplementation of Vitamin A as high doses can cause birth defects. I strongly advise to seek advise from your naturopath before any supplementation. Otherwise keep with the food sources and herbal teas that will still be very therapeutic.
To support implantation and the thickening of your uterus lining a great safe supplement is HEEL Mucosa compositum. It is a homeopathic formula that we regularly use for numerous mucosa issues, however it plays a beautiful supportive role with implantation of the embryo.
My Journey:
During my ovulation week we were still in Peru and at the tail end of our holiday. We had no more places we had to be so we took our time exploring different areas, learnt how to make cacao chocolate from scratch, enjoyed quality foods and treated ourselves to a nice hotel. From our trek we learnt a lot about the Andean gods, to which I took special interest in Mama Killa the goddess of the moon (Mother Moon). She represents intuition and feminine qualities, the goddess of marriage, fertility and defender of woman. I loved everything I read, so spontaneously decided to get a Andean moon tattoo on my left ankle – the feminine side of the body and also found out the location is around acupuncture points that assist with the regulation of hormones. All very symbolic, however again it is not optimal or advised to get a tattoo when pregnant or when conceiving or even in preconception. I actually recommend to my clients not to get a tattoo minimum 6 months prior to trying to conceive due to the detoxification needed post tattoo. Another less-than-optimal early days of pregnancy was our last night in South America we were at W-Hotel in Santiago, Chili (amazing if you ever get the chance to stay there) Seeing it was our last night we decided to go out for an indulgent seafood dinner and a few drinks. We had a fabulous night drinking Chilian Malbec wine, and a few cocktails, not knowing this would be the last night out just the two of us child-free. (Well I didn’t know I was carrying a little embryo). So again not the ideal first week of pregnancy with a tattoo, drinking, eating seafood, and more than 19 hrs of flying with radiation exposure. However I’m calling upon TRUST of the universe to keep my little growing baby safe and that he/she has chose the timing and me, regardless of circumstances. I did look into it around statistics and evidence of harm with drinking in this early phases as when speaking to a few friends I was finding it was actually quite common that most of them had also drunk alcohol during these first few weeks. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynocolagists report that drinking within the first two weeks of conception has a very small risk if or no effect on the foetal development. Now this certainly isn’t the green light to drink during this time from a naturopath’s perspective, however it did give me some peace of mind.
Time to head home so we packed our gear and set off to the airport, only to find out our flights had been cancelled (thanks travel agent, unable to name) so this was an extremely stressful few hours trying to fight the language barrier and get ourselves on the same flight home. So here I am newly (& unknowingly) pregnant with a fresh tattoo and loosing my mind with upset and full of anxiety at the airport, as I just wanted to get home to my pooch (Miss Meeka) and healthy food. Not optimal for how I would have liked my first week of pregnancy to roll out. We did make it home though on the correct flight and so did our bags, thankfully. A good reminder to trust and not get upset, as it all works out in the end.
The day after we arrived home I had a day of spotting. I was a little concerned as my cycle is always PERFECT and I mean perfect (after many years of herbal treatment)! However I just put it down to stress of sorting flights, time zone change and my body being out of sync plus I was coming down with a cold. I didn’t for a second consider that this could be a sign of pregnancy.
Thank you South America for the memories and last holiday as only my husband and I, and also thank you for the sneaky surprise of our first baby being conceived.
Yours in Health
Talita Sheedy
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