WEEK 9 – MIDWIFE = CHECK! + YOGA FOR TRIMESTER 1

Weekly Baby News

Foetus: 2.5cm – grape size this week (the closest we will get to wine for a long time)

Bub’s tail has completely gone and webbing of fingers and toes disappears and teeny tiny nails begin to form (how cute are baby’s nails). Little teeth are beginning to form and the heart has finished dividing into four chambers with valves. Skeletally the joints are starting to form being knees, wrists and elbows, important to keep the calcium intake up. Reproductive internal organs are starting to develop while the ovaries or testes are completed.

Naturopathic Advice

Cravings may be starting or perhaps they have been flourishing for weeks. A common craving is carbohydrates and cheese (white or yellow foods). These cravings indicated the need to regulate progesterone plus digestive secretions. This can be done with the B6 and Zinc supplementation and as well as foods containing these nutrients. Ensure you also maintain a your blood sugar, by snacking regularly on high protein and high good fats foods.

VITAMIN B6: is a water-soluble vitamin and naturopathically we commonly use two types, in a standard Pyridoxine and an activated form Pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P). B6 demands in the body dramatically increase during pregnancy and as some people cannot utilise the standard B6. The liver needs to convert pyridoxine to P5P for the body to be able to use, thus to skip this conversion the activated P5P is used. Low rates of conversion are common therefore for this reason, plus due to the high demand in pregnancy an activated form is somewhat helpful.

B6 functioning in pregnancy: carbohydrate metabolism, hormone synthesis, neurotransmitter synthesis (increasing mood and reducing anxiety/stress), and oxygenation to tissues.

Check with your naturopath for a reputable brand and ensure high amounts of B6 foods are consumed. Food sources: avocado, bananas, carrots, chicken, egg yolk, salmon, tuna, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

ZINC: is a vital mineral for foetal development as its main pregnancy function is cell division (which help grow the baby and all its parts and organs), hormone regulation and protein synthesis. Mild zinc deficiency is common in society and especially in pregnancy where 80% of woman have inadequate levels. Other useful functions of zinc for pregnancy are: boosting immune function and reducing systemic and intra-uterine infections, contribute to healthy birth weight, assists the absorption of B vitamins, respiration (reduce your shortness of breath), and supports insulin synthesis (helps to regulate blood sugar).

Food sources: beef, capsicum, egg yolks, ginger, lamb, oysters, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

Yoga Advice

In the first trimester you need to listen to your body, and for most not doing much yoga may be what you need to do. I could only handle restorative classes and in my own practice was only able to manage 20-30mins max. Please do not push yourself to keep up your normal practice. Remember you are growing a baby and this first trimester is the most vital so respect your body and accept each day as it presents.

Safe and appropriate poses for Week 1-13 listed below:

Meditation/ Relaxation/ Pranayama/ Yoga Nidra: take it easy and work on your mind and strengthenign connection with bub. Mindfulness throughout pregnancy and birth will be super helpful

Restorative poses: will assist with those nasty 1st trimester symptoms, it is a perfect time for

grounding, not just in your yoga practice but also whenever your symptoms are overwhelming. Trust me DROP to child’s pose, whenever and whereever you need 🙂

Squats / Gentle Inversions: these poses will help with digestive dys-function that can sometime accompany the first trimester.

Pelvic Floor: everyone will be banging on about your Pelvic floor throughout pregnancy to assist birth and recovery. You don’t need to allocate a yoga practice to work on this, you can practice while driving even

Chest & Shoulder Openers: Reducing the incidence of hunching of the upper back, plus keeping that beautfiul heart space open for the coming changes in life with bub on the way.

Inversions: There is mixed messages around inversions however again it comes to listening to your body. If you don’t have inversions in your regular practice, don’t do them when your pregnant! And if they are, check in with how your body is feeling. I noticed that I couldn’t hold them for as long as usual, however that was enough for me. Keep it simple with Legs up the wall is sufficient, remember not to let the ego take over 😉

(Sourced from Bliss Baby Yoga, Byron Bay – who I did my Pregnancy Yoga Training through)

My Journey

YAY Nora is wearing out and slipping away! But can it be true? I feel lucky that she was only around for 3-4 weeks, while it was hectic it does sound too exciting that she could be departing to leave me to embrace the goodness of the pregnancy! Although while I am definitely feeling things start to shift I have been caught out a few times this week. I’d be telling my husband how amazing I’m feeling then next minute I’d be on the couch in foetal position. Then caught out again in restorative yoga, boasting to my kind teacher Graeme that I feel GREAT! 10mins later I need to turn on the deep breathing and immense focus to keep Nora at bay and ground myself from head spins. However I did manage to get back into my fitness this week. Walks became a bit easier again with the Pooch and even managed to go Stand-up Paddle boarding around Noosa for an hour, even though it may have been slower than my normal pace.

My skin is annoying me this week! Since getting past teenage breakouts, I have had predominantly good-ish skin for my adult life, unless abusing my body with poor dietary choices in my younger years. Since week 5 my skin has slowly got worse and it is driving me bonkers. This is quite normal in the first trimester as your skin produces more sebum and hormones are thinking ‘what the hell is happening!’ however I feel super gross having breakouts on my face, chest and back. Not optimal in summer. I can’t discount how allowing myself to eat ‘bad’ foods has been a contributing factor. So this week I held some resentment towards myself, which isn’t emotionally healthy and had to work through acceptance of the different elements to pregnancy. To help move past this gross-skin stage I cleaned up my diet by getting back into my green smoothies or juices daily, daily cups of bone broth, and cutting down the refined, processed foods. Stopped myself from picking and washed my skin the salty ocean water as many times as possible through the week, also swapped to a oil-free moisturiser so I wasn’t adding to the sebum and didn’t put anything on my skin at night to help regulate the pH naturally. Supplement wise I added in a probiotic twice a day to assist my gut bacteria, which rolls on to help the skin (Treat the inside to treat the outside).

This week I also met with my Midwife – Deyna – for the first time. This was very exciting and things got real. She talked me through her role and support she can offer and also gave me information on the different Obstetricians at the private hospital to choose from. I have always been keen for a homebirth however decided for my first I would have my baby in the hospital. A few factors that influenced my decision was a close homebirth that went wrong, not having any clue what to expect, my families input, level of fear of the unknown (as much as I am working hard at eliminating the fear and seeking trust in the process for me this is work in progress in this situation) and finding a midwife that can offer the next best thing to a homebirth with the support and providing the confidence I was seeking. I do hope to homebirth for a birth however for the first baby 

I feel I’ve made the best decision in having my baby at Sunshine Coast Private Hospital. Also so I’m able to experience both options of birth for my knowledge and also to share with my clients to help their choices of birthing options.

With the midwife I’ve chosen to go with, I am able to feel supported with more non-medical intervention and natural choices plus she will come to my home once I begin labour and stay with me at home for as long as possible until we both feel I‘m ready to go into the hospital for the last stages.  Then she will accompany me to the hospital and stay with me as my birth support, while we have the midwife and obstetrician from the hospital, Deyna knows the staff very well and works with them regularly WIN – WIN.  This is exciting, as I can stay in the comfort of my home for as long as possible plus then Deyna also does home visits post-birth so I don’t have to stay in the hospital for long if I don’t choose to. Deyna was able to listen to my aspirations for the birth and recommended an obstetrician that would be best suited. From here the obstetrician and my midwife share the pregnancy care, which means rather than having all my appointments with the Obs. I will have most of my appointments with the midwife for check ups and just see my Obs. 1-3 times or towards the due date. For me this is perfect being able to have an integrated holistic care plan for my pregnancy and birth. I’ll give you more information as I progress forward with more details around this area.
What a productive week it has been!

Yours in Health

Talita x