Planned or unexpected, most women are overloaded with thoughts, feelings, and information when they find out they are pregnant. Like most women, I began the search for "all the right things to do" while carrying my baby. While there are definitely some clear cut do's (eat lots of leafy green vegetables and take a good prenatal vitamin) and don'ts (smoke and drink tequila), there is a lot of grey area where people become very opinionated and a bit intense. This is just the beginning of all the advice that will be ushered onto your plate, wanted or not. Some is helpful advice and some is unnecessarily judgmental. Don't let that bring you down. The last thing you need is to stress. Stress can be detrimental to your health and your baby's development so the first thing you can do in order to have a healthy pregnancy is RELAX. This was something I needed to learn how to do. Here is a list things I that made a difference for me throughout my pregnancy: 1. Relax: As an overachiever and extreme multi-tasker my whole life, relaxing was something I missed along the way. I had been taking different exercise classes, including yoga ever since I could remember but when I became pregnant, things changed. Instead of using yoga classes as a way to burn calories, I found a fabulous prenatal yoga class that gave me time to quiet my mind and focus on my body and my baby. I was so inspired, I decided to become a registered yoga teacher myself. The more I learn and practice, the more balanced and relaxed I feel on a day to day basis. I am currently reading a book called Yoga as Medicine by Dr. Timothy McCall, and in it he cites many studies supporting yoga's ability to treat many illnesses and conditions including stress. Taking time to relax throughout my pregnancy also helped get me in a routine of taking time for myself, which I believe helped greatly in the postpartum stage keeping me sane during the "baby blues". 2. Move: In addition to taking yoga twice a week after work, I made sure I walked on a daily basis. Having a dog was a big help here because there were a lot of days that the last thing I wanted to do was walk. Regardless of how I felt, Kairo needed to get out. We would walk about 2 miles around the university near our house at around sunset. Although the walks became slower and took longer the bigger I got, there wasn't one walk I regretted. After every walk, my body felt better and I had more energy every time. When you are pregnant, your body releases Relaxin, a hormone to help your joints loosen up so you can push a watermelon out of the keyhole in your body. The relaxin can allow your joints, bones, and ligaments to shift which, with the extra weight, can cause back pain. Luckily, my husband is a chiropractor so I would get worked on regularly. Chiropractic is extremely important in pregnancy because even if you are healthy and moving, you can be in pain. Taking medication is not a smart option but chiropractic manipulations and stretching can take pressure off the nerve impingements causing pain. A good chiropractor will also give you homework and stretches to do at home to help prevent pain from occurring. 3. Read: I read many books while I was pregnant. I wanted to have a natural vaginal birth and read all kinds of books, blogs, and magazine articles on the subject. I prepared myself for the possibility of not being able to give birth naturally so I wouldn't be stressed if it wasn't an option, but I built my plan around natural child birth. Whatever kind of birth you want is up to you but researching your options is an important step for you to know what is best for you and your baby. My favorite book I read was Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn. It gave me the most detailed information and I felt like it was a comprehensive overview of what I could expect. 4. Listen: Listen to the voice inside. As women, we are given intuition that men don't have. I believe this intuition helps us guide important decisions about how to nurture ourselves and our babies. Listen to your instincts and listen to your body. Don't be afraid of things people may tell you, rather research things for yourself and combine your knowledge with your intuition and you can't go wrong. Wherever you are in your pregnancy journey, I encourage you to take a look at what types of healthy behaviors you would like to include in your day to day life to create a positive environment for your baby. And don't forget to focus on how incredible the experience is. Trust me, it just gets better...
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