Calvin is now 9 days old and we’re both doing very well. I’ve thought a lot about nutritionand strength in the past little while and I’ve come to realize a number of things.
Nutrition: Many women see the pregnant months as a chance to pig out and eat everything in sight. They gain excessive amounts of weight and then after have a hard time losing the inches. You are not eating for 2! In the last few months, your food intake will increase as you are increasingly feeding a 5 to 9 pound being, but again, the portion size does not increase by much. If we’re looking at it from ZONE terms, it would be an increase of 1 block per meal. If you want to have a good pregnancy and fast recovery after, stay away from sugar, chips, fast food, cookies, ice cream. When I was pregnant, I did consume cookies, milk, blueberry and apple pies and ice cream, but I did so in moderation. I did allow myself to enjoy these because that’s what I wanted to have at the time.
I also had a smoothie almost every day. You can find the recipe under nutrition on our site. The main ingredients for good nutrition were Spirulina and Green Phyto Power. I know I’ve said this before, but I swear by these 2 super foods! I also had lots of EFAs from Genestra, lots of fish. A good multi, magnesium calcium and iron supplement is also what I took during both pregnancies. Most people find Materna too hard on the stomach, so I would recommend one from a good health food store. I like Super Orti Vite from Genestra, but then I like most products from them.
Strength:
The time to get fit and strong is before you get pregnant. Many people become pregnant and then decide to do Pilates, or yoga, water aerobics, what have you. The time is before. While you’re pregnant your body is busy making a baby, you already want to have the strength that you can maintain gently during your pregnancy.
Because my abs are very strong, my back never really gave me any trouble. In the last 2 months, my adductors and uterine ligament hurt if I walked or stood for too long, but that’s more of an anatomical glitch than strength. Every woman is different and you have to listen to your own body rather than listening to what people tell you not to do. For me, any jumping felt weird. Kipping pull ups were out of question, as were box jumps. For some women, these are not a problem. I could do crazy ab workouts for most of my pregnancy, when others probably could not. Everyone is different, listen to your body!
Here came the real eye opening experience for me. I had a scheduled C-section. 7 hours after the operation, the nurses made me get out of bed and stand. (this is standard) Was that fun? No, not at all! 24 hours after the operations, I walked to the bathroom. By day 2, I could get myself out of bed. As I could not use my abs, I had to rely on my legs and my arms. For walking and sitting down, thank god I can squat. Calvin and I have been home since last Sunday. Since Tuesday, I can get myself out of my own bed, I can go up and down the stairs without pain. My pain is almost gone, I am healing very fast. If I were not as strong I think I would have a hard time doing most of these things. Lesson here is this: GET STRONG! Upper, lower body, ABS!!!! BEFORE YOU GET PREGNANT! I know sometimes you can’t time this, but if you can, get healthy first, then have a healthy place for your baby to grow.
