Prenatal Vitamins

Today's breakfast: 2 eggs from a friend's hens, homemade pork breakfast sausage, wilted organic spinach and some organic avocado slices.... washed down with a little apple cider vinegar and orange juice zinger (this is my own name for this drink).

The thing about eating greens to get more iron, is that you have to eat it with vitamin C for maximum absorption. Obviously with this meal there is no problem there. The spinach itself has a good amount of vitamin C along with the splash of orange juice in this drink.

Vitamins (and Minerals)
One of the helpful things in my 100's book is the list of vitamins he has included for the first trimester.
We took this information to the store for prenatal vitamins. Knowing that iron was a key vitamin, we looked for that amount first. The one we liked the most had no weird and unnecessary ingredients like excess soy, wheat, sugar.... etc. except for a tiny bit of soy lecithin probably used to keep it all together in pill form. This was Prenatal One Multivitamin, which came with 150 servings and was pretty fairly priced (no more than $35).
When compared to the list in the book, most of the vitamins and minerals were included in the perfect amount or well over the daily value. There were a couple differences that will need to be supplemented in other ways.
Choline in the pill was 10mg and the recommended daily value is 450mg. That's a huge difference for such an important vitamin. Choline is a huge contributor to helping the brain develop and luckily 2 eggs fullfil about half the daily requirement.
Potassium was lacking by about 2,290 mg and the calcium level was under by about 800 mg as well as slight deficiencies in Vitamin K, chloride, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine and fluoride.
Again, these are things we can supplement in other ways and this prenatal vitamin still seemed like a great choice.

For lunch I had leftover cabbage shell tacos from last night. So good!

No workout today.

For dinner we had an organic salad and I re-created hot and sour seafood soup from our sushi lunch the other day. I used zucchini as noodles, shrimp, cod, mushrooms and onions. This was a recipe that I will definitely have to record one of these days. It is also an excellent meal for a person who is sick.

Iron, Working out and Apple Cider Vinegar

Iron
The book I mentioned in the last post, The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy by Jonny Bowden Ph.D. C.N.S. and Allison Tannis MS, has a great list of what vitamins you should be taking in your first trimester. One of the major supplements a pregnant woman needs is iron. It not only keeps your energy levels up but it is obviously needed for red blood cells and circulation. Apparently I will create 4 more pounds of blood throughout this endeavor. May not sound crazy to some, but I picture 4 lbs. of blood in bags on a counter and think that it seems a little surprising.
So spinach, according to this book, is a great source of iron. I am also reading that pretty soon I may want to vomit when I look at food or smell it or think about it or hear about it.....
I decided to take advantage and eat what I can, while I still can.
This morning for breakfast I had my 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon as usual and a handful of spinach wilted with sauteed red onion on the side. It was good and I will try to get it in every morning as long as I can stand it.

Working Out
Todays CrossFit WOD:
Scaled down - more because of 95 degree heat than anything and a little headache

10 min.
EMOTM (every minute on the minute)
2 clean and jerks 85 lbs. (rx was 105 for me)

Row
Jumping air squat
1 arm kettlebell clean and jerk 1/2 pood (rx was 1 pood)
Thruster 55 lbs. (rx was 65)
Flying push-ups
Rest

1 minute of each for 3 rounds
total rep score: 176

Apple Cider Vinegar and lunch
Today's lunch will be 2 hot dogs from our meat CSA (always pastured pork) with organic ketchup and organic mustard and an organic salad with organic balsamic and olive oil that is also, you guessed it, organic. I will be drinking water and doing extra peeing today as seems to be the trend. I will also be making an apple cider beverage that I am addicted to.
This apple cider beverage contains about 1/2 tbsp Braggs organic and unfiltered apple cider vinegar, a splash of organic orange juice (any fruit juice is amazing) and a little bit of stevia sweetened to taste. It is the most refreshing and amazing, sweet tart beverage! I recently became addicted to this over my usual several cups of iced coffee. What great timing too. I have been trying to read up on ACV to see if it's possible to overdo it, especially when pregnant.
After reading this article saying that the majority of the health claims and cures made about ACV are unsupported, I looked for others that would report the damage it causes. The biggest concern about drinking it is for contact with bacteria in the unfiltered and unpasteurized vinegar. I have been drinking fermented drinks for a while with no problem and believe that I am healthy enough to not have to worry about it. As long as it's not hurting me or my zygote, I am okay with it. I found nothing addressing it in my 100's book either.
The following info came from the Bragg Live Foods website:

10 - Is Apple Cider Vinegar safe to take during pregnancy?

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar is safe to take during and after pregnancy. It helps to rid the body of toxins and may even help with any complications that may arise or have arisen with the pregnancy. It supports regularity and promotes digestion.

11 - Is it possible to take too much Apple Cider Vinegar?

There is no clear limit as to how much Apple Cider Vinegar an individual can or should ingest. However, one should remember that, as with anything in life, one can have "too much of a good thing". It is recommended that an individual take the ACV cocktail three times a day for maximum results. The cocktail consists of 1 to 2 tsps. organic raw ACV mixed with 1 to 2 tsps. raw honey in a glass of distilled water.

INTERNAL BENEFITS/EXTERNAL BENEFITS:

Rich in enzymes & potassium
Support a healthy immune system
Helps control weight
Promotes digestion & ph Balance
Helps soothe dry throats
Helps remove body sludge toxins
Helps maintain healthy skin
Helps promote youthful, healthy bodies
Soothes irritated skin
Relieves muscle pain from exercise

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
pH = 3.075
Concentration/Strength = 63 grain
Acetic Acid = 5.14 %
Potassium = 11mg/Tbsp. <2% DRV / RD



Naturally Gluten Free

Dinner
We ate grass-fed beef tacos on organic cabbage with all the other organic fixings (except cheese). I also made a spanish rice out of cauliflower which turned out awesome!

Here we go....

Okay. So I was expecting a period and just had some cramping instead, all day Thursday. I even said to one of the girls at the crossfit gym that if I did the day's workout, it would probably make me start my period. Nothing happened all day and I was continuously checking every time I wiped when I peed. I completely was unaware of the fact that I had peed way more times that day than normal. So when my husband got home at around 11pm, we ate dinner... watched some tv shows and then started to clean up for bedtime. I had to pee again, so I went upstairs thinking "Maybe I'll just pee on a stick." I truly did not expect any difference from the other 20 or so I'd wasted money on.
I decided to turn it over so I couldn't see and set it down while I went into the bedroom for a few minutes. When I came back and looked, I was disappointed because I just saw two lines and no plus sign. Then I glanced over to the key and saw that two lines meant "pregnant." Instead of skipping a heartbeat, I had a really big one that sent extra blood flowing into my head and I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out for a second. I don't know what I said afterward, but I came running down the stairs to my husband (who was zombie-like tired at this point) and he thought something was really wrong. I showed him the stick and he seemed to think I had doctored the stick somehow or that it was broken. In all fairness, it was past midnight at this point.
It was very exciting and I wasn't able to go to sleep for some time that night. I was thinking and planning and fantasizing.

So, yesterday became day one of diet strictness. I will have to relinquish that block of raw gruyere in the fridge that I was almost done with. Gonna have to dump the half-n-half and say goodbye to coffee, which I did about a week ago when I ran out of my favorite espresso beans. Sadly, I will also not be enjoying the pork potstickers I have been gazing at and saving for a designated "cheat" moment. "Wah Wahhhhhhhh....."

For breakfast I had 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon as usual (always organic eggs and anti-biotic/hormone free bacon- at the very least). My husband cooked my eggs with a bunch of veggies thrown in as a scramble, which I don't really like but of course I ate it. He says "you're gonna have to have greens every day with your breakfast" and I said, "I will find a better way." I took my standard vitamins which have included folic acid since we started trying in November, fish oil, a multi and vitamin D. For the most part there have been a couple others in there and I think we must be low on some.
Obviously the number of vitamins will be beefed up soon.

We went and had sushi for lunch. We enjoyed some hot and sour soup, seaweed salad, a sashimi sampler and a roll (which had very little rice) with what seemed like 7 different types of fish on it. It was a little bit of a celebratory meal. Afterward we went to Barnes and Nobles and picked up two books which I am already a huge fan of:

Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy by Jena Pincott

and

The 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy by Jonny Bowden Ph.D. C.N.S. and Allison Tannis MS

I've already started both of them and am very excited.

For dinner we ate pastured pork spareribs that came in our meat CSA and caesar salad with the husband's homemade dressing. Homemade sugar and dairy-free vanilla-chip cream ices (it's a new york thing) for dessert and then we called it a night.

I was still a little crampy all day. It was mainly a tightening feeling inside. I also had some seriously lethal gas and was peeing all day. I also peed on another stick and the second line was a little more faint than the last one, but I'm not worried. Going to sign up for insurance on Monday morning and try to get into a doctor's office if only to confirm that I am indeed pregnant and hopefully find out how on earth this could have happened? (just kidding)

Babies Everywhere

I've given up on the fact that I may be pregnant and not know it. I feel a little ridiculous about it. Oh well..... whata'ya gonna do.
Since my last period, over the weekend of my friend's wedding, I decided I was going to get serious about working out and getting this body in great shape for whatever my future holds.
I have been doing CrossFit at my own gym, as in the gym that I am part owner of. One of the things I seem to experience is during a tough workout, I have the knowing that it is causing my period to happen when it is nowhere near due. So, about a week and a half after my last period, I was doing a tough workout and afterward I knew there would be some bleeding. UGH! How am I supposed to get pregnant if I can't even figure out when I am menstruating or ovulating or whatever! Well, needless to say, it was just some heavy blood that night and nothing the following days but minor spotting.
It is difficult to do this when I can't get the hang of my own body. At least the app I'm using tells me pretty accurately when to expect my next period and I'm due tomorrow. Sunday was definitely a little  pms depression and today a little bit of cramping symptoms that tell me I can expect tomorrow to come as planned.

Saturday we were out in the city and all I kept seeing was young pregnant women. There seems to be a plethora of young ladies that are not having any trouble procreating. They all look so beautiful and happy and dreamy to me. They get to shop for maternity clothes and walk around and have people admire their youth and glowing state. Envy much? Uh.... duh.

This is tough. Not just not knowing when it's gonna happen.... but not knowing what the hell my body is doing. I scheduled an appointment for a ob/gyn that a friend recommended. Couldn't get one until August 15th. Yeah, almost 2 months away. The best part of the whole thing is that she doesn't "do" pregnancies. Wtf does that even mean? Isn't that what an ob/gyn is for?

The other thing is avoiding the entire month of May as a due date. My husband says, you'll have a baby when you have a baby.... but I am not about to join the competition between Mother's day, my mother-in-law's birthday and the birthdays of both my sisters-in-law's kids. They all literally come within a week or two of eachother and I am not jumping in to that mess. So, I've decided that there will be no "trying" during the end of July through August. It would totally be my luck that it would work at that point.

Just a little confused...

I really don't know what is going on....
I could've sworn I was pregnant... but alas I had a most unenjoyable period over the weekend. Not just major cramps but serious bloating- like I don't care that there is this much blood because I have GOT to be about 3 months along at this size. I was at a beautiful wedding sitting cramped up and probably miserable looking in my chair instead of dancing and drinking because I didn't want to parade my ballooned body around without any baby to speak of.
I had to shop for a minimizing bra so that I didn't look as if I am breast-feeding... but honestly I still looked that way.
If it's this hard to dress myself and feel comfortable at 3 months fake-preggers, I will be so bummed when I actually am pregnant.
I think I may have to get myself into a walk-in clinic and get a real test. Boy, that will be fun when they laugh at me and send me home.
I'm just thinking that things are a little weird. My period was very watery for the most part and caused a ton of out-of-town leaking fun. Not just that but I am sick and was thinking THAT is a pregnancy symptom. On top of all of this, I feel like the period bloating has gone away in my arms and legs but my mid-section is as tubby as ever.
Why does this have to be so difficult.
Stupid pee-sticks are lying to me!
I don't even know what doctor to go to because I just moved here and I don't even have medical insurance.
UUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Ha. Some girl literally asked me today if I "nursed." She was sweet and probably a little embarrassed when I said I don't have kids. It is truly laughable. So, not only am I not pregnant, but my breasts look like they may have been used quite a bit and I have the body of someone who has clearly given birth a couple times.
Great.
To a medical professional I shall go. What can it hurt but my wallet?

Whatever happens, I remind myself not to "disappoint" myself from whatever appointment I am already supposed to have.

Sleeplessness

Paying a little bit closer attention to my body these days....
Hoping, I guess... but not so much that I will be disappointed if my period shows up again in a week.
I've been feeling a little "crampy" this week but more like "tight" or "aware of my uterus." I know that must sound a little strange, but I'm all about finding the right words to be specific about feelings. I've also decided I'm really interested in looking up thing I will need in preparation for pregnancy and beyond as well as being into birthing documentaries. The Business of Being Born was awesome. If there is ever any movie to get someone amped up on homebirth, this is the one (or maybe for some- the exact opposite).

To the matter at hand: I am sitting here infront of my computer at 2:10 am and don't feel the least bit like sleeping. I am eating a piece of primal strawberry cake and don't seem to be covering up that hungry feeling. Granted I had a pretty unusually early dinner and I'm bound to be hungry 8 hours later... but I felt the same way last night too on top of not being tired. Mmmmm... good cake.
I've been taking my natural fertility supplements and marking things down in my "woman's" calendar since I finally found a good app. I mark things like symptoms of bloating or cramping or fatigue or for tonight and last- insomnia. Well hey, doesn't two at least seem the start of a pattern?
So I googled sleeplessness... and google finished the rest of "during early pregnancy." Clearly, I was not the only one wondering unless someone rigged all my computers to bring up all things baby related.
It seems like it is a pretty common thing to be feeling this way even before knowing if I am pregnant or not.

So, I'm thinking we'll see "what the weekend brings" or doesn't bring.

Alrighty.... gotta go back upstairs and toss around while the husband and dogs snore away. Putting my head where my feet would go and looking out the window proved to be the most comfortable.

Getting ready and Trying

I've been trying to get pregnant since November 2011. How naive we were to think that as soon as we started trying, it would work. It has been 5 months and nothing seems to be going right.... not to mention my impregnator is 2000 miles away. It has been a frustrating and confusing time which has left me in a rather indifferent mood about the whole thing. So, in the spirit of optimism, I am just taking a look at the important things.

During the first month of trying and hoping and naiveté I was eating completely primal and then some. No coffee (not even decaf), no dairy, no grains of any kind, regular and large doses of fish oil, usual vitamins plus folic acid, extra veggies, no fruit and only organic and/or antibiotic and hormone-free and grass-fed meats and animal products- was tough but necessary and actually dropped off some pounds. Then my period came and I drank coffee and ate pizza and mac 'n' cheese and anything I wanted because damned if it didn't matter anyway. So, for the last 5 months I have been eating what I want, when I want. But it wasn't bad enough to give my primal-adjusted system too much grief (mind you, I have been eating primally for a year- 80-85% on and 20-15% cheats). Really it has been not such bad stuff and then pretty bad about twice a week. Now that my husband has let my rebelliousness go for so long and been inadvertantly tempted by my indiscretion, he has teamed up with me for a once-a-week cheat. I also decided that I will not torture myself unnecessarily until I pee on a stick and see a plus-sign. Believe me, I have peed on a lot of sticks. Yes, they were the right kind.

I am back on coffee but I have been smoke-free since February of 2011. This was a decision by me to prepare my body for a baby by ridding it of the biggest toxin I enjoyed- cigarette smoke. Don't get me wrong, I still really want to smoke. The urge is greater since I've been unsuccessful at this pregnancy thing and all kinds of "what is wrong with me? are all my eggs gone? am I unable to have children?" thoughts are creeping around. Unfortunately, my part of the wedding agreement was that there would be no wedding unless I quit smoking. That's okay, I told him that when I am 90 and he is gone I will start up again.

So, before the wedding happened (Aug. 6th, 2011) I was really stressed out. I'm sure everyone says that. No joke, I was stressed enough to induce my period a week early ON MY WEDDING NIGHT. Funny how when I was having the girls cinch me into my dress I even remarked that it was tighter than before and I felt like I was going to start my period. Well, at least I got through the ceremony without having to waddle down the aisle in an emergency-like situation.
After that, we were off to Europe for a some-what stressful honeymoon for 5 weeks. As soon as we got back we got ready to move to New York from Colorado. By getting ready I mean minor house-work and trying to find renters. Did I mention it was to take on the added stress of starting a business?
So, needless to say, my cycle has not been all that regular... in fact, I wonder if I even ovulate anymore...
Between the crazy stress roller-coaster of the last 9 months, change of moving from 11,000 feet to sea-level and my love-hate relationship with CrossFit (I was not an athletic person until I found out I would be wearing a wedding dress)... I think it's safe to say that my body has been retaliating. Rightly so.

Now I am in a good place, besides being 2000 miles from a key factor in the process. Life is slowing to a comfortable pace, the business is doing well enough to alleviate stress of future financial issues, I am pretty much through with all my rebellious eating and I am still doing CrossFit (hey, guess what? that IS our business). I think that I can expect some good stuff to happen soon. By the way, I am still taking folic acid and larger amounts of fish oil. I also decided to help myself to some fertility vitamin supplements: FertilAid and FertileCM.

All that being said, I stumbled across this helpful article by Mark Sisson this evening. Okay, I think I might be down with eating liver... as long as I can concoct some sort of primal crackers to put it on like a spread.