September 2004 Mommies - Page 9

[ilex]

mom2baldie. wild yam root contains glycosides which help the body make progesterone which is needed to maintain a pregnancy, Black Haw and False unicorn root are very effective in preventing miscarriages, but will not prevent them if there is a fetal abnormaility, or an "incompetent" cervix or os.

In Wise Woman Herbal she suggests taking 1-2 cups daily of black haw,and you can take it throughout the pregnancy, and 3 drops of false unicorn 4-5x daily for the first trimester.

I have heard that midviwes think the vitamin E "glues" the placenta back on and helps to maintain it until full term...don't know if it actually works...but couldn't hurt!

Hopefully you can feel better about this soon, I know the anxiety is so hard.

[Mom2baldie]

thank you Bellasmom. I need to get Susan Weeds book.

[JenInMpls]

food, glorious (?) food

I find myself wanting to eat salty foods. Not that I don't eat enough salt normally! Anything with a lot of sugar in it, either added or natural, sits wrong - this includes milk (lactose), fruit and some veggies. About all the sugar I eat is the tsp of pure maple syrup I put on my hot cereal if I eat it in the morning. Totally different than my mom who "lived' on oyster crackers and coke for the first 3 months of her pregnancies!!!

Caffeine seems to have completely eliminated itself from my diet. Last time I had coffee, I got horribly nauseous and chocolate made me throw up.

Starchy food makes me feel like I've eaten 3 times as much food as I actually have. As much as I know that the oatmeal and high-fiber bread is good for me in the morning, I feel ooky until about 2 PM.

Surprisingly enough, when we had to stop to eat after our midwife appt yesterday, we went to boston market and the meal of chicken, squash and mashed potatoes sat REALLY well. I could only eat it 1/2 at a time, though!

Also - 2% milk tastes so much better to me right now than the skim I usually drink.

In the end... I think it points to my body hankerin' for proteins. An old household snack that always grosses everyone except my family out - a piece of bologna spread with nut butter and rolled up - went down and stayed down nicely, although it did make Jo a bit green around the gills!! :LOL

Almonds are a choice protein, they contain a lot of calcium in addition to protein, fiber, and iron, and are very high in magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin E!! Plus they are good for your cholesterol level. And no I don't work for the Almond Board!!!

Calming wishes to your tums - jen

[MamaAcorn]

Any suggestions for high irons foods other than red meat? I was anemic with my last pregnancy and refused a transfusion after my ds birth, and would really like to avoid the whole experience this time around.

[shannon0218]

Cream of wheat if you like it has lots of iron in it. My mother was recently anemic during chemotherapy treatments and another patient recomended it, my mom's iron level was perfect after that, she had it most mornings for breakfast.

[georgia]

Mama Acorn, I've been anemic with both previous babies (despite eating, IMO, a *good* diet and my awesome red raspberry tea)! What I did last time, with mw's blessing, was take some liquid herbal supplements. Nettles and Yellowdock---think those are them! I also did some horribly nasty Vita-Dix (can't remember the name??)---it was a nasty brown liquid supplement that is supposed to be gentler and more bio-available then the harsh iron pills. I even started eating red meat last time, something I hadn't done in over 13 years. All to no avail until I started the herbs. Hope you find something that works for you!!!

All the best,

Amy
(Still HUNGRY!)

[Jodie]

Mom2baldie~ My midwife suggested I take vitamin E.
I started taking it early in my cycle everyday and will continue throughout the pregnancy. Like someone else said, it can't hurt.
So far so good.
And I take about 6 Alfalfa Tablets a day.(My prenatal)

I lost 2 pregnancies before 18dpo, 1 I lost at 7wks. Tomorrow I will be 5wks along. So two more weeks or so of taking temp and checking everytime I pee for color on the tissue.:
I figure I'll take an hpt on the 1st, just to make a solid confirmation, then I'll call the midwife.
When I make it to 8wks I will be happy, 10wks I'll be beaming and 12wks will just make me estatic!

I haven't gotten quessy yet, I hope it will arrive soon.
I acually want to have "morning sickness". I haven't had it yet and it would make me feel as if everything in there is going good,YKWIM? Right now I just have sore boobs and have to pee often.

I hope everyone finds some good things to eat!

[JenInMpls]

iron

The wise woman herbal lists these sources of iron: yellow dock (#1 recommendation), parsley, nettles, amaranth greens, dandelion root, kelp, liver, leafy greens, beets, oysters, heart and tongue (mmm, mmm - what does that do for your appetite?!). Vit C aids absorption of iron; avoid coffee, tea, excess bran, alkalinizers and phosphates which inhibit the absorption of iron.

The anemia prevention brew is: 1/2 ounce each dried nettle leaves, parsley leaves, comfrey leaves and dried yellow dock root, and 1/4 ounce dried peppermint leaves. Place in glass 1/2 gal jar, pour boiling water over herbs until jar is totally full; steep for at least 8 hours. Drink up to 4 cups a day for one week each month. nettle, parsley and yellow dock are the iron sources, folic acid comes from parsley and b12 from comfrey. green herbs all contribute vit c.

Molasses, esp blackstrap, is very high in iron. Just don't take it with milk, as the forms of iron in each of them actually bind to each other and make the iron unabsorbable.

jen

[Desertdancer]

HI everyone

Hi everyone!

I am tentatively leaving my lurk on the Trying to Conceive Board and joining this September baby forum. I am 17 days past ovulation with a pink line on the home test that seems to be getting darker (I took the test Sunday, Monday and today). No more nausea than usual. I am very irritable though. My breasts seem larger and are very sore. This is my first pregnancy ever, after trying for a year and a half. I ended up having a DNC/hysteroscopy three months ago to remove polyps and fibroids in my uterous. I'm nervous. It's nice to know there are so many women in similar shoes as mine.

Cheers,
DesertDancer

[Jodie]

Welcome desertdancer.
We are only 4 days apart, I am 21 days past ovulation.
I haven't taken an hpt yet, just don't feel I need to at this point. I know I'm pregnant.
I hope things continue to go well for you and...........
Congratulations
Your gonna be a mama soon. September will be here before we know it!

[Lazuli]

I've been trying to eat, but nothing sounds good at all and I'm a bit worried that I'm not getting all the protein and stuff i should be. Cheese is about the only dairy product I can stomach, the thought of drinking milk makes me gag. I'm not much of a meat eater to begin with and now it just doesn't sound good at all. Some days I'm super queasy all day, others I'm not, but I'm not any hungrier than usual or anything, just really really tired.

I'm having a bad week. My husband is out of town for work and so I'm by myself. I have one friend in the area, and she's coming over tomorrow night and taking me to the doctor on Friday, yay! But otherwise, I'm feeling very much alone and isolated and all these hormones are not helping things at all! *laughs*

[adventuregirl]

Morning, girls!

Welcome to the newcomers and congrats!

Lynsey, the herbs I am taking are in a formula called Welcome Womb from Wish Garden Herbs, its a tincture. I'm not sure how widely available that would be, the company is local to me, so you'd have to see if you can find it in your area. bellasmum nailed it on the reasons and if you do infusions, I would go with her suggestions. It is rather bitter, so that route may require some extra additions to make it drinkable. The Vitamin E helps the implantation go deeper and adhere really well.

Just a heads up to anyone trying the anemia prevention brew Jen suggested, Yellow Dock root tastes awful! You may want to consider taking that in tincture or capsule form instead, but if you try it don't buy too much until you know you will actually drink it.

Some other iron sources: lentils, prunes, red grapes, pumpkin seeds, wheat germ, brewers yeast, clams, oysters, rice bran, tofu and sesame seeds.

I have found that toast with butter and jam for breakfast has been my best bet, almost everything else makes me queasy. Some soups have been great, I made a great cauliflower cheese soup last night and ate more than I have been able to recently and no queasiness afterwards! Pasta and potatoes have been good mainstays, but I am feeling pretty deprived of nutrition, I keep trying to add spinach or at least something green, at least I'm swallowing all sorts of vitamins. Cheese has not been a problem either.

Lazuli, keep hanging around here, we'll keep you company!

[4under6]

Is anyone else finding that the only way to stop the queasiness is by eating???? I swear the only time I feel normal is when I eat. I have been having a bowl of Cheerios at about 11 every night, and that seems to "cure" my last bout of nausea for the day.

[shannon0218]

Welcome newcomers!!
I find eating helps the nighttime nausea, although anything with milk is a no no, I have been doing toast and peanut butter before bed and that seems to help. It is getting worse though, I usually home cook for my pets, but I ran out of my stock in the freezer and I gagged the entire time I was making them a new batch I'm not sure what about it was bothering me, the only cooked ingredients are the barley and some of the veggies. Oh well, I managed to make a 6 week supply, so maybe I'll mix it with kibble to make it stretch to after the first trimester. I wish I could count on dh to make it, but the last time I went away for a weekend, him and the dog lived on fast food hamburgers and Kraft Dinner

[chrissy]

hi everybody!

shannon, what a good petowner you are!

3under3, i agree that eating helps me feel less queasy. and for me the trick is eating before i get too hungry.

mainly i am kind of surprised that i am already queasy. i am only 4 weeks 1 day. i am taking it as a good sign though especially since my boobs aren't particularly sore.

i toured the birth center yesterday and liked it though i still think i would prefer home.

off to eat before i get too hungry,

[Caroline248]

Welcome to the newbies again! I am too quesy to write much, applesauce has been helping me! I usually eat the plan organic w/o sugar added, but I ran out the other day and asked my neighbor for some. She had Motts with cinammon. Great, now that is all I want! It was really good!!!

My nasuea has made my worries of another MC subside, but it is funny. I work to feel better, eat better, drink more water. Then, as soon as I feel better, I am convinced it is because I am going to lose the baby. Just can't make me happy! I just want to be 13 weeks....then I can relax (as long as I don't keep reading stories at Pregnancy loss support sites).

Shannon, glad your tests are going well. I am test free until next week. I have to set up an US, I have been putting it iff.

Caroline

[nikkyme]

Hello all - nervous to be here- had m/c Dec 6-03 at 5 weeks, and to my suprise pg again...i didn't even know i was preggo until i started eating uncontrollably one day. I am soooooooo hungry all the time and tired dh is afraid that i may eat him one nite if we run out of food! yet nothing appeals to me and have been throwing up daily.

i dont know a due date yet - but think the middle or end of Sept.

anybody have any good vegetarian cookbook recs ? also looking for anything on vbac, as had one with dd 2 yrs ago...

thanks!hope to be here for the next 9 months...

Nikki

lucys mom 1/28/02 and Mikes wife

whoops - meant had a c-section want a vbac...

[Mom2baldie]

Hey Nikki,

Did you have a c section 2 years ago or a vbac? I had my 1st vbac 2 years ago and a few websites I found very helpful were: www.vbac.com
and
www.ican-online.org

ICAN also has a great email support list that you can find by going to Yahoo Groups and typing in ICAN online. You may even be able to find an active chapter in your area.

Actually theres tons of websites about VBAC but I cant think of them right now. Ill try to make a list and post it later. Childbirth/VBAC is my great passion so Id love to help you in any way I can.

Ill be (hopefully) having my 2nd vbac at HOME!! in late Sept.
I cant wait! My 1st vbac was a great experience. What was your cesarean for?

[starrynight]

Hi - just thought I'd check and see if anyone's as nauseas as I am. I'm basically nauseas all day. It's hard because I feel so unmotivated to do anything. I did go and get those "SeaBand" wrist straps this morning and I think they're helping. I took them off and I noticed I felt worse, so I've been keeping them on. I think I'm going to try ginger tea next. I seem to feel worse after I eat for some reason.

Has anybody had much in the way of food aversions? I couldn't stand garlic or basil with my last pregnancy. This time it's basil again and, unfortunately, eggs. I made egg salad the other day and now I have to hold my breath everytime I open the fridge because the smell is making me gag. Isn't this lovely?! The only thing that sounds good to eat is Annie's spaghettios.

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to grip and groan a little bit! I hope everyone's doing well.....

Andréa

[chrissy]

bloated and starving

it is such an odd feeling to be so bloated and so hungry. anybody else?

another totally unrelated question: GBS- anyone know a good place to find info on this? i was positive with noah and had the iv antibiotics at his birth. the birth center said if you are GBS+ you have to deliver at the hospital BUT you can refuse the test and then you can still deliver at the birth center. i'm kind of worried about not having the antibiotics though. i know there are other things you can do to get rid of the GBS though, right? anyone know what they are or where i can find out.

puffy bloated belly chrissy