Why we need fat and cholesterol in our diets

I have been pleasantly surprised to read that the book by Gittleman and my Nutrition textbook have a lot of similar suggestions on nutrition. This is good because I have always thought that there was too much conflicting information out there. I hope that this will make it easier for me to get a well rounded view on what is a healthy diet for mamas during their pregnancies.

I love this quote:
“I emphasize variety, ensuring consumption of a wide range of vegetables, fruits, protein, low-fat and full-fat milk products, and complex carbohydrates. This means putting lean meat and eggs back into your diet; it means using all the available sources of calcium, like green leafy vegetables, not just dairy products. Variety will give your body maximum exposure to all the essential nutrients from food sources without risking the problems of excesses-gluten intolerance, yeast infections, and degenerative diseases”. Pg. 50

This quote sums up what my idea of a healthy diet should be. I feel like, instead of putting so much energy into cutting out things, that we should put more energy into finding and adding more of a variety of foods into our diets. An example would be that people have become afraid of red meats, and have therefore cut them out of their lives and now are having hard times coming up with good sources of b-12 and iron, or that our saturated fat intake (which isn’t evil, just needs to be curved) is up because people are forgetting about the vegetable sources of calcium in our diets like dark leafy greens and are consuming so much dairy products that they are eating too much saturated fat from dairy.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time reading about cholesterol….dun dun duhhhhhh (that is supposed to be suspenseful music, if you couldn’t tell). What I learned is that there are actually two kinds of cholesterol, dietary and blood. Our body actually creates and need cholesterol and is considered “so vital that it is contained in practically every cell of the body and aids in cell membrane repair” pg.52. What I am finding is that our body actually makes most of its own cholesterol and takes very little from the dietary cholesterol stores. There are also studies that suggest that it is not necessarily the cholesterol in food, but the oxidized cholesterol after you cook it that poses the problem: “it is not pure cholesterol that creates artery-clogging plaque, but rather the toxic substances produced by the oxidation of cholesterol. Oxidized derivatives of cholesterol are unstable and decompose into free radicals, which damage blood vessel walls.” Pg. 55

My conclusion at the end of these chapters is that we need fats in our diets! Fats provide energy, it provides warmth, cushion, and allows our bodies to ingest those ever important fat soluble vitamins. It is needed for hormone production and body development, so cutting fat out of our diets completely is actually detrimental to our health. I am going to make the conscious effort to eat a better variety of foods so that I will be more likely to get all of the nutrients my body needs. Next in the book is about the role that sugar and carbohydrates play on our bodies. Until next time!

Let Nutrition Month Begin!!

I have decided to make this my official “Nutrition Month”. What does that mean? It means that for 30 days (and maybe longer) I am going to be concentrating my studies on nutrition. I am not just going to focus nutrition during pregnancy, but nutrition in general!!

I am trying to gather some really well rounded sources. Obviously I tend to lean more towards the “crunchy” side of thinking, but I really want to know what the best and healthiest options for mothers and families are. I am willing to have my mind changed about what I think to be healthy!

I have a few books that I will be reading, as part of my studies. Super Nutrition for Women by, Ann Louise Gittleman; Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy by, Elizabeth Somer; Prescription for Nutritional Healing by, Phyllis A. Balch; Prescription for Dietary Wellness by, Phyllis A. Balch; Nourishing Traditions by, Sally Fallon; The Natural Pregnancy Book by, Aviva Jill Romm; and Understanding Nutrition Custom Edition for Oklahoma State University by, E. Whitney and S. Rolfes. I really hope that these books will give me a well rounded look.

I have begun reading the Super Nutrition for Women by Ann Louise Gittleman. It isn’t a very long book, but it seems to be packed full with information. Gittleman talks about the dangers of living on the American low-fat/no-fat diet. We have deprived ourselves of a vital nutritional element from our lives. Without fats, our bodies cannot utilize the fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Let’s look at what some of the vitamins help with:

Vitamin A: needed for new cell growth, healthy skin, hair, and tissues, and vision in dim light.
Vitamin D: promotes absorption of calcium for healthy bones and teeth
Vitamin E: protects red blood cells and helps prevent destruction of vitamin A and C.
Vitamin K: necessary for normal blood clotting and synthesis of proteins found in plasma, bone, and kidneys.

This is just on a basic level, what these vitamins do for us. I am only two chapters in, but am finding out reasons not to be so scared of fats! I will continue to post as I learn more. I am hoping that I will have this book read by the end of the week. It just depends on how much the kids will let me read 

On a different note, I want to say that I am working on a blog post about my miscarriage with Gabriel. So much has happened and I have learned so much from my experience and time with him that I want to make sure I am able to truly express what his life and death has meant to me. I promise that I will not leave everyone hanging for very long. Until next time!

Saddest day of my life

I was so excited, because today I had the baby's first ultrasound scheduled. It was like Christmas waiting for it all day today. I was a cleaning fool, so that I could pass the time quickly. Time came, I packed the kids up and went to the US place.

As we started to look at the baby, I noticed that the baby looked kind of small for what I knew my gestational age to be, but more noticeably, I noticed an absence of something very important.....a heart beat. I could tell the technician was very uncomfortable and worried, and to tell you the truth, so was I. My family was in the room with me, and I didn't want to let on that I was worried about the baby so I didn't say anything. We decided to use the trans vaginal probe to get a better look.

While we were looking I still couldn't see a heartbeat and I just knew.....but it was too awful to say and I couldn't/didn't want to think about it. Finally the technician looked at me and said "I can't find a heartbeat". I played it off in front of my family, and my husband thought that meant that we needed a better machine to get to see the heartbeat. I don’t know how I was able to keep it together.

After Adrian and the girls left the room so I could dress, I just lost it. The technician was so good to me and was very patient and gentle, and I am so very grateful to her. She talked to me, answered my questions and was just there. Then it was time to go, and I saw the box sitting on the table. It was one of those picture boxes, but I knew exactly what it was for….I got mad at that box. I decided I hated that box, it was a disgusting box and it made me want to scream. This simple little gesture to try and comfort me made me want to run…..I felt like if I touch that box it was going to kill me. I pulled myself together, walked out of that room with that box and drove home.

On the way home I felt like, how can there ever be happiness anymore? I felt like everything else should be sad, and I wanted to feel sad forever but when I got home, I watched my two girls laugh. They had so much fun and were so happy…..it made me feel so peaceful. I realized that it was okay to be happy, and that everything was going to be okay. I was sad that my girls were not going to get the chance to know my baby but so happy that I had my girls.

I am dreading waking up tomorrow. I have to face an entire day of knowing that my baby is not with me anymore. At least today, I got to spend most of my day with Gabriel. That is what I have decided to name the baby. I have a long way to go at processing this, but tomorrow is a new day.

Too long!

I am so bad about writing for my blog! But I feel like I get the important stuff down :)

So much has happened since the last time I blogged. I graduated from OSU in May, my family and I moved to Edmond OK, I have attended 7 births as a doula, have been co-leading an awesome birthing and parenting group in Stillwater, and am currently 11 weeks pregnant with baby number 3 planning for my first homebirth!

The knowledge and confidence that I have gained in these past 12 months are so much! I have seen different kinds of births, and 7 beautiful babies born. I have had the pleasure of see one mama dance through her labor, an awesome VBAC, and make so many new friends. I don't think these families will every really understand how special I feel to be allowed into their birthing spaces. Thankyou families!

I also know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this is what I am supposed to do. I have worked very hard, for this, and I believe that I am good at what I do, because I love and believe in it so much. Thank you so much to everyone in my life that supports and helps me on my journey! You know who you are :)

Getting into the birthing world.

Well it is finally happening. After all of my hard work and dedication, I will be assisting women at their births as a doula. As of right now I have two for sure clients and one potential client. I am so proud and excited because I have worked, so very hard for this. The best part is, I will be working with my best friend. It will be kind of a joint doula job!

I am learning that there is so much work to do, in setting up a doula practice! There are so many things that you have to decide to do. Things such as: what do I want to do, if the mother decides to get an epidural? Do I want to be a doula for someone who decides to have a c-section? What about payment plans? Draw up a contract for financial reasons, Do I want to include other services? etc.

Tori and I sat down and hashed out what we want to present in our child birth education classes. We have decided to include in our services a child birth education class. Hopefully providing these classes will help empower the family to make their own choices and be in control of their own births. I feel very good about our lesson plan, that it will be fair, very comprehensive, and flexible for individual families.

My knowledge of pregnancy and birthing has also been improving, by leaps and bounds. The Childbirth International communications manual has been such a great help for me in learning how to communicate with the mom's that I will be assisting. I am learning effective language, and listening skills, someting that I didn't realize was so hard. I have been using what I have learned when I talk with Adrian and I have noticed that it has made communication between us much much better.

This path is going to take a lot of work and dedication. I forsee some very work intensive and exhaustive times ahead, but it still feels like it is worth it.

Finally the Birth Story!

I was two days overdue and feeling very grumpy about everything! I had gotten a text message telling me that my friend who was two weeks behind me had her baby that day and I was so jealous. I was feeling very grateful though that Adrian was home, because he usually works on Fri. Sat. Sun. an hour away, and I didn't feel comfortable about him being so far away. It was an OSU game day, and since I wasn't having any really consistent contractions I suggested to Adrian that he go to the tailgate and to the game and if anything started to happen I would give him a call (my mom was with me all day). Well he went to the game and nothing happend! I was so frustrated (which probably accounted for some of the labor stalling) After the game was over Adrian, my dad, and some other game goers decided that we should go to Buffalo Wild Wings and watch another footballgame. I thought that this would be a good idea because I had been at home, trying to get labor to start (pressure points, nipple stimulation, and black and blue cohosh homeopathics) all day and just wanted to get out.
When we got there, I just felt different...I didn't feel chatty (which is weird for me) and I just wanted to get out of there so after we ate I told Adrian that I had to get out of there and we went home. We put Caroline to bed and I think we watched a movie. At 11 or so, I started having some good contractions and Adrian suggested that we should go to bed (we had been having some strong contractions at night for a few nights and we didn't want to be too tired if this was it) I am so glad that he suggested that, because at 3:30 in the morning (or was it 2:30? The time change happend that day, lol so I was confused about the time the whole time) I woke up with really bad stomach cramps! I thought that I had eaten something and that it was making my stomach hurt so I got up to go to the bathroom, but didn't have to go...suddenly it dawned on me "I think I am going into labor". LOL, I kept remembering what all the books said that if you can sleep through it, then it is not real labor so I decided to lay back down and try to fall back to sleep...that was definitely not happening, so I jumped in the shower to try and relax a bit and think about what my next course of action was.
My doula lived three hours away, and I didn't want to call her to come over unless I was 100% sure that this was it, I also wanted Adrian to sleep as long as he could, because I knew that I was going to need him to be solid for me later on, so I decided to call my best friend who was to be at the birth no matter what. LOL, this is about 4 in the morning and luckily she was already up and came straight over. We were both so excited, we talked and she started timing my contractions and just doing the whole birth thing, lol. I decided to call my doula at 5 because I knew that this was it and I wanted her to get here before it was too late.
After my second shower, I could hear Caroline awake in her bedroom, since I was moaning a bit loud so I had Adrian get her and call my parents to come pick her up. They got there about 8 which was about the time that my doula arrived. My doula is a friend I met with AAMI, and she is also studying to be a midwife which was very convenient because she could check dilation and had a doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat. As soon as Caroline was gone, and C (the doula) arrived I felt very comfortable and my labor picked up. At first I couldn't seem to get my groove and I was pretty vocal, I decided to go and lay down in the bed with Adrian to see if I could try and rest between contractions. This is where things became different...I felt like I was able to relax.
Just laying there next to Adrian felt good. I stopped having to make noise with my contractions and was able to just lay there and relax every muscle in my body. The pain didn't go away, it just felt like I was able to handle it now. We laid there for what seemed like forever, and as I look back at that time it was my favorite time during my labor. I was so surprised at how much I felt like I needed him...I just wanted to know where he was and everytime I got up to go to the bathroom, I would peek into the office just to reassure myself he was still sitting there working on his homework. I eventually had Adrian get C, and I had her check me which she found me to be about 5/6 cm. Once again I decided to get into the shower and I labored in there with Adrian sitting in the bathroom talking to me. LOL It was so cute...I remember him asking me to describe to him what it felt like and I tried to, but it's just one of those pains you can't explain (especially to a man, when you tell him its like really bad PMS cramps, he still doesn't get it hee hee), I also sat in the bathtub with the shower running crying to him telling him that it hurt really badly and I wish that I could get an epidural, but I was afraid to get one because that hurt really badly, too :)
After my shower I decided to lay on the couch with my eyes closed just trying to relax all my muscles. It was so strange...I still didn't make any noises, it felt like if I moaned or made any noise at all, it made the contractions hurt worse. C and Tori sat in the living room with me, and chatted quietly which was actually very comforting. The most comforting thing during my labor, was to have everyone going about their business. I didn't want people to hover and be all over me, but if I needed something I wanted them there. That is why just laying there on the couch, while C and Tori talked was so nice. I think subconsciously I knew that if everyone acted like everything was fine, then I was fine and safe.
At some point my mom came back over. She finally got Caroline to sleep at her house and she wanted to be here for me while I labored. She came in and just sat on the floor listening to C and Tori along with me. I do not know how long I was laying there but all of a sudden the contractions seemed different to me. It seemed like they started coming closer and I was getting more uncomfortable. My mother said that I started sighing more often, and my breathing would change and sometimes I would put my arm up straight in the air ( I don't remember that but I know that when I get my migraines if I lay on the couch and put my arm in the air they help, so I believe her, lol.) During a contraction I started feeling the need to push and my body began pushing with the contractions.
My eyes shot open and I remember telling C "We need to go right now." She asked me if I wanted her to check me and at first I told her no, but then I was afraid that I would get to the hospital to early, and then I would have to fight them about every intervention they wanted to do, so I decided that she should check me to make sure it was time to go. Sure enough I was 9 cm and 100% effaced. Everyone started getting ready to go, my mom went to go get my dad and Caroline and was going to meet us at the hospital. Tori put the rest of my bags and stuff out into my car and C helped me walk out to the car (lol, I wonder what my new neighbors where thinking. Here I come, helped outside, while grunting and trying not to push the baby out onto the concrete right there.). C asked me if I wanted her to ride with me there, or follow her there and I told her that I wanted her to follow Adrian and I there, so C and Tori drove together to the hospital.
During the car ride to the hospital I was a bit nervous because I kept pushing. Adrian was pleading with me to not push the baby out in the car and I kept telling him "I can't help it!" I remember looking over at the car next to us and wondered if they could tell something was going on, lol.
We all got to the hospital at once. Adrian helped me out of the car and Tori and C met us at the door. I am still not quite sure what happend next, because next thing I know Adrian is missing and C and Tori are trying to get me into the hospital. I remember standing at the informational desk with a contraction trying not to push the baby out in the entrance of the hospital. A couple walked by us with the look of fear in their eyes, lol. I think they thought I was going to push the baby out there, too!
I was relieved to see that Adrian was now back at my side, and we were going up the elevators. Once on the labor and delivery floor I thought that things were going to just fall into place. Well I was sort of right. I get up there, and the first thing the nurses want me to do is stand on the scale. I gave them a "are you kidding me look" but still climbed up onto that scale. I had a contraction and made pushing noises and they shuttled me off to the delivery room.
Once more, I thought that everything would just start to fall into place, and still I was wrong. Once I am in the delivery room, they take me to the bathroom and ask me to pee in a cup. I remember thinking "You guys are crazy" but somehow I manage to do what they asked. I think they are used to mom's who say they are having the baby, but are in fact not quite ready. The nurse asked my doula if she checked me but wasn't satisfied with C's answer and decided to check me herself. The nurse looked up and said "Oh you are complete I better go call the doctor." Well duh!! I told you!
All of a sudden I had a huge contraction and my fore bags broke. I am standing in the bathroom completely naked and I can hear the second nurse say "I get to catch the baby!" She asks me if I can get into the bed and we said no. So they decided to help me to the bed and let me hang onto it to push. They raised the bed, put some pads underneath me and then I got down to business.
The contractions seemed to just start coming one on top of another. Adrian was on the other side of the bed holding my hands and looking into my eyes. It was amazing!! I remember looking at him and just feeling so charged.With each contraction I would squat down a bit and push as long as it felt good. I pushed about 4 times and out she came!!!! I DID IT!! I heard this loud cry and turned around to see my baby!
Katie was born 2:31 pm and she weighed 9 pounds even. She was beautiful. They tried cutting the cord, but Tori informed them that we didn't want to cut the cord until after it stopped pulsing. They handed Katie to me and I held her for a while. I was enjoying the after baby high that natural childbirth lets you have. It was wonderful.
Finally the doctor gets there, lol, and he told us he ran all the way there. I like to think he was impressed with me :) To tell you the truth, I was impressed with myself! He told me that he very rarely sees someone who goes naturally all the way which made me feel really good. He only had to repair a small tear that didn't want to stop bleeding. Everyone in the room was impressed that I had a 9 pound baby with only a small tear.
After the repair I got to take a shower, and the family started to pour in. Caroline was such good big sister from the beginning. She was so curious about her and so happy. Adrian's family quickly made it to the hospital from Edmond and I just sat there and enjoyed my family!
I loved everything about this birth. Looking back on it makes me feel so strong. I was blessed to have such a wonderful birth experience and am very grateful for everyone that played a part in it! Katie is such a happy little baby, she is a great nurser, and I am in so much love with our new little girl!

The Knowledge I've Gained

I am almost 27 weeks pregnant now and the pregnancy is going very very well. I have made sure to drink plenty of water, I have been doing prenatal yoga, and lots of swimming, and taking my prenatal vitamins regularly this time! I have had less aches and pains and more energy as a result. Caroline is really becoming aware of our little Katie, and likes to show people my belly and talk to it. It is cute, sometimes she thinks she has a baby in her belly and maybe even in her daddy's belly LOL.
I have really stepped up and taken charge over my learning for the midwifery. I am almost done with the Orientation stage and should have it mailed within the next few weeks! That means that after I turn in the Orientation assignments I will be able to start on the curriculum!!! In just this past year I have learned so much. I think armed with this knowledge and all the work I am doing to keep healthy is why my pregnancy is going so well.
I am not nervous about my home birth at all. In fact I feel so much more relaxed that we are going to be here for the birth. I will be in my own familiar surroundings, everyone around me is someone I know and love, and I will be able to control what does and does not happen around me. I especially love that I will not be disturbed while I am in labor.
I have done alot of reading this pregnancy...so far I have read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery, both of which I highly recommend. I have also read Sarah Buckley's Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering which is one of my new favorite books, and one I plan to do a separate blog on. I just recently finished Henci Goer's Thinking Woman's Guide to Childbirth which has a lot of good information in it, but very biased (which she does warn you about in the introduction of the book) and I am currently reading Penny Simkin's The Birth Partner which is a must have if you are planning on working in the birthing world.
Just from these six books, I have gained a wealth of knowledge and ideas on how I can make this birth the best one! If anyone wants to borrow any of these books, just let me know :)
Well, I am going to take a nap while I can, lol. Caroline is down for her nap, and I have the dishes and laundry going, I think that is pretty good for the day :-D