Preggy Time: Third Trimester, Labour and Delivery...and Now :)



I didn't have time to finish my third trimester blog before the baby came so I thought I'd write about everything up to now all in one entry :)  Mostly because at this point, the 3rd trimester is just a distant memory since time with the baby has thankfully been a blissful experience for me....and....the labour part...or mostly the pain of it...trumped any of the peaceful memories of the 3rd trimester! :P

The third trimester was smooth sailing for me except that the baby grew and grew and became heavier and heavier to carry around.  I also should have just lived in the bathroom as all the pressure on my bladder made me visit the little girl's room every 45min-1hr!  Our little girl was breech until the 35th week and then she remarkably turned!  We went to Miami for one last quick getaway and I did a lot of swimming which, I swear, did the trick.  I also had Makoto give me frequent acupuncture treatments to help turn the baby and I spent as much time as I could walking on my hands and knees up and down our living room.

Labour and Delivery -  We had a quick and completely natural birth.  But.....Oh.  My.  Gawwwwwwwwd.  Ok....I don't want to scare any of my patients or my friends that are soon to give birth...and please keep in mind that every birth experience is different...but HOLY SCHMOLY was it ever painful!  People keep asking me to describe it...and the closest way I can describe it...which is still a very distant comparison....is going in for a root canal without proper anesthesia!  The entire process was a fast one for us.....8hrs from start to finish.  I...of course, being the first time mom and naturopath that I am, decided that I would try for a natural labour.  This meant that I was not prepped for an epidural....so of course, half way into it, when the contractions really started kicking in (oh...and I was that *lucky* girl that quickly progressed from contractions 20min apart to 1min apart within an hour...and...to top it off...they came in PAIRS) I begged my nurse (who was aweeeeeeeeeeeeesome!!) for an epidural.  Buuuuut....apparently the hospital was TOO BUSY and there were no anesthesiologists available to give me an epidural!!!  I seriously wanted Makoto to find a blunt object and knock me out with it!!  It's amazing how the availability of the anesthesiologists can dictate how many natural births may take place!

So basically....I was lying on the bathroom floor in the delivery room like a crazy wild woman....in so much pain that I could barely move.  Makoto was super supportive but there is honestly so much your partner can do for you at this stage.  He tried everything to make me feel better....held me in the different position that we practiced that was *suppose* to help decrease the pain, massage my lower back, telling me loving words, bringing me nanaimo bars (which usually makes me so incredibly happy)....but really, I just had to close my eyes and focus through the pain.  When I seriously thought I was going to pass out, our nurse (who was VERY pro natural birth) asked me to get in the bath tub.  She had placed an exercise ball in there and wanted me to sit on it.  I re-iterate....I COULD NOT MOVE.....but her and Makoto somehow convinced me to get in the tub and sit on the exercise ball.  She then placed a stream of warm water on my lower back and had me lightly bounce on the ball.....whatever the mechanism is, it totally worked!  The pain went from super @#$%(@ craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy ouchie to just craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy ouchie...enough to get me through another hour of contractions...and enough to get me to fully dilated!! 

I have heard that the pushing stage is suppose to "feel refreshing"....uhhhhhh.....this was not my experience.  Pushing is like having to have a crazy workout when all you want to do is pass out from exhaustion.  My team of medical doctors (there were 3 interns in the room with us that doubled as our cheering squad :):):))  and nurse kept telling me to "push through my bum and not my legs"...what the heck does that mean?!?!?  Oh...did I mention that they make you hold your own legs up while pushing!!!  Your knees literally need to be at your ears.  Ladies who are about to give birth...seriously practice this at home before going in!!  At one point, they asked if I wanted a mirror to see the top of the baby's head....in my delirium, I said "sure".  That lasted about 2sec......you think that you would be motivated by seeing your babies head but instead, all I saw was craziness down there....and I certainly didn't want to keep watching unrecognizable things happening to my body!!!! :P

After about 45min of pushing, our sweet little angel came into this world....it was early afternoon and the sun was streaming into the room.....I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live :)

At this point, you still have to deliver the placenta and this is when you get stitched from any tearing but because the baby was now peacefully laying on my chest, I don't even remember if that part was painful or not.  Since there were no complications during the delivery, they actually let Makoto have the last pull of the baby and place her on my chest!!  That was VERY AWESOME :) 

Here are some things we learned:
1.  Makoto and I laughed as we unpacked our hospital bag when we came home....we packed a head massager, massage lotion, all my hypnobirthing materials, a wide selection of music, reading material, snacks, essential oils, natural bubble bath........we didn't even have a chance to touch this stuff.  What we did use and were so incredibly thankful that we did pack was a HEATING PAD.  Makoto would place this over my back, chest, tummy....whatever I needed during the delivery and it really helped to soothe me in between contractions.  We also gave our nurses the natural diapers and diaper balm that we packed so that they could use them right from birth.

2.  Even if you want to try for a natural birth, be open to asking your medical team to prep you for an epidural...juuuuuuuuuuuust in case you change your mind. 

3.  Don't be too attached to your birth plan.  I had been practicing hypnobirthing techniques all throughout my pregnancy....ummm....I listened to my hypnobirthing track on my IPod for about 15sec....it did not work for me.  What did work was listening to relaxing music for the early stages of my contractions.  We also wanted to try for a squatting birth to help decrease perineal tears....but in the end, I was on my back.  Be open to trying all different types of techniques.....you don't know what will work for you and what does work may change hourly so keep switching it up!

4.  Our nurse pulled out a bottle of olive oil and gave me a perineum massage in between contractions while in the pushing stage to help stretch things out and decrease tearing.  Apparently all nurses are trained to do this and most hospitals have olive oil in the delivery rooms just for this purpose!!

5.  No matter how crazy the pain is, you do honestly forget about it once the baby arrives :)  Ok.....it may take a week or two to forget about it but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to meet my little baby.

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  Baby Aria is doing great!  She is a good little feeder and sleeper...thank heavens!  I highly recommend spending the first month hibernating (I seriously lived in pajamas for a month) so that you can bond with your baby and take your time learning how to breastfeed, survive the night waking and teaching yourself how to function on interrupted sleep.  It's amazing how tired I am in the middle of the night yet I still get excited to wake up and see her and can't believe how much time Makoto and I can spend just watching her sleep :) 

I highly recommend motherhood :)

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

We are especially blessed this year with the best Christmas present ever....the arrival of our daughter, Aria!!!

It's been a wonderful time and we are happily sleep deprived and completely in love with our baby girl.  We're also lucky to have my entire family here to help us out with the baby and to celebrate the holidays.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and wonderful parenting and baby advice :)

From our family to yours, wishing you strength, health and happiness this holiday season and a very joyous 2012!!!

In health,
Aileen, Makoto, Aria and Rambo

How to Feed your Kids a Healthy Lunch...that they'll actually like!

Yes, we are still a few years away from having to decide what our daughter will get for her school lunch.

Even though Aileen and I are both practising Naturopaths, we still have differences in our own tastebuds and our own likes and dislikes, and what we will potentially feed our kid(s) when they get to school age. We are major plan-aheaders, so discussions have already started about what we are each going to contribute to our childrens' packed school lunches.

We have fun times reminiscing about our own good/bad/ugly experiences with our lunches as kids...although living in this decade in downtown Toronto has a completely different set of rules from growing up in the 1980s.

My hippy lunches were packed full of nutrition, but were very low on the cool scale (I actually loved my lunches until a lunch-lady made fun of my lunch in grade 3 "What are you eating? Maggots?", after which I became very self-conscious of what I was eating compared to other kids). Here was my typical lunch:

• 1 hardboiled egg
• 1-2 rice balls, wrapped in nori (seaweed), stuffed with umeboshi (fermented plum)
• an apple or orange
• small fruit yogurt
• on a rare occasion, a treat of natural fruit leather

Aileen's lunches were extremely high on the cool lunch scale, but nutritionally lacking. She loved her lunches, and I'm sure the other kids often tried to trade her for her bounty of delectables. (note that Aileen's mom is an amazing cook, with her specialty being very healthy Korean cuisine, but tried to integrate Aileen's lunches to the North American standard, not realizing how unhealthy the norms are here)

• wagon wheel
• bag of chips
• nutella sandwich
• juice box
• on a rare occasion, a surprise mom-delivered Happy Meal 

This being said, Aileen tells me about her frequent childhood ear infections, allergies, nasal congestion and her "cute, but robust" physique. I was a scrawny kid, but, sadly (from my childhood perspective), never got to miss a day of school thanks to my overly healthy lunches.

High-maintenance gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, food-dye-free, sugar-free kids seems to be somewhat the norm these days....which is great news for us soon-to-be overbearing naturopathic parents! However, being a kid is still being a kid so the key is trying to find a balance between our nutritional ideals, their tastes and not being social outcasts. I think a healthy balance between our childhood lunches would be a perfect compromise.

Here are some ideas for healthy, kid-tastebud-friendly, and not too uncool lunches:

Main:

• dinner leftovers (who doesn't love leftovers?)
• Brown rice pasta with peas/carrots
• Dimpflmeier or Stonemill bread sandwich with nitrite-free meats, avocado, sprouts, 365 Brand Ketchup/mustard
• Wraps (rice paper, tortilla) with salmon/turkey/chicken and vegetables 
• Brown rice balls with nori (these have come full circle and may actually be cool to have in Toronto)

The all-important Snack:

• Larabars (who needs fruit roll-ups when you have these?)
• Sweets from the Earth gluten-free Cashew Cookies
• Celery sticks stuffed with almond butter (hummus, if nut-free) and raisins
• Oskri coconut bars
• Sheep yogurt
• Cut up veggies (red peppers, carrots, cucumbers)
• Trail mix (seeds instead of nuts)
• Apple, berries, orange, pear, banana, etc..

Drinks:

• Water bottle
• Boxed unsweetened brown rice/almond milk
• Coconut water
• as a treat, Blue Sky natural rootbeer

Disclaimer: Of course, these are all in the very early planning stages and have not been tested first-hand...we'll keep you posted on what we actually settle on a few years down the road. :)

Preggy Time - 2nd Trimester

So far....so good!  :)  The second trimester has definitely been a great one......you definitely don't realize how differently you have been feeling for the past several months until things start to get back to normal for you.  Most women enjoy their 2nd trimester the most during pregnancy as this is when your morning sickness starts to subside, you regain your energy, you reach your halfway point in the pregnancy and best of all, you feel your baby kick for the first time!!!!  I was lucky to be able to enjoy the summer months (and prime ice cream season) that coincided with my 2nd trimester.


We've been going for our monthly check ups with our OBGYN which are exciting as we get to hear our baby's heartbeat :)  Another huge milestone is reached at 20 weeks when you go in for your anatomy ultrasound.  This is the one that takes a good 45min-60min and they go through every little part of your growing baby to make sure everything is developing properly.  So really, we already know that our baby has ten little fingers and ten little toes! :)  The results of our two part IPS blood tests also come back and you go through these results plus the anatomy ultrasound together with your OBGYN at your next appointment post anatomy ultrasound.


Although I didn't start showing much in the 2nd trimester, feeling our baby kick for the first time was the most exciting and amazing part of the pregnancy.  Unfortunately, this is something only I could feel (no matter how much Makoto tried his best to poke and palpate my tummy) as the baby is too small still for any movements to be felt from the outside of the tummy.  Makoto does his share in connecting with the baby by having his nightly "chats" with my tummy and reading bedtime stories to the baby.  We've definitely done some damage to our credit cards at the bookstore......it's amazing how nostalgic it is to go to the children's section of Indigo and see all your favorite childhood storybooks.  We both went berserk when we re-discovered "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein :) 

 One thing I started experiencing was low back pain which I wanted to nip in the bud as I was sure it was only going to worsen with my progressively growing tummy so there were 3 things that were integral in improving the pain:


1.  Regular adjustments with my chiropractor (Dr. Brian Dower - http://www.drdower.ca/)  -  WOW!  Did it ever make a difference after my spine was realigned.  I had a few imbalances in both my thoracic and lower spine so re-aligning it made almost an instant....and more importantly....sustained difference in my low back pain.


2.  Regular massages with Chris and Luis - both AMAZING registered massage therapists at our clinic.  They are also experienced at pre-natal massage.....I've never had a side-lying massage before but find it even more relaxing than a face-down massage!  I seriously want to bring them to the hospital with me on the day we give birth!


3.  Yoga/Stretching/Rest - I learned pretty quickly that running around all day long and not allowing myself to rest was not helping the low back pain situation at all.  Even just taking a 15min rest (as in lie down somewhere and FULLY commit to resting) every few hours helped so much.  I do yoga moves and stretches before bedtime as well which has helped.


We ended our 2nd trimester and entered our 3rd trimester with the most wonderful baby party thrown for us by two of our best friends.  We were blessed to be joined by 60 of our friends and 150 pink and white balloons.........IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!! :):):):):):):)

Preggy Time - 1st Trimester

Now that I'm happily into my 2nd trimester of pregnancy, I can't believe how fast my 1st trimester went!!  I must admit that I've been pretty lucky and have had a smooth pregnancy so far....no major morning sickness, no puking and just some mild nausea.  One thing that I wasn't warned about was that you lose your appetite all together during the 1st trimester.  I often found that I just wasn't hungry....so I ended up losing weight my first trimester!!  One thing that was confusing was knowing what our next steps were once our pee-stick pregnancy test confirmed that we were pregnant.  After we calmed down from excitement/happiness/pure fear, we found that we had no idea what to do next! 

Makoto and I decided to go through the good ol' OBGYN route with our 1st pregnancy.  We had researched a list of doctors through a combination of referrals from colleagues, rateMD.com, and friends and I went to my GP with this list hoping to get into one of our top choices.  My GP (who is absolutely fantastic and I trust completely) didn't even look at my list and referred me to an OBGYN he works with and just knew that we would get along.  Well, he was absolutely right!  So far, I am very happy with our choice of going through our 1st pregnancy with an OBGYN.

My GP and his support team also set me up with:

1.  Blood test and urine test to confirm pregnancy and check out important blood markers like my anemia status, thyroid function, vaccine history, viruses/infections and of course blood type and Rh factor.

2.  Referred me for my 8 week ultrasound (warning......if the baby is too small to get a good abdominal ultrasound reading, they will do an intravaginal ultrasound! Uncomfortable if you're not prepared for this but absolutely amazing to see your little baby for the first time!!)

3.  Sent a referral to the OBGYN we agreed upon - from there, I have been going to the hospital that our OBGYN is affiliated with.

4.  After meeting with our OBGYN at our 12 week follow up, he sent me for 12 week ultrasound and our 1st round of blood work called IPS to rule out down syndrome, trisomy 21 and any spinal cord defects.  The IPS bloodwork has 2 parts to it and is actually completed in your 2nd trimester (and also factors in readings from your ultrasounds) so you discuss the results with your doctor well into your 2nd trimester.

It's been so exciting going to the ultrasounds to see our baby (Makoto calls it skyping with our baby) and our fridge and walls of our offices and waiting room at our clinic are now plastered with ultrasound pictures :)  I find that a common complaint with OBGYNs is that you feel rushed for time but we found that going into our appointments with specific questions helped to focus our time and we felt that all of our questions were sufficiently answered.

The following things helped me get through my 1st trimester:

1.  Not forcing myself to do...really anything!  I had a master plan of nutrition, exercise, meditation, prayer, vitamins, supplements, lists of books to read, etc all ready to go for as soon as I found out I was pregnant.  Then the reality of pregnancy hit my body and I found that I barely wanted to eat, let alone choke down my vitamins and fish oils, then would fall into a comatose sleep by 8pm.  I stopped pressuring myself to be on my "ideal pregnancy plan" and just went with the flow.  I made sure to eat when I could, take naps when I knew I needed them, slowed my social schedule, took walks around the neighborhood with Makoto and Rambo and pretty much took it easy. 

2.  I figured out that my nausea was instantly relieved when I smelled fresh lemons!!  I think that, for me, it was a sensory thing rather than a hypoglycemia/blood sugar issue.  Makoto even made this hilarious mask for me that had fresh lemon peels inserted into it.  But often just slicing fresh lemons and smelling them helped to ease my mild nausea.

3.  Keeping well hydrated.  There was something in knowing that my body was producing loads of amniotic fluid that helped me to constantly hydrate myself.  I drank loads of good ol' filtered water as well as iced peppermint/lemon/ginger tea to mix things up.  I found that it really helped dissipate headaches and kept my skin feeling great!

4.  When it was hard to take my prenatal vitamins and fish oils, I started juicing again as I found sipping a cup of fresh fruit/veggie juice was much easier to digest than capsules.  I also mixed my liquid fish oil into applesauce (just like how I prescribe to my wee little pediatric patients) and found it much easier to gulp down 1Tbsp of applesauce than pure liquid fish oil.  Also, making sure I had some food in my stomach before taking my prenatal vitamins and fish oils helped me to not feel as nauseous. 

5.  Communicating how I'm feeling with Makoto.  Makoto has been an amazing partner and very understanding but I also realized that he wants to be just as much of a part of our day to day pregnancy life as I am!  This is basically the biggest science project of his life and he has researched the benefits of proper nutrition, fish oils, exercise, etc on fetal development and I know that it kills him when he watches me eat a nutella sandwich for dinner.......3 days in a row.  We established from the beginning that the MOST important thing is for us to be peaceful and happy as a couple....and family :)  So we compromised....I can have my nutella sandwich as long as I wash it down with a cup of fresh veggie/fruit juice :)

All pregnancies are different.......we are lucky to have 7 friends that are currently pregnant as well and it's amazing how much variation there is in how we are all feeling.  Just remember the most important thing is to not put pressure on yourself, keep yourself comfortable....and enjoy this precious time!!

Pregnancy and Fatherhood: First Trimester

I am so stoked about having a kid!

It is definitely a more observational role that the father plays during pregnancy compared to the mother...watching from the outside how there are changes to her tastes, sensitivities, emotions as the direct nurturer of the child in the womb.

They say that a woman becomes a mother when she is pregnant, and a man becomes a father when the baby is born...although I understand the logic, I also disagree. Things change for us men in a major way once you know that you have a child on the way. I think the nine months gestation is critical to men because it buys us, the slower emotional gender, time to process, reconfigure and rationalize everything that it entails to be a father.

The first trimester is cool because you have incredible life-changing news! You are a father. You have the privileged opportunity to raise a child and experience the joys of parenthood (and of course, the expected stresses that are all made palatable by these joys). Biologically, as a proud male, you have propagated your genetic material (not that it is accomplished by undesirable means!). The notion of being a father is inexplicably fascinating and amazing to me.

As Aileen and I approach our fifth wedding anniversary, I feel so lucky to have had this time alone with her but we both feel so blessed to embark on this next journey together. I am thankful that Aileen has been so understanding during the first trimester, as I can only imagine the changes her body is going through. She has different wants and needs than before that I am sure I am not completely understanding, but trying my best, and she has had few criticisms and been very flexible.

The first trimester is often accompanied by nausea and wildly changed tastes in food and drink. From a guy's perspective, the main *actual* change in your routine is that you can't just whip a steak on the grill and have a beer. Women very often are either NOT interested in meat and beer, or are completely turned off by their odour.

Although this change may sound completely earth-shattering, just keep in mind that your pregnant lady is not only incubating your spawn for the better part of a year, but also has a lot more restrictions on what she can consume compared to you. You can do your part (plus, keep in mind, her sensitivities often improve in the second trimester!).

Other advice:

1. Help your lady out to ensure that she takes a good quality prenatal vitamin and high-potency fish oil...give her gentle reminders to help her take them regularly. Keep in mind that it is a new routine for her.
2. Be sensitive to her emotional changes...you would also behave differently if you were suddenly given large doses of progesterone and estrogen.
3. Talk to your babymama's belly (re: your kid), even early on...even if it seems like there isn't anything in there! Aileen didn't show at all for the entire 1st trimester but our ultrasound definitely confirmed that there was a happy, bouncing baby in there. She (and your baby) will both appreciate it.
4. Always remember that although sometimes we wish we could carry the kid in our belly rather than have to deal with your partner's emotional ups and downs, this is not physiologically possible (besides Arnold in Junior), so let us appreciate our women for their strength and courage in getting through nine months of carrying our future offspring.

Babymoon in Italy and Spain!!

Makoto and I were in Italy and Spain for the last little while on our BABYMOON! :)  We figure this is the easiest way to travel with a child :P 

Once we found out we were pregnant, one of the first things on our to do list was to plan our babymoon.  Historically, the term "babymoon" referred to the time where you enjoy your newborn baby but it is now often used to describe the vacation many new parents take BEFORE the baby is born to enjoy some time together and rest before the many sleepless nights ahead of them!

We have both always wanted to go to Spain so Barcelona was an easy choice.  It's hard to go to Europe and not visit at least one other beautiful country so we decided on Italy (really...so I can gorge on nutella (my #1 pregnancy craving) and so Makoto can stuff his face with fresh gnocchi).  We finally decided on Venice, Florence and Barcelona.


A major highlight of our trip was being joined by our good friends Mendel and Haruka in Venice for an international double date :).  They also just became engaged so we had lots to celebrate!!  What a gorgeous and romantic city!  

Makoto and I are both big fans of renaissance art, fresco painting, obsessed with the history of the Medici family and big Brunelleschi and Michaelangelo fans so Florence was an awesome leg of our trip.  We tried to take in as much art and architecture as possible,

We climbed to the top of the Duomo for the amazing views of Florence (Brunelleschi and his team used over 4 million bricks just to finished the top of the dome.....how he designed and engineered this in the 15th century is pure genius) and lit a candle for our baby.....

We hung out at the Bobali Gardens...one of our fave places in Florence....

Spain was a first for both of us and we just took in as much Gaudi as we possibly could! 

And were able to take a quick day trip to Sitges...highly, HIGHLY recommended!

One day we will go back to Spain and I'll be able to taste every single one of these Spanish wines and cavas but for now, iced herbal teas are my champagne:

We had such a lovely, relaxing and romantic time away :)  We feel refreshed and are now nesting and getting ready for our baby! 

Before you go away for your babymoon, make sure that:
1.  You and your baby are in good health
2.  It's ideal to travel in your 2nd trimester
3.  Make sure there are no breakouts of viruses, such as Rubella, that can harm your baby in the place you want to travel.
4.  Check the location of local hospitals in the area that you will be staying at so you feel secure about having an emergency place to go to juuuuuuuuuuuuust in case.
5.  Take it easy and enjoy yourself!!!

HAPPY BABYMOONING!!