16 weeks pregnant

A Purified Pregnancy | Weeks 15-16

amandanicolesmithLifestyle, Pregnancy Leave a Comment

Thank goodness I’m feeling a million times better in the second trimester, than the first. I was starting to feel like a zombie, but now I’ve actually been able to workout and eat somewhat normally again. Hurray!

We find out the gender next Friday, I can hardly wait, my intuition is telling me it’s a boy, Dominick thinks it’s a boy too, so we’ll see!

Everything is starting to feel more real, I have to admit I was scared in the beginning of all the things that could go wrong, and I still get nervous, but for some reason I’m feeling calmer and more like “this is really going to happen, and it’s going to be okay.” Probably because I’m not dying of nausea, indigestion, heartburn and exhaustion!

I find myself day dreaming of all the things I want to teach my child, all the adventures we’ll go on, and all the love we’ll share as a family. I reflect on my own childhood and all the things that could have been better, and all the things I’m thankful for. At the end of the day I just want to be the best I can be for this new being.

Stocking Up On Baby Things

In short, I’m going the minimalist route.

All of my friends have been extremely supportive, I’ve already got a stroller, baby carrier backpack, Bumbo floor seat, cloths, towels, breast pump, crib on the way and more! I cannot express how thankful I am for all the hand-me downs.

My goal is to not buy a bunch of unnecessary things and try to get as many free hand-me-downs as possible since many items will only be used for a short amount of time. I’ll buy things in the moment if I believe it would improve the quality of our routine, but for now that remains unknown and I’m okay with that.

My Plans for Potty Training From The Beginning 

I’ve always thought about how I would raise my child and one thing that really intrigued me was potty training out the womb. So I’ve read how babies instinctively don’t want to sit in there own feces, so many parents come up with a hand signal or a sound that the baby quickly learns as the signal to go potty. When they give the signal, the parents will hold their baby in a squatting position over a toilet or land and the baby does it’s business. So cool, and way better than dealing with dirty diapers and butt rashes. I’ve had my fair share in changing and dealing with stinky diapers from my baby brother who is 7 years younger than me.

I’m excited to keep learning as much as possible and getting a solid system down. Now that I’ve been mentioning it to my friends, they’ve actually been seeing it in person, in downtown DC to be exact. So I know it can be done!

Workout Routine

Since I teach pole, flexible strength and lyra (aerial hoop) classes a couple times a week, my workout has been demonstrating and spotting, which is all I need. At 9 weeks I was still feeling somewhat okay, good enough to perform my very first lyra dance, but I guess I did too many contorted poses because I actually strained my uterus and got a sub chronic hematoma, which is internal bleeding in the uterus. It was pretty scary and my doctor told me no more contortion. I kinda figured, but I guess I was trying to test my limits. Now that the limits are set I feel more secure about what I can and cannot do.

Nowadays, I have been doing light stretching every day just to keep my muscles feeling good and my posture right, long walks, hikes, light aerial acrobatics and occasionally swinging on vines like the good ol’ days. 

Swinging on a Vine

The hardest part about my workouts is not being able to use my abs like before. I try to relax my stomach and rely on my transverse abs and back muscles. The mindfulness of what muscles I’m using during any and all activities has helped me stay comfortable. This is one of the fundamental topics I discuss in my flexible strength classes, how to engage and relax specific muscles to achieve the goal.

My goal as of lately is keeping my posture right when my huge boobs make me want to slouch, and my lower back wants to arch while walking, causing a misalignment and popping in my hips. Being aware of these things only helps you to find the solutions.

For the past couple of years I was doing my 100 day flexibility challenges every year, and I was focusing heavily on my back, now that this is not as feasible, my focus will shift toward my legs and shoulders, which is good because I was kind of neglecting them. So lots of splits, but with caution as my loosening ligaments could cause me to pull something, my focus will again be on flexible strength rather than just flexibility.

Pregnant Pole Dancing

Pregnancy Diet

I’m so happy I can eat and drink again, and not only can I eat again, I can eat a lot, it just has to be the right foods. Gone are the days of my spicy food habits, instead I’m flavoring my food with more herbs than spices. Tomato sauce is also a known trigger for heartburn, which still saddens me because I love Italian food! I’ve found a loophole though, I can eat my favorite farmer’s salsa that is mixed with pumpkin and black beans, this sort of evens out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Veggie Pasta Salad

I’ve achieved my ideal food routine by food journaling on my Purified Lifestyle website. It has helped me keep track of my meal plans, shopping lists and budget to keep me feeling good. I marked the foods that made me feel comfortable and uncomfortable and made plans accordingly. 

I’ve been trying to get in as many greens as possible throughout the day, raw and cooked. Besides salads loaded with a bunch of different farmer greens, herbs, and veggies, I’ve been enjoying collard green soup, and pasta salad during week 15 and 16.

Collard Green Soup

Along with greens, tropical fruit has been my go to for breakfast, on the daily I’ll eat about 5 pieces or servings of fruit. I always try to eat fruit on an empty stomach to avoid indigestion. If you eat fruit on top of a heavy meal, the fruit sits on top and starts to ferment which is what causes discomfort. Fruit only takes about 30 minutes to digest where other foods take an hour or more.

I’m eagerly awaiting the local farmer’s nectarines, peaches, plums, berries, cherries and more. I’m salivating just thinking about it!

Fruits for Breakfast in April

For snacks, I have been eating these amazing farm to bag gluten-free honey pretzels, Terra vegetable chips, raw vegan cookies, and trail mixes made with almonds, cashews, seeds and a superfood berry mix, pretty much like the one I posted below.

For dinner I’ve been trying to eat meat as responsibly as possible, I always look for a farmer that treats their animals with respect. Factory meat is appalling and I cannot support the cruel treatment of animals, it breaks my heart. But I still believe there is a cycle to life and if the process is done respectively, we can enjoy this natural cycle.

Farming done right means that the animals lived in their natural habitat, they were able to roam, feel the sunshine on their skin, and eat good food that they were meant to eat; such as cows are not supposed to eat cheap grains just to fatten up, they eat grass! They also must not be injected with antibiotics or growth hormones, and live a full healthy life. When farming is done right, the animals actually enjoy their life, they are healthier, and their meat is more beneficial and filled with the nutrients we need to sustain.

If I weren’t eating meat I’d have to take a bunch of supplements which aren’t as beneficial as the real thing. Of course it can be done, I know lots of vegans who gave birth to healthy children, but they also had to follow strict supplement routines from their doctors. Following my instincts, I just don’t believe supplements, or pills are the best option.

I don’t eat meat every single night, maybe about 3-4 nights a week. So my other meals have been consisting of raw vegan taco meat, rice bowls, black bean burritos, spring rolls with peanut butter sauce, and vegan sushi.

Lastly I’ve been drinking lots of reverse osmosis water, kombucha, and lemonade. I try to get in at least a gallon a day.

Emotions & Excuses

They say I should be crying one moment, and laughing a second later, barking at my husband, forgetting things and milking this whole pregnancy as much as possible. Everyone keeps telling me “you don’t need any excuses, you’re pregnant”. However I have not felt this way. My emotions have been stable, my brain still operates at its regular capacity, and I’ve been thankful for Dominick and the little things he does to help out. If I were to bark at him, he probably wouldn’t want to come home, or help without getting feisty. The more love and positivity I give to him, the more he wants to give to me. I don’t believe pregnancy should destroy the give and take balance of a relationship.

All in all I truly believe that diet plays a huge role in emotions and hormones. When I was younger I would eat all the crap modern society led me to believe I wanted and craved, and I was a hot mess. I was over emotional, I was angry one second, crying another and just plain unstable. I think that pregnancy can enhance this even more. But when I started paying attention to balancing my life and my diet, I realized that food played a major role in my behavior.

The more whole foods I consume, the better I feel, the better I feel the more positivity I can give to the world. The more processed food I consume, the worse I feel, the more negativity I give to the world. For me it’s that simple, if I feel unbalanced my main goal is to fix my problem immediately before I go out into the world. What’s on the inside, is given to the outside in one form or another. 

Activities That Manage Stress

Other than food, there are things I do that I also believe keep me stable.

  • Soak up plenty of sunshine, while meditating.
  • Deep breathing.
  • Binaural beats.
  • Meditative walks in nature.
  • Sitting by flowing water and focusing on the beauty.
  • Walking bare feet on grass, sand, dirt or anything not man-made to ground myself.
  • Sleeping when tired.

So far so good, I’m actually enjoying my pregnancy these past couple of weeks, and have been occasionally feeling little flutters and jabs, I’m looking forward to feeling it more prominently.

To all of you pregnant ladies out there, I hope you find your ideal routine and enjoy this beautiful process!

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