Archive for the ‘ Pregnancy ’ Category

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6
Mar

One Week Overdue

I thought I’d have a baby in my arms by now.  Since I don’t, I figured that she might be waiting for me to take maternity pictures… so I set up the tripod and wiggled around the studio floor this morning.  It was quite a workout: pressing the timed shutter, getting positioned on the floor, then hopping up again while the correct facial expression was fresh in my mind.  The ones laying on my back were hardest to get in and out of, next to the Hollywood pose, which is why the only ones I’m posting are the ones which required the least amount of physical exhaustion.

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11
Jan

The Truth About Stretchmarks


photo / AmysFun

I’m 34 weeks along and completely covered in stretch marks, so I can’t imagine what I’m up against in these last 6-or-so weeks.  By completely I don’t just mean above my belly button and on my thighs, but hello evil red welts on my ass crack!!

Some people like to tell me that I don’t oil up enough, but that’s just not true.  Since I found out I was pregnant I’ve been saturating my skin in olive oil and natural body balms.  After spending much too much on fancy oils and balms showing no promise, I decided to do some research of why my body is so stretch-mark-prone, and which oils and vitamins will actually help me through this last “stretch” of pregnancy.  As I wait for my shipment of oils & vitamins to come in from Swanson’s, here’s the research I compiled that I sure in the hell wish I had 6 months ago:

So, Why the hell do you get stretchmarks?
The skin and underlying tissue stretch beyond their ability to give, and the collagen deposits located deep in the tissues break apart– the skin actually rips and tears. The tiny tears heal, resulting in scar tissue. Then you’re left with red, pink, purple or brown depressed streaks in the skin.  Stretch marks often appear as small, red, pink, purple or dark brown depressed streaks in the skin.

Genetics play a major role in whether or not you will get stretch marks, and if your mom or sis got them during pregnancy, you probably will too.  Supposedly a sensible diet helps skin to stretch better, which would explain all mine, and why my health-nut friend has NONE.  Dry skin tends to be less elastic than well nourished skin, thus why you should slather on the oil.  Ina May Gaskin’s Spiritual Midwifery claims that women who are “uptight” are more likely to get stretchmarks too, so it’s important to practice stress management and rub out any tension you have in your belly… and although I like to think that I’m down-to-earth, my dad says I may be one of the most uptight girls he’s ever met.  I don’t know if Ina May actually meant it to be that literal.

So what can you do?

  • Eat well: foods high in vitamins C and E, zinc and silica will help your skin to stretch better and also help your skin to bounce back quicker after giving birth. Supposedly, eating an ayurvedic diet is said to help keep scar tissue from forming (wish I knew about Ayurveda before I was pregnant!)  Taking your prenatal vitamins are also critical for beautiful skin and a healthy baby.
  • Stay Hydrated: drink 2-3 quarts (8-12 cups) of water each day!  From the very beginning!!  Keep your skin healthy from the inside!
  • Moisten your skin: oil that contains ingredients such as vitamin E, vitamin A, shea butter, & wheat germ oil.  Calendula also helps promote healthy healing of skin tissue.  Certainly moisturizing helps to improve the skin’s elasticity, however, the effectiveness of just plain oil in preventing stretch marks have been shown to be rather limited.
  • After pregnancy: continue applying oils.  Rosehip seed oil is known to mend scar tissue, but should be avoided during pregnancy (and perhaps if you’re still breastfeeding!  Ask your midwife).  Also, although rare and ridiculously expensive, helichrysum oil is said to be extremely effective in mending both physical and emotional scarring!  Ooolala!

Now, any creams or lotions for stretchmarks should be totally avoided during pregnancy and after.  A Much Better Way‘s article on 10 Safest Products for Pregnancy explains.  Stick to body oils!  Or make your own and save yourself tons of money (since most oils are just drops of the effective stuff in a carrier oil like Almond or Olive oil).

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28
Dec

My Mad Hatter Baby Shower!

This Sunday was my Mad Hatter tea party co-ed baby shower!  I invited over 100 people on accident by way of Facebook, but thankthelordabove that only a fraction of them showed up.  The women came at 1:30-ish, and the boys started showing up at 3, after all the cutesie gift-opening went on.

One of the coolest things about the party was the onesie-painting.  Chris and I both being artists, it only seemed natural to do something creative.

My host, Drie suggested that we set up a tie-dye station, but Chris reminded us that then our baby would have to wear tie-dye (heaven forbid!!)… so I was hoping to do the Elmer’s Glue batik glue resist thing, but we couldn’t find the glue anywhere in town, which was probably all for the better since that would have been much too involved.  We ended up filling Dixie cups with a dollup of acrylic paint, and then watered it down so the paint wouldn’t dry so stiff.  It was awesome what my guests came up with, and I’m sure you’ll see lots of Baby in the decorated onesies in the near future!

Opening the presents was MY favorite part, mostly because we didn’t really have Christmas at home this year, and myself being the baby of the family, it was hard not opening many presents for the holidays (boo hooo).  I probably didn’t invite enough middle-age women to totally score at the shower, but I did get a bunch of really cute smaller things… like the socks above from my sister-in-law’s mother.  My 2-year-old niece, Betty, came running up and in the picture she’s saying “little shoes!” which was the cutest thing she said all day.

I did score an Ergo!!!  Probably the most important thing on my baby registry, bought by my ex boyfriend’s mama, who I love very much.  I knew it was coming, but it was still a highlight of the day.

Above, the “preggos of the party”… but really only Summer and I are pregnant.  Drie, my best friend in the middle, is going to school for costume design and decided to wear a pregnant suit to host my shower in.  It was pretty funny because people were talking behind her back the whole time, unsure when she “got pregnant”.  Only a few people approached her about it!!  She also made our hats, mine was my Christmas present.  And, yes, I can see through my eyes when I smile!

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10
Nov

Prenatal Pilates & Water Yoga

Because I live in Hicksville, I don’t have access to any prenatal exercise classes like the lucky pregnant girls. I’ve been going to the outdoor hot springs pool once a week, but I don’t really know how to swim properly so I’m a bit embarrassed… besides, when I try to swim under water my butt floats up and gets cold in the autumn breeze. So I’ve gone-a-searching online to educate myself on how I can use the pool for exercise, and this is what I’ve found:

Birthlight has some pretty cool yogaquatics videos on Youtube:

They also have some super fun videos on babies swimming!!!

Parenting also has a good little video on Prenatal Pilates:

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6
Jul

News & Changes

One week ago I found out that I am pregnant! Almost immediately after Suzie at San Juan Basin Health gave me the lowdown, about 5 weeks in the oven & due on the 27th of February, I started feeling the changes. It is probably just my mind making it up, but I can smell the stinky dogs from across the house and demand dark chocolate. It’s really not fair to Chris that I’m only a smidgin preggo and already demanding. Not like I wasn’t demanding enough before.