8 Months...almost there!

This month was okay at the beginning; We had to do a 8 hours trip for some paperwork and I am glad I was able to manage it.
By the middle of the month I started to feel pretty tired and couldn't do much; I had trouble standing for even few minutes, this baby is pretty heavy and stretch my ligaments pretty hard!
So I am going very slow...and resting a lot. No more car trip for me!

Baby is still moving a lot and he is pushing my belly like I never experienced in my first pregnancies!

I am pretty happy because my first baby was born at 35 weeks, my second at 36 weeks and I feel that I can carry this one few more weeks (even if it's getting hard to move!) and without a cervical cerclage (stitches) as the doctor told me after my second pregnancy that I would need one!

This month I red few other books some where very technical and other more informative and helping to understand what's going on in our bodies when we are pregnant.
I really liked this one: Guide to childbirth from Ina May
I also red: Spiritual midwifery from Ina May
and Gentle Birth, Gentle mothering from Sarah Buckley

I also did few pretty cute crochet diaper cover, that you can check on my creative blog.

I am finishing to sew some bed sheets and then I will wash the baby's laundry to be ready!

On the food side, I mainly enjoy juices to get most of my nutriments as my stomach and digestive system feels compressed and smaller; but I still have some cravings that I try to listen, like I wanted some dairy products but more like unpasteurized cheese and eggs that I have some time to time in a small amount.
Here are some example of what I ate: Different kind of salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, Kale salad... Raw zucchini linguine with marinara sauce, steamed and saute veggies, tabbouleh, raw banana vanilla sorbet, fruits salads with sometimes chocolate sauce on top!

Lately I've been enjoying being in water a lot, so whenever I can (or need) I take a warm bath and it's really relaxing...

Thank you for stopping by....
The next update will certainly be with this new being!...

Month 7 : 31+ weeks

Looks like, this month went pretty fast...Maybe because of the Holidays Season!
There was some up and down for me with always something to learn from!
I would say pretty emotional and spiritual lessons!
Baby is still moving a lot and I feel he changed position and have his head down now; so sometimes it seems that I am not big anymore and people think I am only few months pregnant!.
Few days later he moved again and take all the space he could to show that I am pretty big!.

We went to the 'big' city (50min drive) to buy some clothes, a little bed and some accessories for the baby...

It feels a bit weird to kind of start over with baby stuff!
We don't want to buy too much as we might have done for our first kids! ...
So each time the question is: Do we really need it!.
Our ideas and point of view on different topic have changed a lot (about labor, breastfeeding, clothing, toys, natural hygiene etc...) It's very interesting for me as it was my field of studies and work! (I was a nursery nurse working in a maternity clinic while I was living in France).

 I started to read few other books this month and one of them really got my attention:
Diaper free from Ingrid Bauer.

The concept is really interesting and make sense to me...so I'll see if I can give it a try!

If any of you experienced it...please share!

I am glad to be aware and out of this consumerism society! (while using what helped me for good purpose).

On the food side, I am doing what I would call intuitive eating: Before I ate anything I am tuning in and see what my body needs and what I would really enjoy eating; Lately I ate some steamed and boiled veggies like cauliflower, green beans, beets, potatoes that I put into a salad and I still have 2 to 3 juices a day and I feel that I really need it.

Yesterday I was inspired and I made an Asian salad with marinated mushrooms, carrots and zucchinis!

Sometimes I think of all my favorite restaurants and dishes while I was in Canada and I wonder if I would still like them...

I love the local dragon fruit (also called Pitaya or pitahaya) that is in season and I have one every morning with a juice.

Otherwise I try to take it easy to be able to bring this pregnancy to its due date without trouble...

So I am working on accepting to be served and helped (and that's not an easy task for me!).

It's hard to find a comfortable place with this big belly and my favorite one is the hammock!
I am bless to be able to enjoy it!

Thank you for stopping by and comments are always welcome!....

Month 6 : 27 weeks

Already 6 months!wow!

It's a very interesting journey!

And a challenging month with still lots of cramps, ligaments, contractions and now pain in my upper legs!; Plus a little cold that slowed me down even more.
I was wondering if vitamins supplements could help it? What do you think? (I have a prescription from the Doctor!).
I am very careful because I had to stay in bed for my 2 first pregnancy for the 3 last months and I really don't want it to happen again!
I cannot stand in the same place for too long; I even need to walk or sit as baby is pretty low already!
He is still very active.

I had a little visit with the doctor (another $30) to check my weight (2 pounds per month is perfect!), blood pressure, baby's heart beat and we even did a little ultra sound with some measurements and yes we saw the gender! : It's a Boy!
He even showed his thumbs up to show us that all was good! and then he opened his hand to wave!

This month I've started to read an interesting book that helps mothers to externalize their emotions through art and more about childbirth preparation..
I am planning to do some of the 'exercises'... but I already realized a lot on what happened in my first pregnancy. I am glad that I grew up my self-esteem and that this pregnancy is helping me to understand my feelings at that time and my feelings now!
So, here is the book!: 'Birthing From within' - from Pam England

I am also reading online articles about home and water birth and I really love this one:

http://birthintobeing.com/index.php/articles/conscious-birth/waterbirth by Elena Tonetti.

On the food side, I Love green juices and I feel that I need them 2 to 3 times a day to feel good.

My 2 basics are: apple, pineapple, lemon, cucumber, celery and green (spinach or kale) 

and just apple, carrots.... 

Smoothies are too heavy for me, I really prefer juices.

Beside that I like salads, veggie sticks (carrots, celery, cucumber) with hummus or nut pate, steam or roasted veggies (some time to time) and I really like spinach at this time.

I still have hard time eating bananas (I can eat them when sliced with raw cacao on top!) and fresh young coconut (that I loved before being pregnant!) won't go pass my throat! .

Avocados, only half of it and not on a daily basis!

I really feel what my body want to eat or need; Each day is different; Sometimes I try to plan what I will eat but at the last minutes, my body will send me a signal to eat something else!

Once in a while I will have a craving for a cooked food plate and I will allow it (this month was spinach raviolis!).

I just finished to crochet a baby cocoon (pretty cute!), it was a long project and a little assorted hat...
You can check it on my creative blog.

I feel that I am attracted by water a lot; showering and bath are very pleasant moments.

The river is also magical...

That's it for this month!

We gonna start looking at baby gears soon!...

Thank you for reading and feel free to comment below!...

Month 4 - 18 weeks

Things are getting better!
I feel better and I can do more things but still need some period of rest.
I still have some pain ligaments some time to time.
And I feel the baby moving more.
I am feeling pretty big already!

I young mom landed me a pile of books about natural birthing and I have started to read some interesting books that help me and reminded me about what I've learned with my two older children but also helped me to open my mind on another way to birth!
This book give plenty of information about the medical birth in hospital; The history of it and giving the right back to women to be active and live plenty their childbirth; I highly recommend it:

I am starting to understand what I have to learn with this unplanned pregnancy!

It will help me in my personal development...

For my meals, I still enjoy my raw meals (I love zucchini linguine with raw marinara sauce, papaya salad, Kale salad), fruits for breakfast and snacks and sometimes I have some cooked food like quinoa salad, mashed potatoes, spinach with eggs (the spinach here are so thick that are impossible to eat them in salads!).

And I am so happy that the mango season came back; they are a treat each time!

I can eat small bananas and avocado again but in small portion.

Strange thing for me is that I craved eggs! A thing that I didn't ate for years as I couldn't digest them, but here they are way different!; Free range, extra fresh eggs, just by typing that make me want one for lunch!

If you want some recipes, check my blog on raw and whole food: http://rawrealandhealthyfood.blogspot.com/ and let me know if you want me to share some special 'recipes'.

What is confusing for me is that when I am too hungry I feel like to throwing up! 

Car rides are still uncomfortable and I avoid them but it's not that easy when the village is at 4km away!

Thank you for following me... feel free to share with us anything you want below ;)

3 months pregnant

3 months today!
and lot in my head!
Working on accepting an unplanned pregnancy is not a simple task...
I have to work on the emotional, spiritual and physical aspect of the event.
I read a lot on internet and it had help me a bit.

I had another ultra-son last week to check on any malformation and looks like all is well.
I was surprised by the new technology of the 3D ultra son!
(The ultra son was $45)
Here is a summary of it:

We have to wait another 10 weeks if we want to know the sex of the baby!

Today I went to see the doctor ($30 consultation) and asked all the questions I had!

and we think it's pretty much like the clinic in France.

But as it's a 50 minutes drive to the big city where the clinic is I am thinking of a natural home birth...

(I had an hemorrhage at my last childbirth and I am a bit scare!)...   

On the physical side, I have ligaments pain that are not fun at all and I have difficulties to do housework!

So I relax and sleep a lot!

I still cannot eat bananas and avocados (or on a very small quantity) and Love tomatoes, apple and cinnamon (of course not together!).

If any of you want to share their own experience I will be happy to hear it!...

Thank for reading.

Special surprise in our new life.

At the end of June, we moved to Ecuador for the third part of our life...
We wanted to find a good weather to be able to grow our own food all year long.
We bought a pretty house with a bit of land and started this new journey with lots to discover and to learn.
While we were in Canada, very busy with all the administrative papers and more, the life decided to reserve us a special surprise!...
One day after a 10 hours drive trip, I started to get pain in my tummy; I thought of a digestive problem but after a week this idea faced me and I bought a pregnancy test;
It was hard to accept the positive result! This was not something we had planned... Our daughter is 17 and our son 21!...
So I decided to get an appointment with a gynecologist to confirm the result.
On July 29th, We saw this doctor who confirmed us with an ultra-sound that I was 9 weeks pregnant!
Another life changing event! (seeing this little heart beating inside of you is something really special!)

(Of course I thought of the possibility of an abortion for a moment but it's illegal in Ecuador and I would have to fly back in Canada...so we faced the surprising event!)...

Now I have decided to share with you this adventure for few reasons:
-1) I am over 40
-2) Being pregnant and giving birth in a foreign country and
-3) being pregnant on a vegetarian and plant base diet (mostly raw food).


For those who are interested by some details about the visit with the gynecologist in Ecuador:
it cost us $30 (included the ultra-sound)
The Doctor was really nice and happy for us!
He prescribed me a complete blood test (urine test and more)  (cost $92.70)
He prescribed me some folic acid and vitamin B12 but I returned the bottle to the pharmacy as the B12 dosage was stupidly high (8333% of daily recommended intake!)
And I have another ultra-sound to be done at week 12 to look at the potential of down syndrome.

So here is the first image of our new experience!:

Other little things...

I like fruits and veggies, I am attracted to but there is some that I cannot eat anymore at this time!

I can't eat : avocados, I have hard time with greens (kale...), bananas, some citrus.

Things I want to eat: apples and apple sauce with cinnamon, fresh orange juice (once a day), red fruits (cherries, strawberries, tomatoes... something is going on with my red chakra!), and lately saffron in basmati rice, peaches, pears...

I've been a bit tired and need a little nap in the afternoon and I cannot do long walk anymore.

I am working on a psychological level to accept that this pregnancy can be different and better than my two first ones where I needed to lie down for the three last months!.

The first months are a bit painful and hopefully it will get better soon...