Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Healthy Eating During Pregnancy

Dieting is not an option when you are pregnant; however, you should definitely be aware of what you are putting in your body.

In February my husband and I joined a gym, started with a personal trainer, and started a strict eating plan. We were doing so well and didn't cheat for 5 weeks!!! Within a few short months I had lost 30 pounds and my husband had lost 40 and then we hit a plateau...this was followed by cheating more often as we weren't seeing continued success and were getting discouraged.

Anyways, enough of my rambling!! I met with my doctor in July and he was impressed with my weight loss and recommended I continue with the eating plan when I got pregnant as I really wouldn't need too much more. He also suggested that I not lift heavy weights, instead I should up the repetitions.

Shortly after meeting with the docter we found out we were pregnant, that was followed by serious aversions to all of the healthy foods!! Yep, turkey burgers and salads were out and cheese, peanut butter, and whole wheat pasta were in! I was also eating more often because if I didn't then I began to have a very undesirable feeling in my stomach...

Shortly after this I started back to work (I am a teacher) and everybody had this idea that since I was pregnant I could eat as much as I wanted of anything I wanted. Now, I knew this was wrong as I had already talked to the doctor and he told me to continue on my current plan. So many people would say to eat as I was pregnant, one girl actually said, "Girl, you are pregnant - I want to make you something, what do you want?" I explained that I was trying to eat healthy and that I was okay without anything.

Now keep in mind, I do not always eat healthy and I wish I was better than I am. I have good days and bad days but am hoping to have more of the good days!!! I was talking to a great friend of mine who has a little girl (read her blog at http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/) and she helped put things into perspective for me. She told me how much easier life will be to get the baby weight off if I put less on. She reminded me how important healthy eating is and told me this one piece of advice that has really stuck- "You can have a scoop of ice cream, just don't go back for a second." When I am not dieting I have a specific mentality and go back to my old eating habits in which I eat whatever I want and since we haven't been on plan (foods don't sound good) I am often eating poorly. However, after talking to this dear friend I have began to do better, I have started salads again and am enjoying a variety of fruits and lean meats. Now I just need to get over the snacking when I come home from work and as I am cooking dinner.

Sometimes my body craves specific foods and as I have been told, this is your body's way of getting nutrients it needs. Let me leave you with this - If you are craving chocolate milk try to get over it, but if you are craving orange juice you might want to stop and pick some up!! That's what I did this week!!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Enjoying a Trifecta

A trifecta is simply getting 3 First-to-Finds (FTFs) in geocaching in one day. Well, it really isn't too simple as there are a couple of factors involved:

* There must be at least 3 new caches in your area in one day and they must be in driving distance of each other to get them all in 24 hours.

* You must be the first to Ground Zero (GZ, otherwise known as the place the cache is hidden) and make the find before anybody else. Many times, if there are many people looking for it they will share an FTF and of course, this still counts!

If you plan on getting an FTF there are a few ways to give yourself the one up:

* Have all new caches sent as a text message to your cell phone.

* Have an Internet source available to you at all times (blackberry, iPhone, Verizon air card).

* Have a job where you can leave at anytime or no job at all.

So, today we had planned on meeting a group of friends to look for a cache that had been out for over a week and nobody had found, my husband and I had been out a few times and really didn't care to go back as we were looking for a micro in the middle of a bamboo forest. So, we met 13 other people there and searched for close to 1/2 an hour before somebody found the sneaky little cache!! Come to find out, my husband had been searching in the area seconds earlier and had made the cache visible for the next person who walked over!! Anyways, this was out 1st FTF of the day.

We headed out to cache with the group and split off after a few to grab some that we didn't have. While we were out 4 new caches came as text messages!!! One of these was ours so we couldn't go but the other part of the group could. We decided we would try for the others, you can't get an FTF if you don't try!! I happened to have the Internet on, thanks to our Verizon air card, and looked the new caches up immediately - two of these were close to our house and we were nowhere near there, go figure!! Anyways, I called the other part of the group to give them the coordinates as well, and we were on our way... We got there and my husband and the other cacher had the cache in hand before I even got out of the truck!! Being friends with the others we decided to wait for them to sign the log and then we could all share FTF; however, after a couple of minutes a different cacher pulled up so we had to sign the log... From there, my husband and the cacher we had been with headed to another new cache while I went home to get lunch ready and he called to say I could log it as an FTF!! WooHoo, we had another trifecta!!

I say another as this was actually the third time we got three new caches in one day. The first this happened for us was on August 25th; after an appointment we grabbed a land cache that nobody had gotten all day and then got two different water caches grabbing the last one just before the park closed!! On September 1st my husband was able to get 3 more but these were all during my work hours so I was not with him.

We are fortunate (when it come to FTF hunts) that my husband owns his own business and as long as there is not a ton of work piled up he can leave as he pleases.

He is currently on another FTF hunt (I stayed home as I was on the phone when the text came in); if he gets this would the day be considered a quadfecta?

Using the Basal Method to Conceive

When trying to conceive, there are many methods you can use to find the days you ovulate. My husband and I, actually it was just me, chose to use the basal method as it seemed easy and I could start it right away. I was so excited that instead of ordering one I saw online, I looked at Wal-Mart and bought the one they sold. My husband didn't feel we needed to use this, he thought we would be fine just trying for a baby as this was our first month.
We ended up with the Mabis Healthcare Digital Basal Thermometer and I began using it the next morning. The thermometer came with charts so we could track my temperature for 12 months; after taking my temperature I recorded it on the chart and was ready to begin my day. Of course, the chart is meant to be started at the beginning of your menstrual cycle (1st day of your period) and you record everyday until you don't need it anymore but I wanted to get an idea of what my temperature was so I would know when it spiked.
The theory of the basal thermometer is that your basal temperature, your temperature at rest, rises slightly when you are ovulating. And as we all know, you need to have egg/sperm contact when you are ovulating if you want to conceive. When you chart your temperature daily you will begin to see a pattern and over a few months time you will know which day of your cycle you are ovulating. As my doctor told me - you need to actually have intercourse before you ovulate in order for the sperm to meet the egg. By taking your temperature each day, you will know when you are ovulating so you can time everything correctly. He also told me that we should start trying about 3-4 days before ovulation and have intercourse every other day for 7-10 days.
Every other day? Doesn't everybody assume that the more you try for the baby, the better your chances? Well, my doctor's theory is that the man's sperm won't have the levels (of hormones and such) that it needs to make a baby.
Taking your temperature is very easy. You need to make sure you take it before you get out of bed each morning, this will ensure your body is completely at rest. You should take it before going to the bathroom or getting a drink; it is best to keep it by your bed so it is ready for the morning.
My husband and I were very fortunate and didn't have to take my temperature for more than a month as we found out we are expecting a baby!!!!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Just Beginning

I follow a lot of blogs and have always considered starting my own but was unsure if I would have the time or creativity - and would anybody follow me? Well, it is time to find out.
My husband and I have been married just over a year and the day after our 1st anniversary we found out we were pregnant!!! We are currently 12 1/2 weeks along and due on April 6, 2010. We have each always wanted children but decided to wait a year after marriage to begin trying. This was a great idea as it gave us a chance to bond and for me to get a year of teaching under my belt.
We look forward to the birth of our little one but in the meantime we continue to enjoy our lives to the fullest. We LOVE to geocache - my husband lives and breathes it - and have recently found our 1,000th cache. We also enjoy getting our kayaks out; life is perfect when we can kayak our way to a geocache!! We plan to continue these activities after the baby is born, but there will be a few more limitations!!
My husband and I plan to use cloth diapers with the little one as well as cloth wipes and other natural products. We are currently getting the nursery ready, this will take a little while as we are sanding the walls as they are all textured and then need to decide on the paint and other options.
I hope you enjoy reading this and feel free to leave me comments.