My Pregnancy Journey

Things They Don't Tell Her

In this episode of Things They Don’t Tell Her Podcast I am sharing insights from my own Pregnancy Journey. In this convo, we dive into the ways I have been supporting my own mental and physical health throughout pregnancy, practitioners that I have been seeing, the model of care I have chosen and loads of recommendations for books, podcasts, local studios and so much more.

Things I did to help with my pregnancy nausea

• Saw Grace from ⁠Bloom Chinese Medicine⁠ for acupuncture and leave in acupuncture needles

• Tried to reduce/minimise stress through gentle yoga and meditation

• I loved going to Yin and gentle yoga classes and doing my own home practice

• Drank loads of ⁠Morning Lift Tea by Nurtur Tea⁠ which has ginger, peppermint and rooibos which are great for nausea and fatigue. I would brew this, put it in the fridge and have iced tea instead of plain water.

• Tried to balance my carbohydrate intake with protein and fats.

• I loved this ⁠bliss balls⁠ recipe

• ⁠These⁠ were my absolute go to for muffins

• Saw my amazing naturopath ⁠Tahlita⁠

Here are a few great blogs for more tips for pregnancy nausea

• Handling ⁠Morning Sickness⁠

• ⁠Morning Sickness Survival Guide⁠

Things I have been doing for my physical health

In my first trimester, between the lack of energy and the nausea I focused on small bouts of movement that made me feel good. I went for short walks, swam at the beach and surfed. I did short at home yoga flows and occasionally found the energy to attend a yoga or pilates class which I booked through ⁠Class Pass⁠ and therefore didn’t have the commitment of a membership.

Since moving into my second trimester, I have been enjoying Pregnancy Yoga and Pilates Classes, Pilates Reformer as well as swimming laps at the pool. I have found that the muscles around my pelvis, particularly my glutes and hip flexors feel a lot tighter so I have started using a foam roller and trigger ball regularly.

Forms of exercise I have been enjoying include:

• Attending Pregnancy Yoga and Mat Pilates Classes with ⁠Natural Birth Co. ⁠

• Doing my own home yoga practice - there are loads of great Youtube videos and all of my clients receive short 10-minute yoga videos as part of their program

• Going to Yoga and Pilates classes on ⁠Class Pass ⁠

• ⁠Watch this video⁠ on ways I am modifying my yoga practice in the second trimester

• Doing a weekly Pregnancy Reformer Pilates class at⁠ CGM Pilates⁠ or my own home reformer classes

• ⁠Watch this video⁠ on ways I am modifying my Pilates Reformer Practice in the second trimester

• The reformer studios on the Sunshine Coast that I am aware have the pregnancy wedge and are good at modifying for pregnancy (this depends a lot of the instructor) include:

• CGM Pilates

• Inflow Pilates

• Morning Light Studios

• Pointe Pilates

Things I have been doing for my mental health

• Listening to meditations on Insight Timer which is an AMAZING app for short meditations.

• Listening to the audiobook Nine Golden Months by Heng Ou on Audible. This is a great book on the journey of pregnancy!

• Journalling

Model of Care

This is ⁠a great blog⁠ on the pregnancy birth models of care available on the Sunshine Coast written by Emmy, another incredible acupuncturist from Bloom Chinese Medicine.

The private midwifery practice that I am going through is called ⁠Coastlife Midwifery⁠.

I have been having my pregnancy scans at ⁠The Radiology Clinic⁠ which is the only radiology clinic on the Sunshine Coast that bulk bills Obstetric scans.

Nutrition and Supplements

This is a great blog by Renee Jennings, a Prenatal Dietician on tips for choosing a Prenatal Supplement. She has published a book called Nurture The Seed which I highly recommend reading during Pregnancy. Another great book is called Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols.

Prenatal supplements that I have been recommended by my naturopath include

Eagle Tresos Natal and Naturobest (they have a specific 1st trimester one with ginger to help with nausea).