Pregnancy Survival

If you follow my facebook page, then it’s no secret that I’m pregnant, and having a much easier pregnancy this time around, despite being four years older. I want to share with you what’s working for me, complete with my “preggo chai” recipe. It’s so delicious, and has helped me so much!

Some readers will already know that I’ve been using topical magnesium throughout this pregnancy, and it has it’s own post below. So quickly, it helped alleviate my morning sickness (not completely by any means, but it took the edge off enough that most days I could still chase my 3 year old Lovebug) I had for the first half of this pregnancy, the fatigue throughout, and now that I’m nearing the final stretch, it may be helping with my milk supply (yep, still nursing Lovebug!), and it’s certainly helping with charlie horses. We have a different mattress than we did last time, and I seem to be more prone to waking up on my back with very strong, painful charlie horses. All I have to do is slather on the Magnesium Butter and I’m set. I wish I had it last time!

Another tool that is helping me tremendously is belly wrapping. It’s a practice I learned along the way through babywearing (hello, my name is wrap addict and I’m a Nicole). I was skeptical because of what I’ve learned about diastasis recti and splinting after having Lovebug - this mama does a great job talking about diastasis recti (not an affiliate link, but I am a paid member - I gain nothing by linking). I feared that belly wrapping would not properly support the transverse abdominus. I’m still not certain that it does. But here’s my real world difference - making breakfast. Lovebug has some crazy allergies, so there’s no cereal or other easy breakfasts around here.  Every morning is sausage, scrambled eggs, banana, maybe some almond bread toast, a kiwi, and then if she’s still hungry, some peas. And because we’re silly here about food mixing, the sausage is cooked first, then kept warm while I cook the eggs (but please give me points for cast iron!). Anyway, that’s about 30 minutes on my feet, plus some up and down depending on how hungry she is.  If I don’t wrap my belly, I’m spent by the time we’re done eating, just from carrying the extra weight (as in, “here’s 30 minutes of TV while I lay down on the couch because that’s the best I can do for a bit”).  If I do wrap though…. well, those are my most productive crafting days! Those are the days I can stand on my feet all day and not notice it really, until dinner time. So I wrap. I wrap at home, in the car, any and all errands and play dates - you name it. Yes, I get weird looks. One person has been brave enough to express her curiosity, and I enjoyed sharing with her. Maybe it’ll help her out someday. If you’re not familiar with wraps, all I do is take a long piece of woven cotton blend fabric, fold in half lengthwise because it’s too wide otherwise, center it on my belly, wrap it around my belly and waist, cross it on my back (seems to act as a lumbar support here), bring it around the front again and tie under my belly. Such a life saver for me!

Pretty, huh?

Lastly, my “preggo chai!” I don’t like the taste of herbs in my tea. I just don’t (are you really surprised if I’m cooking my sausage and eggs separately?). I can’t claim originality for the recipe. My midwife has an herbal recipe she gives to all her clients, and I used that as the herbal jumping off point. For the chai piece, I’ve adapted this recipe to my own tastes and pantry. As you’ll see I didn’t change much at all. 









Here’s what you’ll need:


1 gallon water

8 cinnamon sticks

2 Tablespoons dried ginger (not ground, but you could convert)

8 whole star anise pods

40 whole cloves

28 whole green cardamom pods

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

4 teaspoons orange zest

13 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon loose leaf tea (I use half assam and half rooibos)

2 2/3 cup coconut palm sugar (or you can sub your sweetener of choice)

4 Tablespoons local or raw honey

4 tablespoons vanilla extract (I make my own this way but with 750 mL potato vodka and 12-15 pods)

2 tablespoons stinging nettle

2 tablespoons red raspberry leaf

2 tablespoons alfalfa

2 tablespoons oat straw

2 tablespoons rose hips

2 tablespoons whole chamomile flowers


Directions:

1. Bring water to a rolling boil
2. Remove from heat and stir in herbs and spices
3. When the boiling stops, add sugar, honey, orange zest and vanilla - I do this here rather than after straining because it’s such a pain to get the sugar to dissolve otherwise.
4. Steep at least 4 hours, up to overnight
5. Strain, chill, and enjoy either over ice or hot. Just remember it’s a concentrate and needs some form of milk to dilute it. [Yes, I’ve made this mistake. Ask Mr. Hockey what the chai alone (no maternal herbs for him!) tastes like. Ooops].
6. Will keep refrigerated up to 2 weeks

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No hating on the sub par pot. :) Most likely, I had kombucha going in my dutch ovens, and this was what I had left over.

Sooooooo….. what are your pregnancy must haves? How do you cope with your own pregnancy discomforts? What do you enjoy about pregnancy?