The Green Mommy Chronicles

So starting from about week 8 of the pregnancy until I’ve discovered my miracle cure, I had horribly flaky, dry skin that started forming stretch marks on the sides of my belly. I had itching everywhere and was starting to wonder if I had what is called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP).  But I wasn’t having any eruptions or tiny bumps on my skin so I looked into different options.  My OB recommended using Aquaphor Ointment but it included cheap and harmful ingredients such as petroleum jelly, which can be carcinogenic since it’s often manufactured with low quality materials, so I researched other, more safer options.  

The first thing I tried was the oil-based soaps.  Dr. Bronner’s soaps came highly recommended so I ditched my vitamin-infused body wash and started using this product:

and it really worked wonders!  Dr. Bronner’s soaps are made out of coconut, jojoba, olive and hemp oils so instead of drying your skin to clean it, it moisturizes it.  I really never thought changing soaps would make such a huge difference!

And on top of that, I started using Thorne Organics Manuka Therapy Cream day and night instead of just coconut oil that only goes to the surface of the skin. It is comprised of all organic products including the rich manuka oil that has proven therapeutic effects.  And voila~  No more dry skin or flaking of any sort!  It’s a beautiful thing.  

The only downside to this dry skin solution is the price. These soaps and the creams can be a little pricey but it really works like magic and it’s also safe for your baby so I believe it’s definitely worth the investment!

Today marks the second trimester of my pregnancy.  The first trimester seemed like forever with the constant nausea, frequent trips to the bathroom to vomit, spontaneous aversion to a myriad of smells, and frequent bouts of tears or anger for no apparent reason… But now that the nausea, vomiting and mood swings have completely died down, I frequently wonder if I’m still pregnant…  I can’t wait until the flutters and the kicks start so that I will know that the baby’s doing ok.  

So far my belly looks like I’m bloated from a large meal rather than pregnant so I’ve had so many remarks from my patients telling me “My God!  You’re so little, that’s not fair!” or something along these lines when they find out how far along I am…  Of course what they don’t know is that I’m 5’5” and I used to weigh 103lbs before the pregnancy and now I’m 110lbs, which may still seem little to a lot of people.

Nevertheless, whenever they tell me that, I instantly go into panic mode and wonder if I’m eating too little and start searching all my pregnancy books and the internet to see if my slow weight gain is normal. I’ve done this at least ten times and I’ve read all of my pregnancy books that I purchased on the day that I saw the positive sign on my EPT but those comments never cease to cause anxiety and concern…

So why is it that people like to comment about how big or little you are during your pregnancy but they dare not mention anything about your weight or size when you’re minus baby?  According to one of my pregnancy books, “people aren’t trying to scare you.  They may simply be trying to make conversation and acknowledge your obviously pregnant state”.  Well… I guess.  

But most of the time, pregnant women worry - about the littlest things. I mean I haven’t had a turkey sandwich for the past 3 months because I read that deli meats could contain Listeria which can lead to miscarriage!  A little paranoid, I know but if this little person inside me is hurt in any way because of something I did or didn’t do, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.  And I’m sure all mothers feel the same way… Right?

Don’t you wish sometimes that your belly was transparent so that you could see what you’re baby’s doing at any time? After getting a brief glimpse of my baby’s movements through ultrasound, I can’t wait for the next our next meeting!

Right around this time, towards the end of the first trimester, is when your hormone surges seem not as frequent and your belly is not quite yet visible, you sometimes forget that you’re pregnant. Maybe it’s God’s way of giving us a little time for ourselves before things really start to kick in full gear. Because like they say, “you may think pregnancy is hard, but once the baby comes out, life as you know it is over!”

After almost a three week long hiatus, I’m back! After a daily treatment of acupuncture, my nausea is almost gone (knock on wood…) and I seem to feel a lot better in general.  I felt so much better in fact that I was beginning to feel that something might be wrong before I saw little Peanut jump around and move its arms up and down on the live ultrasound. My hubby and I are happy parents indeed. :)

Or actually I knew it all along but forgot to use it for myself… D’oh!

Being an acupuncturist, I’ve helped numerous women with their nausea and vomiting throughout the pregnancy. I recently had a friend of mine, who has the same due date as me, ask me for a treatment for her constant vomiting. And before I treated her, I decided to treat myself since I had quite a few patients that day and needed to keep my nausea at bay.  A few needles on myself and fifteen minutes later, voila~ I started to feel better!  The constant nausea and motion sickness I’ve had for weeks had suddenly disappeared. Why didn’t I do this for myself earlier??  That was my “D’oh” moment of the day…

When I went to my OB last time, he offered to prescribe me meds for my morning sickness, which I vehemently refused…  But I must admit, there were times I almost wanted to give him a call and ask for that prescription. Thank God I didn’t! Anti-nausea drugs like Emetrol has known side effects like any other prescription drug. Severe allergic reactions such as rashes, hives, itching, breathlessness, etc. And I really can’t afford to be more breathless than I already am so I say no to Emetrol.

And as for my friend, the last time I checked, she hasn’t vomited after the treatment like she has been twice a day for the past few weeks, and she was even able to eat something! Hooray for simple, effective and natural cures!

FYI:  this post is purely informational and not for self-promotion.  seriously!  :)

So I’m currently going through the not so glamorous stage of pregnancy where I feel nauseous whether I sit down or lay down, eat or not eat, sleep or stay awake, and work or stay home… And I’ve even bought those delicious Hagen Daaz ice cream bars for myself but I’m too nauseous to eat them so I have to watch my husband indulge in my supply every night by himself! Woe is me~

Oh sure I’ve posted remedies for morning sickness. Have I tried them myself?  Well yes, and it does seem to work sometimes…  But other times, it doesn’t matter what you try, it just won’t go away and you have no idea what to do with yourself. But I did notice one thing, the best remedy for me right now seems to be walking outside when the weather is brisk. If you walk outside and the weather’s hot in your area, I wouldn’t recommend it since it’s only going to make matters worse! Trust me, I’ve tried…  Here in the Inland Empire where the weather resembles that of a desert but not quite so hot, during the day it can get up to a 100 degrees but at night it cools off significantly to about 70 degrees.  So if you find yourself hugging the toilet more often than you should, go for a walk!  And remember to breathe~

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), nausea is a result of Stomach Qi that is blocked and unable to flow in its regular downward direction and moves upward instead. There are numerous causes for this reverse flow of Qi in the TCM perspective which includes:

• stress, over-thinking, over-worrying
• exhaustion, mental or physical
• eating cold, raw or frozen foods

TCM states that what a pregnant woman sees, hears or feels can affect the fetus. Preggers are advised to eat only fresh produce, see only beautiful things, and think only happy thoughts. They even have a word designated for this practice of educating the fetus - 胎敎 (tai jiao) meaning to educate the fetus. Some mothers-to-be in Asia not only listen to classical music and go to art galleries but they go far as solving complex math problems or learning a new language hoping that this will help with the neural development of the unborn child. This practice can make tiger mom seem like an amateur! So are you busting out your old calculus book or trying to master a new language?  Should you? 

How many of you have ever wondered about the possibility of the relationship between vaccinations and autism? I know I have… Although my husband often reassures me that it’s completely innocuous, I know that many moms and moms-to-be have had at least an inkling of worry about this. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic!