Yasemin’s Daily Journal - Pregnancy Edition (2021)

[Edit]: Here’s an article I found about nutrition for mama during pregnancy and for babies (and a pre-conception fast - which I did unintentionally when I did my 30 day fast in June 2020 - 3 months before conception)

Hi guys, decided to back track a little and add my own daily journal here! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: “Pregnancy Edition”

I have been logging on my planners, but I love using the forum and having a digital copy - that’s what I built it for afterall!

About to jump into week 8 of my daily walks that I started on February first.

Journey so far:
:sparkles::one: First Trimester:

First trimester was a free-for-all type of adjustment and survival mode trying to adjust to pregnancy/pandemic/holidays (October/November/December 2020)! Was pretty mild luckily when it came to nausea & morning sickness however I was fully 100% knocked out and felt like I was sleeping ALL day EVERY day with 0 energy! Lots of strange food aversions which led to strange cravings and indulgences (definitely not the BEST food choices - but lesson learned!)

:sparkles::two: Second Trimester:

On January 1st as part of annual New Year Resolutions I decided to step it up and get back on better habits and drop sugar again in January/February 2021 since my energy started to come back and I wasn’t in the “sleepy” state I was in compared to first trimester!

On February 1st I wanted to get myself out of of them NEXT level (part 2) of getting out of my “funk” so I started the following plan (below) to re-ignite my habits and live more INTENTIONALLY throughout my 2nd and 3rd trimester of my pregnancy and adopt fitness/exercise again (which I had put on pause temporarily due to my VERY sleepy first trimester exhaustion)

:sparkles::three: Third Trimester:
Third Trimester is starting shortly (right at the end of March) and I’m aiming to continue my daily exercise habits, healthy eating, daily reading, daily self-care, moisturizing stretch marks, daily self-love, positive self-talk snd positive affirmations :sparkling_heart: Taking a few courses about breastfeeding and labour (open to suggestions!) and continuing my Reading List “https://www.waterfastingforum.com/t/pregnancy-baby-book-list/6163”

:books: Books Read (so far) 2021

  • How to raise a healthy child […] (Feb.) :white_check_mark:
  • The Vaccine-Friendly Plan (Feb.) :white_check_mark:
  • Atomic Habits (Mar.) :white_check_mark:
  • Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra (May) :white_check_mark:
  • The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (Mar.) :sparkling_heart:
  • Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding :sparkling_heart:
  • Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth :sparkling_heart:

Enrolled in Birth Course by Mama Natural :clap:t2:

Enrolled in La Leche League International

  • Free Virtual Meetings & Lectures
  • Free Facebook Group :clap:t2:

Daily Reading & Affirmations about birth, labour & breastfeeding :sunny:

:white_check_mark: = Complete
:round_pushpin: = In Progress

—————

Below is the plan I’ve been following since February to slowly ease back into fitness/exercise after putting it on a very sleepy pause! :sleeping:

Exercising EVERY SINGLE DAY - No excuses & kicking butt at it! This has given me SO much more energy going into second and now almost 3rd trimester!

I started out with a VERY easy manageable goal to get the habit going - slow 15 minute walk EVERY day, and then each week I increased by a tiny 5 minutes!

Current Exercise Plan

:white_check_mark: = Complete
:round_pushpin: = In-Progress

February:
:one: Week 19: 15 min/day :white_check_mark:
:two: Week 20: 20 min/day :white_check_mark:
:three: Week 21: 25min/day :white_check_mark:
:four: Week 22: 30 min/day :white_check_mark:

March:
:five: Week 23: 35 min/day :white_check_mark:
:six: Week 24: 40 min/day :white_check_mark:
:seven: Week 25: 45 min/day :white_check_mark:
:eight: Week 26: 50 min/day :white_check_mark:

April: - Third Trimester :sparkling_heart:
:fire: Week 27 - 34 (Little Exercise - so exhausted & sleepy)

May:
:fire: Week 34: 30min/day
:fire: Week 35: 30min/day

June:
:fire: Week 36: 30min/day
:fire: Week 37: 30min/day
:fire: Week 38: 30min/day
:fire: Week 39: 30min/day
:fire: Week 40: 30min/day

——————

Also here are my health stickies for 42 days of health - will update when I go onto the next period of the season (started these stickies on 2nd week of March)

42 Days of Health
(Picked 42 only because I like the way the sticky colours looked - no significance)

YouTube Hiatus - Update
*I feel my energy coming back so I might start to film some daily motivational vlogs on YouTube again (either daily vlogs for accountability - or daily YT Live videos)

*I am thinking to film updates for the 3rd trimester

*I am also thinking to film updates for my first few months as a FTM (First Time Mom) - we will see how everything goes with the transition into motherhood! Hoping I have the energy for this :tulip::sparkling_heart:

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Since I am just starting to log in the forum today, I will add the most recent 2 days, and continue from here!

March 17th, 2021

  • 55 min Slow Walk (Round Trip)
  • 45 min Elliptical - Slow - Resistance Level 10

March 18th, 2021

  • 45 min Slow Walk (Round Trip)
  • 45 min Elliptical - Slow - Resistance Level 12

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:sunny::tulip: SPRING

March 21st, 2021

  • No Sugar
  • Elliptical 45 min (Resistance Level 14 MAX)
  • Slow & steady workout

March 22nd, 2021

  • No Sugar
  • Elliptical 50 min (Resistance Level 12)
  • Slow & Steady

March 23rd, 2021

  • Really DO NOT feel like working out… it’s 11pm… doing it anyway
  • Sugar Monster attempted to attack today, I made it through NO SUGAR :fire: Still going strong :sparkling_heart:
  • Healthy Eating
  • Elliptical 50 min SLOW

March 24th, 2021

  • 50 min SLOW Walk
  • Didn’t feel like doing it, did it anyway

March 25th, 2021

  • NO SUGAR
  • Healthy :sparkling_heart:

March 26th, 2021

  • NO SUGAR
  • Healthy :sparkling_heart:

March 27th, 2021

  • NO SUGAR
  • 60 min Elliptical

March 28th, 2021

  • Rest

March 29th, 2021

  • Rest
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Pregnancy Third Trimester🤰🏼

:sparkles: Week 27 :sparkles:
March 30th, 2021 - April 5th, 2021**

  • Rest :sparkling_heart:
  • Pretty tired this week - walked around the quarry a few days in a row while looking for stones/pavers for backyard renovations but other than that nothing crazy!

:sparkles: Week 28 :sparkles: REST/Tired

:sparkles: Week 29 :sparkles: REST/Tired

:sparkles: Week 30 :sparkles: REST/Tired

:sparkles: Week 31 :sparkles: REST/Tired

:sparkles: Week 32 :sparkles: REST/Tired

:sparkles: Week 33 :sparkles: REST/Tired

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You are so proactive, you’ll make a kick-butt mom. Congrats on everything and thank you for keeping this community together.

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I agree!! You are awesome Yasmin and so appreciated… :heart: You have helped so many, including me!! Congratulations on your pregnancy !! :slight_smile::pray::two_hearts: Thank you !!

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Thank you @Stacia and @Aimon :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::sparkling_heart:

Sugar Monster is the devil:

Today I fought the sugar monster for a few hours…:joy: I had to go to the store to buy milk and I was sitting on the couch arguing with myself about which grocery store to go to:

  • One of the grocery stores closest to me has an evil bakery with these incredible freshly made cookies… they are the devil… that store is also much more expensive of a grocery store so it’s best to avoid it)
  • One grocery store is the basic one with cheaper food, nothing fancy and good produce…

The struggle is real for everyone, we have to make a daily decision to avoid sugar and no one is exempt from these difficulties when they are sugar addicts.

I sat on the couch for about an hour contemplating whether I should go get something sugary at the “bad” grocery store or go to the “good” one … Very time consuming conversation with myself :joy:

Rough afternoon! Finally I beat all the monsters and avoided the bad grocery store and ended up going to another random grocery store beside UPS (while returning a package) and BOOM it had a bakery… luckily there was nothing exciting (I took a peek, but it’s really those damn cookies at the other grocery store which were trying to seduce me!!!) :joy: Dodged that bakery at the random grocery store too… came home and ate vegetables… won the first battle…

Then I scrolled through the pregnancy group i am part of on Facebook and everyone is posting all their insane sugary snacks that they are eating “pregnancy cravings” and sending their husbands off to buy the treats :joy: … Many people posting these freshly baked cinnamon rolls, and it caused a ripple effect in the pregnancy group and suddenly EVERYONE in the group is making cinnamon buns… Now I realize sugar is no good for me (nor baby) and I don’t want to keep falling in the trap if “unhealthy pregnancy cravings”… I fell into that trap in first trimester, and there’s a fine line between pregnancy cravings and aversions and simply just pure gluttony, indulgence and lack of self control… Since I don’t have the INTENSE food aversions that I had in first trimester during the morning sickness and nausea phase, I really have NO EXCUSE to give myself garbage food/sugar and use pregnancy as an excuse to indulge - I used that excuse far too much in first trimester - so I am learning from my mistakes. That being said, rough day with animal brain cravings today, and realizing that I don’t need it, and just because I am pregnant doesn’t mean I should indulge all the time… and I sure know that it is not beneficial to be consuming since the little nugget growing inside me definitely doesn’t need processed junk and sugar either…

This is why journalling is important - by the end of this journal post I am 100% confident about my decision!

I will just go for my 50 min SLOW elliptical ride that I’ll post in the workout section above and I’ll keep drinking water - no sugar is rough, but I’ve done it for 365 days in the past, so I will do it again! :sparkling_heart: My Mantra: “Sugar is not benefitting my body nor feeding the baby inside me” :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: If you are reading this and struggling with the sugar monster today, go write a journal post and skip the sugar! Let’s keep this up!

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You got this sister !! I remember someone delivering me a pan of cookies when pregnant and after weeks of saying no to sugar… I sat on the couch and ate them all !! :sob:… I remember wondering if I’d hurt my twins growing in me. You arnt kidding, sugar is the devil. I quit eating it October 19th, 2020 (call me crazy but I remember the exact date - it’s like an alcoholic taking his last drink - you remember that date forever!!! :slight_smile:)… I litteraly feel like if I ever take one bite I may never be able to quit again, the cravings were that bad. For a true sugar addict I think “never again” is all that works :slight_smile:… you got this sister!!! So happy for you to get through today, you can do it again tomorrow, I know you can !! :slight_smile: :pray::two_hearts::bouquet::four_leaf_clover:

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Yes I remember the first time I quit sugar in August 2018 as well, and I have the paper to prove it too since I had written it down!!! So good, exactly like an alcoholic sobering up!

That’s what happened to me in first trimester, everyone just kept feeding me and feeding me :joy: it’s like “no I’m not eating for two and no I don’t need sugar”

Yes I agree, relapse on sugar is huge, you can quit for 1-2 years and then relapse very easily so it’s really a “never” type of situation similar to alcoholism… but there’s sugar in everything and no alcohol in everything!

Feeling strong about my decisions today! No sugar streak continues and 50 min of elliptical even though I didn’t want to! Slow and steady, week 9 of this nice slow and steady exercise plan during pregnancy!!! Feeling AWESOME about it! And the little one is coming in around 2.5 months so not much longer!! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::sparkling_heart:

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So excited for you !!! Ps. I too have quit sugary things for over a year before, you know what lead me back “Oh I can have one bran muffin”… oh my gosh, you’d think I was a crack addict after that!! I couldn’t stop !! No bran muffins for me :slight_smile:. Sugar is weird for me, I literally feel it running through my veins like drugs. I decided to call certain foods “alcoholic foods” because to me they are even though I can drink alcohol with no issues?? So weird.

Anyhow, so happy for you Yasmin!! You are doing amazing and have a little blessing to look forward to meeting, who needs crappy foods??! None of us right?! :slight_smile::two_hearts::bouquet:. Have an amazing day!!! :heart::slightly_smiling_face:

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Yes I know this behaviour well :joy: sometimes something so innocent is bad bad bad news!!

I always warn people about keto snacks for this reason :joy: they are marketed as healthy but they open those floodgates just like everything else!!! :sparkling_heart:

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Ok new plan for the final stretch!

Week 34 is beginning! Will keep posting every day! New habits are selected! :pray:

Vitamins:

  • Prenatal
  • D3
  • Fish Oil
  • Probiotics
  • Garlic Pill :sparkling_heart:

Nutrition:

  • Fermented Foods
  • No Sugar
  • Whole & Healthy Foods
  • After 36 weeks :arrow_right: Eat 6 small dates per day

Tea:
Daily Raspberry Leaf Tea :sparkling_heart:

Exercise:
Daily 30 min walk & stretching (for easier labour) :sparkling_heart:

Labour & Birth Education

  • Must commit to daily educational course, videos, articles, podcasts, affirmations, etc.

A few of my pregnancy-related habits for the final stretch of pregnancy! It’s going to be busy and overwhelming, but I know self-discipline is key here! (Same as with the fasting-focused lifestyle!)

Habits:

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:sparkles: Week 34 :sparkles:

:arrow_right: Monday, May 17th:

:arrow_right: Tuesday, May 18th:

:arrow_right: Wednesday, May 19th:

:arrow_right: Thursday, May 20th:

:arrow_right: Friday, May 21st:

:arrow_right: Saturday, May 22nd:

:arrow_right: Sunday, May 23rd:

:arrow_right: Monday, May 24th

*On active days I am active in the yard and cleaning, nesting, running around the house but not going on full on walks because I just want to make sure baby stays inside until 37 weeks, then I’ll walk much more! :sparkling_heart:
**Lucky not to have heartburn this week, week 32-33 heartburn was bad!

:sparkles: Week 35 :sparkles:

:arrow_right: Tuesday, May 25th

:arrow_right: Wednesday, May 26th

:arrow_right: Thursday, May 27th

:arrow_right: Friday, May 28th

:arrow_right: Saturday, May 29th

:arrow_right: Sunday, May 30th

:arrow_right: Monday, May 31st

:sparkles: Week 36 :sparkles:
:sparkling_heart: Tuesday, June 1st

:sparkling_heart: Wednesday, June 2nd

:sparkling_heart: Thursday, June 3rd

:sparkling_heart: Friday, June 4th

:sparkling_heart: Saturday, June 5th

:sparkling_heart: Sunday, June 6th

:sparkling_heart: Monday, June 7th

:sparkles: Week 37 :sparkles:
:sparkling_heart: Tuesday, June 8th

:sparkling_heart: Wednesday, June 9th

:sparkling_heart: Thursday, June 10th

:sparkling_heart: Friday, June 11th

:sparkling_heart: Saturday, June 12th

:sparkling_heart: Sunday, June 13th

:sparkling_heart: Monday, June 14th

:sparkles: Week 38 :sparkles:
:sparkling_heart: Tuesday, June 15th

:sparkling_heart: Wednesday, June 16th

:sparkling_heart: Thursday, June 17th

:sparkling_heart: Friday, June 18th

:sparkling_heart: Saturday, June 19th

:sparkling_heart: Sunday, June 20th

:sparkling_heart: Monday, June 21st

:sparkles: Week 39 :sparkles:
:sparkling_heart: Tuesday, June 22nd

:sparkling_heart: Wednesday, June 23rd

:sparkling_heart: Thursday, June 24th

:sparkling_heart: Friday, June 25th

:sparkling_heart: Saturday, June 26th

:sparkling_heart: Sunday, June 27th

:sparkling_heart: Monday, June 28th

:sparkles: Week 40 :sparkles:
:sparkling_heart: Tuesday, June 29th

:sparkling_heart: Wednesday, June 30th

:sparkling_heart: Thursday, July 1st

:sparkling_heart: Friday, July 2nd

:sparkling_heart: Saturday, July 3rd

:sparkling_heart: Sunday, July 4th
Contractions started!
4:30am - 6:30am mild contractions
12:30pm - 2:30pm mild contractions

Early Labour
8pm to 9-10am July 5th (Every 5 min for 45-60 seconds for 13-14 hours!!!)

GOT EXHAUSTED!

Make sure to eat & hydrate next time!

:sparkling_heart: Monday, July 5th

BABY AYLA was born in the evening!!!

Via home birth with a little quick detour in the last hour!

Unmedicated, Natural Vaginal Birth :sunny:

Best birth experience ever :heart_eyes::smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Would do it 8000 times over - never felt “pain” just intense contractions and exhaustion

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