The NaturalTransition Blog

Archive for the ‘pregnancy’ Category

I’ve had the good fortune recently of finding a fantastic nutritionist who specialises in pre-conception and prenatal nutrition. Even more fortunately, she has kindly agreed to developing recipes for the naturaltransition.com fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, baby and mother care recipe base. So let me introduce you to Sophie Halls Anning from the very aptly named Broody Foodie. Sophie’s practice is in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where she provides food based programs to help you prepare for pregnancy, birth and early parenting.

My 7 year old and  I took one of Sophie’s recipes for a test drive yesterday and I am pleased to say, it was a roaring success. We made some bran muffins with ginger, cranberries and walnuts. Only we forgot to buy walnuts and used pine nuts instead. They were absolutely delicious. The last two are currently being devoured by hungry boys as an after school snack.

These muffins are particularly suited to early pregnancy as they are high in folic acid and fibre, are mineral and antioxidant rich and contain ginger to help with morning sickness. Of course they make a healthy and delicious snack for anyone.  My 7 year old made them under my watchful eye, so they are dead easy to make.

Well then, enough talk. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Canola oil spray
• 3 1/2 cups All Bran cereal
• 1 cup Boiling water
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Full fat milk
• 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups All purpose flour (Plain flour)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Baking soda (Bicarb soda)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger, ground
• 1/4 cup Ginger, candied (Crystalised ginger, try Buderim- I used more like 1/2 cup, ’cause I love it)
• 1/2 cup Cranberries, dried
• 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix the lemon juice into the milk and allow to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
3. Place cereal in a bowl and pour over the boiling water, then set aside without stirring.
4. Whisk the canola oil and sugar together in a bowl, add the milk and egg and whisk again.
5. Add flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger and whisk well until combined.
6. Add the cereal, cranberries, walnuts & candied ginger and mix well, then allow the batter to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes
7. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with the canola oil or line with patty cases.
8. Divide the batter evenly amongst the cups or cases and bake for 20 minutes.
9. To test, insert  metal skewer into the centre: if it comes out clean, they’re cooked
10. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before tucking in.

Mmmm…

This recipe and many more will make up the recipe base on the new and improved naturaltransition.com. I am currently having a touch of trouble getting the new site finished but know that it will be ready very soon.  Watch this space and you’ll be the first to know when all the new goodies, including Sophie’s recipes are in place.

Leave me a comment? You’ll make my day

This post is for all those pregnant sisters out there that have lost their ankles and feel their feet wobble when they walk.

I’ve spent a bit of time with my little sister and her belly baby over the weekend. My dear pregnant sister seems to wearing well for 32 weeks pregnant, but she is suffering from some nasty swollen ankles. The kind that make your ankle bones disappear. She has the all clear from the birth centre midwives- no reason to suspect it is anything sinister, just one of those pregnancy things.

Caution: If you have swelling in the hands and face as well as the ankles, or, if you have one leg more swollen than the other, or, swelling comes on quickly- Please get checked out by an appropriate health professional as it could indicate a more severe health concern.

As far as normal annoying pregnancy tankles go, it is caused by a combination of a much greater blood volume and high levels of progesterone which cause your body to hold on to excess fluid . Also, your growing uterus puts pressure on the veins in the pelvis, which impairs the return of blood to your heart. In turn, this leads to swelling in the legs, ankles and feet.

This is a pretty common pregnancy discomfort and almost always goes away after delivery. One of my favourite things about the immediate post partum period is being able to urinate again in one steady, satisfying stream. I remember several loooong wee’s after my last birth and I wondered how on earth I could have had that much to get rid of. It was all the excess fluid I was carrying in my legs finally finding a way out. Ahhhh…

Hopefully you can find some relief before baby is born with these suggestions:

• Stay off your feet. Avoid standing or sitting with your feet on the floor for long periods. Don’t cross your legs. When you can, sit with your feet up and occasionally rotate your feet at the ankles and wiggle your toes.
• Spend time lying down with your legs elevated.
• Avoid tight clothing, cuffs or jewellery around your ankles and wrists.
• Sleep on your side and elevate your legs slightly with pillows.
• This one is not easy in the hot Sydney summer but do your best. Stay cool. Heat can aggravate swelling during pregnancy. It might be soothing to apply cold-water compresses to swollen areas.
• Soak in a large bath or pool of cool or warm water- Not hot. You need to be fully immersed upto your neck for a minimum of 10 minutes .
• Get some exercise. Yeh, I know just what you feel like in hot weather but it will help. Take a walk or swim laps in a pool.
• Drink herbal tea containing nettle leaf. It is a really safe and nutritious herb to use in pregnancy, is a kidney tonic and is great for helping to clear excess fluid. Today’s shameless plug: Natural Transitions pregnancy tea contains nettle and other herbs that may help reduce puffy ankles.  It tastes great and is specifically formulated to be safe for all stages of pregnancy. Dandelion tea is also a useful and safe diuretic that can help too.
• Nutritional helpers include rutin, hesperidin, quercetin and vitamin B6. The first 3 are bioflavonoids, the best food sources of these include buckwheat seed, fruits and fruit rinds, especially citrus fruits (orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime) and berries such as blueberries. Vitamin B6 is best found in spinach, bell peppers, garlic, tuna, cauliflower, mustard greens, banana, celery, cabbage, asparagus and other green vegies.

According to the Cochrane review I just read (based on small scale studies) compression stockings don’t work but reflexology works well.  So why not try a pregnancy reflexologist. I would also recommend acupuncture as a treatment modality to try. It can be so effective for pregnancy related discomforts and is very safe when carried out by someone with proper training.

That’s it from me. There are other things I might use with a patient after a proper consultation but that is my list of DIY’s. Does anyone else have a suggestion that might help the pregnant sisters out there see their ankles again before baby is born? If so, I’d love to hear ‘em. I love comments- please leave me one;-)

We have just finished with birthday buzz a plenty in our house. Despite the fact that our children were conceived on nothing more than a twinkle in the eye and vague thoughts about how nice it would be to have a baby- we’ve found ourselves with 3 beautiful boys, all with birthdays in the same week. The eldest is the 8th, the middle is the 10th and the youngest fit himself into the pattern and was born on the 12th- even though he came 9 days past his due date and while I was horridly sick with the flu. Even our chickens get some birthday action that week. My eldest son marked the 9th as pet chickens birthday. So we have had one huge week of celebration. I am so over cake (both making and eating).

All of this birthday buzz has had me in a reflective mood. This time last year… this time 7 years ago… this time 9 years ago- I was pregnant. I was so heavily pregnant and felt so desperately ready to bring these babies into the world. Just like my three beautiful boys, each birth was so unique and none of them without drama. I am planning on sharing my birth stories soon, but before that, I have a blog to launch

This year, I am heavily pregnant again.. this time with a different sort of baby. My website’s little sister, my blog. Just like this time last year, I am desperately ready to bring this baby into the world. It’s time to give it life and watch it breath on it’s own. Read the rest of this entry »

The last time I spoke with my pregnant sister, she seemed to be feeling rather tormented by the ups and downs of the pregnancy emotional roller coaster. I remember this ride well. Tears of joy, stamping feet in anger and sobbing with sadness all in the same day. A confused partner asking “What’s wrong?”  Me saying, ‘Nothing’s wrong, everything is great’ while sobbing into my pillow.  I really meant it, there was nothing wrong, nothing that I wouldn’t normally just roll my eyes at and forget about.

For many women, pregnancy is a time that brings out intense emotion, and with it an opportunity for personal growth. It can be an emotionally cathartic experience. It can be a time to explore issues that have been tucked away in the back of your mind for many years. It can be really hard for some women to manage the intensity of these emotions, even if there is something useful to gain from the experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

My pregnant sister went to her first pregnancy check up with her GP last week. She was given a warning to book into her local hospital straight away because their quota fills up very quickly. If she misses out she will have to have her baby in a hospital outside of her local area. This could be a ½ hour drive away or more, depending on traffic. Now since she and her partner don’t have a car this in itself creates a bit of anxiety.

Auntie Jules says that pregnant sisters should be given time to decide where and how they want to have their baby. We are told that we are lucky to have options in Sydney such as the birth centre, labour ward and, for a limited time only, at home. It would be nice to be able to let the news that you are going to have a baby sink in a little before having to rush into a decision about the birth. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, I can deal with this. I have trouble dealing with what the doctor said next…”As it is, if you’re overdue you will probably be sent to another hospital anyway”. Huh?? The baby doesn’t even have an umbilical cord yet and it already has a ‘must be delivered by date’. How can it be good for a pregnant sister to have to worry about delivering her baby ‘on time’ only 7 weeks into the pregnancy?

Read the rest of this entry »