Two New Babies in the World!

Congratulations to my clients Anamena and Julena who both had their babies this week!

Anamena gave birth to Amir Antonio El-Arishy by C-Section (planned) on Thursday 21st Jan at 10:20am.

“The process was very smooth. I remembered just waiting in the operation table and everything was quiet, AH!!! BTW the doctor ask me when that she can tell that I was doing exercise and eating a heathy diet because she can see my abs muscle and everything so clean inside and I said NISHA!!!, she was what, and I said NISHA!!!, LOL. Well after that I heard the famous slapp and the cry of my little angel. I started crying at that moment and I am crying now. He is so peaceful and a happy baby , smile alot and do a lot of eye contact with mamy and papy. I guess that was all the talking during the pregnancy. He is 18 .11 inches and 5.4 lb”

Julena gave birth to Sofija Jelica Hooper at 1:48am on Wednesday 27th January. She was 3.5 kilos and that is all I know so far!

Both mums had a really great pregnancy and birth and I’m so pleased that The 9 Month Club pregnancy fitness training system has had such a great debut with these two fabulous new mums!

For more information on the Pregnancy Fitness Training System that gave Anamena her amazing abs and Julena oustanding pregnancy health click on this link.

Pregnancy Fitness: Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction in Pregnancy

I have had a couple of requests for more information on this recently. Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) is a painful condition affecting the groin and pubic area during pregnancy and if you get a bad case it can be really debilitating.

What is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction in Pregnancy?

The pelvis is made up of 3 large bones – the sacrum (the flat bit of your pelvis at the back), and the two ossa coxae (hip bones). These bones are connected by tough ligamentous tissue that allow for some very minor flexibility. The ligament which connects the bones at the front is called the Symphysis Pubis.

No-one really knows what causes SPD, but the most likely probable cause is due to the pregnancy hormones. During pregnancy the hormones relaxin and progesterone soften up the pelvic ligaments allowing a lot more flexibility so that the pelvis can open accordingly as the pregnancy progresses.

Although this laxity is neccesary it does mean that the pelvis of a pregnant woman becomes unstable and is less able to provide postural support for the increasing load. The discomfort felt in the symphysis pubis is due to the pelvis not functioning as it should and most likely results from strain referred by one or both of the sacro-illiac joints.

Other contributing factors to SPD could be:

History of pelvic trauma

Misaligned pelvis

Sensitivity to pregnancy hormones / overproduction of pregnancy hormones

Previous multiple pregancies or large babies

How do you know if you have SPD?

Do you have pain and tenderness in the pubic area? If no then it could be Round Ligament Pain

If yes it could also be associated with pain through the hips, buttock and lower abdomen.

Does walking, getting in and out of a car, climbing stairs or any other one legged activity make the pain worse?

Are you shuffling/waddling to avoid the pain?

If all of the above are sounding very familiar then it’s probable that you have SPD.

What Can You Do About It?

1) Avoid all positions and activities that aggravate SPD. These are all one legged activities such as climbing the stairs and getting in and out of the car.

Try going up and down stairs on your bum.

To get in and out of the car, sit down in the seat sideways on facing out of the door. Then swing both legs in together to avoid splitting the legs and pulling on the ligament.

Keep the knees together when turning in bed

Avoid twisting the upper body – turn your whole body to face the direction you want to look

Avoid straddle positions (definitely NO lunging!)

Avoid breaststroke

Take weight off the pelvis wherever possible by sitting down to get dressed, prepare food, brush your teeth etc…

Treatment

There is no way of tightening up the affected ligaments but you can improve pelvic support through strength work.

Kegels and TA work should be a daily part of your Pregnancy Fitness program anyway but if you are suffering with SPD, make sure you are doing these 3 times daily.

A pelvic girdle can often help with the pain and you should be able to get one from your oseteopath or physiotherapist – but make sure it is fitted properly.

Try and keep mobile, doing nothing will make it worse. While the pelvic ligaments are overly mobile, they still need daily movement to keep them supple. Depending on how severe the pain is, you may still be able to do some gentle  pregnancyexercise like hip bridges, pelvic tilts to increase the stability of your pelvis and back or swimming which will take the load off of the Symphysis Pubis ligament.

If  you do choose to go swimming do not attempt to get in and out of the pool using the stairs or with one leg up and the other down – most pools have a wheelchair ramp which you can use easily.

Minimise leg movement and torsion of your body – Swim using your arms only – its a great upper body workout – or you can just float. The buoyancy of the water will provide immediate pain relief.

Drugs

If the pain is severe then you may want to visit your GP to discuss if there are any anti-inflammatory drugs you can take to reduce pain.

You can also take paracetamol during pregnancy but you should speak with your GP before taking ANY medication as what may be safe for one person is not neccesarily safe for you.

Homeopathy is also worth a try – I don’t personally know of any remedies for SPD in particular or if there is a homeopathic anti-inflammatory remedy which is suitable for pregnancy but definitely worth asking your local registered homeopath.

Pregnancy Health: When Doctors Should Know Better!

Just this morning I read something in my pregnancy fitness community that got me so fired up I just had to write this blogpost today to make sure that all my pregnant readers are fully aware of the dangers of this practice which is becoming ever more common in modern pregnancy medicine.

This is an exciting time for me as the first two of my 9 Month Club Coaching mums are due to give birth in the next 7 – 10 days, so when I saw Julena’s post this morning I was shocked.

Julena has had the dream pregnancy from start to finish and I feel very lucky that I got to share her journey with her from the very beginning of her pregnancy. So when I saw that her doctor had offered her a premature induction to “get things moving” when there was absolutely no conceivable reason other than convenience I almost fell off my seat!

Why is it that (some) doctors/midwives/obstetricians feel it is necessary to ineterfere with the natural process of childbirth even though there is no emergency present? It’s like they have become so indoctrinated with all the drugs and tools  they have to play with that they have lost all faith in the female body to perform the most intrinsic function of them all – to give birth naturally!

Now I am not opposed to all intervention. There is a time and a place when it is necessary – in an emergency where either the health of the baby or the mother is at risk, but intervention in a perfectly healthy and normal pregnancy before the woman has even reached her due date is absolutely beyond me!

Even with an overdue baby, induction should not be handed out quite so readily. After all the EDD is essentially just an educated guess. Most EDD’s are out by 7-10 days and even the first ultrasound can be inaccurate by 5 days either side. Babies are designed to come out. That’s just the way mother nature intended it, so when they are ready, come they will. Full term is anywhere from 37 – 42 weeks and the due date is just a guess somewhere in the midlle of that.

Induction can be offered in different ways:

Stretch and Sweep – This is a sweeping of the cervical membrane and sometimes stretching is used as well.

ARM – artificial ruptre of membranes: Can be offered if your cervix is favourable and the baby is in your pelvis. But you are not given much time for contractions to start and artificial oxytocin is given within an hour or so of ARM. Often followed by Syntocinon drip, pain relief and instrumental delivery (called a cascade of intervention).

Artificial Oxytocin – ok here’s where it gets ugly. Artificial oxytocin is not the same as naturally produced oxytocin.

In a natural birth labour starts only when the hormones from baby and mother are realesed in complete harmony. Natural oxytocin levels rise and labour begins. Oxytocin repectors are switched on and oxytocin stimulates the smooth muscle of the uterus to contract.

In artificially induced labour the body is simply not ready for labour to begin. The receptors are switched off and as a result a huge amount of artificial oxytocin is needed to stimulate labour. Oxtyocin cannot cross the blood/brain barrier so you do not get the same effects as naturally produced oxytocin which creates feelings of bonding, maternal behaviour and most importantly prepares fetal nuerons for delivery preventing hypoxic delivery.

Artificial oxytocin can also damage your pelvic floor and leave you with urinary incontinence after birth.

Dr Marsden Wagner writes:

“What are these aggressive, invasive obstetric interventions that have been proven scientifically to cause permanent damage to the pelvic floor and urinary tract and also lead to more otherwise unnecessary caesarean section? One example is the use of powerful and dangerous drugs to start or accelerate labour, a practice that has doubled during the past 10 years. These drugs make labour abnormal with violent contractions that can damage the uterus and pelvic floor. The only reason women agree to such induction is because they are not told the truth about the drugs, for example that Pitocin (artificial oxytocin, known as Syntocinon in Australia), a drug used for decades to induce labour, doubles the chance the woman will have urinary incontinence in the future. By withholding such facts doctors seduce to induce.”

And you know the reason I find this very close to home was that I was given Syntocinon when my contractions stopped halfway through my labour (from too much gas and air!) and yes I did suffer from surprising urinary incontinence for a short period after the birth which took me by surprise as I was religious about doing my kegels every day both during pregnancy and after.

Other side effects of artificial oxytocin include:

Overstimulation of the uterus which can deprive the baby of supplies of blood and oxygen

Increased risk of major bleeding after birth due to the fact that synthetic oxytocin decreases the number of receptors in the uterus and so creates desensitivity to the post-partum oxytocin peak that prevents bleeding

There is a huge amount that I could write on this subject and I may even do a report on it when I get some time but for now, this covers the most important things I think you should know so that you can make informed choices when it comes to your birth.

One last thing I would say to you, is this – if it is not an emergency (ie. you are haing a relaxed conversation about induction with your care professional) then go away and do your homework before you decide what to do. There is a lot of information that is not mentioned when inductions are offered and without knowledge you have no choice.

For more information about preparing your body and baby for labour naturally please visit http://www.the9monthclub.com

NEW: Pregnancy Fitness Video: Pelvic Mobility and Back Release

I’ve been dying to get out and film some new workout videos for you but with all the snow and ice I can’t take my video camera out in the garden!

So in the meantime here’s a great pregnancy exercise video I found for you by my good friend and colleague Kaisa who runs a pre and perinatal coaching studio in Spain. This is a really good one to do as soon as you wake up to relieve any stiffness in your back and mobilise your hips.

Pregnancy Nutrition: Is it safe to detox during pregnancy?

When I first found out I was pregnant one of the first things I wanted to do was detox my pregnancy diet. I wanted to be certain that my baby was getting maximum nutritional support from me and that everything I ate was going to have a positive impact on River’s development.

I remember talking to a client of mine at the time who told me that it wasn’t safe to detox during pregnancy because all of the toxins are released into the bloodstream and hence cross the placenta, so I did some research and realised that what she and I were referring to were entirely different scenarios.

A traditional detox – like the kind you find stocking the shelves of every health food store on the planet at this time of year, involves a ton of diuretic and “cleansing” supplements or herbal remedies. What I call detox is simply removing harmful or nutritionally poor foods and substances from your pregnancy nutrition.

This includes all processed foods, additives, artificial chemicals, preservatives etc, as well as foods that have been denatured by processing and manufacturing methods.

The idea is that you want to “clean up” your diet so that you are only eating from nutrient dense foods that are going to have a positive impact on your baby’s development. Now surely removing all harmful and nutritionally poor foods from your pregnancy diet can’t be a bad thing right?

There is also another side to what I call detox and that is clearing your pregnant body of potentially harmful stressors to your pregnancy health, such as stress hormones, postural dysfunctions and mental blocks to optimal pregnancy health and this requires a bit more thought and planning than your traditional detox which generally only deals with what you put in your mouth.

The other key areas you need to think about to really boost your pregnancy energy, give you back your vitality and your pregnancy glow are these:

Sleep – are you getting enough of it and the right quality?

It matters what time you get to bed and how well you sleep at night. Late bedtimes and disturbed erractic sleep patterns will seriously affect your circadian rythym and that in turn will sned your pregnancy hormones crazy!

It is vital that your hormones are at optimal balance during pregnancy for your baby’s development and your own pregnancy health, so if you are suffering from pregnancy pain or pregnancy side effects check your sleep before you do anything else.

You need to be in bed in the pitch black by 1030pm at the latest on 6 nights of the week as a minimum to regulate your pregnancy sleep patterns

Pregnancy Posture – are you exercising to support your pregnancy properly?

Pregnancy wreaks havoc on the physical body. Everything from our biochemistry to our posture is thrown out of place and if you are not working with your body to strengthen and support your pregnancy and your baby you will suffer from a myriad of nasty pregnancy side effects.

In particular pregnancy puts tremendous strain on your back, hips and joints. The pregnancy hormones, relaxin and progesterone relax the support system in your body and without targeted pregnancy resistance workouts your body will become extremely unstable and prone to serious and long-term injury.

Relaxation – are you suffering adrenal fatigue?

It might sound like a condition you are bound to notice but it doesn’t take a lot to overstress your adrenals and wear them down.

When you wake up do you still feel tired – like you haven’t rally slept properly?

Is your diet high in sugar or do you crave sugar and carbs?

Do you feel like you need at least one cup of coffee or tea to get you through the day?

Are you moody or irritable alot of the time?

All of these things (and more) are signs that your adrenals are overworked and if you are suffering with any of these symptoms you need to do something about it TODAY!

Start by planning in some daily relaxation time – either for meditation or doing something that will help you destress like creative activity (painting, music, pottery, dancing), or reading, watching a film or getting out for a walk.

Hydration - one of the most important aspects of pregnancy health but often the most neglected.

You should be drinking 1litre of iodised or alkaline water per 50lbs of body weight. The quality of the water is extremely important. The mineral profile should be high in magnesium, calcium and sodium bicarbonate. Reverse osmosis filtration is best, but otherwise Evian or Volvic are quality sources of water.

For more information on how to detox safely and effectively during pregnancy, visit The 9 Month Club Pregnancy Community and download my Pregnancy Elimination Diet from the forum area

Pregnancy Fitness: Less than 24 Hours To Go!

So you have one day left to get yourself feeling in tip-top pregnancy health before you don your pretty party dress and dazzle everyone with your radiant healthy pregnancy glow.

So here’s what you need to do for the next 24 hours.

1) Drink as much Evian/Volvic/Reverse Osmosis Filtered water as you can – you are aiming for a minimum of 1litre per 50lbs of bodyweight, but an extra litre if you are somewhere hot and humid, and another extra litre if you are exercising (which you should be – if you missed the 4 minute pregnancy workouts yesterday click here)

2) Get to bed by 10pm latest tonight  (by this I mean you should be in bed with the lights out and in a pitch black room by 10pm – not reading with the light on!)

3) When you wake up drink 500ml of water before breakfast and do your last workout of 2009!

4) Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks all need to be high in veggies – lots of essential nutrients plus alkalising foods will give you tons of vibrant energy, plus they will make your skin glow! Make your pregnancy nutrition work for you all day long!

Here’s what I’m having:

Breakfast – Mango, Ginger, Broccoli and Spinach stir fry:

high in calcium, folic acid, vitamin C, iron, vitamin E, beta-carotene (anti-oxidants), magnesium (immune system) and fibre. I’ve already chopped everything up and I have the garlic, chilli and ginger (you can leave out chilli if its too much for you) steeping in olive oil so all I have to do is chuck it in the pan and it will be ready in about 4 minutes.

Lunch – Salmon, Asparagus and Dill Sweet Potato Cakes with a large salad:

High in omega 3, anti-oxidants – Vitamins C & E, fibre, iron, Vitamin B6, beta-carotene, calcium and complex carbs which release energy slowly to keep you energised for longer (now I sound like a duracell advert!)

Snacks – brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds and pecans; carrot & pepper sticks with hummus

Pregnancy Workout: Eaten Your Baby Weight In Chocolate – Part II

You know this last month has been really difficult for most people to fit in exercise, but when you’re pregnant and exhausted from all the hustle, bustle and stress of Christmas then it’s 10 times harder for you than it is anyone else.

So tommorow try these two x four minute pregnancy workout routines.

When you wake up do the two pregnancy workouts back to back (8 minutes total) with 2-3 minutes rest in between for recovery – this should take you 11 minutes max for your entire workout.

Then to maximise on burning off your chocolate baby repeat your pregnancy workout at around 4 pm, before your snack or evening meal.

4 Minute Workout Part I – PLEASE NOTE – YOU WILL NEED TO ADJUST THE HEIGHT OF YOUR STEP ACCORDING TO FITNESS AND TRIMESTER – THE BOTTOM TWO STEPS OF YOUR STAIRS WILL BE FINE IF YOU ARE IN 3RD TRIMESTER

4 Minute Workout Part II

P.S. If you like these short but effective workouts and want to
know how you can achieve safe and effective pregnancy health in
just 15 minutes per day visit http://www.the9monthclub.com

NB: PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR PREGNANCY CARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE STARTING ANY NEW EXERCISE PROGRAM. ALSO THE EXERCISES MUST BE PERFORMED WITH CORRECT FORM. IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF ANY EXERCISE YOU MUST TAKE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FROM A QUALIFIED AND CERTIFIED PRENATAL TRAINER

Pregnancy Nutrition: Eaten Your Baby Weight in Chocolate, Cookies and Candy?

These few days between Christmas and New Year are always a bit of a strange time. You know that you’ve seriously overindulged on all the bad stuff over the last 4 days but with New Years celebrations just round the corner it seems pointless to resume your healthy pregnancy diet right now only to ruin it again on 3 days time – but here’s the thing I asked myself this morning when I looked in the mirror and saw my dull and congested complexion and realised that I felt absolutely terrible from all the sugar I’d eaten in the last few days (and yes it is quite possibly the weight of my 13 month old baby!).

“How do you want to feel on New Years Eve?”

Now I’m not planning on doing anything major – I have a babysitter, but I also have to get up with that baby at 6am so the days of all night partying are long gone (sigh). BUT – I still want to make the most of this rare occasion that I get to dress up and go out as an adult and celebrate. And that means I want my skin to glow, my hair and nails to be shiny and I want to feel energised and good from the inside out!

Now 3 days may not seem like long enough to claw back your complete pregnancy health from all the ravages of the Christmas period, and its not really – BUT – its amazing the difference you can make to the way you look and feel in just 3 days!

In fact you’ll feel and see the difference in just 24 hours – especially if you are experiencing things like heartburn, bloating, sickness, fatigue, headaches, constipation, water retention,  or pregnancy acne.

So here’s what to do:

For the next 3 days focus all of your meals on alkalising foods. Alkalising foods will reduce the acidity in your body and bring your body back to a healthy pregnancy balance. Alkalising foods are mainly fruit and vegetables, as well as alkaline water sources such as reverse osmosis, Evian and Volvic.

So the bulk of every meal you have should be vegetables.

Eg.

Today I had:

Breakfast: Carrot sticks, cucumber strips, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese with hummus dip. 1 litre Evian

Lunch: Prawn and mango stir fry. Evian

Dinner: Lamb and Spinach curry with a tomato and onion side salad – less lamb – loads of spinach and the side salad was probably just as big as the main! Evian

Snacks: nuts, grapes, clementine

Already I feel much better than I did this morning and my skin is looking clearer – so now I can look forward to feeling pretty on New Years Eve instead of pretty awful!

Pregnancy Fitness :Two Day Pre-Christmas 50% Sale

Merry Christmas – Ho Ho Ho!

If you read any of my messages about the webinars last week you’ll know that I promised all the registered participants a 50% discount on any of my three Pregnancy Fitness Coaching Products for any (or all) of the three trimesters,

(that works out to just £49 / $79 FOR 90 days of daily personal pregnancy health and fitness coaching. Or to put it another way, that’s just 54 pence per day! =0) )

But with technical problems being what they are and my distinct lack of technical knowledge (I’m a pregnancy health coach not a web programming geek!) the links that I gave out at the end of the webinar didn’t go live until Friday of last week.

Which was a real bummer and anticlimax for all the people who joined me on the calls. So if that was you I’m sorry.

But you know what, it actually worked out really well, because it made me think again about why I wasn’t giving this 50% sale on all my pregnancy fitness coaching products to everyone on my list? After all you guys have stuck with me through thick and thin and listened to my ramblings most days for the past year, so surely you should be getting this too right?

So here they are:

Click here to get The 9 Month Club: 1st Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching for 50% off

Click here to get The 9 Month Club: 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching for 50% off

Click here to get The 9 Month Club: 3rd Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching for 50% off

Normally each of my Pregnancy Fitness Coaching products retails for £99 / $159, but for the next 48 hours you can get any of these products for just £49 / $79 – that works out to 54 pence per day for complete daily personal pregnancy fitness coaching!

Now if you hired even the cheapest of personal trainers at a normal gym you would be paying at LEAST £2250 / $3625, PLUS your gym membership fees on top!

Plus as an extra Christmas bonus thrown in, you will also get access to my latest video series “Top 20 Rules for Safe and Effective Pregnancy Health” which covers the top 10 most frequently asked pregnancy health questions and my top 10 Should Ask Questions for pregnancy health.

These coaching products also make great, unusual and extremley thoughtful Christmas gifts, so don’t stress if you’ve not managed to do your shoping yet – this is one gift that won’t require you to fight amongst the hordes of Christmas shoppers!

Here’s those links again

50% OFF 1st Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching

50% OFF 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching

50% OFF 3rd Trimester Pregnancy Fitness Coaching

Don’t forget- this is a limited time offer and the links will be taken down at midnight on 24th December!

Hurry, don’t miss out!!

Merry Christmas All!

Pregnancy Gripes: I’m not “Huge” “Massive” or “Big” – I’M PREGNANT FGS!

Why Do People Think It’s OK to Comment on the Size of Your Pregnant Belly?

One of the blogposts in my pregnancy fitness community made me laugh this morning because it brought back all the vivid emotional feelings of indignance that I too felt during my pregnancy whenever someone (particularly people you don’t know very well) commented on the size of my belly.

It’s like just because you’re pregnant, suddenly the whole world thinks that you are now public property and they can do or say anything they like to you even if you’ve never seen that person before in your life and they are a complete stranger!

And you know – even though in their eyes their comments have nothing to do with the state of your pregnancy health, how much weight you have gained or your level of pregnancy fitness, it is still downright rude.

I remember when I was 5 months pregnant, going out for a drink with my friend and some bloke I barely knew (and couldn’t remember speaking to before – although he clearly thought he knew me), coming over to say hi and the first thing he said to me was,

“5 months pregnant – wow you’re big aren’t you?”

I couldn’t help myself. I let rip. Emotions being what they were and all that.

I asked him why he thought it was ok to tell a pregnant woman he thought she was big when he would never go up to a fat person and comment on their size?

He looked suitably embarassed and replied sheepishly “yeah but you’re not fat, you’re pregnant, it’s different”.

Yes of course it’s different, but do you have any idea what it’s like to lose your entire body to some other force you have no control over?

Or what it’s like not being able to see what colour your knickers are, paint your toenails or buckle up your shoes?

Here I am trying to enjoy and evening out with a friend and already feeling quite self concious about my pregnancy weight gain and new body shape and then you come along and tell me how bloody big I look!

FGS! Have some respect! Now go sit in that massive hole you just dug for yourself  and try getting your size 10 out of your mouth and don’t come bothering me again until you’ve learnt some manners!

Oh and did I mention that I’m still wearing size 8 maternity jeans? That’s PETITE you MORON!

*************

Why You Should NEVER Compare Yourself To Another Pregnant Woman

So listen, the next time someone decides to take it upon themselves to comment on your size – just remember its not personal even though it may feel like it. They are not intentionally commenting on your pregnancy weight gain.

It happens to every pregnant woman on the planet and its just another one of those things you have to put up with during pregnancy.

As long as you are on track with your pregnancy diet and your pregnancy workouts, the actual size of your belly shouldn’t bother you. A lot of it is down to genetics – the size of your baby, the size of your body and the shape of your frame will all affect how big your belly looks.

For example if you are short with an hourglass figure your belly will look big. Your normally tiny waist will be hidden under your baby and your hips will look even bigger as they widen to allow space for your baby to grow.

If you are tall with an athletic build you will look much slimmer. Your height and narrow hips will balance out the baby weight in front.

All that truly matters is how you carry that baby weight and so all you need to worry about is staying on track with your pregnancy health.

So the next time someone decides to make an insensitive reference to your size, grit your teeth, and tell them, I’m not “big, fat, huge or massive you know, I’M PREGNANT!!”

P.S. If you missed out on the Christmas coahcing call on Tuesday don’t panic- you can get the replay right here by clicking this link