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Leg swelling, varicose veins, exhaustion, nausea, heart palpitations, soreness, sciatica, depression… all issues I’ve dealt with in pregnancy. After 8 pregnancies and now on my 9th, I wanted to share some things that have made all the difference in experiencing better physical, mental and emotional health in pregnancy that carries over into post partum or the “fourth trimester.”
A healthy mother produces a healthy baby.
I often hearing people say, “well you have a healthy baby and that’s what matters.”
Well. Yes. Thats the goal. But we can’t forget about the mom. A woman’s body and mental health need to be optimally cared for too; otherwise the negatives can extend to the baby, child, teenager…
Kids need healthy moms. Families need healthy moms. Creating a family is such a gift and it’s also very hard on a woman’s body.
I love having a big family and all the suffering has been worth it. However, I wish I could go back and implement the things I’ve learned so I could have had better pregnancies, better labors and better post partum season. Especially regarding post partum depression!
I’m glad for the learning though because I’m passionate about helping other women. With four daughters of my own, I’m very glad to have tools to help them too.
Here are some must haves (for me), each item helps me with nutrition, energy, mental health, fatigue, pain, anxiety and nausea.
I feel far better at 40 with baby number 8, than I did at 22 with baby number 1.
Here’s my list.
Multivitamin
This is so important for helping with energy, mood and peace of mind that Baby and Mother are getting what they need.
You can’t out supplements a bad diet. However, even eating as perfect as we can, we are most likely missing out on nutrients; vitamins and trace minerals that today’s soils might be lacking.
This can even affect the meat we eat. I find fatty grassfed beef to be one of the most nutrient dense foods (I’m including organs and all here).
Even so. A good well rounded multi goes a long way in balancing mental health and physical energy during such an intense time in a woman’s life.
I have tried a lot of vitamins over the years and a couple years ago I found Everydea Multis for nursing and pregnancy. I was reeeealllyyy struggling with post partum depression, diet change and healthy lifestyle aside, I think I was still missing some nutrients. I found this company and I have been taking their nursing vitamin along with their mood and stress support.
I felt the difference within a week of taking them. I experienced stability in my thinking, even moods, steady energy. I felt happier, and when you’re suffering from post partum depression and you begin to feel “normal” again, it plays into deeper joy and enjoyment of the sleepless busy newborn days, if you ask me!
I am currently taking their pregnancy multi and I love it. You can find the link below and if you use my code you’ll receive 15% off.
Code: WILDWOODSANDHOMESTEAD
With this pregnancy I experienced severe nausea the first trimester. I could barely move or keep anything down. I even had to stop my multivitamin for a bit. I decided to try B6 as I ran across someone talking about relieving their nausea with it. It took a week or so but it worked! I just purchased the NOW brand here in Canada and I take one daily with my multis.
If you’re struggling to keep food down, or dealing with smells and intense nausea, try a B6 or good B complex supplement. Typically it’s best to get B vitamins from eggs and beef liver, but I find I have such an aversion to these foods in early pregnancy!
Nausea, food aversions and intense cravings are more reasons as to why it’s good to add some supplemental vitamins into your diet during this special time.
The next product is topical Magnesium. Personally, I experience intense back pain, sciatica, constipation and anxiety with pregnancy. Magnesium relaxes the body and helps alleviate anxiety and heart palpitations.
*I’m not a doctor or medical profession. I’m not giving advice, simply sharing what has worked for me. Please be sure to be in close contact with your midwife, running these things past her, doing your own research, making the best decisions for yourself.
I have tried a lot of internal amd topical magnesium’s and found Activation Magnesium to be the absolute best. This product recommends 37 sprays, I rub this in after a shower and I can feel myself immediately relax.
I spray a fair bit on my stomach and I find it helps with pregnancy constipation. I wonder too if it might soak some essential minerals into my body for my baby.
I’m not affiliated with this company, I just love them!
Compression Socks
I buy knee high compression socks and wear them all the time. Even if I’m staying home, anytime I’m on my feet, I have them on. I have noticed a huge difference in less swelling, less varicose veins. I also have blood clots that swell when I’m pregnant and compression socks keep the swelling down.
Compression socks also give me a lot of energy because the blood isnt pooling in my legs, the socks are pushing it back up and my hearts not working so hard.
Even when I’m not pregnant if I’m doing firewood or shoveling; anything with weight, I wear compression socks.
I try to buy them in natural fibers like wool, cotton or linen. They’re amazing. Please wear compression socks if you don’t already. They truly save your legs and energy!
You can buy compression socks without a prescription. Unless you need a higher “gauge” I believe it’s called, then you need a prescription. Again, this is an area to speak with your midwife or doctor on regarding what type of compression socks you might need for your situation.
Floor Sitting
I learned about the benefits of floor sitting years ago. I try not to sit on the sofa. When we watch TV, even if we are at a friend’s house and visiting, I don’t mind sitting on the living room floor!
Constantly sitting on soft comfortable things like beds and sofas actually creates more pain in our body.
Creating hard stress on the body actually gives us more mobility and less pain.
Sitting on the floor also encourages you to move more as apposed to locking into one position for too long and putting stress on certain joints and muscles.
Sitting with legs crossed, one leg out, both legs out, getting up into a squat… all these positions create a better developed body that withstands stress better and keeps our body’s “young”.
I find even being pregnant, this alleviates my sciatica and general pelvic and tailbone pain.
If I spend an evening in one position on the soft sofa watching a movie, I’m more sore than I am when I sit on the hard wood floor for an hour moving positions.
Here’s a great video breaking down floor sitting:
https://youtu.be/2Fmx-iHsKYg?si=Gy8rzyaZDWz0WPPg
Sunlight and Grounding
Sunlight is so important for mental health, waking up the body and preparing the body for healthy sleep.
In the summer getting sunlight is the best way to get vitamin D. This is so important for your teeth, your bones, your baby’s development and your mental health. I pair this with grounding each day.
There’s a lot of research out now about the benefits of grounding or earthing.
It lowers inflammation, thins blood (which I find helps with leg swelling, varicose veins and blood clots).
Grounding or earthing, heals a whole host of issues in the body including lowering stress and anxiety.
I love that sunlight and grounding are free! You probably did it daily in your childhood and never gave it much thought. Go back to it. Bare feet in grass or soil or sand.
If you like to hike, walk trails or you just find you need shoes while working in the gatden for example, Earth Runners makes amazing grounding sandals with copper. I have been wearing a pair for iver six years. I hike in the mountains and walk on uneven tough terrain on our acreage. They have lasted so well.
I’m not affiliated with Earth Runners, I just love them! You can find them here.
Leather shoes like moccasins will ground your body as well. Walking barefoot or wearing shoes that let your body ground, your feet/toes splay and your soles grip uneven ground is another way to build strength and stability in your body too.
It’s almost as if we weren’t meant to be inside, sitting on soft furniture away from the sun wearing support shoes;)
Iron
This is so important for building healthy iron stores, stabilizing energy and balancing mental health.
I find that when nothing is helping my energy, I’m lacking iron. Getting bloodwork for this is always a good idea and maybe your midwife has an iron supplement she would suggest.
Personally I think bioavalable iron is the best as it also contains a complex of B vitamins. This bioavailable iron is liver. I try to eat liver when I’m pregnant but sometimes I can’t tolerate cooking it and eating with the nausea.
I take a dessacated beef liver supplement. I can feel and see the difference in my energy and face when I take adequate liver.
Some worry about vitamin A toxicity but beef liver is a nutrient dense food our ancestors would have been eating loads of for generations without this issue. I think vitamin A toxicity is more of a concern when it’s a veggie based or synthetic supplement.
I honestly could eat and take a ton of liver and never tire of how different I feel. It’s important to have adaquate ferritin levels too leading up to birth.
Below is the liver I take. I’m not affiliated. I just love them.
I hope this list helps as you navigate your own special pregnancy journey!
Warmest Blessings,
Ashley
Baby nine and a greenhouse floor of toys❤️
