Comments on: Meeting with the Midwife: Appointment 2

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:27:48 +0000

No, definitely not a new phenomenon in any way. I actually don’t find it gross or disgusting as most people seem to, but I have no intention of doing it myself since, as of right now, I think results are all in peoples heads (because I have yet to see anything that suggests otherwise).

By: Sophia

Sophia — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:20:17 +0000

I definitely think the verdict is mixed. Personally, I don’t think I could do it, and I do wonder at the placebo effect. Apparently a lot of the places that do it have linked to studies, and a lot of midwives and moms swear by it, but I still don’t think it’s enough for me to be convinced. I was more just curious if your midwife had brought it up, because it wasn’t until I was reading on offbeatmama.com- the sister site of offbeatbride.com, which I think you might really like- that I had ever heard of it, and then all of a sudden all of these midwives and moms were talking about it, and I didn’t know if it was a new phenomenon or just something not a lot of people talked about.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:02:23 +0000

Have you seen any scientific research on this? TH and I are both big believers in the placebo effect and we’ve discussed this several times and think that placenta ingestion benefits come from what you think could happen, not any scientifically measurable reaction (remember we are crazy, we are all natural only in the areas that we feel science can prove!)

I think for right now I can’t see why we would eat the placenta, but not other organs. Why don’t we encapsulate healthy organs of those who pass on and ingest them? I’m not trying to be sarcastic, I just don’t understand why there are some who think we should eat one organ, but no others.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:59:02 +0000

I have looked into this several times but I can’t find anything that feels really conclusive for me. So I just drink lots of water and try to avoid the things that will make my heartburn worse, and avoid ALL medicated heartburn treatments just in case.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:37:23 +0000

I don’t have a good reference or scientifically based answer for this, but my guess is that the carb reduction allows for more protein in the diet, and high protein intake helps reduce swelling. If you keep your carb counts high and you increase your protein as well you’re going to be eating so many calories that you gain too much weight. So maybe it’s about balance?

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:33:40 +0000

Thanks TJ! It’s tough for me to sort out fact and fiction sometimes when I’m trying to do research on stuff.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:32:32 +0000

I don’t mind it actually, but it stresses me out because I spend the entire time wishing I wasn’t doing it so I could be crossing other things off my to-do list. I think during pregnancy it has been particularly hard for me because I like to do fast intense workouts and get them over with, but that isn’t as much of an option as I get further along.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:32:55 +0000

Jenna, I meant to ask before- are you planning on placenta encapsulation, or has your midwife mentioned to you the benefits of ingesting your placenta? It has been linked to lots of benefits from increased milk production to staving of PPD. I know most of the midwives I know freeze it and encapsulate it- although some are *way* old school and put it in smoothies, but, um, I don’t think this almost vegan gal could handle that - but I didn’t know your midwife’s thoughts on it. Feel free to totally ignore this if it’s too personal a question, I just realized that this is on area of natural childbirth/midwife attended birth that I hadn’t heard you mention on here.

By: Lala

Lala — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:49:21 +0000

I looked up some information on those studies linking antacids and asthma, and I do think they are referring to Prilosec and Zantac-type antacids, that actually inhibit the production of acid, not Tums-type antacids that just treat acid afterwards. You should double-check, but that is what the study seems to imply.

By: vicki

vicki — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:44:34 +0000

as someone with bowel disease, I testify that food can cause ailments, and cure . My panacea has been the diet suggested/advised by Dr. Peter D’Adamo in his book EAT Right for your Type (blood type).
It has made a WORLD of difference for me and others. I have only one friend who had no improvement from it. Much to my doc’s chagrin, I am not taking meds for the disease.

By: vicki

vicki — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:27:45 +0000

Exercising during pregnancy is GREAT! I was carrying Evelyn (She wrote about her sis and walking) when I was gardening extensively. She is my 4th of 6, and the only pregnancy that ended with me wearing my “skinny” clothes immediately after birth. That gardening was/is tremendous exercise!

By: Genavee

Genavee — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:46:16 +0000

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks Sophia.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:13:43 +0000

Another fan of apple cider vinegar here! I had such severe GERD that my doctor put me on every sort of medication since I was about 17. Finally I went to an acupuncturist who recommended ACV. It always works for me, and I’ve found it works faster than any medication. I’m weird…I kinda like the taste because it makes me think of boardwalk fries :0P , but there seem to be lots of good recommendations above about how to make the taste better! Good luck with your pregnancy! I love reading your posts.

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:25:18 +0000

Interesting. A peppermint always helps calm my stomach… but maybe it’s just a mental thing!

When I had problems with acid reflux, I was told to avoid: carbonation, chocolate, alcohol, citrus, and tomato-based products. I want to say there was a 6th, but that was over 5 years ago and I just can’t remember. Basically, I lived on pasta with butter and cheese, and ice cream. Not the best when you’re trying to cut carbs, but cutting out the no-nos certainly helped!

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:19:29 +0000

Yes on the prenatal yoga and walking! I’m 20 weeks today and have been doing it since week 6. It’s kept me more limber, strengthened and kept my arms, legs, buttocks toned, and I’ve had no body pains yet. Also, my weight gain has been within the 1 lb/week after week 12. Besides the physical benefits, it seriously helps my mood. I alternate the walking and yoga ever other day. Give it a try, like someone else said, it’ll be a good habit to have established once the baby is here.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:05:19 +0000

You are doing such an excellent job taking care of you and your baby! Regarding the reflux (GERD) – my husband’s doctor gave him a list of 10 things to do including reducing citrus (oranges and tomatoes) and putting the bead on an incline. We put a board under the box spring so that his head is always higher than his stomach when laying down. I don’t notice the bed is at an incline, and I’m not entirely sure what on the list made things improve (several of which were suggested to you) so I thought I’d mention it. All the best!

By: Sophia

Sophia — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:57:29 +0000

Genavee, I think it has to do with the fact that most of the carbs we eat are bad, refined, sugar loaded bad-for-you carbs, and it probably spikes your insulin which in turn affects how much water you retain- that would be my best guess at least.

By: Sophia

Sophia — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:53:39 +0000

It’s also fabulous if you have problems with allergies- about the same amount every day, plus the trusty neti pot once or twice a week and it’s all good

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:45:23 +0000

Oh, yes, I know the surgery exists. I’m just hopeful that I’m a candidate for it. It’s an ailment that runs in my family, so many of them have had the surgery. While I understand that the surgery has side-effects, my hernia is causing some serious quality-of-life issues for me. Besides the reflux, the hernia itself is very painful, particularly when I’m doing any lifting/mopping/scrubbing/etc. (which I do on a daily basis at work) but also nearly all the time. Besides, I can’t eat normal portions of food as it is, or my reflux makes me instantly regret it.

By: Marissa C

Marissa C — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:23:50 +0000

PS–I should mention that I’ve never actually heard of Apple Cider Vinegar helping with heartburn–just as an overall healthy thing to do