28 Weeks and Counting

Today begins the last trimester of pregnancy for me. Its hard to believe 28 weeks have gone by already with this amazing little life growing inside me. Summer has made the time fly by even quicker, because this season brings with it various activities that can only happen this time of year. July passed with a lot of hot days, made hotter by the fact that I spent the majority of them canning food from the garden. I can't complain though. We have a lot of yummy things to look forward to this winter, including pickles, homemade red and black raspberry jams, collards, green beans, and garden stew.

I was very grateful that my parents are close by and have a pool, because it is quite amazing how well a pool cools one's entire body temperature down, especially on those 90+ degree days. We also bit the bullet and bought a window air conditioner for our bedroom at the beginning of the summer, knowing it would be difficult to go through this summer pregnant and still be able to sleep without one. It has been quite a life-preserver on those unbearably hot nights, allowing me to sleep, when we would normally take a hiatus from all nightly rest for approximately 2 weeks until the heatwave passed. 

While buying a bigger bed and softer mattress made it possible for me to sleep without added pillows for the entirety of the second trimester, I have now entered the phase where my knees and belly need a little extra support. I go to sleep surrounded by what appears to be a fortress of pillows, much to Winston's comfort, as he cuddles up right beside me most nights. 

Last week taught me an important lesson: no woman, no matter how "unemotional" she might think she is, is exempt from the effects of pregnancy hormones. I went through the routine 1-hour glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes last week. Since I had not seen my primary OBGYN before taking this test (I had last seen one of the other 3 docs in the office), I was not told what the parameters were for passing and failing. I wasn't too worried about the outcome, as I have been blissfully exempt from a lot of the sweet cravings that so often come with pregnancy. I have made a point to exercise just about every day, and eat healthier than I normally would do in the summer (since I normally eat ice cream multiple times a week during any given summer). I was even more careful about eating healthy the week before the test, so when I checked the patient portal and discovered my blood glucose was 133mg/dl after drinking the nasty orange drink and fasting since supper the night before, it didn't sound too bad. I even googled normal standards which said that 140 and under were considered "fine." I was completely caught off guard the next day, however, when the first thing out of the nurse's mouth was that I had failed the 1-hour glucose test and would need to take the 3-hour test. Keep in mind that the night before this was spent discussing how awful the 3-hour test was with 2 of my cousins. Upon hearing that I had failed, it was like a tidal wave of emotion hit me. I was instantly upset, weepy, and struggling to keep myself together (not like me). Even after hearing my doctor explain that 130 is the cutoff for pregnant women just to get a wider screening of potential gestational diabetes candidates, and that I really shouldn't worry too much, I was still very upset. Aren't I a healthy person? Do I exercise daily and eat healthy for nothing? I was given the alternative to test my blood sugar 4 times a day for week, to see if my levels actually are within normal range, which I chose to do after a little consideration. 

It took talking to multiple people telling me that I was likely fine and completely healthy, and not to worry about it, keeping myself busy with cleaning the house all evening, and a good nights rest before I was finally able to let the stress of it go, and accept that God would take care of me through this, no matter what the outcome may be. Since my office wasn't able to get the prescription for my reader in to my pharmacy before we left for campmeeting on Thursday, I was able to spend a relaxing weekend in Maine without worrying about my blood sugar, which I think God knew I needed. Upon getting back from Maine and starting my week of testing this morning, so far my 2 times checking it have been normal to low. 

God has been teaching me a lot of lessons throughout pregnancy, first and foremost that I have to trust Him in everything. So much of life is out of my direct control, but luckily for me He is bigger than all of it, and more than capable of taking care of me and BaBee Howe. 

My Personal Superfood

We live in a  society that wants everything right now. From Keurig coffee machines that will brew a cup in less than a minute to iPhones that allow the user to make purchases simply by scanning your fingerprint. With all of the things we try to cram into our already busy day, we're always looking for ways to take shortcuts in order to get what we want faster.

The subject of health and diet is no exception. There are more ways to obtain food quickly than we can put a number on. Whether its fast food chains, precooked food you can take home from the grocery store, or simply going out to eat to save the time necessary to cook a meal, Americans have a plethora of choices when it comes to food that fits into our busy lifestyle. The problem with living such a busy life is that it denotes we eat food that fits into our timetable instead of food that promotes our well being. Our health becomes the victim, fallen by the wayside. Because of this problem, countless adds pop up on our electronic devices stating "Try this new diet pill that will shed pounds a day," or "Find out the one food to never eat in order to lose belly fat." Having a degree in Nutrition Science taught me the truth beyond the numerous diet fads out there. You can't solve the root of a problem by only treating the outward manifestations.

Eating a healthy diet is a lifestyle choice. I do it because I want my body to perform at its best, the way God intended it to. I want to be able to participate in the activities I love and feel good doing it. I could go on and on about how important it is to eat a healthy, well balanced diet, but instead I would like to focus on the most important meal of the day: breakfast!

I didn't always eat a well balanced breakfast. It usually consisted of coffee and a bowl of cereal, maybe a piece of toast for a little variety. Basically the main food group I was eating from in the morning was grains. By the time mid morning came around, however, I was starving, leading to snacking, usually from that same food group - grains (crackers, more toast, etc). Even though I was aware there was a problem with the meal starting my day, I ignored it. Combine this problem with hereditary digestive issues, inherited from my mom, it turned into a problem that put me in the ER one beautiful Sabbath morning, in extreme amounts of pain, mentally kicking myself (because I sure as heck couldn't physically do it at that point) for being so careless with my diet. I won't go into details about the exact medical condition I had, but if you really want to know, email me and I'll share it with you.

After that I decided my diet needed a change, and it needed to start with the first meal of the day. I began making fruit shakes. It started on a whim, just to see how it was, and it turned into a staple of not only my morning meal but also Adam's. Adam and I are no exception to the typical busy American couple, so it is difficult for me to make the time to eat at least a cup of fruit, yogurt, and orange juice separately, in addition to my beloved coffee and toast. I found the answer to my time and digestive problems in those fruit shakes. I vary the ingredients depending on what I have available, which in the winter is usually more frozen fruits than fresh, but a few things I add no matter what: bananas, yogurt (greek for extra protein, if I can get my hands on it), blueberries and orange juice.

We were given a bag of fruit that was getting ripe faster than it could be eaten, so this morning's shake turned out especially delicious and pretty.

Ingredients:

2 Fresh Bananas (can use frozen)

1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 apple (I peeled it but you don't have to)

1 peach

1 nectarine

4 strawberries

1 6 oz yogurt (fruit flavored or plain)

3/4 cup fresh baby spinach, 

a dab of our very own raw honey (of course!)

and enough orange juice to cover it all almost to the top

It turned out delicious! That one large glass of fruit shakes gets a lot of fruit, protein, and even a little veggie into my morning meal, and its oh so good. :) I have also added flax seed meal for a little extra fiber, but the shake alone does wonders for my digestive system. I have a friend who has also discovered the benefits of shakes for digestive health, so I encourage you to try it. Its worth the effort and expense I assure you.

Resolutions and a Pig Story

The beginning weeks of this year find me in a much healthier state than I was not long ago. December brought the culmination of my growing sweetness addiction, contributed largely by the overwhelming amount of baked goods coming out of our kitchen at work, and the regular amount of holiday sweets. Sweets have always been my weakness. When I was young, I was known to eat half my dinner, not because I was full, so that I could save room for dessert (clearly the best part of the meal).

Up until November, I had been running consistently since March when I first fell in love with it. As the holiday came on, my time became more full, and my afternoons just didn't allow me to take a break to run. Not only was my sweet appetite increasing, but my activity was decreasing. Bad combo. I felt icky. Disgusted with myself. I knew I was eating an unhealthy amount of sugar, but I just couldn't say no. They beckoned to me, at work, home, parties, church. The list went on.

As many people know, no one can break addictive behaviors without at least wanting to. It wasn't enough to think that the extra sugar and lack of exercise was bad for me. I had to actually want to change things. Do you know what it took? Coming down with the typical after Christmas, sweet-attack cold. I had been fighting one since Thanksgiving, but my immune system finally gave in. Sick as I was, I knew it had to stop.

I knew myself well. Trying on my own to say no wasn't going to cut it. All it would take was the sight of a sweet and my watering mouth and the resolution would be out the window. So I decided to make it a matter of prayer. God is certainly capable of being strong for me, so I left it in His hands. No, that didn't mean the cravings disappeared and that it was a simple matter. But depending on Him to overcome instead of me, the pressure was off. I knew I could do it because the battle was already won, and I didn't have to do the fighting.

At the beginning stages of this change, I found myself relieved from all of the holiday stresses. I had time to run again. And run I did, against my initial aversion to the cooler weather. Second day out I tried out a route I hadn't run since I hurt by foot back in the summer. It was a glorious run, even in the light rain. My love of running was back.

As I continued to run most days and cut back on excessive sugars, I began to feel better. I even started eating better. I know, I know. Having a degree in Nutrition should mean that I was doing this already. What can I say. I'm human. Not perfect. And a human with a sweet tooth at that. But I have to say that God has blessed me with a newfound love for running, and I am grateful for that. I have always enjoyed exercise in all of its various forms, but previously, not running. This past year finally broke my dislike of running, and I am thrilled to have a new sport.


Now that I've rambled on about all that, did I mention I had a pig story to tell?

Last Friday I set out on a beautiful, cool day to run around the block (somewheres around 4 1/2 miles). One of my heals had rubbed a blister the day before, so I started off with a bandaid and a happy heart. A mille in, the bandaid had been adjusted once, and was beginning to fall off. Setting aside caution, I pushed forward, stepping gingerly to avoid excess pain. I chose to go the direction that allow me to go down the big hill instead of up, as I was not feeling incredibly energetic that day. Three quarters of the way around the loop, I spied a large creature standing in the middle of the road. I wasn't quite sure what it was at first, but as I approached, its shape identified it as a pig. A LARGE pig.

 It wandered back and forth across the road. A car passed me, driving slowly. The pig walked right up to the moving car, sniffing it, and almost brought it to a stop. Having heard a few negative pig stories, I was cautious as I moved forward. When I was still about 20 feet away, the beast finally spotted me, snorted, kicked up its hind legs, and ran off in the opposite direction, proving that though fat, the pig was fast. Even though it ran only a few feet, I was quite sure I didn't want to meet it up close. As I had no reason to believe it would get out of my way, I unhappily retreated the way I had come. By the time I finally got home, I was exhausted and had a large blister. But I had a great story! And I burned 722 calories to boot! Almost 6 miles under my belt. Not bad for an otherwise uneventful afternoon.