Aloha! It’s been a long while since our last post, and a lot has changed. Our second daughter, Luna, just recently turned three years old! This post has been sitting as a draft since I was pregnant with her, and while I’ve been wanting to get back to blogging for a long time, I only recently decided to log back in here . My pregnancy with Luna was A LOT different than when I was pregnant with Bella. I had the weirdest symptoms – major food aversions, morning sickness, skin irritation… And postpartum we very difficult as well. We also decided to change our name from The Budget Ohana to The B Ohana because we want to talk about more than just budgets and money. We want to share more about our family life – parenting, food, traveling and anything in between, so we hope you continue on this journey with us.
For those of you that don’t know, Bella is actually my second pregnancy and is our rainbow baby. My first pregnancy ended in an early miscarriage, and it was one of the most devastating experiences I’ve ever had. I didn’t really do anything to document my pregnancy with Bella – no progress pictures, journal entries, or anything like that – because I was so scared for another pregnancy loss. For those of you mamas out there who have ever experienced the loss of a child in any form, my heart is with you, and I pray that you find peace, comfort, and strength.
Getting pregnant was not as easy as we thought it would be, especially after having a miscarriage. Zac and I both did a lot of things differently, and so I’d like to share some of the things we did that I believed helped us with Bella as well as with this pregnancy.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional by any means, so I would highly recommend consulting with your healthcare professional in your pregnancy journey, which is what I did. What has worked for me may not work for someone else, so please do keep that in mind.
In no particular order, here are the things I believe helped me to get pregnant.
1) Regular Exercise: I made sure to try to do some form of exercise for at least a half hour every day. Before I got pregnant, I was already exercising regularly and weightlifting, but you don’t have to lift weights or do anything crazy intense. I learned that blood flow is really important when trying to conceive, so even something simple like walking every day may help. I knew about prenatal yoga and was doing that regularly while pregnant with Bella, but I had only discovered fertility yoga before I became pregnant with her. I just searched on YouTube and found many different videos that I believed would help with my situation. I created a playlist, and would do different routines at least 5 times a week.
2) Staying Warm (for mom): Another thing I learned about in my pregnancy journey is that having a “cold womb” may make it more difficult to conceive because the blood vessels become constricted, which can cause stagnant blood to accumulate and hinder the flow of healthy blood in the womb. I found out that I was pregnant with Bella during the summer, so it was pretty easy to stay warm before I was pregnant with her. The challenge was staying away from anything cold in the summer heat. For instance, I did not walk barefoot on cold floors (think tile floors). I didn’t consume anything cold – no ice in my beverages, no ice cream, fro-yo, shave ice, or boba drinks. I drank room temperature water and also drank hot tea daily. I would take warm or hot showers only. When I got my positive pregnancy test with Bella, it was right after we arrived in Hawaii for vacation, and for the entire trip, I decided not to go swimming. I even went away for a weekend in Palm Springs after this particular Hawaii trip. We rented a house with a pool, and because it was still very early in the pregnancy and nobody else knew that I was pregnant yet, I discreetly measured the temperature of the water in the pool and determined that it was warm enough for me to swim in (it measured in the high 80s F). During the luteal phase of my cycle, I would also apply heat packs to my abdomen for twenty minutes. I’ve heard that electric heat pads should not be used for this, so opt for the ones that you can reheat in the microwave.
3) Staying Cool (for dad): Zac did pretty much the opposite of what I did above. We learned that sperm health is optimal just a few degrees below the ideal body temperature of 98.6 F, so he tried to keep his body cool as much as possible. He would only take cold showers (he prefers piping hot showers). He didn’t stay away from any cold beverages (he prefers ice in his drinks anyway). He switched to wearing looser-fitting boxers (he prefers boxer-briefs) and would even use ice packs to help keep his body temperature low.
4) Elimination Diet: Although Zac and I have no known food allergies, after consulting with a fertility speciality, she suggested that we do an elimination diet to see if any of the foods we were consuming regularly may be affecting our ability to get pregnant. She said that even though we weren’t having any visible adverse reactions to the food we were eating, because we’d been consuming the foods we were eating for so long, our bodies may have gotten so used to them that we don’t know if they’re causing any adverse affects internally. She instructed us to eliminate typically problematic foods for about a month and then to re-introduce one food at a time for a few days to see if any symptoms arise. The foods she suggested for us to eliminate were dairy, eggs, gluten, legumes, and sugar. I ended up eliminating all of this from my diet and I actually didn’t re-introduce any of them back until I was far along enough in my pregnancy with Bella. I did mostly the same thing with this pregnancy, but this time around, I reduced my carb intake (I typically eat a full serving of rice for lunch & dinner), and ate more veggies instead. I don’t know for sure if there was a specific food that was causing any issues we were having, but I believe it’s safe to say that eating nutritious food definitely helped in our journey.
5) Staying Hydrated: I typically drink at least half a gallon of water a day, so this didn’t really change when we were trying to conceive, but I did try to drink more when trying to get pregnant. I normally get my caffeine fix by making home-made matcha lattes, but caffeine was one of the things I stayed away from, so instead, I would opt for hot herbal, caffeine-free or decaf teas. Zac and I also didn’t consume any alcoholic beverages while we were trying to conceive.
6) Acupuncture: I came across a lot of articles suggesting that acupuncture could increase our chances of conceiving, so I found a local, well-reviewed practitioner and started doing weekly sessions. She also prescribed me some herbal supplements, and within about three months of regular sessions and supplementation, I got pregnant with Bella. I continued with the weekly sessions (minus the supplements) for most of the first trimester, and because everything was progressing well, I stopped the sessions. I actually ended up going back to the practitioner because at the start of my second trimester, I was diagnosed with a complete placenta previa, which is where the placenta is covering the entire cervix. The doctor said there was nothing I could do to fix it, and that if necessary, I would need to have a C-section. I found some articles saying that acupuncture could help with a previa, and so my practitioner placed needles strategically to help encourage blood flow to the upper part of my body. At one of my sessions, she was feeling my pulse and said that she thought I was having a girl. This was about 2 months before I had my anatomy scan where they confirmed I was having a girl. When I first got pregnant with Bella, I truly felt that she was a boy, and a lot of our friends and family believed that I was having a boy, as well. At my anatomy scan appointment, they also confirmed that the previa had completely resolved and it was no longer an issue. When Zac and I were trying to conceive again, I decided that if we were not able to conceive within a few months, I would try acupuncture again. I didn’t do acupuncture this time around.
7) Reducing Stress: I know it’s easier said than done, but I believe that practicing self-care can help with the stresses of every day life. My self-care routine on my pregnancy journey consisted of getting at least seven hours of sleep, listening to pregnancy affirmations and guided meditations (there are lots of videos on YouTube), and yoga. I’ll admit, I’m a fan of true crime documentaries, but I stayed away from these on my journey because a lot of those stories can be pretty dark and depressing, so I watched a lot of shows and movies that I knew would make me laugh (Friends, Parks & Rec, and The Office were on of my watchlist).
8) Prenatal Vitamins: My doctor suggested many years ago that I should take prenatal vitamins as my daily multi-vitamin (long before I met Zac and even thought about getting pregnant). For decades now, I’ve been taking prenatal vitamins daily, and I’ve come across many articles recommending taking prenatal vitamins even before you get pregnant to increase your chances of conceiving.
Wishing you all the best on your journey to motherhood.
Aloha,
Tracy