Eating for Two...

...Even though it's just me. Sad right? No, it's all good! I'm preparing for that second person.

Last week I had an awesome opportunity thanks to the generosity of Pulling Down the Moon, to chat with one of their nutritionist, Sadie Wells, who specializes in fertility nutrition. It's really pumped me up, and gotten me all into eating better. ... Did you notice anything different? I crossed that off my Baby Bucket List!

I know it's just been a few weeks, but it's more effort than I've EVER put into this before, and I think it's a habit I'll be able to keep.

Nutrition is one thing I wanted to get down before getting pregnant to both help with that effort, as well as to help create good incubating quarters for my future mini me.

I am eating a daily dose of veggies everyday now (I usually steam broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots). As well as fruit (usually apples and bananas) along with rice (I switched to brown) bread (still on white.. So sad I know) and a huge difference.. I've been eating breakfast!

As long as I can remember I haven't been a big breakfast fan. I don't like scrambled eggs, not a huge pancake fan, HATE grits (I know, and I'm a southern girl, it's sad) and it's usually just too early for me to have an appetite.

After talking to Sadie, she really gave me the motivation I needed to get my to TRY to eat something in the morning. I started with an apple, some orange juice and some granola. After my body adjusted to that I've been adding more things and now I'm eating a full-fledged (pretty healthy breakfast: I usually eat granola with blueberries, and strawberries; some yogurt, a bagel, orange juice; a Bellybar, and herbal tea.

I also found a way and eggs that I like. I like them hard boiled, and I'll just eat the whites, but I also like them fried... When you cook it on both sides, and crack the yoke and cook it too. I sometimes will cut the yoke out and just eat the whites. It's YUMMY!

And speaking of eggs... One thing Sadie and I talked about was organic foods. I posted before about trying to eat more organic and starting small with yogurt and eggs. I've upped it a little bit. I'm buying more organic fruit... But pretty much just the kind I eat a lot... Apples, strawberries. Stuff like that. I'm not going crazy but the big thing is I'm trying and I'm learning!

What are your thoughts on organic foods? I'd love your take!

Sadie sent me a great list with a rundown of how much to try to eat in a day ie: 1 apple = 1 serving of fruit and I should try to eat 3 servings a day. That's been an easy way to break it down versus counting calories or something crazy like that, which would be hard for me to do right now.

One challenge for me is drinking enough water. Eight glasses a day is hard to remember, so I'm going to try to buy one of those half-gallon jug things, fill in the beginning of the day and try to drink it all before the day's over.

I do get quite a bit of my water from my herbal fertility tea from Pulling Down the Moon and from warm water with lemon. I didn't know this before reading Fully Fertile, but fertility is a warm process, and digestion should be warm too, so eating, or drinking something warm during meal time helps the whole process.

I know a lot of my lady friends out there right now are trying to have a baby, or maybe getting ready to! So I've decided to give a gift to one of you... (Or maybe you could give it to one of your friends!). And let one winner choose two ARTeas of your choice! I'll have them sent directly to you.

The ARTeas aren't made to diagnose, treat or prevent diseases, but they are GREAT for calming your mind during each phase of your cycle. There are four different kinds for each phase. As it says on their site:

Nourish ~ This fortifying blend of partridgeberry, raspberry leaves and blueberry helps strengthen and support a woman’s reproductive system and is recommended in preparation prior to beginning a fertility cycle.

Implantation ~ A calming blend of chamomile and other citrus flavors for use during the stressful “two week wait” to help relax the mind and body. Safe to drink during pregnancy, too!

Ovulation Support ~ The invigorating flavors of spearmint, lemon and ginger provide gentle support during ovarian stimulation in a medicated cycle. Also appropriate during the follicular phase of natural conception cycles.

Cleanse ~ A purifying blend to support the body's natural ability to detoxify. Perfect in-between fertility cycles and after a failed cycle. May help relieve symptoms of fatigue and sluggishness that are common after use of fertility medications. Combine with any of Pulling Down the Moon's professional detoxes. Not appropriate during pregnancy or during medicated cycles.

They hooked me up to try all of them, and it's hard for me to recommend my favorite. I love drinking each of them with breakfast and to have something nice and warm with any of my meals during the day.

So read the ingredients and think of which two you'll want if you win!

Here's the rules:
1. You have to be a follower of my blog to enter (or become a follower!)
2. Visit Pulling Down the Moon's website and in the comments section, let me know something that interest you, or something you learn.

That's all! But if you want more ways to enter leave additional comments if you:
-Become a Facebook Fan of Pulling Down the Moon
-Become a Facebook Fan for my blog
-Subscribe to my blog
-You favor my blog on Technorati
-Vote for me on Top Baby Blogs (per day/computer) (just click the link)
-You Tweet/ Facebook about this contest (every day you tweet is an extra entry!) Please say: "I just entered @futuremama's #giveaway for #fertility tea from Pulling Down the Moon http://clicky.me/Gk"
-Leave a comment on one of my posts for Conceive Magazine (2 entries)
-You have my blog button (3 entries, so leave 3 comments)
-You post about this contest (3 entries)
-Vote for my blog in the 2009 Bloggers Choice Awards (worth 5 entries! So leave 5 comments- EACH email account you vote under is 5 entries :) )
*new*- Vote for my Blog in the Love this Site Awards- (5 entries) (per vote per account)

Giveaway ends October 9th 11:59pm! Goodluck!

Tomorrow I'm starting a BIG contest for a BIG cause! I hope you'll stop by to help out, and enter!

My Cure for Stress

"I'm not stressing."

That's the quote I use to chant to myself and say to my husband when I was working at a high-stress sales job years ago.

I'd ramble off about the annoying people I'd talk to, how my commission was on the verge of a higher bracket, and how I REALLY wanted to use the extra money to save for that new car.. "But I'm not stressing," I'd add to the end of my rant. Kind of like how you can say whatever you want about that girl you don't like at work but just add "bless her heart" to the end to make it all ok.

The last week in a half I've been trying hard not to stress... Less stress = better incubating quarters. I also decided to do some of my favorite things in order to make me feel better.

First, I got a pedicure. LOVED it. Sadly, I hadn't painted my toenails since my cruise in January... Yea, a pedicure was WAY past due, and SO relaxing. I brought Fully Fertile and had to highlight a great quote I came across regarding mental stress and negative thoughts: "Every day you need to weed the garden of your mind. Pluck out the negative thoughts, words and feelings by the root. If you don't they will grow like weeds and begin to take over even your most positive thoughts." What a thought to remember!

I also started listening to Circle+Bloom and I'm LOVING it. I try to listen to it in the morning when I get up, or at night before bed, and enjoy the meditation and relaxation it brings. More on this later!

Then, I went SHOPPING. There are few things that can make me happier than spending money. I walked past Bath and Bodyworks and noticed they had a new scent, so I decided to stop in and smell it... And loved it. Then the lady had me sold when she told me about their buy 2 get 1 free promotion. The bubble bath was only $12 and a bubble bath sounded SO nice, so I got that, the body mist, and a free tube of body cream.

Snoop even got some pampering at Petco. I couldn't fully enjoy my day off knowing he was at home missing me! So I dropped him off for a bath and brush while I got my toes done. He thanked me.

I also did something I'm so excited about because it's something I can cross off my "Baby Bucket List." I started Yoga! I've been waiting awhile to start a Pulling Down the Moon fertility yoga class but it keeps getting rescheduled, so I'm taking a gently moderate class for now. My yoga instructor is AMAZING. She's so nice, and afterwards I feel like I've gotten a good workout and had a chance to relax and calm my nerves.

After that I went home and got all dolled up with my hubby and we went to my company party. It's always fun looking extra fancy from time to time, and it definitely got my mind off things. We didnt' stay much longer than an hour or so. It was a blast, but the "open bar" doesn't keep non-drinkers around as long as unlimited cookies... I didn't see cookies.

If you live in Central Texas and have thought about taking fertility yoga let me know, I'd LOVE to join a class together at Sundara Yoga! And on that note, Pulling Down the Moon has been SUCH an inspiration in my whole journey. I love their 12 week holistic program to fertility, and though mine has turned into more like a 20-week plan, it's helping me so much.. Really, I've even started to eat more organic food for heavens sakes (more on that later)!

I heard today that they are up for the Shine A Light award, as a small business that is making a BIG difference! They are making a BIG difference in my life! So I've voted, and if what you've read has made any kind of difference for you please help and vote for this deserving small business.. Helping so many women, infertility struggles or not, to get ready to get a bun in the oven! You can nominate them here.

In other news I got my first BFN.

The Bellybar Yumminess

Lately my breakfast routine lately goes a little like this:

Heat up a pot of hot water-Pour some OJ-Make some toast-Take my vitamins-Mix the herbal fertility tea with hot water- Grab a Bellybar.

I use to not eat breakfast which was pretty bad... But now I've got this routine, and sometimes I'll add fruit and cereal to the mix.

I've mentioned Bellybars before and I hinted to the fact that I'd be doing an official review and giveaway soon... Well here we are! And girl do I have a treat for you!

When I first heard about Bellybar the line that got me was "BEFORE, during, and after pregnancy" I've been all about getting ready for a baby, so finding something I could start eating now, (and not feel silly cause it says that on the box) and keep eating once I'm pregnant is great.

Bellybar hooked me up with some snacks for my Blogher trip (and just about everyone who met me got some to snack on too) and they also sent me a fun sample pack with a selection of pretty much all of their products. The packaging was so cute and I wanted to eat it all up myself, but since I was going to visit my BFF (who is now about 22 weeks pregnant) I decided to save it for her, and try it with her.

Knowing me I couldn't let this go without recording, so I recorded us trying all of the products, but then the video was about 12 minuets long, so for your sanity I edited out the chewing and left in our summary review. There's good info there about the products!!


Key points:
Bellybar gives new moms and moms-to-be extra nutrients they need -- before, during and after pregnancy. (I really like the BEFORE part). It's packed with key prenatal nutrients, and "Satisfies your need for something nutritious and your craving for something delicious." They deliver the essential iron, folic acid (800mcg per bar), calcium and Omega-3 DHA that you and your (future) baby need.

My FAVORITE was the Berry Nutty Cravings... That was actually both of our favorites. I also LOVE the citrus chews... They're like a healthy Starburst or something, the chocolate chews are great too! It's like a yummy healthy tootsie roll. The Baby Needs Chocolate flavor Bellybar was a close second... But there is really something for everyone if you like berry, oats, chocolate or even chocolate orange flavor (Shannon's husband likes those- They're ok for guys too). They also have a new caramel flavor coming out too!

I went to the store to look for some more of the Berry Nutty cravings and had to ask a lady to help me find it... She asked if I was pregnant and it was kind of an awkward situation. I wanted to point to the word "BEFORE" on the box, but I opted against it. Hopefully soon I'll be able to give a great big YES!!

I also had the chance to write a blog post for Bellybar about my journey toward motherhood and how I'm paying more attention to nutrition (I'm also going to be chatting with a nutritionist for fertility next week from Pulling Down the Moon too) before trying to have a baby. You can read my guest post here.

If you're not pregnant like me, you can win this pack and start stocking up on the prenatal nutrients you need before even trying to get a baby in your belly, or if you're pregnant, eat them now for extra nutrition! And if you just had a baby... you still need vitamins! ...Yum yum! Or if you're just a woman like me, and you like to eat... Win these and try them out! It's really a snack that I love to grab and I don't feel bad for eating it after.

Want to try what Shannon and I got?

THREE WINNERS will get a Bellybar sample pack with:
-2 bars of each flavor (Baby Needs Chocolate, Berry Nutty Cravings, Mellow Oat and Burstin’ Chocolate)
-1 pouch of each chews flavor (Chocolate Cuddles and Citrus on Board)
-2 shakes of Due for Chocolate Bellybar Shakes

Want to win? Here's how you enter:
1. Visit Bellybar's website and tell me what you think your FAVORITE Bellybar product is and leave it in a comment! That's all! Leave another with your favorite fact or part of our video for another entry. (Followers leave two comments).

Want to up your chances to win? Here's more ways. Comment again if:
-Become a Bellybar Facebook Fan
-Comment on my guest post for Bellybar
-You subscribe to my blog
-Become a Facebook Fan for my blog
-You favor my blog on Technorati
-Vote for me on Top Baby Blogs (per day/computer) (just click the link)
-You Tweet/ Facebook about this contest (every day you tweet is an extra entry!) Please say: "Check out this awesome giveaway on @futuremama's blog for some yummy @bellybar products! http://tinyurl.com/luz68o (Please RT)!"
-You follow my blog (worth 2 entries so leave 2 comments)- And out of curiosity, tell me if you're new!
-Leave a comment on one of my posts for Conceive Magazine (2 entries)
-You have my blog button (3 entries, so leave 3 comments)
-You post about this contest (3 entries)
-Vote for my blog in the 2009 Bloggers Choice Awards (worth 5 entries! So leave 5 comments- NEW: EACH email account you vote under is 5 entries :) )

I'll use RANDOM.ORG to choose 3 winners. Contest Ends Friday September 3rd at 11:59pm! Good luck!

The Progress--Reading Fully Fertile

Things have toned down and geared up at the same time. I've set an "official" goal for baby makin' time, and every day it's getting little closer.

I've accepted the fact that it may not happen right away, and have actually found out that it only does for 25% of people?... I dunno, if you ask me the number seems A LOT bigger than that. I mean, I feel like everyone I know is pregnant!

Despite that, I have calmed down a lot. I still give my husband a little crap every now and then for drinking caffeine, and wearing tight underwear, but I'm trying to go easy on him. In fact... He's even been cooperating and taking a male vitamin with Zinc and other good stuff to help his swimmers.--I'm not sure if he knows that's why I gave it to him--If so, he sure is being a good sport about it.

I'm still trecking my way through Fully Fertile. I'm more than half way through now and I've learned a ton! I've also been trying to read Taking Charge of Your Fertility for awhile but one thing I like about Fully Fertile is that it's less text-book like. The women who wrote the book share a lot of their personal experiences and write what they're experts in.

When I got to the part about organic foods and nutrition I was kind of dreading it a little--I've never really been big on the whole "organic craze" that's been going on lately. To be honest I read all nutrition things with a grain of salt... I don't feel like I have time to check every detauk if everything I eat with a microscope... I know I should be better, but I sorta figure since I don't drink or smoke, a strawberry that may have been sprayed with pesticides once in it's life won't kill me--As fast. BUT since I'm thinking I may be eating for two... Eventually, I'm trying to have a more open mind about these things (even though I swear a lot of women eat like crap and still have healthy babies).

I am making it my goal to eat a few things organic... Eggs, and some dairy products. I don't drink milk as it is, but take calcium supplements, but I like yogurt, so I'll try to buy those things organic.

I also love fruit, and I may try to buy organic fruit, or... There's a good list in the book of fruits that have the most pesticide, then their main nutrient, and a comparable fruit you could eat instead. For example: Strawberries have a lot of pesticides. The main vitamin in it is C and a good "nutritional match" with lower pesticides is: Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, orange and cantaloupe. I'm going to try to be more aware of little things like this as far as diet. Do you buy organic? Why or why not?

I'm also going to try to be better about sleeping. It's easy for me to stay up all night and read, write or surf the net. But sleep is one of the most important parts of the life cycle, and not getting enough could be detrimental.--Who knew? Instead of pulling so many all-nighters, I've decided to give my body a break and attempt to get 8 hours of sleep for the next month... We'll see how that goes! I'm not sure how many people I know who actually get that much sleep.

I've given up caffeine for the most part. I admit, I've snuck a cola here and there, but I'd say my headaches are proving my abstinence from the drug.

And the biggest thing that's been keeping me is the dentist. Well guess what?.. Wednesday is my big day to take care of that! I've been worried if I was pregnant any time before that the Novocaine I'm sure I'll need probably wouldn't be good for my growing spawn.

And on a sort of side note... Have you heard of Feng Shui? It's confusing but fun to read about at the same time. For instance... I have no idea the best place to put the bed since it's like a loose loose the way my room is positioned, however I'm not making up my bed again every morning, so I have a neat, and calmer bed to get into at night. There was a section on that in Fully Fertile too, I found it intriguing.

I know people are probbaly reading all of this and thinking I'm crazy. Probably saying to themselves I should "just have fun" at first. And I completely understand that. But I think it's hard to relax when in the back of your mind you know what the goal is. I will say though, at this point, I'm doing more of this research for fun an education rather than out of fear or paranoia. That's progress right?

As far as all the tracking goes, I'm still doing the BBT readings, however last month they totally screwed me up. I thought my cycle was going to be like 40 days cause my temperatures never went up but I was spot on around day 28 again. SO... Knowing that it has pretty much been that way since April, when I went off hormonal birth control--give or take a day or two-- I'm not going to stress about it the next few months. I mean... If you have regular cycles, isn't that kind of a good sign?

Just for fun, I'll try to see if I can figure out the big "O" day, and see if it's consistent, so I can possibly plan a baby makin' moon kick off... But we'll see. Am I going overboard? Ok, but really, women who want to get pregnant... How much planing are you doing? And to women who have gotten pregnant--How did you do it?--No, I mean, with food and sleep and all that good stuff, did you pay attention to all of that?

On another side note... It's the 4th of July! Happy Independence Day my friends! I hope you're having a wonderful time with those you love! I made this cake... Aren't you loving how domestic I have become? Ok I admit... I was running a little late so hubs baked it for me... But I decorated it!

***

PS: The winner of my "Labor Fascination" post giveaway with the wonderful birth coach Karen Angstadt from Intentional Birth is #54 Nichole from Scorpion Sojourn. I also love her blog "Smothered in Motherness" But it's private :) She's expecting her first baby and is 22 weeks along so this is PERFECT for her! Congrats! Email me and I'll get you in touch with Karen for your free hour session!

The Big Goal

I feel like I have so much to say and I haven't said it for fear of changing my mind, not sure if it was going to pull through, and other reasons, but I've decided to just LET IT ALL OUT today!

First off, I want to add a disclaimer to those who know me in real life (99% of you can probably skip down two paragraphs). "What happens on Baby Makin' Machine, STAYS on Baby Makin' Machine." And I'm not just talking about copyright issues or plagiarism. No, as far as I know I haven not fallen victim to this. I'm talking about what I'm saying here. Yes, I know it's a public blog and anyone who wants to read can read it, but I'd like to keep it at that.

Got a question? Ask me in the comments section, or in an email, I'd be more than happy to write a post answering it. I write about these things because it is easier to write about than talk about.

I wanted to get all of that out of the way before I said this. After six months of having this blog, going back and forth on when to try to have a baby. Debating whether or not I'm willing to sacrifice sleep. Getting off of hormonal birth control:...

I'VE SET A DATE!

See that switch at the top? Well my mental picture of my baby makin' machine switch looks a little like that and I've set a date to switch it on. I wasn't planning on blogging about it because I always thought when I turned my baby makin' machine "on" I'd want to keep it secret so everyone is surprised when they find out I'm with-spawn. Well, after much contemplation I've decided I will write about it, because it not only is a part of my journey but a HUGE part. And I think so many women are going through the same thing and hopefully what I go through, and what I learn can be helpful to them--AND women who have been through what I'm going through can share their tips--Yay!!

As for the date--Well, I said it first yesterday on Conceive Online. Oh yea, did I mention I'm the magazine's newest blogger? Check it out. If I'm not open enough here... You'll get all of the dirty details there. And join the "My Conceive" community and show your support for me there! The website was EXACTLY in my ballpark. I've never seen a more helpful site/magazine for where I am right now. It's ALL inclusive helpful information on before AND during TTC. The blog's name (which hubby helped me choose) is "Ready or Not."

But like I've said... The date... August or September. That's when I'm planning turning my baby makin' machine "on". I have been known to change my mind before--In fact, I didn't even blog about my last two goals... May and June. I sorta chickened out. Plus, there are a few things I'm trying to get done first.--For one, I'm going to the dentist again to get my cavities filled. I'm doing that in a few weeks. But this time, hubby and I are both working for this goal and feeling good about it. So I'm hopeful and planning on pulling through this time. I'll have been off hormonal birth control and taking prenatals or five months, and I've already for hubby hooked up with vitamins... Someone told me Zinc is somethin' a guy's gotta have so I went out and bought him some vitamins the next day. I'm hoping once I kick the machine into action it works, and that it isn't broken, but I'm taking steps to help with that too.

If you read this post last week, you'll know I've been a little nervous about being able to produce a baby. I mean... I haven't gotten pregnant on birth control and it seems like so many of my friends HAVE! I've also talked about my fear of turning into a Sex Natzi. Now that I know the rules to making a baby, and what helps, I plan to follow them to the best of my abilities to make a baby FAST.

In consequence to that, I know that can cause added stress and can cancel some of my progress. SO... I've decided to do something that will help lower stress, help with fertility AND cross something off my Baby Bucket List all at the same time... I'm going to try FERTILITY YOGA!

Cool, no? I have tried meditation once before, but never anything like this. I've been in touch with the wonderful women of Pulling Down the Moon, and (hopefully next month) I'll be starting a fertility yoga class here in Austin, and learn exercises I can do to help stimulate fertility, while lower my stress-level in the process.

I started reading Fully Fertile. Their book. It's a 12-week process to achieve optimum fertility. I'm suppose to read the entire book before starting the process, and I'm hoping to just be completing the process the same time I switch my machine "on."

I just finished reading the first section about breathing and yoga positions. I am DYING to get to it! I also read some good tips about good exercise and what's "too much." And another good cleansing tip I learned that I am SO starting ASAP is to drink a thermos-full of warm water and lemon daily. I don't normally like water with lemon but I think it'll be a fun experiment knowing it could help a little with getting ready for baby makin'! I'm also hoping to learn a lot more about good nutrition, healthy living, and things like that while reading this book.--I'll keep you updated on it!

I know a lot of people would see something like this and think that it's for people dealing with infertility.. And I thought that at first too, but then I realized that something like this is perfect for someone who is trying to get ready to have a baby. I know for some people it's just easy to do the freaky-deek and get pregnant, but for other's it takes work. I also know a lot of women who are going through "baby fever" and aren't sure what to do with themselves while they wait to finish school, or for their husbands to come around, or to accomplish a certain goal... I think stuff like this is great to do while you're passing the time.

I've said before that I don't think I'll have the "in-between" stage of "not trying, not preventing." In my eyes I either want to have a child, or I don't. And when I'm not preventing anymore I'm going to be trying to get pregnant.

I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but I'm going to do some experiments the next few months. I'm going to try to do everything I can so I can get it right the first time. Worth a try right? We'll see! I will try my best NOT to be disappointed though if it doesn't happen right away--I can't control EVERYTHING. So I'm going to try not to stress in my planning, but have FUN in my planning. Make sense?

I'm going to be blogging about fertility yoga, and a lot more things I'm trying, reading, and experimenting with. I'm surprised by seeing the results of my poll, and seeing that so many future mama's like myself are reading my blog! It's nice to know I'm not in this boat alone... And I have lots of great stuff for future mamas and other women looking to make additional babies. I'm so excited for this commitment I'm making and the turn this blog is taking.

Hopefully this will not only continue my detailed diary, but also be helpful for others. So stay tuned for updates! And let the countdown begin!

Any advice?

***

To my real-life friends: If you read my blog--Thank you! But if you're a member of my family or a co-worker, I'd appreciate if my writings stayed with you and didn't become family/newsroom gossip. I only say this because I think sometimes things can get misconstrued, and all of a sudden, just because I want a baby one day, or have a dream about my child the next, I'm all of a sudden the "kid obsessed" person, or being asked if we're "trying to make a baby" in places I'd probably prefer not to talk about it. Sure, I'm an open person, and I'd be more than happy to talk with you about it in private.--I like to keep this blog (and my blog Twitter account) as my ONLY "public" forum. Thanks!