One of my friends that I love SOOO much is due to have a baby any time.  I have been researching and sending info her way just in case the labor stalls at any time (which I believe it won’t – it will be perfect!) but just in case it’s good to have some tricks up your sleeve.  Here is what I am finding, hopefully it will help all you other moms out there to prepare for your own labor!

• Boiron – Gelsemium Sempervire 6c, 6c, 80 pellets, 3 tablets every hour, helps the cervix and other sphincters involved in birth to relax and open up
• Homeopathic Caulophyllum, 1 tablet every 15 minutes for an hour, then 1 tab every hour during labor to help strengthen and speed contractions
• Nelson Bach USA – Rescue Remedy, 20, 4 drops or up to 1 dropperful under tongue as needed to help mom relax and keep labor progressing
• Evening primrose oil, 1500 to 2000 mg orally every hour for up to 12 hours (this translates to 1 capsule every hour or if you want to just go for it take 1 tbsp all at once) to increase levels of prostaglandins involved in labor.  Works best when mom had a zinc rich diet during pregnancy.  If zinc levels were low due to low protein intake, take 20 mg zinc once alongside evening primrose oil.  If membranes remain intact, a capsule of oil can be opened and the oil applied directly to the cervix to help it soften and ripen.  If water has broken, taking the oil orally or rubbing it on the skin is a better alternative.
• Calcium lactate, one dose of 500 mg to help strengthen contractions.

If labor is stalling and you are starting to consider Pitocin, remember that Pitocin is just synthetic oxytocin – the love hormone.  Surrounding mom with an atmosphere of love with loving physical touch (if she wants that) or voicing your love for mom and baby can naturally increase levels of oxytocin and help labor progress.  It’s important for mom to also talk to baby during labor, tell him (or her) how much she loves him, and how excited she is to meet him.  Also telling baby what is happening around him and asking him to help labor progress can help – babies listen!  Good old nipple stimulation is also a great way to increase oxytocin levels, so don’t be shy and make sure to keep that in your mental bag of tricks!  Other natural ways to help mom relax and keep labor moving include walking, slow dancing, and singing (which helps relax sphincter muscles).  If after all of this, mom and her medical team decide that she does need Pitocin or a C-section then at least none of these suggestions will have a negative interaction.  Just remember that it’s your labor and you are the most important member of your medical team so make sure that you are involved with every decision along the way!

Happy birthday baby!

Exactly two months ago I gave birth to a beautiful, perfect, and wonderful baby boy…which means that two months and one day ago was the last day that I had full control over my daily schedule.  Since then, I have added another certification to my title and am no longer just a CCN (Certified Clinical Nutritionist) but am also a CMC (Certified Milk Cow) on constant duty for my little bundle of joy.   Since I continue to be his only source of nourishment, it’s just as important to take care of myself and eat the way I did when I was pregnant but I must admit it’s harder to do that when the baby is outside your tummy!  Our days are filled with conversations like, “Hold on a second honey, Mommy needs to finish eating this deviled egg or you’re  not going to have enough cholesterol in your milk to help you form healthy brain connections so just stop crying and think about that for a minute”.

I know my situation is unique to me but I figured there were many of you out there with equally demanding schedules who may not always get the opportunity to sit down and eat a full meal and instead rely on several snacks throughout the day.  To keep blood sugar levels stable and promote optimum body composition, it’s important to eat often and include healthy fat and/or protein in every snack.  Here are some quick ideas:

• Hard boiled eggs
• Deviled eggs made with homemade mayo using healthy oil or Vegenaise Grapeseed mayo (I usually hard boil 6 eggs at a time and make up a batch of these all at once since they take time to prepare)
• Raw, whole milk cheese and crackers
• Nut butter and apple slices
• Tuna salad and crackers.  Buy yellowfin or skipjack (also known as “chunk light”) tuna as opposed to albacore to reduce mercury content.  These varieties have about 1/3 the mercury content of albacore, but they do still contain some mercury so limit this snack to once per week.
• Egg salad and crackers
• Berries and fresh whipping cream
• Raw nuts (for easier digestion, soak overnight and dry in a low-temp oven or dehydrator)
• Smoked salmon, with or without crackers
• Hummus and celery or carrot sticks
• Olives
• Beef jerky, preferably from grassfed cows or at least cows raised on organic feed such as Golden Valley Natural Certified Organic Beef Jerky, 3-Ounce Pouches (Pack of
• Yogurt – buy plain yogurt and sweeten it yourself with honey, stevia, xylitol, and/or fruit
• Fruit smoothie made with coconut milk, yogurt, kefir, goats milk, or raw milk
• Kombucha (doesn’t contain protein or fat, but is really excellent as a light refreshment)
• Protein shakes – you can buy plain protein and blend this into a smoothie or buy a flavored protein that mixes quickly with water and tastes good.  My favorite is Essential Meal by Marilyn Farms.  I generally don’t recommend soy protein shakes for pregnant or nursing women because of the effect the plant estrogens can have on the baby – in my opinion, soy intake overall should be limited to one serving or less per week when babies are involved.

I hope these help you!  If you have other snacks that work well for your busy schedule, please share them in the Comments section – I’m always looking for new ideas and I know my baby would appreciate some variety in his milk flavors!

You’re well into your third trimester now!  Your baby is about 3 pounds and almost 16 inches long.  He is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, so be sure to eat regularly.  Skipping meals causes low blood sugar, which will make you more prone to fatigue and irritability – things you definitely don’t need at this stage of pregnancy!  Your baby is also starting to fill out and is beginning to put on precious baby fat to keep him warm after birth.  This is all the more reason to eat regularly – small, frequent meals will help supply the calories you need to grow your little pumpkin!

At 28 weeks your baby is a little under 15″ long and weighs over 2 pounds.  A very exciting event is happening this week – your baby’s brain is changing from a smooth surface to the folded and wrinkled surface that we all think of when we picture a human brain.  Brain folds are a highly evolved trait, shared only by humans, dolphins, monkeys, cats, and dogs.  Make sure your baby knows this so that when you take him to the zoo he can walk around and tell all the animals without brain folds that he’s better than them.  Brain folds are necessary because there would be no other way to fit all of those neurons in a human skull without increasing the surface area by folding unless your baby just develops a huge alien-type skull (which, for the sake of childbirth, we all pray he doesn’t).

To help assist the massive growth taking place in your baby’s brain this week, eat lots of healthy fats.  Basically any fat eaten in the unaltered state that nature made it is going to be a healthy fat, but oils (fat that has been pressed from food) are great too as long as they are not overly processed or hydrogenated.  Get a variety of healthy fats by eating plenty of grassfed meat and dairy, poultry, seafood, avocado, coconut, palm oil (non-hydrogenated of course), olives, olive oil, cold-pressed sunflower or flax oil, raw nuts, and raw seeds.

I’ve decided to start a new series on my blog having to do with the nutrients needed for pregnancy as a baby develops week by week. If that is a snoozefest for some of you readers, please know that I will continue to post the same random health information you have come to know and love on this blog in addition to the pregnancy series! And I won’t let it go 2 months between posts like I did for the past 2 months (I have so many good excuses though, maybe I can do a blog devoted solely to excuses in the future).

My inspiration for this idea is for one of my good friends who is entering her 27th week of pregnancy this week. It is very special to me that she and I are pregnant at the same time since we’ve been friends since we were teenagers and at one point we were even roommates. Maybe I can somehow work our fond memories into this blog, such as the times that we were both unemployed and would lay on the couch watching such classics as This Is Spinal Tap over and over. I really credit my success in life to what I learned in those days. This may be dedicated to her, but I’m sure she’s not the only woman out there who will ever be 27 weeks pregnant and looking for nutrition info on the internet, so here goes!

At 27 weeks, your baby weighs a little under 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2″ long.  Around this time (usually right at week 27) your baby’s eyelids open for the first time!  During this time, his retinas – the light sensitive portions of his eyes- mature in preparation for him to be able to see all of the amazing baby Einstein toys that you got for him at your baby shower (okay maybe there are more important things to see than that, but either way his eyes are maturing).  Even in the womb, he may be able to see the difference between light and dark if you have light shining right on your belly (which I tend to have since I live in beautiful Hawaii and swim around in a bikini while many of you readers are living in the frozen tundra that is the mainland – ha!).  During this week, make it a point to eat foods that will nourish your baby’s eye tissue – namely foods containing DHA and Vitamin A.

DHA stands for Docosahexaenoic Acid and is a fatty acid that makes up 30% of the fatty acids found in the retina (and the brain and in sperm, but we won’t worry about your grandkids right now – we’ll just focus on the bun already in the oven).  It can be found in several foods including fatty fish and egg yolks.  For vegans or others who can’t eat fish or eggs, blue-green algae is a good source of DHA.  Cod liver oil is an incredibly rich source of DHA that can also be incorporated into your diet as a super food.  If you can’t handle the taste of cod liver oil on a spoon, try taking it in capsules.  A teaspoon or 2-4 capsules of cod liver oil daily is usually what is recommended during pregnancy.

Vitamin A is extremely important for eye health and a deficiency in Vitamin A has been strongly linked to poor eyesight and impaired night vision.  Vitamin A is an integral player in the process of seeing, as it is part of the chain of events that happens between light hitting the retina and the brain registering and interpreting that image.  Vitamin A can be found in its active form in egg yolks and butter (especially from grassfed cows).  It is also present in large amounts in cod liver oil.  Vitamin A can be found in another form – Beta Carotene – in orange and yellow vegetables such as pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and carrots.  This form requires some conversion by the body before it is active, but it’s still very important.  Beta Carotene is a fatty nutrient, so eating healthy fat such as butter or olive oil with vegetables containing Beta Carotene helps to increase absorption.  Enjoy!

NOTE: This blog is not meant to replace the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner.

(c) 2009 Jessica Forbes, MS CCN.  All rights reserved.

One of my great friends (whose idea it was to start this blog in the first place) told me today that flu vaccination is mandatory at her workplace.  They have a choice between the flu mist or a thimerosol-free flu shot and she wanted to know my opinion on both.  I figured that many of you out there are in similar situations and could use some objective information when you’re faced with the same decision.  If nothing else, you can just stall and be like Cartman on South Park, telling your boss who is requiring you to get the shot, “Whateva, I do what I want!”