To read about the first half of this pregnancy CLICK HERE
Well its been a while since I updated you all on my current pregnancy. Since I have now passed the 37 week mark and we are officially in the home stretch, I wanted to take a minute to fill you in on some of the unique elements of the second half of this pregnancy, especially as it relates to the paleo/AIP lifestyle.
Second Trimester:
My second trimester was a breeze compared to my first pregnancy. My nausea stopped and my energy actually came back, something that never happened the last time. I continued to take Zantac to help manage my acid reflux, but even that was significantly reduced over my first experience. I was able to work out regularly, lifting light weights and doing some cardio and my diet stayed the same.
Ulcerative Colitis:
However, around 23 or 24 weeks I started developing ulcerative colitis flare symptoms, which is something I did not experience the first time around. I was having some bleeding, fatigue and joint pain. I desperately wanted to avoid having to take any additional medication, especially steroids, so I went back to full elimination AIP, added in THIS prebiotic powder 1-2 times a day, doubled my probiotic supplementation, upped my fermented foods, drank a lot of bone broth, doubled my curcumin supplementation, and used THIS Vital Proteins Collagen Veggie blend to increase the amount of vegetables I was getting each day. Thankfully, after about 4 weeks of this, the flare subsided and I was able to easily add back in my previous successful reintroductions without any issues.
Immune Health:
The biggest challenge I have faced with this pregnancy is my deteriorating immune health. Early in the fall, during my second trimester, I had 1 or 2 colds. Then at 28 weeks our whole family came down with a very nasty stomach bug that took me over a week to recover from and led to a huge flare of acid reflux that required a short course of additional medication because I couldn’t keep much food or water down, around 30 weeks I came down with another cold, at 34 weeks my husband and daughter both got Flu A and I chose to go on antiviral medication to minimize my symptoms/chance of infection, now at 37 weeks I have yet another cold. If there was ever a case study on the effects of lack of sleep, physical stress, and possible nutritional deficiency on the immune system I am certainly it. I am thankful that I have been able to fight off most of these infections naturally and that I have not had to turn to antibiotics. My plan is to meet with my functional medicine practitioner in the postpartum period and develop a plan to address the stress that these back-to-back pregnancies has put on my body and to help me best manage the postpartum period.
General Pregnancy Issues and Testing:
Most everything else has been normal, my foam roller has become my best friend when dealing with back and hip pain. I followed the same protocol that I did during my last pregnancy to avoid testing positive for GBS and was again successful.
I had to do a different alternative to the gestation diabetes screen this time, as I am with a new doctor, so instead of testing my fasting blood sugar vs my regular blood sugar. I followed the standard procedure but drank 100% grape juice instead of the glucola drink. The grape juice still messed up my stomach and if I could do it over again I would have pushed a little harder to do the same testing I did before.
We are excitedly preparing for the birth at this point. Your prayers and thoughts will be appreciated as we get ready to welcome this new little family member. I am looking forward to introducing him to you all and sharing his birth story when the time is right. In the mean time, I will hopefully have a few guest posts to share with you all as I take some time to recover after the birth and adjust to life with two under two.
