July 14, 2009

Eating Fat

A lot of people tend to dread pregnancy because of weight gain. I know I was nervous about being pregnant with my third child because I started out fairly overweight. However, I had morning sickness and just didn't want to eat much which caused me to lose weight. Then I started taking an all natural progesterone cream daily in order to keep from miscarrying again. This had a nice side effect of me losing weight while pregnant too.

So all in all, by the time Sarah was born, I had only gained 10 pounds, and that was in the last month. This time around, I was healthier in general. I didn't have morning sickness exactly, but my blood sugar would drop out quick in the beginning. Anyways, I haven't been using the progesterone cream this time, since my hormones were more balanced to begin with.

However, I have been eating lots of fat this pregnancy. I consume a good amount of coconut oil, butter, eggs, full fat dairy products, cream in my coffee, fat with meat etc. and I have only gained between 5-10 pounds. Fat doesn't make you fat, or at least, the right fats don't make you fat. Sugar, chemicals and hydrogenated fats make you fat :)

Also, I'm not growing a huge baby, according to the doctor. Though the foods I eat are nutrient dense (or at least 70% of the food I eat) the baby isn't a whopper, but normal sized. I also have been taking really good vitamins regularly, which I thought might make the baby a lot bigger, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I would put another picture up, but I really don't look that much different. I am carrying very low this time, so it's not too obvious from week to week how much the baby is growing.

Anyways, I know MANY people are still hung up on low fat or no fat to lose weight. Honestly, I have read in several places that farmers used skim milk to fatten their animals. Fat burns fat, keeps your skin and hair healthy, lubricates all the joints and cell structures and so on. Tastes good too! Don't get me wrong, I don't eat a stick of butter at a time.

This is what I made last night:
steak with plenty of fat marbling throughout
mashed potatoes with butter and milk
salad with feta cheese and homemade dressing with olive oil


For breakfast today:
homemade apple cinnamon muffins (I did use vegetable oil since my butter was frozen)
scrambled eggs with coconut oil
2-3T cream in my coffee

The good part is I'm supposed to keep this up while nursing as well, to make sure the milk is rich for the baby. My experience has been that I am so much more hungry when nursing than when pregnant. Maybe the fat will help me not be so hungry :)

Which brings me to a question- typically it takes 5 days for my milk to come in for baby. This is hard because the baby is starting to get pretty hungry and generally I am sore and bleeding by then. Any way to get the milk flowing faster?? I was thinking of drinking nursing tea a few days before birth to see if that might help.

6 comments:

Leah said...

Hey! I really enjoy your writing!

That being said, I have a similar problem with my milk. I find nursing ALL THE TIME is what made it come faster this last time. I have three, all c sec.

In the hospital I have a hard time with the nurses trying to give the baby a bottle, or pacifier, or whatever. I am trying to get the baby to suck! So counter productive. After that first day/night things seem to get a little easier. I drink TONS of water, mostly to get the cath out.

Ah, is this getting to personal?

But I totaly know what you are going through!!

Tereza said...

I'd reccomend trying this:
http://cookingwithlittles.blogspot.com/2008/07/fooddesert-to-boost-quality-of-your.html

It really works for me!!!!!!!!!!

liz from new york said...

just be careful of your cholesterol count..

Anneatheart said...

Well, the cholesterol thing is rather a myth. I mean, our brain needs cholesterol and if you read anything by Mary Enig she has done extensive research and studying on fat and cholesterol. Honestly, it's just a way to get more money for the drug companies :)

Anonymous said...

Fenugreek helps with milk production. My OB recommended it, but I never had a problem with my milk so I never tried it. I think if you're bleeding, maybe baby isn't latched on properly. I'm PG with my 4th too and nursed each one for the entire first year of life (along with solids when they were ready/showed interest of course). Feed baby any time she cries for the first few days...actually every 2 hours or more. The more they try, the quicker it stimulates your milk. And drink lots of water.

liz from new york said...

i'll tell ya, my cholesterol was "high"(235), and right away the doc tried to give me a drug, i took it about a week, and my legs were cramping fiercely, now i find out i have a THYROID problem, which is why the count was so high...fix the thyroid, and the other problem disappears. funny though how they push drugs right away...but still have the blood checked to be sure!