Healthy Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a joyous time in a woman’s life, but it can also be confusing because there’s a lot of advice out there.  Many women want recommendations that support not only their own health and their baby’s, but also the environment.  Most people are prompted to start making healthy changes in their lives when they find out a baby is on the way.  However, it is best to begin before conception.

Here are the top healthy changes to make that will benefit themselves, their baby, and the environment:

• Eating fresh organic, seasonal foods can make a difference to women wanting to get pregnant, to the health of their babies and the environment.
• Investing in a Kangen water filter and cutting out buying plastic water bottles will make a difference too. (www.carolinakangenwater.com)
• Cutting out things like alcohol, caffeine, sugar and recreational drug use can make it easier to get pregnant.
• Taking a high quality prenatal multivitamin
• Supplementing with DHA.  Fish oils are great options but there are vegetarian options as well.
• DHA has been shown to help with the baby’s brain development.
• Doing a cleanse before pregnancy is a great way start this journey.
• Yoga and rest can help you have a healthy pregnancy and post-partum.

By Tiffany Jackson, ND (www.ecohealthwellness.com

If you’re having trouble breastfeeding, or if you just want to avoid trouble down the road, hiring a lactation consultant can be very helpful. But how do you know if a particular lactation consultant has the experience and skills to help you? You can start by asking your physician or midwife or even your friends for a referral.  Finally, when choosing a lactation consultant, ask about her experience and approach. Listen carefully when you talk to her about your particular concern. Be wary of guarantees and words like “never” or “always.”

Many of my clients come to me after a bad experience with another lactation consultant. I have compiled a list of statements that clients have actually heard. These are red flags! If a lactation consultant (or anyone else for that matter) says any of the following, run the other direction!

• Your baby will never breastfeed.

• Your baby is too old to learn to breastfeed.

• You’ve missed your “window of opportunity” to breastfeed.

• You can exclusively breastfeed, no matter what.

• Your breasts/nipples are too__________ to breastfeed.

• If you eat ________ it will make your baby sick.

• Your milk may not be good enough for your baby.

• Your baby is allergic to your milk.

• You’re not successful breastfeeding because you’re not trying hard enough.

• Your baby doesn’t like/want your breast.

• If you take this herb/medication I promise you’ll make more milk.

• If you’ve had any breast surgery, you will not make enough milk for your baby.

• It’s normal to have nipple pain.

• Your nipples need to toughen up.

• Babies always have to eat on both sides each feeding.

• Babies should always have just one breast per feeding.

• Your baby should stay on the breast for _____ minutes.

• Your baby is a lazy nurser.

Note: This article took over a week for me to write. Every day I’ve needed to add more false statements! So check back often—sadly, there will probably be  additions. And….feel free to write to me with other things you’ve heard!

Written by Renee Beebe, M.Ed., IBCLC. Renee is a lactation consultant in private practice in Seattle, Washington. She is available for home/hospital visits and phone consultations. Renee can be reached at www.second9months.com

“My pediatrician says my baby has reflux! She says there are medications to help. I really don’t want my baby to take medicine. He’s so little. But I also don’t want him to suffer and spit up so much. What should I do? Can you help me?”

Although the diagnosis of reflux seems ominous, keep in mind that ALL babies have reflux to some degree. The sphincter muscle that separates the stomach and the esophagus is loose and lets fluids go back and forth. That’s why it’s common for babies to spit up after a meal. If your baby seems uncomfortable, however, he may need some help.

Many of my clients have babies who have been diagnosed with reflux. Simple changes in feeding posture or management can decrease symptoms substantially. Most of my clients do not need to medicate their babies.

If your baby is squirmy, uncomfortable and excessively “spitty” during or after feeds, he may simply be eating too much or too quickly. Do you have an over-abundant milk supply? Does your baby struggle to “keep up” when breastfeeding? Is he gaining weight rapidly?  If yes, you can try:

• Give your baby frequent burping breaks.

• Keep baby on one side per feeding.

• Position your baby at an incline so that his trunk is higher than his hips and his spine is straight. Try the Pollywog Nursing Positioner at www.pollywogbaby.com.

• Try breastfeeding lying on your side with baby beside you.

If your baby has green, frothy stools in addition to discomfort, he may be struggling with a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. This is usually corrected easily by offering just one breast per feeding. Be sure to check with your pediatrician or lactation consultant to ensure your baby is is gaining well before making any changes to your feeding routine.

For more information on infant reflux, including helpful products, please see www.pollywogbaby.com

Written by Renee Beebe, M.Ed., IBCLC. Renee is a lactation consultant in private practice in Seattle, Washington. She is available for home/hospital visits and phone consultations. Renee can be reached at www.second9months.com

The wisdom that what you eat is a direct reflection of your health is now widely accepted as science continues to prove that certain foods do in fact improve reproductive function. For years, clients have requested more delicious tasting fertility friendly recipes. From this desire emerged the idea for my cookbook: Cooking for Fertility: Foods to Nourish Your Fertile Soul and an instructional Cooking for Fertility DVD for those wanting to learn how to cook to conceive. Cooking for Fertility is a simple approach to nourishing reproductive function that combines modern science with the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

While enhancing your chances of conceiving, the bigger picture of living a fertile life is important including learning lifestyle, exercise and food choices that are fertility promoting. For those experiencing infertility, specific meal plans address common Western and Chinese Medicine imbalances with healing foods. By optimizing your digestion, you naturally absorb more nutrients and prepare yourself for a healthy pregnancy. Above all else, the key to eating for fertility is pleasure: over 100 delicious recipes included for your enjoyment including a healthy chocolate mousse, smoothies, salads and more!

Expectant parents these days are a lot more informed than anytime in history. They can readily access information via the Internet and tend to read everything they can pertaining to pregnancy, birthing and postpartum care. They seek advice from friends and other people regarding their birth experiences. They watch videos on television and YouTube. In other words, they can be overwhelmed with information.

Why do they do this? It’s because we all have a fear of the unknown. And especially with a first time pregnancy, there is a lot of unknown. As with any new experience, it can be scary and this is very understandable. The more knowledge people have the better they feel. However, how can they decide what tips and strategies to retain and what not to retain?

As mentioned above, there is a tremendous amount of information today compared to even 10-15 years ago. It’s amazing! I remember when I was pregnant with my first baby in 1974. I took the information that my OB gave to me as gospel. (If I knew then, what I know now, I might have done things differently – although all turned out very well.)

There have always been a lot of questions being asked by moms-to-be. Today, there are a lot more sources of answers to allow expectant parents to be well informed and the result is they feel very empowered. Way to go ladies (and guys)! Feel free to write me (jan@janmartinka.com) with any (non-medical) birth or postpartum questions to get a doula’s perspective. To find out about my services, please visit my website at www.janmartinka.com.

We are endowed with a primordial pool of follicles during fetal development. At birth they measure near one million; by the time we enter menarche, they number about 500,000, and by the time we approach the perimenopausal years we have around ten thousand. These primordial follicles do not undergo any change or deterioration until they begin to circulate within the ovaries’ response to its internal environment, which is an inner result of how we relate to our external environment.

The hypothalamus interprets our emotional response to our environment (via neurochemicals), and translates it into hormonal messages in the form of GnRH or Gonadotropin Inhibitory Hormone. These chemicals then trigger the appropriate response from the pituitary gland, whose hormones signal the gonads to release their germ cells and hormones. The resulting blood laboratory values are a manifestation, not a cause. These circulating hormone levels feed back to the hypothalamus, along with our emotional response, to regulate its ongoing release of brain hormones. Because of this adaptive feedback system, supplying external hormones will not improve the function of the ovaries; only suppress their release. In order to improve the functioning of any part of this system, the entire system must be addressed.

Tiny follicles leave their primordial pool (again, not changed since before birth), and enter into the growing pool of follicles, where the dominant follicles are activated by FSH fire from the pituitary gland. The number of circulating follicles depends upon many factors – blood flow to the ovaries (which can be enhanced), nutritional and hormonal fuel to the ovaries (which can be enhanced), our emotional response to our environment (which can be enhanced), our ability to restore and access the follicles to allow them to enter into a healthy internal environment (which can be enhanced.) The number of follicles in the growing pool determines the levels of AMH. Only the chosen dominant follicle will mature in response to the pituitary gland’s release of luteinizing hormone during ovulation. LH can be viewed as the energetic trigger, causing the entire cascade to produce the potential for release, fertilization, implantation and continued growth.

An early antral follicle releases estradiol in the form of yin. If the endocrine system provides messages that this system is conducive to new life, the ovaries perceive a great internal potential to produce more follicles. They will respond with more yin, access more essence, and the entire cascade will dance into full expression. AMH values will rise. FSH values will tend to lower, as very little flame is necessary to keep the fire going. More follicles will produce greater levels of inhibin B. The body will select a dominant follicle; LH will mature its residing egg, and allow the release of a healthy potential.

The Fertile Soul Method ® is proven to maximize your reproductive potential. Most of our patients are 40 or over; most have high FSH, low AMH, other hormonal abnormalities, or have been diagnosed with poor ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, endometriosis, or recurrent miscarriages. Most have not found their answers solely within Western reproductive medicine. Most have been able to rectify their internal energetic imbalances through our program, and produce new life.

Dr. Randine Lewis is the founder of The Fertile Soul, the president of the Continuing Excellence in Fertility Professionals, the author of The Infertility Cure, and The Way of the Fertile Soul. Find out more about Dr. Lewis’ retreats at www.thefertilesoul.com.

A simple analogy – FSH is the flame. The uterus is the oven. LH is the opening of the flu. The ovaries are the wood; Estradiol measures the available wood for burning, inhibin B could be seen as the damper that keeps the fire from burning out of control, and AMH could be seen as the lighter fluid. If we are trying to ignite the spark of life and keep it going, we need to ensure all of our provisions are adequate. Assisted reproductive technology gives you one tool – more fire. However, if we need a drier oven, if we need to gather more wood, soak it in more fluid, or reduce the wind that is keeping the spark from igniting, more fire is not the only answer. In fact, sometimes more fire actually keeps the materials from being able to burn on their own. A flame-thrower is not the best way to tender the gently burning fire of life. Some ways you can improve your capacity on your own:

Reduce stress   Perform reproductive and femoral massage

Take anti-oxidants  Eat organic, natural fruits and vegetables

Get adequate rest  Practice internal deep breathing techniques

Energy Balancing  Keep yourself in supportive environments

Acupuncture   Herbal therapy

The Fertile Soul Method ® is proven to maximize your reproductive potential. Most of our patients are 40 or over; most have high FSH, low AMH, other hormonal abnormalities, or have been diagnosed with poor ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, endometriosis, or recurrent miscarriages. Most have not found their answers solely within Western reproductive medicine. Most have been able to rectify their internal energetic imbalances through our program, and produce new life.

Dr. Randine Lewis is the founder of The Fertile Soul, the president of the Continuing Excellence in Fertility Professionals, the author of The Infertility Cure, and The Way of the Fertile Soul. Find out more about Dr. Lewis’ retreats at www.thefertilesoul.com.

Within the last ten to 15 years, reproductive medicine has made quite a fuss made over high FSH levels. Chinese medicine doesn’t focus so much on the unqualified meaning of laboratory values like Western medicine does; we view lab results energetically according to what is behind them, rather than providing meaning to the absolute numerical value.

The body energetically views the ovaries as “essence”, an elemental potential, like the primordial follicles within them. Follicles are only potential until they begin to interact with their internal environment, which is responding to cues coming from our interpretation of our external environment. All of this is subject to change, when we change our internal environment, and our response to our external environment. FSH, on the other hand, is viewed as “heat”, which activates the potential of the ovaries’ essence in the form of eggs, and resulting blood levels of estradiol (or yin). When the essence is adequate, it doesn’t require much heat to ignite the ovaries. When the essence is weak (due to stress, lack of restoration, follicular malnourishment, and the demands of life), it takes more heat to induce the necessary ovarian response, indicative of present ovarian health.

To put it simply and in energetic terms, those who have high FSH and low estradiol levels generally have too much heat, in relation to the underlying essence capable of responding to FSH stimulation. Although optimal FSH values are seen as <10, The Fertile Soul Retreat process has helped women whose FSH values are well over 100 conceive naturally. First, however, we have had to energetically reduce their heat, and maximize their essence, which allows the FSH to activate healthy follicles.

Although Western medicine views the reproductive system as an ever-deteriorating disease process waiting for intervention, Chinese medicine employs a different lens. We view the body/mind/spirit as an ever adaptive system, which, when given appropriate environmental cues, has a miraculous ability to manifest its highest potential.

To hear a personal experience of someone who lowered their FSH naturally please watch the following video.

The Fertile Soul Method ® is proven to maximize your reproductive potential. Most of our patients are 40 or over; most have high FSH, low AMH, other hormonal abnormalities, or have been diagnosed with poor ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, endometriosis, or recurrent miscarriages. Most have not found their answers solely within Western reproductive medicine. Most have been able to rectify their internal energetic imbalances through our program, and produce new life.

Dr. Randine Lewis is the founder of The Fertile Soul, the president of the Continuing Excellence in Fertility Professionals, the author of The Infertility Cure, and The Way of the Fertile Soul. Find out more about Dr. Lewis’ retreats at www.thefertilesoul.com.

There is so much you can do before you are pregnant to ensure a healthy pregnancy. One of my favorite fertility experts has often explained to the importance of creating healthy habits to enhance fertility at least three months before conception. Since the follicles in your ovaries are develop on a 90 day cycle, what you are doing during at this time will impact the egg that is released during ovulation three months later. Here are some quick tips on what to do and what not to do to support your fertility and preconception health:

Habits to create

Healthy nutrition- you are the first source of nutrition for your baby. The more easily nutrients are absorbed into your body, the more you will be able to share with your baby. In fact, folic acid is an essential component in helping to form the fetuses neural pathways during the first trimester. Be sure to take a quality prenatal with 1000 mcg of folic acid. Consider additional sources of calcium and omega fatty acids. In general eat an abundance of whole grains, colorful vegetables and fruit with lean sources of protein and drink lots of room temperature water.

Exercise- getting daily exercise is vital in helping to optimize your weight, flood the body with fresh oxygen and blood, reduce stress and enhance your mood. Exercise should not be overexerting, so consider adjusting your program to include gentle walks, yoga for fertility, dancing and other activities you enjoy. Gentle exercises can help to induce the relaxation response which is essential to fertility.

Sleep- if you are not currently getting eight hours of shut eye per night, now is the time to start. Studies continue to prove the immense impact that sleep has on your health including hormone balance. According to a study from the University of Texas Health Science Center “melatonin could become an important medication for improving ovarian function and oocyte [egg] quality.” Melatonin is produced complete darkness and staying up at night, sleeping with lights on or even turning lights on to go to the bathroom may impacting menstrual cycles regularity as well as egg quality.

Menstrual cycle awareness- in Toni Weschler’s Taking Charge of your Fertility she educates women on how to chart their cycles to gain insight on patterns of ovulation, fertility and menstruation. When preparing to conceive, this information can be incredibly valuable for both you and your doctors.

Optimize your weight- as many as 12% of infertility cases are a result of weighing too little or too much. Changing your lifestyle and dietary habits can help to bring you to your ideal Body Mass Index (BMI). In woman who are overweight, weight loss as little as 5-10% can be helpful in restoring fertility.

As if high FSH values, and low estradiol/inhibin-b levels weren’t enough to convince you of your need for drastic intervention and donor eggs, the newest craze in ovarian reserve testing is a hormone known as Anti-Mullerian Hormone or AMH.

Again, some reproductive physiology will be helpful to make sense of this hormone.

During embryonic development, male testes produce AMH, to inhibit the expression of Mullerian ducts, which become female sexual organs. In the presence of AMH, the primordial urogenital ridge bears Wolfian expressions of prostate, testes and vas deferens, rather than the female Mullerian expressions of fallopian tubes, uterus and vagina. We could look at Anti-Mullerian Hormone as a “holding back” hormone. After birth, AMH becomes expressed by females, within the granulosa cells of the ovary, where it inhibits the responsiveness of growing follicles to FSH. Since human beings aren’t made to raise litters, the body’s internal wisdom does not allow the recruitment of all of the primordial follicles, as only one dominant follicle is chosen for ovulation during each menstrual cycle. If FSH is viewed has heat, and estradiol is viewed as yin, AMH is viewed as the “essence potential”, or the ability to hold back the ovarian essence from interacting with the pituitary gland’s igniting fire. The greater the body’s ability to hold back ovarian essence, the easier it is for the FSH igniting potential to activate a response in the form of a healthy egg and its resulting estradiol levels. Therefore, higher AMH values are indicative of a greater abundance of interactive follicles. The “normal” values of AMH are between 0-6 ug/L. The closer you are to 6, the greater the force behind the dam. Once again, The Fertile Soul Retreat Process has helped women whose AMH values were zero conceive naturally.

The Fertile Soul Method ® is proven to maximize your reproductive potential. Most of our patients are 40 or over; most have high FSH, low AMH, other hormonal abnormalities, or have been diagnosed with poor ovarian reserve, poor egg quality, endometriosis, or recurrent miscarriages. Most have not found their answers solely within Western reproductive medicine. Most have been able to rectify their internal energetic imbalances through our program, and produce new life.

Dr. Randine Lewis is the founder of The Fertile Soul, the president of the Continuing Excellence in Fertility Professionals, the author of The Infertility Cure, and The Way of the Fertile Soul. Find out more about Dr. Lewis’ retreats at www.thefertilesoul.com.