by: Kate, new NutriChem Mom

 

 

[This is Part 1 of the series From Bump to Baby, and Everything in Between! that outlines a NutriChem Mom's guide to the best products at each step of her pregnancy journey.]

 

By the end of the series, you'll have learned about:

[Part 1]  The Belly! (The 8 Products That Will Revolutionize Your Pregnancy)

[Part 2]  The Bag! (Pack a Delivery Room Bag That New Moms Everywhere Will Wish They’d Packed)

[Part 3]  The Body! (Post-Pregnancy “Fun” Times: Help for Breastfeeding, Scarring, and GI Issues)

[Part 4]  The Baby! (The 11 Products for Baby that You Won’t Want To Leave Home Without)

 

The Belly! (Pregnancy Favourite Things)

 

Hello! My name is Kate and I’m so happy to be sharing this PRICELESS information with you that will (hopefully!) help you along your own pregnancy journey “from belly to baby” the same way that it helped me.
 
I’m NutriChem’s Director of Communication and Human Resources, and former resident NutriChem pregnant person (I have an almost 1 year old daughter now). I was very fortunate to receive so much great advice during my pregnancy, as well as test out many fantastic products that NutriChem carries for pregnancy, post-pregnancy and babies. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “what were your favourite products that you used through each stage of your pregnancy?”, so I decided to make a list of my favourite things! (Think like Oprah’s Favourite Things minus the $1,000 cashmere pajamas). Remember that everyone is different: please consult your health care provider or baby’s health care provider to see if any of these supplements or products are right and safe for you! 

(Photo credit: Laura Snyder Photography - see here for recently featured work)

 

 

 

A little background information about my journey to pregnancy

 

I had recently moved back from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and had gained close to 20 pounds from hibernating through a practically unforgiving winter with poor eating habits, decreased exercise and a stressful job. In addition to that (or perhaps because of it…), I often felt very tired after work and just crashed at the end of the work day: my energy levels felt really low.

 

When I moved back to Ontario, I knew that I had to work on myself before I put my body or a baby through pregnancy while so unhealthy. I decided to take NutriChem’s Body Chemistry Balancing Test to see just how bad it was, and what I learned truly shocked me. My results showed that:

• my cortisol levels where through the roof;
• my progesterone levels were also really high;
• I had way too much yeast (borderline Candida); and
• my body was not undergoing proper methylation of B vitamins.

 

I worked with Naturopathic Doctor Tanya Manikkam for all of these issues, and was recommended to eat according to the Elimination Diet (my eczema was extremely irritated and my suspicion was that I had a dairy intolerance). So in January 2014, I did the Elimination Diet, worked on lowering my cortisol levels (Phosphogabamine is great for that!), increased my fitness level, took other recommended supportive supplements, and started taking my custom prenatal vitamin. To summarize a rather long process, I lost 20 pounds, after several months lowered my cortisol to an acceptable level, and in turn had a lot more energy!
 
After months of working on feeling good inside and out, by summer 2014 I felt emotionally and physically ready to have a baby. Happily, in April 2015, my husband and I welcomed our beautiful, healthy, daughter!
 
Pregnancy and having a baby is not exactly a walk in the park, and I like to think that all my behind-the-scenes preparation helped to make pregnancy a lot easier (not to mention I didn’t hit my pre-Elimination Diet weight until almost the third trimester!). I decided to write this 4-part blog series as a way to help people to have as healthy and easy a pregnancy as possible, based on my experience. So with all of that said, onwards to some of my favourite things!

 

 

Kate’s Fave Eight: Products and Supplements That Will Revolutionize Your Pregnancy

 

Custom Vitamin Prenatal Vitamin

As previously mentioned, I did NutriChem’s BCB Test and worked with NutriChem’s Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Tanya Manikkam, to make me a Custom Vitamin Prenatal that I could take pre-pregnancy, throughout pregnancy and am still taking currently. (Read more about another staff member’s BCB journey here). It was really great to have a vitamin tailored to my needs because it helped me make sure that I was giving my baby the correct nutrients she needed, as well as exactly what my body needed throughout pregnancy. After the baby is born, it is so important, especially when breastfeeding, to continue supplementing with a multivitamin. We see a lot of “zombie” first-time moms who’ve stopped taking their prenatal vitamins right after giving birth then noticed a huge difference in their energy levels. (It’s not just a lack of sleep or midnight feedings that robs you of energy!)

 

Pure Premium Fish Oil

Although it was a struggle in the first trimester with feeling nauseous, and just looking at my fish oil bottle that could make me gag, I made sure to take it as often as I could. I had already been taking fish oil before pregnancy as I found it did wonders for my memory, skin and hair. There are lots of benefits to taking fish oil and one of them specifically for pregnancy was supporting cognitive abilities. Pure Premium is also molecularly distilled to maximize purity, and is certified within the tested standards for heavy metals and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which was very important to me to make sure I was using a safe and pure fish oil supplement.

 

NutriCholine

I didn’t know how important choline was in pregnancy until I asked NutriChem’s Clincial Pharmacist Kent MacLeod a very important question. I asked him, “What do I have to make 100% sure I’m taking?” and he practically yelled “CHOLINE!!!!”. Recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that during pregnancy, and particularly during the third trimester, large amounts of choline are needed to support the development of the fetus. Choline deficiency in pregnant women may increase the risk of birth defects. Adequate choline prevents birth defects and contributes significantly to proper brain function and development. So yes, I took choline! I found it was easy to mix in a spoonful with a little bit of water and just take it like that, as it didn’t really have a taste so it was very easy to take throughout pregnancy. Read more about choline at one of our favourite resource websites, cholineinfo.org.

 

Mega Mag

Oh my goodness the nighttime leg cramps in pregnancy!!! If I missed taking Mega Mag (which is 120 mg of magnesium glycinate per capsule) at night, I almost always woke up with extremely painful leg cramps. Mega Mag was vital for me to take thoughout pregnancy right before bedtime. BONUS is that magnesium promotes relaxation and calmness and if you have trouble sleeping it can help you with that!

 

Nutridophilus Essentials

My beloved probiotic! I had taken Nutridophilus pre-pregnancy for years, but since there are very limited supplements to take if you get sick while pregnanct, I tried to boost my immunity by being proactive with taking my probiotics once a day. Probiotics help to restore the good bacteria in our body. Supplementing with a probiotic before and during pregnancy can help you prevent illness while pregnant; supplementing during pregnancy and while breastfeeding may help reduce childhood allergies, asthma and eczema in your baby. Pretty powerful stuff!

 

Nature’s Way Ginger Root

I know that you can drink ginger tea for nausea, but here’s the thing: I can’t stand the taste of ginger, plus I have a passionate hatred for ginger tea! Whenever I was really struggling with nausea during my pregnancy, I found taking one or two ginger root capsules did the trick and alleviated my symptoms, without the taste I so strongly dislike.

 

Flora Flor•Antacid™

A was lucky that I only had heartburn for 1 week in my third trimester, but oh my goodness it was terrible. If you have never had heartburn, it feels like your throat is on fire and that you swallowed a fireball. I was very worried about taking an antacid for fear of getting constipated like what happens with a typical over-the-counter antacid, as well as all the extra fillers and junk that is usually thrown into them. However, Flora makes a great chewable antacid with a peppermint flavor that was very soothing. It also has magnesium in it to help counter-attack any potential constipation issues.

 

Motherlove Pregnant Belly Salve

Although your fate is pretty much decided whether or not you will get stretch marks if your mom had them (ahhh, genetics!), I found this salve was a nice combination with certified organic ingredients including shea butter, lavender, calendula, and rosehips to name a few. It felt great on my stomach and helped with the itchiness you can get with an ever-growing pregnancy bump.

 

BONUS: Some information about GROUP B Streptocccus (GBS) and Pregnancy

 

I thought I was acing all of my pregnancy tests and screening, so I was shocked when my medical doctor told me I had tested positive for something. GBS are common bacteria that are often found in the vagina, rectum or urinary bladder of women. Looking at the statistics it is estimated that 15% to 40% of pregnant women are GBS colonized. This matters in pregnancy because 40 to 70% of colonized mothers then pass the bacteria onto their babies during the birthing process, and a small percentage of those babies (about 1-2%) then go on to develop a GBS infection that can then cause mild to several problems (source).

 

This is important to know ahead of time because when I went into labour, I was going to be put onto antibiotics for the benefit of the baby. I therefore continued to take my probiotics and even brought them to the hospital with me to take afterwards, and this is how I dealt with the GBS. However, after talking with Dr. Tanya Manikkam ND, I discovered that there was an alternative route I could’ve tried! During my pregnancy, I could’ve taken high-dose vaginal probiotic suppositories to try to directly target the GBS colonization, then asked for a GBS re-test to see if I still was positive before birth, and if not then I wouldn’t have had to take those antibiotics. Live and learn! I did take a high dose probiotic during and after birth to ensure I had replenished my good bacteria.

  

I hope you found this post useful in your own pregnancy journey! Make sure to tune in every week in April to read another installment of this series! As a reminder, I consulted my health care practitioners before I used any of these products. Please consult with your health care provider or baby’s health care provider to see if any of these supplements or products are right and safe for you!

 

 

Coming up next week

 

In Part 2, I will tell you exactly what you need to have in your hospital bag and diaper bag so that your hospital experience is smooth and happy!

 

If you have any questions about any of these supplements, products or services, please leave me a comment below, or call the fantastic staff at NutriChem!

 

 

Missed a post in this series? Catch up here!

 

[Part 1]  The Belly! (The 8 Products That Will Revolutionize Your Pregnancy)

[Part 2]  The Bag! (Pack a Delivery Room Bag That New Moms Everywhere Will Wish They’d Packed)

[Part 3]  The Body! (Post-Pregnancy “Fun” Times: Help for Breastfeeding, Scarring, and GI Issues)

[Part 4]  The Baby! (The 11 Products for Baby that You Won’t Want To Leave Home Without)

 

 

 

Contest Alert!!!

 

 

YOU COULD WIN THESE PRODUCTS! (1 gift basket, over $200 value)
~Products for pregnancy, new parenthood, and baby~

 

These products are featured in our “From Bump to Baby” blog series throughout the month of April!

 

Here’s how to enter: