I Passed!

I passed my test today!! It took me about 35 minutes for a test that you were given almost 3 hours for, and I passed! Yay! Now, all I have to do is set up my license through the state, and I'm ready to rock and roll!

NCBTMB Test today

I will be taking my Boards for massage therapy.  After I pass that, I will be able to be fully licensed in PA.  I am really nervous and excited.  I only had two weeks to study for this, and its been almost a year since I've been out of massage school, so I'm nervous.

So why aren't I studying RIGHT NOW!!?  Mostly because I'm a fantastic procrastinator.  Like one of the best you've ever met.

I'm actually going to drive down to the test center now (around 8:30 am) and find a spot to study until the test (I have to be at the center at 12:30).  That way, I won't have to stress about being late AND I will have no distractions so I can get in some last minute studying.

Okay, so off to brush my teeth, put on some socks, and head on down to the test center.  If you read this, please send me some "good luck" vibes my way.

Thanks!

Midwife

I went to my midwife last night, and it was really quite amazing.  Every time I go there, I'm more convinced that going to my midwife is one of the best decisions of my life.

Everything is going well, and baby and I are both healthy so far.  We are at such a cool place in the pregnancy.  I am feeling great.  Our baby is kicking away, and its getting to the point that you can feel the baby from the outside of my belly.

I'm very excited to meet this miracle.  My weight has been going crazy, but I'm eating really healthy (with little mistakes here and there), and I also think that stressing over my weight will do more damage to the baby than if I gain on the high end of the weight spectrum.

Trusting My Body, my baby and nature

On the way into work, while riding the train, I was reading an amazing book by Ina May Gaskin called Spiritual Midwifery.  I have come to believe that scraping out all this logic that we have come to embrace in modern society will allow me to be better attuned to my needs as a pregnant woman.  I trust that my body knows best.  I trust that my baby knows A LOT, as well.  The baby's intuition hasn't been flushed away as "superfluous".

I also know that nature, not man-made products hold the key to our well being.  I'm specifically referring to how we give birth, what we eat.  We need to accept birth as a natural, spiritual, and beautiful phenomenon.  Not something that to which should numb ourselves, so we can just get the prized baby at the end.  That's similar to just getting a medal for running a marathon, when you didn't really run it.  What makes our babies so sweet is the transition and evolution we must endure / get to experience to bring them into this world.  And then we get to watch them and help them find their own way in this world.  And it all starts with birth.  I trust my body, I trust my baby, I trust nature.

I trust nature for what we eat.  When we look outside the constructs of all the beautiful nutrition that abounds, we find ourselves deep into disease.  Our bodies do not know how to send our brains the "full" signal.  Our bodies cannot fully process the toxins that reside in processed foods, and sometimes our body gets confused. This goes hand in hand as to why the further we get away from nature's pantry, the more unhealthy we become as a nation and as world.  It's not only our bodies that suffer, our minds start to get confused, too.  We are starting to see mass amounts of depression, ADD and ADHD.  I blame this not only on the fake foods we eat, but also on our processed environment.  The television, the computer and the mass exodus of  people outdoors to indoors for most of their time.

For myself, I know the more I am in the natural world, the more naturally I eat, the better I feel.  Physically, emotionally and spiritually.  We are meant to be living in our natural surroundings and with it.  Not slamming it into something that comfortable (in the moment)  for us.

Baby Bump and Green Smoothies

So I'm just about 20 weeks along, and feeling great.  The first trimester was a mess.  Mostly because I was so tired, I really had a hard time running, and I also had a hard time eating well.  This lead me to be mostly depressed.  From previous experience, I can say for myself that lack of exercise and eating poorly causes me to feel depressed.  When I say "poor diet", for myself, that means an overabundance of sugar, and eating when I'm not hungry.  I even find that eating too much when I can clearly feel that I'm not hungry leads me into what I call "binge-mode".  When I am out of that mode, I feel so light.  Light in the physical and the emotional sense.  It also allows to feel in tune with myself spiritually.  Eating healthfully allows ourselves to remained tuned in.  When I eat too much or the wrong things, this is how I escape.  Not in the good, "I'm going on a run"-type way, but in the "I'll watch TV for a few hours and nothing will get done and my mind won't be at a great peace"-type way.

I have also not watched any TV (we don't have any cable, so I mean Netflix) for almost 2 weeks, I would say.  It feels great.  I'm still watching youtube while I work.  I don't feel that's something I need to give up, especially since I use it to learn about natural parenting and childbirth.

I also have found that reaching out and reading blogs of other natural mothers has helped me feel supported.  They will never know how or that they even helped me, but they did. Perhaps, at some point in this blog's life, it will help someone to feel more supported.

The best way I start my day?  A green smoothie!  I feel so much better, so much more tuned in.  And it seems like it helps me stay on the right path to nutritious eating for the rest of the day.
What I ate today?
Organic Kale blended with one banana and 2/3 a cup of organic blueberries and about 12 ounces of water.  Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Here are some pictures of the yumminess:

A top view of the green smoothie (pre-blended):

A side view of the green smoothie (pre-blended):

I didn't get a picture of it all blended together.  

When I have a green smoothie in the morning, my cravings are lowered, I have my energy all day, and I'm in such a great mood.  For me, the green smoothie is the hallmark to having a great day.  This seems to be a magic bullet to me.

Another Great Lustig-Link

This man has great insights, that really translate well to the lay-person:

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/17/147047545/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol

You can read it, or listen to it.

Sugar is evil

So after a fairly challenging first trimester (I didn't deal with the all day morning sickness too well), I'm feeling really great.  And I have been for the past few weeks.  I"m starting really bond with my little one.  AND I've actually started to feel her/him kick.  SHe's one tough cookie.  No light taps here, just really strong definite kicks.  Being that I'm feeling so  much better, I"m back on my "Sugar/high fructose syrup" is evil kick.

I found this great post:

http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2011/03/sugar.html

Read the whole thing, if you like, but the meat of it starts about a quarter of the way down the page where the video of Lustig's lecture is.  This basically summarizes it, for those who don't have time to watch the whole thing.  I watched the whole thing over a year ago(and was gushing about it), and I think it is wonderfully intriguing. I don't necessarily agree with the author's view point on NO MEAT, but no sugar is a FOR SURE thing.  That's the common thread between the Paleo, Raw Food movement, and all the diets that seem to be giving people the greatest results.  This is the LACK OF SUGAR.  This stuff is poison, and I don't think that's an exaggeration.

Favorite Quote:

If you reduce the rate of carbohydrate absorption in your gut by eating a high fiber diet--the bacteria will get to it.  Which means, in life you have just two choices:  It's fart or be fat.  The decision is yours!

The funny thing is that sugar makes me WAY more gassy than fiber ever has.   Any which way, farts are ALWAYS funny!! Be healthy and FART ON FRIENDS!

Let me know what you think!