One of my latest and greatest accomplishments is birthing my beautiful baby girl Camille Faith. As I reflect back on my pregnancy journey I want to share with you all how I focused my mind, body, spirit to have a beautiful safe pregnancy and birth experience. Here’s what I did…
Conditioned my mind and heart to have gratitude and joy. Some days I wasn’t in the best mood but because I spent time thanking God for allowing me to experience this. I know so many women experience loss so I figured it would be ungrateful to complain and be angry at little things. Pregnancy makes your hormones pretty wild so I ha to really try my best not to be so emotional although some moments I just couldn’t help it. If I had to guess I’d say 90% of my pregnancy was in a good mood but the other 10%... hotmess.com
Exercised as little or as much as I wanted.
I didn’t stress trying to stay fit but I aimed to listen to my body and move In ways that felt good. With my background in bodybuilding I initially was concerned about losing muscle because I didn’t lift heavy weights, but I actually found yoga and Pilates helpful physically and mentally. I simply searched prenatal workouts on YouTube. I discovered Pregnancy and Postpartum tv with Jessica Pumple & Nourish Move Love with Lindsey Bomgren which held me accountable and motivated because all I had to do was follow along with the video. It was nice to have options and I could literally exercise in the living room. Daniel and I also went walking through our neighborhood 3-4 times a week.
Monitored external stress factors. For me this was something I learned towards the end of my pregnancy. Typically work is pretty chill but for like a week straight my manager was really rubbing me the wrong way. I was seriously considering quitting my job after I was becoming so stressed I couldn’t eat, had continuous headaches, and I was super moody. Instead of quitting I ended up taking a mental health day on a Friday and then relaxed the entire weekend. I remember my husband running me a nice and relaxing bath and we just talked things through. Stress can have a huge impact on your wellbeing, and I’ve learned to take that super serious. Prioritize your mental and physical health especially during pregnancy.
Enjoyed cravings but considered my baby when I ate. I knew I had a baby depending on me for nourishment, so I always tried to eat something healthy in between satisfying pregnancy cravings. To be honest some cravings never got fulfilled because my tastebuds were all over the place. I more so enjoyed pastas and lots of salads. During pregnancy it’s critical to keep your nutrition in mind. Not consuming too much sodium and sugars, focusing on consuming vegetables and protein was my goal. I had to eat so I could properly nourish my body and baby. [Check out my Veggie Pot Pie Recipe]
Completed small task and took my time. Between the physical fatigue I started to feel a little down because I wasn’t “accomplishing “ much. The truth is pregnancy is a huge accomplishment and that’s really all I needed to be focused on. Because I’m so goal oriented I simply focused on completing 1-2 small Task a day rather than the 15 things I use to do a day. Anything as small as a 5-minute stretch and deep breathing to putting a pair of shoes in the closet after I had walked around them for days. The small task added up and I became less and less overwhelmed.
Reflected and listened to my thoughts.
I learned to “sit with myself” from my doula. She encouraged me to slow down, sit, and listen to my thoughts. Even if it was taking 15 minutes and acknowledging my worries and speaking positivity to myself so that I wasn’t consumed by doubt and worry. The ability to sit, do nothing, and listen to yourself is so empowering and helped me confront the feelings of anxiety I experienced from time to time throughout pregnancy.
I want to encourage you to mindfully maneuver through life with intentionality and mindfulness. You deserve to experience such a beautiful blessing like pregnancy in a positive way.
Xoxo
Bre W.