Sarahs pregnancy journey...
When Hamish and I decided to start a family, we had not idea how quickly it would happen!
Maybe
it was that we were both 100% Raw? Maybe it was the forces of the full moon in play! But I knew the moment we
conceived, it was like a lightening bolt moment, maybe it was the
universe sending us the spirit of Isabelle!
Our plan was to have a Raw pregnancy as Sarah had been Raw for a year and wanted to continue as.
However what happened shook my Raw identity to the core! About 6 weeks into my pregnancy I started to have severe
food aversions and unfortunately some of these aversions were my green
smoothies, my big yummy salad, anything GREEN basically! I started
craving toast and avocado, cheese and eggs. WOW what was going here!
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| Sarah Pregnant and on a Road trip to Tasmania |
I just didnt want to eat just raw food, even smell of wheat grass
shots would make me want to be sick, to the point where I couldn't be in
the same room when Hamish was making our regular wheat grass shots.
So I did my research and got onto 'Give to me Raw'
to ask other Raw Women had they experienced this? To my surprise what I found is that many women when pregnant from being raw decide not to be
or cannot be 100% Raw during their pregnancy, this gave me a lot of
comfort at this time. I also appreciated that no one judged me during
this time.. and one word of advice I did take on board was! "The raw police are not going to come knocking on your door just because you are not Raw at this time in your life"! With that I accepted what my body wanted at this stage.
I chose to eat sprouted bed and often it was toasted. I ate Eggs as my body was craving them, luckily for us we have chickens and I knew that I could eat organic eggs from chickens that were living probably the best life out here in the Otways! But funnily enough before being pregnant I used to look at eggs and want to be sick now I was craving cooked eggs. I also craved Cheese! But again I chose Organic Cheese as much as I could. I also cooked a lot of stir fries with Buckwheat noodles. I could only eat my vegies cooked, for whatever reason I knew that I would not be 100% Raw, but I did know that I could make the right choices.
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| our little joy |
It
was a great shock to not want to eat raw all the time and I felt that
my identity as Raw foodie was being challenged to my core! However what
I did learn is to never judge a person and their journey in life!
Sure looking back now, I cant even
imagine eating these foods right now, but then I clearly remember the
urge and the need to consume them. I was also extremely fortunate
throughout my pregnancy that Hamish was supportive and committed to
making sure that i received the best nutrients (even though I was faced
with so many food aversions) I could! What I did eat during my
pregnancy though was Raw Oats with Almond Milk for breakfast, lunch I
tried to have salads, I did eat a lot of fruit while pregnant, and
craved Avocados, I would eat nearly one a day!
At the six month mark into my
pregnancy I was starting to crave raw food again, not all the time but
slowly by the end of my pregnancy I was eating salads again, loving my
green juices and green smoothies! So that by the time Isabelle was born
I was back to a very high raw diet!
I am craving my green
juices! Salivating over salads again and now I am back to a very high
Raw VEGAN diet!
ISABELLES BIRTH
During my pregnancy I swam twice a week and the
week before she was due I was feeling really tired and went for a swim, I
think what my body was saying was rest, and instead I went for a swim and I picked up the most
horrible flu, and there was no way she was wanting to come into the
world with me the way I was.
In Australia our hospital systems are very different to what I see is like in other countries. And luckily for Hamish and I we had found a very beautiful doctor who was 100% behind me in my birth plan! That was to have a water birth. In our hospitals here it was very much looked on in a positive way! Hamish and I live about an hour from a hospital, so a home birth was out of the question in case anything was to go wrong. But to be honest I was very happy with the hospital and staff we had chosen.
Isabelle was 10 days late and I was induced and my planned water birth
didnt go to plan! Looking back sure maybe I could have waited a few more
days? Anyway, Isbelle was born to a 6 hour labour, It was one the most
amazing moment of my life. She latched on a few minutes after being born and is now a healthy breast feed baby! I couldn't and still cant believe I have
created this gorgeous little being who I have to say is the most chilled
out little bubba you could ever imagine!
I
demand feed and Isabelle and she slept with us for the first week, but I couldn't sleep with her next to me and by
week three we decided to put Isabelle in her bassinet. She slept next to our bed for the first three months. She is a thriving happy and healthy baby, in her spirit and in her weight gain and
developments and I hope to share her journey with you!!
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| Our happy little Isabelle |
I am very happy to share my journey or
talk to any Raw mums out there who are about to embrace their pregnancy
- bit it Raw or not! I also hope to share our families Journey of
with Raw foodi with you as we grow and travel through life!I
We plan to raise Isabelle as little raw vegan bambino.
Follow our
blog as I will start to blog my experience so that other raw mums may
learn and share our challenges and joys, or raising our raw family, at
the moment she is a little happy breast feed baby!
Love Sarah, Hamish and
Isabelle! xx
