The End is Here and the Beginning is Near!!!

Well, I am "unofficially" on maternity leave and just waiting on the arrival of William and Charlie!! The fact that I will have 2 sons in 2 weeks is just insane to me! Honestly this pregnancy has FLOWN by.

How am I currently feeling at 36 weeks?
Well....Like a HOUSE ON STILTS! I've put on 50 pounds (that I carry ALLLLL up top) and I'm in that Oompa Loompa stage where I walk around like an inflatable balloon but WAY too heavy to float away. But it's all good. I still feel sexy, strong, and proud of myself for managing to find a way to thrive throughout this pregnancy, but it hasn't been easy. THAT's for sure!!! People may assume that I've done so well because I've felt so well. Let me set the record straight. I have NOT always felt great. I've felt exhausted and overwhelmed and hormonal and sick and uncomfortable BUT despite the way that I felt, I knew that I was capable of carrying on. Just because my mind and body didn't WANT to do something didn't mean that I COULDN'T do something. It just meant that it was harder. And I knew that in the end, it would pay off...and it has. At the end of my pregnancy, I feel strong and confident. I am pain free (other than areas we shant speak of) and I still have some energy to boot. I am praising the Lord for that and hoping that I will bounce back feeling physically emotionally and mentally ready to take care of my baby boys!

At 7 weeks pregnant when I found out that I was having twins I spent a few days freaking out of course, but once the shock wore off, I made the determination to carry on with life as usual (with obvious modifications) and to take care of my health and the health of my babies to the best of my ability. As a result, I'd say I've had a pretty amazing pregnancy!

You see, I'd spent the first few months obviously googling the heck out of my situation and joining groups and reading forums about all things Monochorionic/Diamniotic (Identical twin) Pregnancies and deliveries. I found out VERY quickly that I was in what most would consider a "risky" situation. By nature of the fact that I am carrying 2 babies who share the same placenta apparently makes the environment of my womb less than ideal for hosting and nourishing 2 lives. I read horror stories of mothers who kept losing their babies to TTTS and TAPS and still birth and birth defects and so on and so on. So many moms were on bedrest and they felt miserable and health was poor. And for the many of the moms who HAD their twins....they were sleep deprived, confused, and desperate. There was so much negativity and fear and dread and speculation and "what ifs" and theories on everything that it was hard to have any positive feeling about my situation. 
And that's when I decided early on to remove the fear and dread from my own pregnancy and do my best to write a different story. I refused to let go of hope and chose to be optimistic. My twin pregnancy would NOT be horrible. It would NOT be traumatic. And I would NOT be miserable!

I knew that so many things were out of my control, but what WAS in my control were the choices I made and the attitude that I had. SO, I chose to carry on with life as usual. I listened to my body and made some modifications, but for the most part, I just focused on the life I was living which I LOVE and carried on about my business. I focused primarily on my nutrition so that I could put on a healthy amount of body fat and build a healthy placenta early on. I continued exercising daily but turned my focus to preventative and corrective exercises so that I could avoid pain later on. I stayed active, kept working, took life one day at a time, and before I knew it, I was in the home stretch of my pregnancy!!! 

I still continued teaching bootcamp, training clients, and working out with my friends!

My home away from home throughout this pregnancy has been either at my OB's office, My perinatologists office, or the hospital. Even though I was always so healthy, my "situation" was being treated as if I were a horror story waiting to happen! I had to have frequent monitoring to make sure the twins weren't developing TTTS (twin to twin transfusion syndrome) where one twin receives more nutrition and blood supply than the other. It can only happen in Identical twins. It is very serious, and can happen within a couple days. TTTS is very common, and I know a few women personally who have experienced it. Fortunately they had happy endings, but many moms and babies do not. Early on it was always nerve wrecking to show up to these appointments, but by God's grace, my babies always looked perfectly healthy. They were right on track and my health was always in perfect condition. 

Now I show up to get fetal monitoring twice a week at the hospital because the biggest concern at the end is whether or not my bigger babies are still thriving in such a cramped environment on one life source. I absolutely dread these NonStressTests because I have to lay in bed for an hour and they always see something iffy which lands me in the ultrasound room where they find out the boys are of course still rockin and rollin! In hindsight, knowing how my boys have thrived, I wish I could have refused so much monitoring, but the truth is, when choosing the lesser of two evils....I know that I made the right decisions by keeping a close eye on the boys. With so many complications that can happen in a Mono/Di pregnancy...NOT monitoring them would have been VERY careless. 

So, here I am at 36 weeks pregnant and I can't believe it!!! I wish I had blogged more about the pregnancy, but when I wasn't working...I was SLEEPING! The fun part will be watching my journey from pre twin to post twin. WHOA! I've got my work cut out for me, but we all know I like a challenge. ;)

Anyway, my Drs strongly recommend that I deliver these babies by 37 weeks because the risk of still birth goes up dramatically at this time, but my intuition tells me, the boys are absolutely fine. I've asked to PLEASE let me try to make it to 38 weeks, so they've set my induction date for Monday, Sept 16th. Trust me....the thought of keeping 2 humans in my belly for much longer does not sound fun to me at all, but they're thriving in my womb right now, and I do not want them to come out before they are ready. I want to give birth to robust, healthy baby boys who are ready to come home with me right away. 

My OB is absolutely amazing!! He has a very low cesarean and induction rate, so I really trust him. He has been very open with me and has never been condescending to me. He has actually shown me lots of support and respect. I know that he is not pushing an induction so that he can put my delivery on his calendar. He assured me of that, and he has given me all kinds tips for helping to induce the labor naturally so that I don't have to end up with an artificial induction. 
Starting today, I plan to prepare my body more for labor. I'm eating lots of pineapple, taking evening primrose, doing lots of stretching and deep squats, walking 45 mins a day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, and having lots of fun with the hubs. ;) Woohoo!
I don't want to go into labor before the time is right but I'd like to prepare myself for an easier labor when it happens. As of right now, these boys aren't going ANYWHERE. They love my womb. See how happy they are!

I DESPERATELY want to go into labor naturally, but I'm ok with the things my DR and I have compromised on because ultimately, even if I have to have a little "help" getting these babies out, I still get to have a vaginal birth and he is going to let me labor naturally for as long as I want before getting an epidural. I do have to deliver in the operating room in the event that something goes wrong, but again....I'm ok with that. As "natural" as I want all of this to be, I realize that my situation is different than most and it's important to take some precaution. Everyone has their opinions about what I should be doing, but I'm making decisions that I am comfortable with based on my own research, support from other mothers, the expertise of my doctors, my mother's intuition, and lots of conversations with God. The truth is, I'm still playing it by ear and making decisions along the way, but I'm aware of the options that I have and the risks and benefits of all of my options. I plan to make decisions based on what I know depending on how things are going with my delivery. I feel like I have developed a healthy enough relationship with the team of people who will be delivering these boys that I won't have to fight for what I want, but that they'll respect me and my wishes. 

Until my expected D-Day, I'm going to pray and be proactive in getting things going naturally, but ultimately no matter what happens, and no matter how my delivery goes....even if I end up with a C-Section, healthy babies are my happy ending! I love my boys so much already and I can't believe they'll be in my arms so soon!

Mommy in the Middle

Have I really been pregnant for 20 weeks???? If you think about it, the average gestation time for twins is 36 weeks, so I'm more than half way through and that just blows my mind!!!!!

This was my half way there happy dance!

I celebrated the half way mark with a 5k. Ran it in 30 mins and I'm pretty sure that did me in. :)

Honestly, I was hoping the 12 week mark would bring me some sweet relief...and while in some regards it did, I am still a hot pregnant mess and my body is growing very rapidly. Although the raging hormones are simmering down, the past few weeks have brought on major physical changes I can no longer compete with! Well, I take that back...I'm competing with them. They just seem to be winning lately. ;)

While I probably have healthier habits than most pregnant moms with twins (as I exercise every day and eat really well) I have literally found myself at times throughout this pregnancy just trying to survive. Everything took great effort, everything drained me, everything seemed so huge, and I let much of my life get ahead of me.

I can honestly say that recently I had mastered the art of "thriving" through years of discipline and hard work, and the past year I have been able to enjoy life more thoroughly than ever. Getting pregnant totally rocked my world and after a few months of not feeling well and battling exhaustion, I began to get a clear picture of how quickly a person can let themselves go when they are in a fog.

I have been gracious with myself for the most part, but mostly what I've come to accept is that my situation is different than it was 4 months ago. I mean, I'm pregnant with TWO babies. HELLO! I can't do everything I used to because my needs are different. Trying to fit my pregnant life into the mold of my non pregnant life only left me feeling frustrated and discouraged. I missed energy. I missed vitality. I missed drive. I missed LIZ.!!! I honestly feel like someone invaded my body and took over. Oh wait, that did happen and it was TWO people and wow, have they made themselves at home!

SO, last week I was struck with this obvious but profound realization that my circumstances are VERY different and I decided to scratch it all and rewire my life so that I could thrive within MY circumstances. I do it for clients all the time! I take their situation, their health concerns, their goals, their schedules, their budget, etc....and I design training and nutrition programs to help them enhance their lives, get healthy, and achieve their goals. Why have I not done the same for myself?!!!!!

Well, that is exactly what I decided to do. I have done for myself exactly what I do for my clients. I have made a detailed meal plan for myself to nourish both my health and the health of my babies. I have been realistic with my meal plan realizing that I can't cook a RAW and vegan, superfood meal from scratch 21 times a week. Heck....that's not even what's best for me right now! I have set very clear goals for myself listing out the details in a day of optimum nutrition. If I know what I'm aiming for then I am a LOT more likely to hit the mark and feel good about the decisions I am making. I have also started meal planning and I am committing to NO MORE EATING OUT!!!! Unless of course, it is a special occasion or a dinner date of some sort.

I am fully capable of taking charge of my life. We ALL are and I think the biggest reason why we don't or why we fail is because we are following a one size fits all mentality. We aren't doing things that are manageable for us. We aren't being realistic. We are trying to overachieve before we ever have an opportunity to succeed in the little things.

I've had to take a step back and realize that for myself. I am FULLY capable of thriving and having optimal health, but I have to know what the heck I'm doing first!!!! I have made my own folder for myself and I have listed small realistic goals for myself to achieve every day.

I just found out that I'm having two little boys. Now that I know more about them and that I can call them by name, and I can feel them move in my body, I am falling so in love with them. I have this resolve and determination to take the utmost care of my growing sons. Even though YES...for the most part I am SUPER healthy, I feel they deserve the best....and one of the best things that I can give my sons is peace....not stress. I need to smile more. Laugh more. Relax more. I need to put them first. When my body aches, I don't need to get frustrated with my what my changing body can no longer do and love it for how it's accommodating my sons. I am committing to THEIR health in addition to mine. The sacrifices start before they arrive.

Baby A: William Montgomery

Baby B: Charles Judson

So, while on the one hand, I'm hunkering down and becoming more disciplined, by creating goals and visions relevant to my situation and the health of my babies, I am also freeing myself up, by putting things I can no longer do off to the side and picking them up later. They can wait.

I am so blessed to have a healthy identical twin pregnancy. There are SOOOO many things that can go wrong with my type of pregnancy, and I am blessed to be given a supreme bill of health. I need to thrive in gratefulness to that and not take it for granted.

So, I am committed to THRIVING the second half of my pregnancy. I've found a manageable way to do that and I'm excited about putting it into action and sharing it with you all. It's time to start focusing on how to birth twins and raise twins, so you may be hearing quite a bit about that. ;)

Fit to Multiply....and that's about it. ;)

I think it's time for a little update now that I am in the home stretch of my first trimester.

 

We all know I like to keep it real, so I'll just start by saying that gestating 2 babies is by far the HARDEST thing that my body has ever had to endure. And this is coming from somebody who knows her body, who knows her limits, and who is very familiar with the feeling of discomfort. I push myself to those limits for a living. I am immersed in the endurance game of pain and gain. And until now, I thought I had it mastered! If a girl can run 5 miles, weight train to muscle failure, and kickbox that evening then pregnancy ain't got nothing on her!

 

WRONG!!!!! oh, so very wrong and oh so very humbling.

 

You see, I can't even compete with that girl formerly known as "ElizaBEAST" because she has gone on a long vacation. She left the building and "ElizaBEAT" moved in. And that is exactly what I am...ALL.THE.TIME. I am BEAT!

 

I always told myself if I were ever to get pregnant again that I would be the ultimate green natural super fit mom. If I were 95% clean and healthy, pregnancy would make me 120% that way!!!

 

Um, yeah, not so much.

 

Here's the thing, the past 6 weeks, I have become the epitome of the average American. I went from bouncing out of bed at 5 am every day to not wanting to get out of bed at all. I feel chronically ill. I am exhausted. I feel like I have a low grade flu all the time. My muscles ache. I'm breaking out like a teenager. My head feels as if it will implode at any minute. I nap for 2 hours every day. I EAT like it's my job and I eat out A LOT. I have no energy to cook and my taste buds are very specifically craving foods that will make me fat FAST. I'm getting very little work done. I clean my house just enough to make it "appear" not disgusting. I go to bed early.

 

Yes. I am completely dysfunctional right now.

 

Ok. Not completely dysfunctional. Here's what I AM managing to do.

 

I'm raising 2 other children. (Well, right now they're kind of raising me. But they can't drive. We're working on it. ;)

I teach a bootcamp out of my home every day.

I teach kickboxing 3 days a week.

I am putting together meal plans for clients.

I'm juicing fresh every day.

I'm choosing MOSTLY healthy items from menus.

.....Yep, that's about it.

 

That list was more for my self assurance than your awareness, but hey, I guess it does make me realize that I may feel dysfunctional but I'm not worthless. :)

 

Some days, I wake up not feeling completely terrible which makes me think that I feel AWESOME and I'll get all CARPE DIEM and then and 2 o clock, I crash and pay for it by not getting out of bed the next 2 days.

 

Oh my gosh this blog entry is depressing me!! LOL

 

Seriously though...with all that said.....here's the cool thing.....I still really like myself.

hahahahaha.

I know who I am. I know what I'm about. I know I'm not being weak. I know I'm not being a hypocrite. I know I'm not being a failure. Because trust me....at any moment that I have any oz of any life in me, I use it for good. In all of my weaknesses, I am finding strength to keep having a purpose. And my number 1 purpose right now is to grow 2 healthy babies.

 

I have listened to my body and it has told me to SLEEP and EAT. It really has. I am GENUINELY hungry and tired. I only crave foods that will make me fat, so I eat them because my body needed fat on it....PRONTO. No I'm not a skinny girl, but I was very lean and in order for multiples to get a good start they need a TON of nutrition and calories.

 

I've read a book recently from a DR who is a master at brining healthy birth weight multiples full term. She is adamant that women with my body fat gain 25 lbs by 20 weeks where as a mother of a singleton should only gain 10-12. So far, I'm right on track. I've gained 11 pounds in 11 weeks. And I'm proud of it. Yes, it's not fun and it's hard on my body, but when I saw my high resolution ultrasound the other day and my babies were perfect, I wanted to HUG myself. :)

 

The reason why early weight gain is so imperative....especially for a mother with identical twins is that they are sharing a placenta. The placenta needs to be rich and large to feed them both well. There is also an average of 4 less weeks gestation time for twins and less room in the woman's stomach to eat later in pregnancy. And when you have 2 large babies needing nutrition later in pregnancy, they WILL be accessing fat stores. And this dr guarantees that postpartum weight loss happens much faster when you gain your weight in the beginning.

 

So, I say game ON. Pass the fat! I'm hungry! I really am ok with myself and no I don't have the perfect body but I have a body that serves a great purpose, is strong, and is capable to great things, so I love it for that. I don't care if my boobs get saggy and my skin gets all stretched out and I get stretch marks. I feel so honored to carry 2 babies that I say BRING ON THE BATTLE SCARS! I'll bounce back one day!

 

I will be 12 weeks pregnant on March 20th. That's less than a week away! I'm hoping for some raging hormonal relief, but I have resolved myself to a very uncomfortable pregnancy, if not for illness then for size. I've seen pictures of girls my size later in a twin pregnancy and it's a jaw dropping sight!

 

Ok. with all that said.....I am at great peace right now. I was told I may have a high risk pregnancy because the doctors were unable to find a separating membrane between the twins which would have allowed them to swim around each other and get their cords tangled which can restrict blood flow  and lead to fetal death. It requires constant fetal monitoring and several months of bed rest. I waited 4 long weeks since my first ultrasound to get answers. Wednesday, I went in to my perinatology appointment for a high resolution ultrasound to get a deeper look. The first thing I saw when he put the ultrasound on my belly was the membrane!!! God had answered prayers and I knew we had one less thing to worry about. But beyond the membrane, we found 2 perfect babies. They were the exact same size. They had strong heartbeats, and my placenta looked "beautiful". Blood flow was phenomenal! That's because all the blood in my brain and body are going to my babies!!! I'll get to find out in about 4 weeks if we are expecting girls or boys. I can't wait!

 

So, I guess you could say....as terrible as I feel, my body is doing exactly what it should and my babies are doing well. I am being gracious with myself understanding that I have to rearrange my priorities and acknowledge my shortcomings. Everything will be fine and even if I don't manage to feel well the whole 9 months of my pregnancy, I won't be pregnant forever, and one day I'll be back to normal except I'll be even stronger.

 

I am definitely adding this Pregnancy to my fit list. If I'm fit to do this then I'm fit to do ANYTHING!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finding Fertile Ground

It's so funny how many times I've been asked already if I was using any sort of fertility drugs because I'm pregnant with twins. :)

I'm just going to go ahead and answer that in a one simple word answer: No.

These twins happened naturally and spontaneously.

Ok, I'm glad I got that covered.

I was able to restore my hormones and my cycle naturally. Although...I didn't ever get the chance to actually have that cycle....cause clearly I got pregnant instead. :)

Over the last couple days I've been getting a lot of emails about my method for restoring this balance because many women are trying to get pregnant or are struggling with endocrine systems that are out of whack. I do not pretend at all to think I know what's best for everyone, but I do believe with all of my heart that the way I ate over the last several months had EVERYTHING to do with restoring that balance to my hormones. And I believe that no matter what your female issue may be for infertility or for hormonal imbalance that following my nutrition plan would help almost anyone restore that balance. 

SO, it's your lucky day cause I'm going to pretty much tell you exactly what I did and ate on an average day. 

And hey, if you're not trying to restore hormonal homeostasis or enhance your fertility, eating this way will help you lose weight, give you energy, fight disease, and age you gracefully. Not bad, huh?

OK. There were 5 KEY things about my nutrition and lifestyle that I believe are absolutely essential for resetting your metabolism and restoring hormonal balance and enhancing fertility. These things are based on what I know about food and its medicinal/nutritional properties. I did not read books on this matter. I just put into practice what I already knew to be true about nourishing the female body in an ideal way. I of course do research on the internet, but it was mostly of compilation of several years of learning and practicing and listening to my body. 

1. ALL TOXINS OUT

2. Keep the body Alkaline

3. Eat Healthy Fats

4. Eat regularly, Eat RAW, Eat Super

5. Rest, Sleep, Relax

Ok. SO here it is broken down. 

1. ALL TOXINS OUT!

This is number one because when it comes down to it, toxins are endocrine disruptors. Plain and simple. They act as evil impostor chemical messengers that confuse and lie to the body and cause it to act contrary to the way it should. Your body will also spend its energy and its immune system attacking these chemicals and toxins when it should spend its time fighting actual disease. It will stay inflamed and you will remain fatigued and foggy and sick.

What are common toxins:

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup

2. Hydrogenated Oils and Trans Fats

3. Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners

4. Food Dyes and Colorings

5. MSG

6. Genetically Modified Foods

7. Pesticides and Herbicides on conventional fruits and veggies

8. Soy and Corn preservatives

9. Refined Sugars

10. Animal Products that are not organic. 

Look at your labels. PLEASE don't put this stuff in your body! Move as far away from foods with a bar code as you possibly can. 

2. Keep your body Alkaline

For ONE, disease and cancer and other illnesses cannot thrive in a body that is alkaline. The common American Diet that is high in meat and processed foods leaves our bodies VERY acidic. Over the last several months, I ate almost all alkaline foods because I was on a mostly RAW and vegan diet. Now this doesn't mean that you have to go raw and vegan but it does mean for the purposes of healing, hormone balance, and fertility, you may want to cut back on the amount of animal products you have in your diet for a while. Eat fish several nights a week. Have chicken or turkey every now and then. And if you suffer from LOW estrogen like me, add in Tempeh and Soy a few days a week. However, most people are overly estrogenic, so keep soy products to a minimun. Your meat and soy sources though should be CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN! Organic, grass fed, farm raised, hormone free, antibiotic free, preservative free, etc......

For the purposes of fertility, sperm survive better in an alkaline environment, so the more alkaline your "you know what" is then the more likely there will be a happy journey from one end of the tunnel to the other. :)

How G rated was THAT?! haha. 

I also had a dear friend who goes to my boot camp bring me ionized alkaline water every day. I had about a half a gallon a day. I truly believed this helped. It's called Kangen Water made my enagic. Many Cancer patients will purchase one of these water filters for their homes in hopes to bring their bodies to an alkaline state. 

here's a link on Kangen water

http://www.enagic.com/faq.php

Here is a great link that will tell you more about an alkaline diet and a whole bunch of foods that are both acidic and alkaline. 

http://rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

3. Eat Healthy Fats

The woman's body needs healthy fats. It is good for her hormones, good for her brain cells, good for her skin, and good for her metabolism. SO many women think fat is bad and try to keep a low fat diet, which often leads to a high carb diet, which keeps the blood sugar in an unstable state which only perpetuates the state of exhaustion, fatigue, and fogginess. Incorporate healthy fats at every meal. You don't need much. Sprinkle walnuts on your oatmeal. Use a tbs of evoo and balsamic on your salad. Put a tsp of coconut oil in your afternoon smoothie. Have avocado for dinner. Etc. Healthy fats are digested differently. DON'T be afraid of them! LOVE them. Cut out the sugars and high glycemic carbs...not the fats.

4. Eat Regular, Eat RAW, Eat Super!

Your metabolism needs a regular feeding in order to function well. Most overweight women who are infertile or hormonally imbalanced share a common habit. They don't eat until late in the day. Their bodies hate them. They don't trust them. They are confused. And they rebel. If you want to reset your metabolism and balance your hormones, you absolutely must eat regularly....starting with a healthy breakfast. 

You need to pack your diet full of RAW foods rich in enzymes and Superfoods rich in nutrition. These are both medicinal to your body and nourish every cell of your body. 

RAW foods basically means uncooked foods, fresh, and from it's natural state. Cooking can destroy a lot of enzymes thereby reducing the nutritional value of food. Great ways to get RAW foods into your diet are to juice in the morning, have a super green smoothie in the afternoon, a freshly blended soup for lunch, and a huge salad for dinner. 

Superfoods are basically foods that are high in nutrition for their calorie content. Examples are chia and flax seed, salmon, avocados, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, greek yogurt, you know.....stuff like that. 

Do NOT eat empty calories like candies and cakes. They are high in calories and low in nutrition.

Disease loves sugar so the higher your blood sugar and the more acidic your body, the harder it will be for you to heal. 

Now I will give you a snap shot of how I ate in a day. I post tons of recipes on my fit list page and amounts of the following things including pictures. This is a general snap shot. I create detailed meal plans for clients, but this will give you an idea

6:00 am: Wake up and have warm lemon water with maple syrup and cayenne pepper to stimulate the liver

7:00 am: Make 12 oz of fresh juice from your juicer for a quick natural energy boost: 

1 apple, 3 carrots, 1/2 sweet potato, 1 lemon, 2 celery, 1" ginger.

8:00 am: Breakfast: 

Superfood Oats: Gluten free oats with chia seed, flax seed, walnuts, stevia, and cinnamon

10:30 am: Post exercise plant protein shake and a brown rice cake with a tbs of homemade hummus

1:00 pm: Lunch. Huge Salads with lots of cut veggies and a homemade dressing. A big bowl of homemade soup. Pesto Stuffed mushrooms

3:30 pm: Afternoon Snack. Either a Rockin Wellness Shake with almond milk and a banana or a superfood Smoothie. My Super smoothies were always different, but one of my favorites was pear, spinach, banana, and green grapes.

Rockin Wellness is AMAZING!!!!!!!

here's the link if you want some.

http://rockinwellness.com/

6:30 pm: Dinner: Tempeh stir fry with coconut oil, braggs liquid aminos, mixed bell peppers over a bed of spinach

9:00 pm: Bedtime snack. A small cacao snack which is packed with antioxidants and more healthy fats. I'd make these homemade. I have recipes on my fit list page.

BAM! My nutrition in a day. I always meal prepped on Sunday. I'd make sure my fridge was stocked full so I never had an excuse to slack off. 

5. SLEEP, REST, RELAX!

I know one of the BIGGEST reasons that I didn't ovulate was because I overtrained, slept too little, and never had any down time. This year I committed to that. I let my adrenal glands relax a little. I backed off the training. I still exercised fully and regularly just not too much. I also aimed for 8 hrs of sleep a night, and I learned to say NO. I learned my limits and I knew I wanted to spend more time doing things I enjoyed. I could rarely get around to that if I was overloading myself with work. 

_____________________________________________________

So, There ya go! If you can keep toxins out, fill your body with superfoods, keep your body alkaline, sleep more, and have less stress then you are WELL on your way to healing. People say "everything in moderation" but I say that's BS! If you are sick, your primary focus should be total and complete commitment to being clean...totally and completely. :)

For example, just a 2% increase in daily hydrogenated oils and trans fats can increase your risk of cancer and heart disease by up to 60%. That's only 20-40 calories coming from hydrogenation a day!!! If you think your coffee creamer is the only bad thing you do a day so you think you'll be fine, you need to think about cutting it out because disease doesn't happen in a day. It is a cumulative effect from years of bad habits. Why do you think people don't start coming down with immune issues til their 30's, cancer til their 40's, Alzheimer's til their 50's?...cause yes....it's happening that early these days. 

If you are someone who is desperate for change and are perpetually frustrated because you are doing "MOSTLY" right but getting nowhere, try doing "ALL" right. Sometimes you just gotta put your nose to the grindstone and stop making excuses that are socially acceptable like "everything in moderation." You don't give your kid one cigarette a day. Why do you need one cookie a day? 

Want a cookie? GREAT! Google is your best friend. In the google search, write Raw, Vegan, Healthy, Organic, Superfood, etc....cookies. Find a recipe. Make it in bulk and have one a day! 

That's how you get healthy. You find alternatives. And getting healthy doesn't happen overnight. It is a process. Stick to the safe and in the meantime, try expanding your wings every week to find a new recipe or a new food that you love and can incorporate to create variety. Crowd out the bad with the good. Take your time. Healing is right around the corner!

XOXO, 

Cheers to health!!!!

Our Double Blessing!

It truly is amazing how your whole life can change over night. Just a month ago, I was expanding my wings. I was flying to new heights and my plans for the future were clearer than ever. My life was perfect. I felt like I'd done so much hard work for years and was finally ready to make it fruitful. Both of my children as far as I am concerned are nothing short of perfect. They are healthy and adorable and mostly obedient and life is predictable. They would both be in school in the fall. The baby days were finally over and freedom was right at my finger tips. Golden. Why would I do anything to mess with a perfectly flawless situation?!

Bryan and I had always imagined 3 little children, but the timing was never exactly right for that 3rd child and after a pretty devastating miscarriage 2 years ago, I emotionally decided to be done. 

Now don't get me wrong....in an ideal world, I would already have 5 kids. I would live close to home or in a commune on some land with my best friends and all their kids and live the hard core mom life because as you can tell from my relationship with Catie and Lily, I am obsessed with being a mother. I am so in love with my children and I think being a mom is so rewarding. I love babies. I love children. I love big families. Unfortunately, being military....I just decided Oh well! That life is not for me. Catie, Lily, and baby #3 who is in heaven were all surprises. If I were to have planned any of them, none of them would have been here. haha.

How in the world does someone get pregnant 4 times by accident? Well, let's just say that my husband and I are EXTREMELY careful and few times we haven't been.....well.....BAM, babies were conceived....even if it was nowhere near time for me to conceive on the calendar. Apparently the two of us are very compatible for the making of babies. :)

This most recent pregnancy is the MOST shocking though. As you can read from a blog post earlier this year, my female hormones have been off. My last period was last summer so it had been about 6 months. I had something called hypothalamic amenorrhea which many athletes and fit women get because of overtraining and low body fat. In essence you stop ovulating even though your ovaries are perfectly fine and you stop menstruating. If you don't ovulate, you can't get pregnant. Here's the story on that.
http://nostrainnogain.blogspot.com/2013/01/hormonal-homeostasis.html

Several months ago, I felt convicted about bringing myself to this imbalance and decided to commit to restoring hormonal balance. It meant for me to train a bit less hard, eat to heal and nourish, and find time to relax. And I did EXACTLY that. Many of you who follow me on Facebook or who are friends with me have witnessed this first hand. It has been a truly amazing experience. For 3 months, I ate healing wholesome, REAL, raw foods. I ate a completely alkaline diet. I quit counting calories. I made all my food fresh. I stayed away from everything toxic even down to getting rid of the gum. I also felt truly relaxed. No pressure. Now, I had always felt pretty awesome, but eating THIS way made me feel like I could FLY. 

I had an intuition that things were getting back in balance, and JUST out of curiosity...when I went home for Christmas, I decided to get one of those ovulation kits. It was NOT to see when I was fertile. I just wanted to follow my cycle for a whole month to see if I would ever ovulate because if I did this would mean that things were working again. I did this for 3 weeks straight (missed a day here and there) but NOTHING. No ovulation. So one day my husband and I were careless in the middle of January. 3 days later I decided to take one of those tests again and lo and behold I was ovulating. 

I was elated!!!! I was a woman again!!!!! I felt like my body was a health experiment and I had found the formula. What I was doing was working!!! But I ran to my husband and said...."Stay away from me because I could get pregnant right now." And we did JUST that. Those tests say you can get pregnant within 2 days after seeing those lines. We messed up 3 days prior, so surely we were fine! Over the next week or 2 I twiddled my thumbs and waited to have another period. I know. Weird. I was excited to have one.

I started to feel like I was PMSing....you know, I had all those symptoms. But the period never came. The panic set in. It was about time for me to get my hormones tested from the dr again anyway so I scheduled an appointment, got my blood work done, and they called back and said, "Well, Mrs. Strain....it looks like your hormones are working GREAT now cause you're pregnant!"

WHHHAAAAATTTTT?????????? 

I had this overwhelming mixture of awe, confusion, shock, fear, and excitement. I was NOT ready for this. This changed everything!

They scheduled me for an ultrasound right away when I told them that my last period was in July of 2012. They were like, "GO NOW!" They wanted to date me even though I knew how far along I was. I delayed going to get an ultrasound actually. I had the number. I could schedule the appointment, but I wanted to wait. I didn't want to go in until I knew they could see a baby and a heartbeat. I've been to an ultrasound where they didn't find the heartbeat because I'd lost the baby. I didn't want to experience that again. I wanted to know for sure that I had a real live baby in there before I started telling people too. 

In the meantime, I started showing really early. And I was getting SICK!!!!!! I was breaking out like a 13 year old, I was having raging headaches, and my breasts went from a D to a G!!! I was reeling with pregnancy symptoms. I was feeling pretty miserable. I had to start telling a few people because I was showing and it was getting pretty obvious. They were all like YOU're having a BOY because I didnt get sick with my girls. I felt awesome with them. It did come up a few times in a very "funny" way that it could be twins, but as far as I was concerned that was the WORST thing that could happen to me and I didn't have to worry about that because it doesn't run on my mothers side of the family and I am the LAST person that God would give two babies at once to.

This was me at just 5 weeks before I even knew I was having twins. haha

Well, I finally went in for an ultrasound on February 13. I had my sweet little Lily with me holding my hand. As I lay there on the table and the tech started doing her thing, I proceeded to say these EXACT words, "Ok. Please just tell me you see a heart beat. But whatever you do, do NOT tell me you see more than one." And then I laughed. 

She says, "Do twins run in the family?" 

I said, "No."

She then turns the screen toward me and says, "Well, now they do!" 

Twins at 7 weeks

And there they were.....2 babies. 2 heartbeats. 

I fell apart. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. And when Lily said, "Mom, that's a lot of babies!" I wept. I told the tech I wasn't ready. This couldn't be happening! I then went into shock and laughed...A LOT! When I told Bryan, his response were 2 small but powerful words, "Holy ______!"

After we let it sink in and realized that this was now our situation, we fell in love with the idea. We saw the beautiful but scary and exhilarating reality of it. This wasn't our plan, but it was God's plan. He has saved these babies for us. And I almost feel like I'm getting back the 3rd one I lost 2 years ago as weird as that sounds. Bryan and I get 2 more children. THIS is AWESOME! When I look at the two girls I have now, why in the world would I not want more kids?! When all the logic and the fear of having 2 babies at once leaves, I am left with the simple and beautiful truth that there are 2 lives growing inside of me. These are my children. They are alive. They growing. I am their mother. Their well being depends on me and I have given myself over to that reality. My priorities are now to ensure their health and livelihood to the best of my ability. 

That leads me to my next fear. I am terrified of having an unhealthy child. I am doing all the right things and taking very good care of my body, but I know that at some level there is nothing I can do but trust God. I know SO many healthy women who lost babies or had babies with health issues. We can only do the best we can to ensure the health of our children, but for the most part, the health and condition of our children is in the hands of God and I have to be prepared for any scenario. 

From what they can see from my ultrasound, the babies are sharing a sac which most likely means that my egg split and they will be identical. Its crazy that one egg can become two babies and those two babies can develop perfectly. It is WILD.
The Dr's say my babies are not genetic twins, they are miracle twins. :) I like that.

The other possible issue is the lack of a membrane between the two babies. They didn't see one at the first 2 ultrasounds so I will be seeing a perinatologist in the next few weeks for a high resolution ultrasound. What does it mean for there to be no membrane? Well, it means that they could be sharing the same amniotic fluid. They will not be separated from each other so they can swim around each other and their cords can get tangled. There is only a 50% survival rate for these kinds of twins and they only happen in 1 and 65,000 twin pregnancies. It is very rare. 

The good news is....they saw 2 yolk sacs which is almost ALWAYS indicative of a membrane, so I am trusting that they will find one and that my babies will be fine. With that said, please keep my babies in your prayers. Because they are not fraternal, there is a higher risk for them anyway. When twins share a sac, they also share a placenta. SO my goal is to eat and nourish my body so they can receive maximum nutrition from my one placenta. 

Nonetheless, what we know RIGHT now is that these babies are healthy today. They have strong heart beats and they are swimming around like happy little nuggets. I am about 9 weeks pregnant, so anything can unfold at this point. I know I'm not in the clear, but i do know that God is good. And when I think of the worst possible case scenario, I'm STILL ok, because there is STILL heaven. I have no reason to fear or lose hope. 

I am excited for this journey and I can't wait to share it with you all!!!!

Wednesday Workout: 100 Rep Workout!

A. Cardio

1.  25 Jumping Jacks

2.  25 Skaters

3.  25 Jump Ropes (4 count)

4.  25 High Knees (4 count)

B. Upper Body Conditioning

1.  25 Bent over Rows

2.  25 Bicep Curls

3.  25 Tricep Kickbacks

4.  25 Upright Rows

·       Repeat 4 times

Repeat Cardio Round

C. Core

1.  25 V Ins

2.  25 Right Oblique Crunches

3.  25 Crunches down the middle

4.  25 Left Oblique Crunches

·       Repeat 4 times

Repeat Cardio Round

D. Lower Body Conditioning

1.  25 Traveling Side squats (lead right leg)

2.  25 Deadlifts

3.  25 Traveling Side Squats (lead left leg)

4.  25 Calf Raises

·       Repeat 4 Times.

Finish with 25 Burpees