Peas!
I’ve been reading about fertility and getting pregnant. I recently read “Getting Pregnant.” It’s an interesting book with much the same information as “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.” The book has these little quizzes and tidbits of information that are neat.
One such tidbit of information is that peas may be a contraceptive. Can you believe that! I could have been eating peas for the last five years instead of paying $400 for an IUD! Apparently peas have this chemical called m-xylohydroquinone that can keep you from getting pregnant. This book talked about a few studies that prove this theory.
Peas are a stable of the diet in Tibet, and they have “one of the most stable populations in the world.” I have no idea what that means. To me, that means the same amount of people who die are born each year. So, women in Tibet are getting pregnant. This made me question the whole “peas are a contraceptive” theory. I would be more concerned if they said the population in Tibet has dropped since they started eating more peas.
I guess they did a study in India with pills containing this chemical, and the pregnancy rate was dropped. It might affect sperm count. But, I think a concentration of a chemical is much different from eating peas that have this chemical. I’m not sure what to think about this.
I am a little skeptical of this. I have concerns because I put a bag of mixed vegetables in all my casseroles to get an added boost of vegetables. So, I probably have half a serving of peas every day. Is this enough to keep me from getting pregnant? I’m not going to throw out my mixed vegetable bag just yet. I think getting that extra serving of nutrition is important, so I’ll give it a few months.
The more I read about fertility, the more crazy I feel! There are so many rules to getting pregnant… which seems a little strange when you think about how easy it is for some couples to have children.
Fertility Reading
I’ve read some of the book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.” It was a toss up whether to buy it or get it from the library. In the end I bought it. I figured it would be a good reference, and it would help me follow my rule of not getting my information from the internet. Not that the internet isn’t a good resource (it is- I’ve learned so much already)- I just spend too much time doing it, which usually leads to chat rooms discussions that stress me out.
It’s an interesting and informative book. I knew a lot of the information already, which helped my confidence that I am TTC correctly. I also like the fact that they stress not waiting a year if you have timed your BD during your fertile period. I plan on keeping as much data as possible, so that I can talk with my doctor about this at my yearly exam if I am not pregnant by then. It is easier to think of 6 months instead of 12 months of BFN.
This may be odd, but I loved the fact that the book included real pictures of CM. Sometimes I’m not sure what kind of CM I’m looking at. I’ve been able to turn to those pictures to get a good idea of what is fertile CM. I’m glad that I ended up buying the book just to have these pictures.
I never thought I would want to have pictures of CM in my house. It’s interesting how TTC changes things.
TTC: Cycle #2
I woke up this morning, and my temp was down. Way down. I knew without getting up that AF was here- not implantation bleeding. Ugh! AF is 5 days early. I was only 10 dpo. This isn’t how I imagined this week starting out. I can’t believe my LP is so short. It will be interesting to see if that happens this cycle or if that was a strange fluke.
I am sad, but not as sad as I was anticipating. I think it was better to get my AF before I took a HPT and got a BFN. I understood intellectually that it doesn’t happen right away. This was our first time trying. I know that healthy couples have only a 40% chance of getting pregnant in the first three months. Emotionally, I was deeply invested in this pregnancy already! My DH says it’s set up that way so that you get emotionally invested in the baby way before he is born. Which made me feel better… now, but I might not agree a year from now. So, I’m not pregnant. I really thought I was. I feel a little silly for obsessing over all my imaginary pregnancy symptoms, but they felt so real!
I am going chart my BBT and use the OPK again. I am also interested in reading “Taking Charge of Your Fertility.” And, so starts day 1 of cycle #2.
TTC the Green Way
Green Living is very popular these days. There are tons of books at the bookstore filled with ideas on how to live green and healthy. It can be overwhelming at times! I am extremely motivated to reduce my chemical load because I have to continue with two medications during pregnancy (yikes!). I can’t control that, so my instinct is to control what little I can and just pray that it’s enough to keep my baby healthy. I read the book Green Housekeeping. I found the different ideas interesting… some a little odd, and a few that just aren’t worth the money and effort. Organic clothes and bed? I did however, decide to throw away my cleaning supplies in favor of plain white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. So far, the house seems clean… I don’t like the smell of vinegar, but it does disappear when it dries.
When it comes to food, I’m trying to buy organic foods- dairy, meat, and some fruits and vegetables. I no longer eat fake sugar… if I can help it. It’s amazing how that stuff is in practically everything! I splurged on a nice new metal water bottle, and I must say I am pretty happy with that purchase.
I had no idea my beauty products had all these ingredients that are terrible for you! I know that using just one product probably doesn’t have much effect, but it get a little scary when I think about all the products routinely use. I have invested in Burt’s Bees, Badger, and Organic Physician’s Formula make-up. My personal rule on using natural and organic beauty products was that I had to be able to buy it from a local store. I didn’t want to get myself stuck buying some crazy product online! I like the website for Skin Deep. It’s a data base of cosmetics with their ingredients and how hazardous they are from 1-10. It’s neat because you can see what companies signed a promise that they would use only safe ingredients in their products. I feel good about supporting those companies. I have to admit that I tried the organic deodorant, and it’s just not for me. The regular product I use only has a hazard of 3, so I’m going to risk it in the name of smelling pretty.
Doing all this makes me feel like I am doing all I can to conceive a healthy baby. It seems like so much of TTC is random chance, which is so frustrating. I can do everything perfectly, but in the end I only have a 25% of getting pregnant this month. But, this give me something productive to do when I get stuck on numbers, dates, and percentages. And, like Feng Shui, it really can hurt my chances.
Baby Feng Shui
I recently read a book titled “Make This Your Lucky Day.” This book is about Feng Shui, and it gives ideas on how to boost your “luck” in different areas of your life- career, family, health, etc. It’s a neat book. I’m not a huge follower of Feng Shui, but I find it interesting. And, I figure it’s not something that could hurt your chances. Here are some ideas from the book that I really like for adding luck to your fertility. I’ll let you know later if it works!
- Sleep on green sheets
- Put an elephant by your front door with a stone on his back
- Tie a pair of chopsticks with red string and place in your Children area for 9 months
- Paint the wall behind your bed yellow
- Put a cute stuffed tiger or anything having to do with children in your Children area
- Clear clutter from under your bed and Do Not vacuum under your bed until after you give birth
- Do Not put fertility symbols in the bathroom where it will be flushed away
This is the map of areas for Feng Shui. The main door should be located at the bottom of the map.
Happy Baby-Making with Feng Shui!!!
Before Conception
I read this book “Parenting Begins before Conception.” It sounded like something good to read while I waited for the timing to be “right” to start TTC. It was a little bridge between the parenting books and the baby books. It was a little too out there for me and my views on life, but I did really enjoy the questions at the end of each chapter. The chapters talked about preparing your body, mind, and spirit for pregnancy and parenting. The questions in the different areas helped me figure out if I am ready and prepared me for starting my family. At least I think it helped, I’m guessing that I actually need to get pregnant to find out if it prepared me! I did feel proactive. I have a journal by my bed that I put baby stuff in like my charts and the answers to the questions in the book. I felt like I was accomplishing something regarding my family when it just wasn’t time to start it. I liked that it had me write letters to the baby before we conceived it. Like I said, it was a little out there, but the exercise was interesting. It could be neat to look back at what I was thinking and feeling in a few years. The book talked a lot about how the spirit of our children are with us (like I said, it was a little out there). I’m not sure how strongly I believe that, but I want to believe that. It’s comforting to think that the spirit of my children are with me already. They say that when people pass away, so why not before birth as well. So, while alone in the car today, I talked to my “baby.” People talk to plants to help them grow, so maybe talking to my “baby” will help me conceive. We’ll see how it works…
Baby Books
August 29, 2008, 8:50 pm
Filed under:
Baby,
Books About two years ago, I was afraid of baby books. In fact, I avoided all books related to baby stuff. Avoided all aisles involving baby stuff when shopping. I was getting the baby bug. My biological clock was ticking. I thought getting involved in all that would be bad karma since it was too soon for my husband and I to start a family.
Then I decided that parenting books were okay. I work with young children, and parents are often asking me advice on discipline and problem solving. So, I felt that parenting books were safe to read since it was a necessary tool for my job. I love “How to talk so your kids will listen, and how to listen so your kids will talk.” I also like “Positive Discipline.”
Well, it’s a slippery slope from there, and I crashed head on into baby book land. There is so much information out there. It’s hard to imagine having a child without taking a course on it! I hope it’s not bad karma. I was afraid that I would be jinxing myself if I read these books before I was pregnant. As if reading these books would ruin my chances of having a child. I was worried about having all this information and then no child to use it. But, having a child is such an important responsibility, and I really want to do it right… or as right as I can. So, I’ve read the baby books. And. On occasion, I walk down the baby aisle- just to look.
