protein is my drug!

This is from a personal journal of mine, one where I tend not to capitalize words, but I thought it was worth sharing some thoughts I had today on my high protein diet.

"i have to believe that a LARGE part of the reason i had pre-e the last two pregnancies and not this one (so far, knock on wood) is my diet. honestly, i know it was a large if not the largest part. i still can't believe sometimes how positively my body responds to protein intake, either because it's used to it or it needs it - probably both. i was so naive before and i had so little nutrition knowledge, it's no wonder my body shut down on me. to think if i'd not changed things with this third baby...i would have probably had a preemie earlier than 29 weeks. 

it's like a drug, almost. tired? eat protein! cranky? eat protein! the response my body has to protein is super quick, too. and let's not even think about what my day would be like without the protein smoothie first thing in the morning. i literally can't function without it - the other day i was super behind in making it when i cut my finger on a can and had to deal with nonstop bleeding for about a half hour. in that time, my body was FREAKING out at me. once i had the smoothie...ahh. all was well. it's like my body breathes a big sigh of relief and thanks me. today, i was unfocused, tired and cranky at work. i realized the last time i had protein was about 10AM, and it was nearly noon - time for some protein! i had turkey jerky and within like, 5 minutes, i was zippy and alert and feeling NORMAL!

i wonder what my nutritional needs will be in the postpartum period. late summer 2010 is when i started watching my intake of protein and carbs (like, my body responds to carbs if eaten alone, but if eaten with protein it's fine, or when i wake up from a nap, eat protein ASAP, etc.) i imagine i'll need to intake a fair amount again, though not 125+g like in this pregnancy. maybe 75-100? i don't know. i'm sure i'll be nursing two kids. i am a little sick of this protein smoothie business, but it's so helpful, so i'm sure i'll have to keep that up for a long while."

My favorite high protein snack.

Venison sausage + cheese + crackers. Mmm! Venison sausage has 24g protein per 1 oz! Plus the 7g/oz of cheese and we are talking one high protein snack!

9 weeks!

It's been awhile since I posted! But, when you only have time to blog after the kids go to bed, and you're hit with first trimester exhaustion to the extreme and go to bed at 10pm every night, well, some things take a backseat. Like my sewing, the house cleaning...and this blog!

Anyways, I'm still here, and I have lots to update on! I am now 9 weeks, due on April 4th, 2011. My dates were just slightly off (turns out I did find out at exactly 4 weeks pregnant, just like with the other 2!) and an ultrasound at 8 weeks confirmed my suspicion. Maia's due date was April 5th, so this baby will be term right when its big sister and big brother celebrate their birthdays...I could very well still have a March baby (again!) Of course I can't get the scanner to work, but the ultrasound was great - saw the healthy heartbeat, little hands & even the spine.

The biggest thing in my life right now? Food. I am constantly controlled by food. I'm always hungry! And always thinking about food. It's exhausting! I have to eat rather constantly to a) get my protein in and b) just to feel okay! But it's going well. I've started drinking a morning smoothie with 3 scoops soy protein powder from Trader Joe's, plus a splash of juice, greek yogurt & some fruit & spinach - that, my friends, is a lovely 50g smoothie! So nice to get that 1/3 out of the way right off the bat. Then I usually follow that up with 2 eggs. It's working really well for me! The rest of the day is spent eating small 'meals', and mostly everything has protein in it, or is paired with something with protein. My body definitely knows it needs protein because that's all I crave! Red meat, yes please! Sweets & sugars and carbs? NO thank you. They are really turning me off, and if I do try some I feel extremely sensitive to them and get a stomachache. I've really turned my diet around to be so sensitive to sugars now!

I have also interviewed midwives & picked one, but I'll post on that separately. She has me taking 1000mg magnesium in addition to my aforementioned supplements, as that's been known to have some help preventing high blood pressure/pre-eclampsia. (See this link for more info.) I am trying to cover ALL bases and make sure I have no deficiencies!