Primal Pregnancy

More often than not,the first questioned posed to me by well-intentioned friends and family when they learn of my pregnancy is "Who's your doctor?" Which I suppose to some people is a very logical question. But for me, it leaves me scratching my head in bewilderment. For I neither have a pre-existing condtion nor do I have any health isues that are a risk to myself or my unborn child that have been exacerbated by pregnancy. I am very simply just a healthy woman who is pregnant. And I am prone to ask my own question: Since when is pregnancy an illness???
Now, dont get me wrong. If you have certain risk factors then by all means, work with your doctor to ensure the well being of both yourself and your unborn child. I am highly appreciative of our modern advances in medicine when it is needed and would in no way ever encourage a woman to put her own life or that of her child's at risk. But I do not fall into that category. I have no major health issues. I am healthy. I eat a well balanced diet of mainly organic origin. I get plenty of physical activity every day. (With 5 young children to raise this is inevitable.) I stay aware of my own body. This means I notice when I am feeling tension or fear or stress, etc....I know my triggrs and I know what to do to ease said emotions. I spend quiet time everyday with myself. I communicate throughout the day with my unborn child, through thoughts, speaking aloud, and meditation. In my past pregnancies, if it was the last trimester and I was concerned about not feeling any movement from my baby inutero I would simply sit still for a moment and ask my baby to please move and every single time within a couple seconds, he would move quite deliberatly.
That vital bond and connection has always awed me. Though it cannot really come as  surprise. After all, our children grow in the same body that houses our own spirit and soul. Our babies are a piece of ourselves./ When we do not realize that, when we instead look to a doctor for each step, it removes that bond. think of it this way, when you fall in love, do you turn to a trained counselor for advice in every new development in the relationship? Do you ask saidprofessional what to do about dates, holdinghands, first kiss, etc...... Or do you follow your heart? The same works for your emotional and physical relationship with your unborn child. You and your lover were alone when you concieved. You didnt need a profssional to tell you how to create life, did you? You must learn to trust yourself enough to know how to nurture and grow that life.
This will be my 4th primal pregnancy. So, when you opt out of regular doctor viits....what does a self-care regimen look like for a primal pregnancy? Well, its actually quite obvious and simplistic. I eat when I am feeling hungry. Even if it mean small snacks eery few hours instead of three larger meals. I eat foods that are as natural in form as they get. I eat salads and boiled eggs and raw nuts and hummus on pita bread and fresh raspberries and homemade tortilla chip with homemade salsa.....I eat whatever my body needs to keep me energized and balanced. I excersise daily. I play football withmy sons. I go for 3 mile hikes in the woods with my sons. I chase the dogs around the yard.I use the weed eater and attack the unruly weeds along the fence in my yard. I build a bookshelf for my office. I mop. I plant in my garden. I don't sit on my butt. After all, impending labor is called LABOR and requires a healthy strong body! On the other hand, I sleep when I get tired. This may mean an 8:30 bedtime sometimes, or an early afternoon siesta. I dont push my limit. If my body or mind tells me it needs  break I TAKE IT. I sit and relax. I read a book. I soak in a bath. I pray. I watch a movie.
What else? Well, I take a daily multivitamin with extra folic acid and iron. I take a b-complex vitmin andcalcium supplements. I write daily lover letters to my unborn child. I prepare my mind for a primal BIRTH, by delving into such websites as Laura Shanleys Freebirth.com and the community forums at Mothering.com. I read Ina May Gaskin ad Fredrick Leboyer. I keep  copy of Immaculate Deception on my bedside table. I cut down my caffienne intake. I nurture my own soul by writing poetry, singing, praying, etc.....because if I dont know and trust my own abilities and strengths than HOW can  I possibly trust myself to birthe a child?
It is a day by day love journey. I love being pregnant more than anything. I find my intuition is hieghtened dramatically during pregnancy. I feel very mother-earth-ish, womanly, vibrant, exhalted, curvy and magical. I praise God for my bodies ability to do as He intended it. As a woman who has miscarried multiple times, I am all the more appreciative of it when my body carries a baby to term. I know many women who find the pregnancy process quite miserable but I have been lucky, never had any morning sickness, etc... An interesting factoid: in more primative cultures, such symptoms as "morning sickness" do not even exist! Is it our diet in America that causes this phenomenon? Or perhaps the ingrained belief we carry that pregnancy must come burdened with negative symptoms? Just as we are taught that birth itself mut be painful....yet I have seen numerous women give birth in calm serenity or in laughter. I myself laughed out loud upon the crowning of one of my sons, at the marvel and awesomness of that moment. And when I was in labor with my last son the nurse did not believe I even WAS inlabor until he hooked me up to the machine andsaw I was having uterine contractions every two minutes. I was just sitting there chatting and laughing. She looked at me as if I had gone mad. :)
But I will blog another day on the subject of birth. For today I focus only on my body, my mind and my unborn baby. Step by step, day by day.....this life is mine and it is my child's and we are one. No medical book or degree or profession can know as much as pure intuition and love.