Most natural practitioners out there will advise a woman (and her partner) to spend a year in preparation for conception. We are advised to cleanse and rebuild our systems in order to have the good sperm and shiny, sparkly temples to house our divine growing babies. A year of avoiding coffee, alcohol, drugs, junk food, toxic house cleaning products, consuming hormone balancing herbs and a highly nourishing menu of foods.
In my case, the cleansing and rebuilding, nourishing herbs and yummy scrummy nutritious diet happened as part of another journey - one that I stumbled upon during a time of great change and upheaval.
As a bit of background I will tell you a few things about my upbringing. Most importantly, my Mother was a vegetarian who married a meditation teacher. We lived on a very pure diet with intense spiritual ideals. She researched nutrition and made sure that my brother and I were raised on the most nourishing diet possible. She drove to a local farm and got milk straight from the cow and bought food from a local wholefoods/co-op.
I was never a fan of milk and we discovered later in life that I was indeed lactose intolerant (among other things!) As the 80's rolled on and the hippie marriage dissolved, our lives and diets merged with the times. Our lunch boxes had "tiny teddies" and "le snacks" like all the other kids. There were always wholesome home cooked meals, but never quite like the isolated and ideal early days. By the time I was a teenager I had a stomach that made sounds like chewbacca and intense tummy cramps that required many pillows and yoga poses on the floor to settle the fire.
After more years of trial and error, the "liver cleansing diet"and excluding various food groups, I was armed with the knowledge that wheat/gluten and all forms of dairy = unhappy, painful times for me.
This required me to start researching food and nutrition and bought me to the path of joyful nutrition. Goodbye soy milk, 2 minute noodles, bran muffins, white sugar, toast, etc etc. Hello quinoa, stevia, raw foods, tea, good quality dark chocolate, juicing, superfoods, tonics and herbal medicine!
In the year 2007 I was going through a life overhaul. My four year relationship ended. I needed to find a new job. My dearly loved grandfather passed away. All around the same time I might add. I got a job working for a naturopath in a tea house and got stuck into learning about herbs and all things tea. I was also co-hosting a tv show 5 nights a week which was fun but a bit of a punish. All of a sudden I was dizzy all day. For 2 weeks it felt like I was on a boat on a rocky sea and I felt sea sick. The inner city doc was 100% sure I was pregnant: "well, it would have to be immaculate conception, the second coming of jesus" I told her. One look in my ear confirmed that I had an inner ear virus which would last about 8 weeks. I packed up and went to stay at my Mum's house where I stayed in bed and faced the music. I couldn't eat but deliriously cried out for red grapes with seeds to chew on. I slept on and off for a couple of days, ate red grapes and drank water, cried A LOT and managed to stop the internal swaying. Lying in bed not being able to move meant that I faced all the emotions and fears inside of me. The loss of my dear love who I thought I would always be with, the loss of my grandfather and his absence in all of our lives, and the looming black hole feeling that my life was somehow ending.
Upon returning to my apartment I was still eating the red grapes but added pear slices and lemon water. I tried eating some plain brown rice but had to spit it out. Fresh fruit it shall be! After a week or so I was beginning to feel good. Really good. I had heard about the raw food diet but had never considered doing it exclusively. I started having big salads with lots of avocado and fresh fennel bulb. During my rest between tea house and TV land I would read up on the net about the raw foods lifestyle and good recipes to make. It took no effort at all as my body was leading the way. I also stopped having my morning long black coffee and I had already given up alcohol. This was turning out to be a super cleanse! I made sure to look up new recipes every day to make sure I was getting all the nutrients I needed. I was also consuming amazing tea's at work everyday: Green teas with ginger and mint, nettle, white tea, oolong, matcha (japanese green tea powder whisked in a bowl) and my beloved yerba mate. Mate tea became my social drink. I had one of the best new years ever drinking iced mate with honey and was just as silly and energized as my boozing companions.
Over the next 3 years I lived the raw vegan lifestyle. I felt amazing and it healed so many elements of my body and my emotions. I reclaimed my sense of humor and felt younger and happier than I was as a teenager. It was quite socially isolating when it came to eating out but I was having such a good time it didn't matter. My friends came to love my raw chocolate desserts and yummy bliss balls, my big salads and smoothies. I did green juice cleanses when I felt stressed out and tired. I tried all kinds of raw herbs and superfoods like maca, mesquite, purple corn extract, chlorella, spirulina, shilajit, medicinal mushroom powders, bee pollen, and of course raw cacao beans and powder. These all allowed me to experience new levels of health and energy while allowing my diet to be varied and exciting.
I reunited with my former love and managed to merge my dietary lifestyle into our new relationship. This time I was sparkly and fresh with way less baggage and a reclaimed self esteem. It was hard not sharing meals together, but we got along just fine.
By 2010 we had a trip planned to attend a wedding in Chile. I was well aware that eating raw while traveling through south america was not a wise idea. I do have an irrational fear of vomiting and had no desire to waste any time with my head down a toilet so I carefully added quinoa and cooked root vegetables into my life (This story requires a whole other post which I will add in the future).
Upon returning from our one month adventure overseas I fell pregnant instantly. This was a pleasant and delightful surprise! We were not trying to have a baby, but we were not exactly trying not too :)
I had felt the transition from girl to woman happening over the last couple of years. I had also been feeling deep body aches every time I saw a baby. My body new it was the right time!
I felt grateful that my temple was clean and still resonating from a month of mind blowing travel.
Not only had I avoided the stress of "trying" to conceive, but I had started all the homework years in advance. It was as if I had been been preparing for this moment all along.
And so the pregnancy journey began, and boy was it not what I expected...... in a good way :)
Part Two coming soon!
RLH
xxx
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