Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Update and Herbal Tea Info

I'm 11 weeks pregnant today, so I'm almost to the second trimester! I'm feeling better than I did a few weeks ago. I don't get nauseated nearly as much as I used to. I'm not feeling starved quite so much, and my breastmilk supply is still hanging in there. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I've been watching myself closely to make sure I'm eating at least every 2 hours or any time I feel the hunger pains, and I started drinking this herbal tea blend that my midwife recommended. It's a blend of Red Raspberry, Alfalfa, Nettle, Oatstraw, Borage, Fennel, and Peppermint. It's called Sherri's Morningstar Tea because my midwife has it packaged and sold at a local health food store for the cost to make it. She recommends drinking it every day throughout pregnancy, rather than taking a multivitamin. I have a prenatal multivitamin that my obstetrician prescribed for me that has always worked well for me, and I'm taking that as well as drinking the tea. I feel I need any extra help I can get right now, and it is helping. The tea even seems to help my milk production a little bit. I've noticed on the days I drink more of the tea I tend to have a little bit more milk for my baby to drink, and that is a definite plus.

I don't like the taste of Red Raspberry tea, but I've been told about how excellent it is for good health, particularly during pregnancy. Sherri's tea has a strong taste of Red Raspberry, but if I put enough honey in it I don't mind the taste at all. It's pretty pleasant to drink with the honey.

As far as milk production goes, my doula has been telling me for a few years about a tea blend called Mother's Milk Tea that she drinks whenever she is nursing a baby. She says it's the best thing to boost milk production. I really want to try it, and I plan on buying some the next time I can get to the health food store. We have had several consecutive heavy snow storms recently, and for now I'm not venturing out anywhere that's not absolutely necessary. Once the road conditions improve, however, I plan to go to the health food store and get some of that tea.

Another thing my midwife recommended is that I snack on trail mix between meals. I have a premade mix from the store that's pretty good, but has a lot of chocolate in it and it's not the most healthy. I absolutely love chocolate, but I don't want to eat it all day long. What I want to do is go to Good Earth Natural Foods to their bulk foods section and get bags of my favorite grains, nuts and dried fruits to put together my own trail mix blend of my favorite things. Yum!

In the meantime, my good friend Heather brought over some of her homemade Holiday Granola for me to snack on. It's really good, and she posted the recipe on her blog. I suggest you try it out, whether or not you're pregnant!

Despite the exhaustion and constant need for food, which I know will subside as time goes on, I'm enjoying my pregnancy. I'm having fun finding healthy things to eat and trying new things, like the tea and the granola. I'm happy to be venturing into a new path for me, working with a wonderful midwife and planning a home birth. I still feel very positive and peaceful about these plans, and I feel so blessed to be able to do this. I simply feel blessed and grateful to have been given the opportunity to have birthed 4 amazing babies with another one coming. I love being a mother and I'm so happy to be able to fulfill this important part of my life.