Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't posted much. I tend to do more reading than question asking. ^_^

I'm 3 months pregnant and doing alright physically. *yay =D* I'm afraid, though, I'm quite tired. It's to be expected, of course, but it's a very "unnatural" tired. I haven't really changed my diet much, as well as not gaining nor losing vast amounts of weight.

Now I know that in the first trimester especially, an expecting mother can get pretty tired physically, mentally, and emotionally. My doctor has been no help whatsoever. "It sounds like you need to add more protein to your diet. Fish three times a week and chicken the rest of the time." >_> "Erm, yes well I'm a vegan, about 90% raw at that." His response..."Well, there you go. That's just not healthy. MORE MEAT!" (imagines that horrible MEAT IS AWESOME American commercial where they all sing whenever meat is eaten) x_x

Anyways, my question being...is there anything I can do that I'm not already doing to make this extremely debilitating tiredness either subside or go away.

*exercising daily
*90% raw vegan
*getting a substantial amount of calories for my height, weight, and condition
*plenty of rest, 7-9 hours a night

The being tired thing just hit me like a brick wall about two weeks ago, and as I stated before, I haven't drastically changed my diet or daily routine.

Well I have no real advice but to wait it out. Not much you can do at this point. I don't know if you are into this but sunbathing ( even artificial sun) has helped me in that situation. Otherwise...if you are tired, try to sleep as much as possible. Even though it's hard to imagine now, this fatigue WILL pass.

My opinion: pregnancy is probably not the time to make any drastic changes to your personal and dietary habits - although a gradual increase in overall, lifetime % of fresh, raw plant foods is certainly a good thing. The above suggestions are great. I would add: make changes slower, at a pace that is right for you - that doesn't leave you overly sluggish. Light exercise and a lighter diet will always help. Health and success to you.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

My advice is to sleep as much as you can right now. I needed an average of 9 to 11 hours of sleep a night when I was preggo (especially the first trimester) plus often a nap once a day. I know sleeping a lot can be a pain since it takes away from the rest of the day, but it truly is the best thing you can do right now to help your energy levels. Also, get plenty of fresh air and breathe deeply as much as possible. Doing yoga or tai chi outside are great examples for this. Being out in the sun will help like the previous poster mentioned as well as drinking plenty of carrot juice...this fresh juice in particular is excellent for pregnant women and it also gives a pretty decent energy boost.

get some zinc and b vitamins from sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds...eat more greens or take a greens supplement. make sure you're getting fats to assimilate these vitamins. see a nutritionist or naturopath who can help you personalize your diet.

sleep

i slept 18 hours a day with my first during the first trimester-
this time, less sleep=nausea/morning sickness

it goes away. it does. i remember when i finally woke up again. but i also remember literally being unable to stay upright because of fatigue. i don't think it's diet at all (um, fish and chicken could CREATE morning sickness in some of us)

i juiced, and slept when i could. still do.

i didn't gain weight first trimester, then chuncked-up second trimester, and now am riding the 'baby is coming soon' thrill wave.

peace-

Thank you everyone for all the great advice. I thought maybe something was seriously wrong with me, especially when my sleeping schedule had gone from 7-9 hours a night to a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day and then ANOTHER 13 hours of sleeping a night. o_o

I haven't gotten much sunlight recently, so that's definately something I'll be doing more of, as well as the carrot juice idea.

It's important to get enough Iodine esp. while pregnant and nursing. Try adding in 1 or more T of powdered kelp to your smoothies on a daily basis if you can.

Do some research on it if you want, there are supplements also but the kelp, and various other cold water sea-veggies would be helpful.

Love,
Prism

hi! congratulations! i have two lil munchkins, and during both pregnancies i had anemia. I don't know if thats what you are experiencing but if it is really focus on adding a lot of greens, and iron rich foods. i had it so bad I couldn't walk with out feeling winded and out of breath. I was very raw but pregnancy takes a lot out of a woman. I now realize I needed much more greens. anyways, I hope you have a wonderful journey of life giving motherhood. blessings

My soon-to-be mother-in-law suggested a very raw smoothie that gave me some get up and go. ^_^ *glee*

Blackberry, strawberry, and orange juice smoothie. =O I don't know why, but my tiredness just sort of...went away. Now, I'm not saying it won't come back, but I WILL say this is the first time in about 2 1/2 weeks now that I've been able to not feel like I'm attached to my bed. =D

Being tired while pregnant is excusable, as it is a big job for your body to grow another human being inside you! If your body needs to sleep, do sleep. I do have one tip - I found during my two pregnancies that I had a huge appetite for citrus fruit. I could eat them for days long. I think my babies wanted me to (all that vit C). So, what I am saying is that your body will let you know what it needs.

All the best and blessings to you!

Gosia


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