Everything I Did During My Pregnancy
I’ve had a lot of people on social media ask me specific questions about my pregnancy. From how long I tried to conceive and my fertility journey to how I supported myself during pregnancy. I’ve always wanted to be as open and transparent as possible about anything related to my personal health and healing journey (because I know how helpful personal stories are!), so here is EVERYTHING I did during my pregnancy - along with everything I spent $$$.
Just to preface, these are the things that I did during my pregnancy (with the okay of my healthcare team). ALWAYS ask your primary health practitioner before taking any supplement or changing your diet/lifestyle routine. This blog post is not to be taken as medical advice.
I go into detail about the things I did for preconception care in an instagram post here.
Let’s start with the first trimester. I found out I was pregnant a few days after my 31st birthday in April, 2024. To say I was shocked was an understatement. It didn’t take us very long to conceive and given my health conditions, ovarian reserve, and opinions of my doctor, this wasn’t supposed to be the case.
I continued most of the supplements I was already taking. I mostly took the NFH prenatal, but I did throw the Thorne prenatal in there every once in awhile. I continued vitamin d supplementation (2,000iu daily). About 2,000mg of combined EPA/DHA of omega 3 fatty acids, 350mg of magnesium, 420mg of choline, 200mg of CoQ10, 900mg of NAC, and 4.5mg of low dose naltrexone. The low dose naltrexone I had already been taking for over a year to help manage my autoimmune symptoms and continued during my pregnancy with the okay from my naturopathic doctor. I didn’t keep track of my supplement spending, but I definitely spent probably around $500 on supplements throughout my entire pregnancy.
I was terrified of having a miscarriage (having endometriosis, and autoimmune disease, and low ovarian reserve all put me at a higher risk of miscarrying) and was pretty anxious throughout my entire first trimester. Especially because I had a particularly brutal iritis and ankylosing spondylitis flare up, which made me concerned my immune system was hyperactive and could potentially be harming the developing embryo. The thing that got me emotionally through my first trimester was the support of family and friends. I immediately told 2 of my best friends when I initially got the positive pregnancy test and they were a huge support system. Anytime I felt especially anxious or panicked I would call or text them and they would help talk me down. I also confided in a couple of coworkers because as a fertility acupuncturist, I felt particularly triggered in my work. I help patients through their fertility struggles, difficult pregnancies, and losses all the time. Being reminded of everything that could possibly go wrong really did a number on my mental health. And thankfully, my colleagues understood this completely.
I chose to go the midwife route with my pregnancy because I was low risk and I knew (at least in Canada), that midwives give you a bit more care prenatally and postpartum than an OB. I went with Pomegranate Community Midwives because I knew they were a great group and were a quick drive from my house. I always tell my patients that proximity to home should be a key deciding factor when choosing a midwifery group. When you’re super pregnant and have to go in every 1-2 weeks, you don’t want to drive far or have a difficult time finding parking. Midwives also do quite a bit of check ins postpartum which I found incredibly helpful. They do a handful of home visits and phone calls in the early days which really helped me feel confident.
Unfortunately, I was one of the lucky ones that got hit with pretty bad nausea during my pregnancy. I completely lost my appetite by week 5 and was horrifically nauseas by week 6. At first, I tried to manage this with B6 and ginger supplementation. But it soon stopped working and I asked my nurse practitioner (who acts as my family doctor) for a prescription for diclectin. My subsequent refills were prescribed by my midwives. I couldn’t find the exact receipts but I spent about $250 on diclectin throughout my entire pregnancy. Even though my nausea abated mid second trimester, I still took it occasionally to help me sleep.
My sleep went to crap pretty early on in pregnancy, so I did end up buying a pregnancy pillow at about 7 weeks. This is the one I got. The pillow, going to bed earlier and sleeping in more, taking naps, and taking the max dosage of magnesium possible during pregnancy (350mg) definitely helped.
In the second trimester, I invested in a series of pelvic floor physio appointments to take care of my pelvic floor during pregnancy, and learn how to take care of it during labour and postpartum. I found it incredibly helpful! I saw Nava at The Cheerful Pelvis and she was wonderful. I spent $570 total on those sessions.
Exercise wise, I tried to stay as active as possible during my pregnancy. I felt too ill to work out during the first trimester, but I slowly eased back into it during my second trimester. I walked every day and hit 10,000 steps most days. I also did a 30ish minute workout 2-4x per week. I did these YouTube workouts.
My husband and I also went on one last big vacation before the baby was born. I did this during the sweet spot in my second trimester (weeks 25-27). The end of the second trimester was when I felt the best and was up for an adventure. My best tips on traveling while pregnant I put in an instagram post here. I HIGHLY recommend going on one last trip with the partner just the two of you if it’s financially feasible. We spent two weeks in Tokyo and it was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken.
In the third trimester, I started getting a lot more back pain. I saw a chiropractor at Mint Integrative a couple of times, but I found massage to be the most helpful. I indulged in weekly massage the last couple of months before my due date and it was integral to my physical and emotional wellbeing. I spent $220 total in chiro visits and $1,105 on massage. I saw Cassidy and Nancy at Sunrise Health. I also saw my friend (Bronwyn at Sunrise Health) for weekly acupuncture starting at week 34 until week 40. I spent $300 on acupuncture.
It was during my third trimester that I also found out I was severely anemic (despite my iron levels being great in the first trimester and supplementing throughout pregnancy). It’s important to enter labour and postpartum with healthy levels of iron, so I opted to get a series of iron IV’s to boost my levels quickly. Yes, you can take oral supplements, but they take so much longer. Because I don’t have any extended health benefits, I had to pay out of pocket. I spent $337 on the iron and $190 on the appointments. I saw my colleague Dr. Shadi Saffari from Oak Integrative.
I decided to go on maternity leave at week 37. For me, this gave me enough time to rest and prepare for baby but also work as late into my pregnancy as I felt comfortable. Although the last couple of weeks were pretty tough, and I definitely wouldn’t have minded going off at 36 weeks. That’s mostly because of how physically uncomfortable and tired I was (third trimester insomnia was pretty brutal). I also have a job where I’m walking around all day and need to be mentally and emotionally “on”. I typically tell people that they will never regret going on leave earlier than they think. NEVER wait until your due date to go on leave if you can help it. And always have it in the back of your mind that the baby could come early! Anytime after 38 weeks is technically full term!
When I went on leave I spent a week getting the nursery and our house ready. I definitely deep cleaned every inch of our apartment and ordered the last baby things we needed. I also did daily labour prep exercises and made sure I went on daily 30-60 min walks (since that was the only exercise I could manage by that time!). I also did some cervical ripening/labour prep by eating 6 dates per day starting at week 36, and a daily cup of red raspberry leaf tea starting around week 38. Although the evidence is a bit weak for the red raspberry leaf, I enjoyed the taste and ritual. The dates however, have some scientific evidence to show that it helps reduce the need for induction.
And lastly, baby things. I got a significant amount of gifts/hand-me-downs from friends, neighbours, and patients, which I am beyond grateful for. I also spent about $700 buying second hand items from friends (car seat, stroller, breast pump, bassinet etc.). I also spent about $1200 on a ton of random new baby things (pacifiers, crib sheets, nose aspirator, nail clippers, burp cloths etc.). We were gifted a crib and nursery glider by my parents.
I did end up asking for a membrane sweep at 40 weeks and 2 days during my midwife appointment which worked a little too well! I ended up going into labour the next morning and had my beautiful baby boy at 2:31pm on Dec 18, 2024.
If you’ve made it through this far into the blog, thank you so, so much! I hope this helps with your pregnancy journey and I wish you the very best!
Much love,
Allison
