Read your way to a healthy pregnancy

I'm not enrolled in a Lamaze class to prepare for the late May birth of my baby (is that a mistake?). However I was checking out the Lamaze Web site and found a quick sheet you can reference of "2008 Recommended Resources for Pregnant Women and their families" that may be of interest if you're expecting too.

A few books I hadn't heard of before that stood out to me:

• Nurturing Baby and me during Pregnancy (book and CD with ways to bond with your baby)
• Breathe your way through birth with yoga
• Mama Knows Breast: A Beginner's Guide to Breastfeeding (One Amazon reviewer called it a "Fun Breastfeeding 'Manual' for Moms." Received five stars from six customer reviews.)

I'm all about utilizing free resources - that's what you get for being raised by teachers - so I'm looking them up at the local library now. Otherwise I'll add to my Amazon wish list. I'm most interested in the breathing book for labor. Let me know if you recommend any of these books.

Office yoga for TGIF

TGIF! I used to make fun of this acronym, but now that I've been in the hamster wheel of corporate America for a while, I understand the phrase more and more. Since it's Friday I hope you're not stressed out today, but I have a few yoga moves you can do while at work, even if you can't get away from your desk.

iYogalife.com has a short video and article on a couple of yoga postures that can be done during a two-minute break. Who doesn't have two minutes?

On my desk at work, I keep the book Office Yoga front and center to remind me to take little breaks every hour or so. Especially being pregnant, I need to move around so I don't get edema (swelling) or back pain. The book has yoga moves I can do right in my chair in the safety of my cube, although there are a few that may appear odd if someone sneaks up behind me. Hee hee - my coworkers think I'm the "odd yogini" anyhow so why not push the envelope? :)

The "Kick back Log-on pose" and "Human Basketball Net" on pages 30 and 31 are safe and feel awesome. When first logging onto the computer in the morning, it takes a few minutes. Take advantage of this time by sitting in your chair and interlacing your fingers behind your head. Open up your elbows towards your back and relax your shoulders. Maybe shut down your eyes and envision how you'd like your day to be and what you want to happen. The second pose is stretching your arms overhead and interlacing your fingers, pushing palms up. You can also take this farther by leaning to one side and then the other.

It's amazing what a little yoga a day can do.

Celeb bumps GALORE!

The bump can't hide any longer - Brangelina is definitely preggers. Looks like she's at least four to five months along, but I guess women show earlier on in their second pregnancy.

In my post on Jan. 30 I blogged about the possibility, and it apparently is true since her fairly apparent bump is showing in her nice, snug black dress (take that Team Aniston - I can't let go, ok?!). Much different than the muumuu she wore to the SAG awards. The U.S. birth rate hit a 35-year high in 2007, and it seems like the celebs are reflecting the country's trend. Every day another one literally pops up - Minnie Driver is another new example. Jon Stewart even did a bit within the Oscars this last Sunday about all the pregnant actresses attending the awards show - watch it below if you missed it.

New search tool

Notice anything new on the ol' blog???? Hmmmmmmmmmmm? Really, you give up already? Okay, fine don't play along! Check out the new search widget called Lijit I installed on the top left for your convenience.

I'm pumped about the search tool because it allows you to seek specific information on my blog plus related content on Web sites I've saved in del.icio.us (social bookmarking site, which is very cool itself) and various other Web sources (Facebook, YouTube and other blogs I like, etc.). Try it out.

Here's about a three-minute clip from Jennifer Wolfe's 15-minute prenatal yoga DVD I found on YouTube. I love her Prenatal Vinyasa DVD - my only pet peeve about it was that it was about 90 minutes without chapters so it looks like she's created another one with segments! Although this clip is short, it's a good way to start your morning and also give you a taste of the DVD.

Sun Salutations for the bump

Other pregnant ladies ask me how to modify yoga postures for the bump. I found a good modification for sun salutations. Never heard of camper's pose, but it looks interesting and good for opening the hips.

If you're in the Kansas City area and you're a YMCA member, looks like I may teach a prenatal yoga workshop at my local YMCA in Prairie Village, Kan., in mid March. I'm really excited about the opportunity, and I'll post more about it later when it gets solidified. Thank you Aunalise for commenting and asking me about it. Motivated me to pitch the idea!

What's your vibe?

"The child is thinking and receiving vibrational thought from you on the day that he enters your environment. That is the reason that beliefs are transmitted so easily from parent to child, from parent to child, from parent to child. The child is vibrationally receiving your fears, your beliefs, even without your spoken word... If you want to do that which is of greatest value for your child, give thought only to that which you want, and your child will receive only those wanted thoughts."

~Excerpted from a workshop in “The Law of Attraction, The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham” on July 1, 2006

Daily I receive e-mails from Abraham - you can sign up too. I've been saving the quote above, and today seems ideal to post it because I have been feeling a lot of fear about the future. About being a new mother, my husband finding a job (he lost his after Christmas), our ability to afford and take care of our new baby, and any other related stress. Throughout my pregnancy and since my husband's layoff, I've stayed fairly calm (doing yoga definitely helps), but today I woke up with an overwhelming amount of fear. Then I reread Abraham's quote above, which reminded me not only is my F.E.A.R. (False Evidence Appearing Real) hindering my growth but my unborn child's. What good is my fear going to do for either one of us but create more negativity?

If you read the teachings of Abraham, you see that "life is supposed to be fun." We're supposed to reach for a higher feeling thought and "the purpose of life is joy." We "create our reality with our thoughts" and what we focus on is what comes into our life, intentional or not. So if I'm focusing on fear and all the negatives, I will create just that. Therefore, I need to focus on the positives in my life: a healthy baby, a wonderful marriage, my supportive family and friends, my great job, etc. And also concentrate on a form of income for my husband that pays him well and appreciates his talents and creative ability.

As Abraham says, "Relax into your natural Well-being. All is well. The essence of all that you appreciate is constantly flowing into your reality. As you find more things to appreciate, your state of appreciation opens more avenues to more to feel appreciation for. (As you think you vibrate. As you vibrate you attract.)"

I'm a Weeble Wobble

Do you remember playing with Weeble Wobbles growing up? I've reached the point in my pregnancy where I'm shaped like the egg-shaped toys that never fall down. The Weebles' advertising slogan became somewhat of a catchphrase: "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down." Apparently pregnant chicks follow the same logic according to Web article, "Why pregnant women don't topple over."

Scientists think they’ve found the answer: There’s slight differences between women and men in one lower back vertebrae and a joint in the hip, which allow women to adjust their center of gravity.

Tests were performed to display that the slight changes in evolution allowed women walking on two feet to carry the extra belly weight minus falling over and the back pain one would expect.

Isn't the body miraculous how it adjusts to its changing needs? With how big my belly is getting, I'm amazed daily that I can maintain my equilibrium on my two feet let alone continue my yoga practice.