Before I get to the topic of this blog - Pregnancy and Constipation - I have to tell you that I saw the 18 week sonogram picture of my grandbaby yesterday. When I was pregnant with my first child, sonograms were for high risk pregnancies only. When I was pregnant with my second child, they were more common, but still very expensive. I opted not to have one.

When I look at pictures of heads and feet, beautifully formed in the womb. When I hear the good news that all four quadrants of the brain have formed perfectly, that the heart is beating normally, that liver and kidneys are functioning, I am amazed. While this child weighs less than a pound, it is very much a human being.

Not only that - BC has personality. SIL raced bicycles in college. DD tells me that BC's little legs were going constantly throughout the sonogram, so much so that it was hard for the doctor to count all ten toes! He told DD, your little one is bouncing off the walls. I'll need to have lots of energy to keep up when BC comes to visit.

I have learned something about my Darling Daughter during this pregnancy. She has battled constipation all her life. How did I not know that? How did I not take action, given the colon cancer issues in our family? Constipation is just not a thing that teenage girls or young women want to talk about with their mothers. But pregnancy lowers modesty barriers, and we have had some very honest talks.

Until she found out she was pregnant at about 6 weeks, her bowels had been normal - for her - which to my way of thinking is not anywhere close to acceptable. She only had bowel movements on days when her morning routine was normal - in other words work days when the traffic got her to the office calm and on time. Nothing on weekends, nothing on holidays. Even at that, she did not have a bowel movement every day - so for years she had been having 3-4 per week.

Her diet changed dramatically at 6 weeks pregnant. At first grain and fruit were the only things that tasted good. Then she began to crave meat. Salad, which had been a big part of her diet didn't taste good at all. Neither did raw vegetables. Eventually she complained to me that she was really constipated.

Dr. D recommends wheat bran for Type A constipation. DD didn't like the way it made her feel and it didn't help. Same for larch and acacia fiber, both of which work really well for Type O me. Psyllium products irritate both of us. Chewable Calcium Magnesium made her stomach feel inflamed. She was eating 8-10 prunes a day. They tasted good but didn't help the constipation. She was drinking lots of water.

One morning I got a text that said, "I was queasy yesterday and today, but I don't think it was morning sickness. It is more like indigestion, and I think it is related to my being constipated for so long." She went on to say that she couldn't drink water that morning. She was sipping, but that if she took a big drink of water it bubbled back up in her throat.

She said she had researched laxatives on the internet and they were not recommended for pregnant women because when they started muscle contractions in the bowels it could simulate labor and could cause miscarriage.

I was starting to get worried. I had no idea that her normal state was constipated. What she was describing sounded serious to me. She certainly did not need a blockage when she was pregnant. I had exhausted everything I knew to do.

We agreed it was time to email her OB. The doctor emailed back and recommended a stool softener called Colace. It is safe for pregnancy. DD started with the maximum dose. Even at that it took several days before she had any results. It was two weeks before she felt like her intestines were cleaned out.

She tried to cut back on the dose, but the constipation quickly came back. We have accepted the fact that she will just have to stay on a stool softener through this pregnancy. Frankly with our family history, I think she may need to keep Colace on hand for the rest of her life. From what I read, fecal material remaining too long in the colon is the single greatest risk factor for colon cancer.

After the baby comes, I would like to see her give fiber products another try. However, I am glad to know about a product that works and is considered safe even for mothers and their unborn babies.

El cuerpo se compone de trillones de células — Sí, entre células cerebrales, células de piel, así como células sanguíneas. Esencialmente, usted consiste de un montón de células amontonadas una encima de la otra. Puesto que de células estamos conformados, el mantenerlas funcionando a niveles óptimos es fundamental para la buena salud.

Al no ser capaces de funcionar correctamente, el mecanismo entero falla y esto conduce a enfermedad, obesidad, fatiga y otros estragos. El buen funcionamiento celular comienza por una membrana celular suave. La hormona de insulina actúa como llave que abre dicha membrana celular permitiendo la absorción de nutriente. Cuando la membrana celular es suave, se abre fácilmente, permitiendo que los nutrientes fluyan en su interior nutriendo a la célula. Pero cuando la membrana celular se vuelve dura y quebradiza debido a varios factores como el envejecimiento, la nutrición inadecuada o por enfermedad, dicha insulina no puede "abrir" la puerta y los nutrientes no pueden ser absorbidos por la célula. Aunque usted este alimentando a su estómago, sus células se están muriendo de hambre! Esto puede tener muchas consecuencias, diabetes tipo 2 (también conocida como resistencia a la insulina), fatiga, confusión mental, enfermedad... la lista sigue y sigue.

Cuando la pared celular es flexible y pueden entrar los nutrientes a hacer su trabajo, se nutre la mitocondria celular— la cual conduce a una mayor tasa metabólica (que significa que su cuerpo logra quemar calorías con mayor eficacia y no almacena en forma de grasa!). El resultado de ello siendo aumento de energía, claridad mental y mejor salud en general.

¿Estás listo para agilizar el metabolismo, nutrir mejor a sus células, quemar calorías y alejar a la enfermedad?

A continuación le enumeraremos 5 Pasos a seguir para lograr dicha salud celular:

1. Comer de acuerdo a su tipo
Antes que nada está la nutrición apropiada. Alimentarse de proteínas, verduras, frutas, grano y grasas para su tipo de sangre y/o genotipo.

2. Mantenerse hidratado
Beber suficiente agua (la mitad de su peso en onzas de agua). Los refrescos u otras bebidas azucaradas no hidratan a nivel celular, mejor evitarlas.

3. Ejercitarse
El ejercicio estimula el metabolismo celular. Aunque solo camine, salga y a moverse, oxigenese.

4. Alimentar la mitocondria
Las grasas benéficas y los suplementos, como el dúo novedoso Membrosia y aceite correspondiente, membrosia Fluidizer , están específicamente formulados para mejorar la flexibilidad de la membrana celular.

Una de las herramientas más útiles en medicina clínica es el analizador de bioimpedancia (BIA) (lo utiliza el Dr D Adamo en su clínica), puede determinar la cantidad de 'masa de tejido activo' (órganos y músculos) quemador de calorías, contra lo metabólicamente inerte (agua y la grasa).

La Bioimpedancia puede también medir con precisión la cantidad de agua en el cuerpo y el porcentaje de agua que está dentro (intracelular) versus fuera (extracelular) de la célula. En un estado de salud óptimo nos gusta ver el 60% de agua en el cuerpo de manera intracelular. Tener demasiada agua extracelular es generalmente un signo de envejecimiento, bajo rendimiento o enfermedad. Eso se debe a que cada célula de nuestro cuerpo es un pequeño generador, y a mayor nivel de agua el funcionamiento es mejor: la RNA vuela con mayor rapidez del núcleo al cuerpo de la célula, el exceso de calor es liberado con mayor eficacia y los aminoácidos, las proteínas, las hormonas y otros productos celulares llegan a tiempo y en mejor estado.

Un valor clave en la lectura de BIA es el 'ángulo de fase', un valor único que varía de 4,5 a 9,0 entre las personas. Un ángulo de fase menor es consistente con la incapacidad celular de almacenar energía y una indicación de falla en la capacidad celular de controlar la permeabilidad de las membranas externas. Un ángulo de fase alto es consistente con gran cantidad de membrana celular intacta y el control efectivo de lo que entra y sale de la célula. Como con la compartimentación del agua, un ángulo de fase menor equivale a envejecimiento acelerado, inflamación, deficiente equilibrio de agua y peso excesivo.

Las membranas celulares están compuestas de grasa, proteína, una pizca de hidrato de carbono (como su tipo de sangre) y algo que se llama fosfolípido. Los fosfolípidos permiten que la grasa y el agua, que normalmente no son muy afectos, interactúen un poco. Muchos fosfolípidos (como la lecitina) son buenos emulsificantes que permiten que las grasas 'se mezclen' con agua haciendo que sus gotas se vuelvan lo suficientemente pequeñas para que puedan nadar a través del agua. Esta propiedad de los fosfolípidos permite a la célula hacer una membrana bi-lipídica en su exterior — un sándwich de fosfolípidos con 'la cabeza' de la molécula mirando hacia afuera en ambas direcciones y 'las colas' mirando hacia el interior. La membrana bi-lípida permite que las proteínas y otras cosas complejas naden alrededor del exterior de la célula de una manera más elegante y fluida. Los niños, los jóvenes y los adultos sanos tienen membranas celulares bien jugosas con moléculas y receptores moviéndose por doquier. A medida que envejecemos, o cuando estamos enfermos, las membranas bi-lípidas se van adelgazando y van perdiendo su fluidez. Esto interfiere con la capacidad para mantener el agua dentro de la célula y compromete la capacidad celular de responder a hormonas y a otras influencias del mundo exterior.

No es de sorprenderse que el Dr D Adamo hace casi dos décadas ya había escrito acerca de esta bebida 'Membrosía’, en su primer libro ERFYT. El concepto detrás de dicha bebida es bastante simple: devolver los nutrientes fosfolípidos necesarios en sus cantidades apropiadas a nivel celular. Esto resulta ser bastante simple. Empezar con cierta cantidad de lecitina, mezclarla con una cierta cantidad de aceite y luego añadir 4-6 onzas de jugo. Tomarlo diariamente a primera hora por la mañana.

Con el tiempo evoluciono la fórmula para también incluir el Trehalose, una fascinante molécula que fomenta la eliminación de desecho celular y Uridine, un nucleótido (bloque) de la molécula de ARN. El Trehalose acelera la respuesta, mientras que el Uridine mejorar los resultados en general. La formula contiene una combinación minuciosa de aceites, de comino negro, de semilla de perilla y de nuez. El comino negro se ha utilizado medicinalmente desde la antigüedad y aunado al aceite de nuez, tiene efectos positivos sobre el control de las alergias y fomenta la desintoxicación del sistema nervioso. El aceite de semilla de perilla es rico en ácido rosmarínico, que ha mostrado ser regulador optimo de la función inmune.

Después de años de investigación y desarrollo, el Dr D Adamo diseño una fórmula dual (complejo membrosía y membrosía Fluidizer) compuesta de ingredientes de calidad en las proporciones exactas necesarias para optimizar la salud de la membrana celular. Además, el nuevo sistema evita la tediosa necesidad de comprar cada ingrediente por separado.
Hay una notoria mejora en dicho ángulo de fase y equilibrio del agua celular en aquellos que consumen 'The Drink' (así le dicen en la clínica). Esta mejora de Membrana celular significa un metabolismo más eficiente, una mejor respuesta a y control de nuestras hormonas así como mejora en el señalamiento del sistema nervioso. Casi todos reportan tener mayor energía, menos signos de envejecimiento, como arrugas y flacidez, una sensación general de bienestar y felicidad así como un aumento de energía. La mayoría continúa tomándolo aun alcanzado su objetivo clínico con respecto a su lectura de BIA (Bioimpedancia).

Nota: La Lecitina, que a menudo es derivada de la soja, puede que sea un alimento a evitar para algunos tipos de sangre. Pero el Dr D Adamo se vio a la tarea de estudiarla extensivamente y determino que la purificación de la lecitina de soja es tan completa y absoluta que es virtualmente imposible detectar una sola molécula de ADN de soja en el producto acabado, así que para aquellos con sangre tipo B, o los O no secretores, tampoco es considerada una lectina toxica, por ello la incluye en su fórmula Membrosia.

La muy buena noticia que les tengo a todos mis lectores es el hecho inaudito de que todo esto acerca del angulo de fase de BIA viene ya calculado dentro de la interfasia de SWAMI dadas todas y cada una de las variables personales que ingresamos al sistema, brindándoles una guía personalizada de prevención, curación y reseteo genético único en su genero.

Por si todo esto fuera poco y para que logren crear suculentas recetas saludables y compatibles de acuerdo a cada tipo de sangre, y aun no cuentan con su reporte nutrigenomico SWAMI, han salido a la venta estos bellísimos libros de cocina con un contenido de recetas inigualables. Bonne Appétit!!

When DD was coming out of her exercise and eating disorder, we had no idea whether she would ever be able to have a baby. She told me, even back then, that if God ever allowed her to get pregnant knowing how much to exercise would be the hardest thing for her. That has turned out to be true.

Before she got pregnant, DD and SIL were doing regular, strenuous exercise. The first text DD sent about exercise came on her only bad day of Morning Sickness. She wrote, "Don't worry about me exercising. I'm more worried about eating...ever again."

As she got queasiness under control, she began to exercise again. "BC liked the exercise video we did tonight. We have a much happier baby now." Another text said, "Mental image for you: While I do an exercise video, BC is swinging around like Tarzan on the umbilical cord."

One Monday DD did an exercise video that involved a lot of jumping around. On Tuesday, she did an aerobic workout on an exercise bicycle. That night I got a panicked phone call. DD had some mild spotting. It was only a few drops, but it frightened us all.

The next day I got this text, "So far this morning, all is OK, I am just nervous. This little life was so precious to me before - and now, when something might be wrong, I realize how even more precious it is. I love BC with all of my heart. This little unexpected life means the world to me. Oh Lord, please keep little BC safe in my womb."

DD's OB has an email address where patients can ask questions and get an immediate response from her staff. By 8:30 DD had sent all of her symptoms to the office. The doctor herself called and said she was not worried unless the spotting got heavier. She mentioned several things that could cause spotting in the second trimester, and one of them was exercise.

DD sent this text, "I need to be careful. Tonight I am resting. Tomorrow, maybe some leg lifts...maybe. I think I will stay off cardio equipment for at least a week. This really shook me up."

Once the crisis was past, I sent her my comments:

When we first read about BTD, Dr. D'Adamo said that Type As should do calming, centering exercise. In the early days we noticed this was true in our family. The Type Os gravitated toward more strenuous exercise than the Type As.

During your exercise/eating disorder you pushed yourself to excel in cardio exercise. You adapted to intense physical exercise. Your muscle tone was incredible. I stopped trying to convince you to act like an A, because you were doing so well. You might want to revisit this while you are pregnant. I suggest you slow things down. Do some pilates. Walk - either outside or on the treadmill. Do back exercises - you'll really be glad you did when you get to third trimester. Focus on strength and flexibility rather than aerobic.

The book What to Expect When You're Expecting had a lot of exercises that concentrate on those goals. Eat Right for your Baby allows some low impact for Type As, but also has a list of cautions. Dr. D'Adamo doesn't recommend weights (except very light weights) for 2nd or 3rd trimester. After yesterday, I would be cautious.

DD looked up spotting on The Bump. One of the comments she liked said:

I was running, walking, and going to the gym regularly early in my pregnancy when I experienced spotting after a run. I called my OB and she told me to try a week of rest (no sex or exercise) and to call if it did not go away. It went away in a couple of days and I gradually ramped my exercise back up but stayed away from anything high impact (no step aerobics or running) and stuck to walking, elliptical machine and got a prenatal strength video. I have not had any problems since. Running was not worth the health of my child and I figured I can get back to it as soon as she is born.

Since that episode there has been no more spotting. DD has a daily struggle to find the right balance between exercising enough and not overdoing it. As she predicted long before she became pregnant, moderation in exercise is hard for her.

I've given her many ideas - it's hard for a future grandmother to keep quiet. I think two of them have been helpful enough to mention here.

DD was concerned that she could see what she thought were dimpled fat cells. It reminded her of how her legs used to look. I knew that she was eating a balanced and healthy diet. She was not overeating to the level of adding fat cells. I reminded her that during pregnancy not only was the baby growing, but she would be storing fluid. She needed that fluid for increased blood supply and other physical changes that are normal in pregnancy. I suggested that what she was seeing was more likely to be cells filled with fluid than fat cells.

Some exercise equipment shows visual patterns representing levels of intensity. I suggested that DD exercise in the shape of a pyramid. Start slow, give her body plenty of time to warm up. Gradually increase intensity. Don't stay at peak intensity for long, like at the peak of the pyramid. Gradually decrease intensity, letting her body slowly return to normal. She has tried this for several days and tells me it makes her feel good.

DD has her next doctor appointment in a few days. I'm curious to see what the doctor says about exercise. But as DD said so well in a text, "I know exercise is important, so I want to workout, but BC is even more important."

Introduction:

PANDAS, is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal (Infections.)

The term is used to describe a subset of children who usually have dramatic, "overnight" onset of symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including motor or vocal tics, obsessions, and/or compulsions and/or tic disorders like Tourettes Syndrome.
The PANDAS disorder is an autoimmune problem that attacks the brain and if left untreated can cause permanent damage.
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An extrapolation from this is if PANDAS causes OCD and Touretts behaviors then why couldn’t PANDAS also be linked to Autism? Since Strep is so prevalent in young children and PANDAS is caused by non symptomatic strep, it could be connected.

Following Eat Right For Your Type (your GenoType or SWAMI) is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-microbial in and of itself. This would give children that added protection against such a nasty disease.

DD texts me this week that Baby Cakes can smile and frown. Is that not fascinating!?! There in the womb at 14 weeks BC can express pleasure and pain.

I've got blogs half written in my head about exercise in pregnancy, plus what BC likes DD to eat, but something funny happened last night, and I'm going to do a silly; tongue in cheek blog.

I have several friends whose young adult children have been trapped by prescription upper and downer drugs. What I am told is that someone in college will get a prescription for one of the medications that makes you more alert and gives you more energy. Someone else will get a prescription for one of the medications that calms you down and lets you sleep.

They see their friends having trouble focusing or sleeping and they share their medications. (This is, of course illegal) Why doctors give unlimited refills on these things is beyond my understanding, but evidently they do. The students become dependent on uppers in the day to help them focus in class and downers at night to calm themselves down so they can sleep. By they time they are young adults and have jobs, some of them are seriously addicted.

I have heard horror stories about depression, suicidal thoughts, and inability to function when the supply of the drugs are cut off.

None of that is funny, silly, or tongue in cheek. It is a serious problem.

However, this is how a 60 year old health nut who wouldn't dream of polluting her body with that kind of prescription drugs experienced the same thing - - - naturally.

Yesterday afternoon I fixed myself a big glass of green tea. I got distracted by many things and about 9:30 I noticed the tea still sitting on its coaster beside the computer. I was thirsty, and I didn't give it a second thought; I just drank it down. The caffeine hit a few minutes later, and all of my creative brain cells were firing. I was energetic and enthusiastic.

To get 8 hours of sleep, I've got to be in bed by 11:00. At 10:45 I was still on a caffeine high. I had no interest in relaxing to go to sleep. If I didn't think of something, it was going to be a short night. What relaxes me? What sends me to sleep in 20 minutes? Chewable Calcium Magnesium (favorite brand is Country Life). I crunched up two tablets; climbed in bed; closed my eyes; and had a great night's sleep.

I am not recommending this as a lifestyle. Stay away from prescription uppers and downers, no matter what. Enjoy your green tea early in the day. Take cal/mag in the right doses for nutritional purposes.

But I do have to laugh at myself for one day of "natural" uppers and downers.

The Jewish holiday of Succos is coming up tomorrow night. Right on the heels of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, it’s time to build the succah and get ready for Yom Tov again.

Succos, also called Succot, is sometimes translated as “The Holiday of Booths.” It’s a Biblical holiday where we live in temporary dwellings for the week, in memory of the tents the Israelites used in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. The roof needs to be made of 100% natural materials, such as bamboo or tree limbs, and can’t be completely water tight. There need to be holes in the “schach” that let us see the sky through it, or it’s not a kosher succah. I remember one year when friends built their first succah, using branches from deciduous trees for the schach. The leaves turned brown and fell off during the 7 day festival, and we kept getting leaves in our food!

Everybody eats in the succah, unless it's raining, and some people also sleep in the succah. The one year my daughters tried that, the sprinklers came on in the middle of the night and they got soaked! I’ve known families who build a small succah on the porch outside the master bedroom, and sleep in that, while entertaining guests in a larger succah on the patio outside the dining room.

We don’t have anything that fancy. Our succah has a metal frame, nylon canvas sides, and the roof is a bamboo mat specifically manufactured for this purpose. We can get it assembled in about an hour- two if you count the time it takes us to bring up the folding table and locate the folding chairs. We usually build it on our back lawn, right outside the back doors. Since my apartment is on the second floor, we have to carry all the food down a flight of stairs before we can eat in the succah. Plus the table that fits in the succah is smaller than the one in my kitchen, so there isn’t much space for a lot of dishes on the table.

This changes my meal planning somewhat. This isn’t a good time to roast a whole turkey, slice what we need, and save the leftovers for other meals. I used to only make “one meal dinners” in a foil pan for Succos. I’ve since discovered that it’s not all that hard to pile a small foil pan or two on top of a big one and carry both downstairs together. Plus, my kids are bigger now and it’s not too much to carry if we all take something. So now I’ll still make “meat and veggies” in one pan, but I don’t mind cooking the rice in a separate pan and roasting potatoes in a third- it all still fits well enough on the table and isn’t too hard to carry down.

The challenge is to find different ways to cook foil pans full of “meat and veggies” that doesn’t get repetitive or boring, and that’s still compliant for everybody- or at least “mostly compliant.” I’m OK with small “cheats” at holiday time. Feel free to post any recipe ideas in the “comments” section.

It has been estimated that the US distribution of blood types is in the neighborhood of 44% O, 42% A, 10% B, and 4% AB. The combination most often paired in couples in my files/ experience is: O with A. I won't speculate as to why that is, but I have found that a brief explanation of the differences in health profile, diet, fitness needs and temperament, go a long way toward piquing O and A interest in Dr. D'Adamo's work. As I did last night, I tell folks:

You're O / Honey is A:
Honey expects you to cut back on your red meat and eat more rice and pasta than you'd care to. Honey might even be a vegetarian and thinks Dean Ornish's or macrobiotic dietary guidelines are Best for Everyone. But A's cooking and choices don't work for you; you feel sluggish after one of A's meals, as if you need higher octane fuel.
Honey's stress threshold might be lower than yours. S/he doesn't seem as hardy a specimen, as if there's something more delicate or high-strung about him or her that requires your protection and sensitivity. Your idea of a fun day together includes far more aerobic exertion than A would like. S/he enjoys golf or yoga - these bore the heck out of you. When you try tennis as your happy compromise, you may find yourself trying to work up a serious sweat while A focuses on perfecting strokes and self-competing, perhaps stressfully. If you two decide on a bike ride, you say, "Cool - Let's ride across the bridge, brunch in Sausalito, and come back," while A would be more comfortable with a leisurely ride around the neighborhood.
Sometimes you feel you're carrying all the weight of the household/family/relationship, but you admit your A is responsible, though not necessarily obviously passionate or energetic.

You're A and your Honey is O:
Honey drives you hard - can even seem a nag or taskmaster, but wears it well, and you're often grateful for the challenges and inspiration. O can give you the "kick in the pants" you need, spurring you to greater career engagement and satisfaction -- or can wear you out trying to reach ever higher, even beyond your capacity.
Honey has a temper. It can shatter your peace, and you just might take to occasionally tuning it out. S/he might appreciate your even keel, but you must consciously explore ways to deal with O intensity.
Honey is more naturally, constitutionally competitive out there in the world; it's more important to O self-esteem to make a splash, and s/he loves knowing the ropes and the right names. You're more comfortable in a somewhat more circumscribed domain, wherein you're happy to keep to your schedule/ routine and work out the fine points. You may be more mental where O is physical. You may fancy chess or puzzles or crafts where O has little patience for these.
Sometimes you may wish your O would relax, act more like a yogi or Buddhist. But if you read Dr. Atkins instead of Dr. Ornish, you'll see what works better for Honey than for you. It's not that s/he really despises Veganism or tofu-eaters; it's just that O can't relate to a way of eating that makes him/her feel unwell. Don't take it personally or ply your O with literature and references versus Meat, or with soyfoods. Rather, read Eat Right 4 Your Type ...and Vive la Différence.

Once O and A understand the intrinsic constitutional differences, this is a complementary pairing that runs the gamut of personality, interest and style, modeling a variety of approaches for any children born to it. And, Good News for the O/A couple: Any biological children will be O or A -- no additional types to consider in the household.
O/A relationship guidelines can be applied to parent-child and sibling-sibling relationships, too.
"Sheesh - you're just like your father!" might find some explanatory foundation in blood type.

Some version of the above Diversity Explanation has interested many I've told in the bloodtype work. It brings a practical, real-life solution directly to points of curiosity and even vexation in the actual day-to-day lives of many couples, and individuals. Where the D'Adamo work is thus brought down to earth for someone, s/he is not likely to easily scorn it where it is derided, but might instead say, "There may be something to it."

Try it out.

When I was pregnant with our first child I was working as a commission sales person for a radio station. I would schedule my morning appointments close to home so I could sleep late except for the mornings we had sales meetings. If I was wiped out in the afternoon, I would go home and take a nap. I was not cheating my employer because I continued to meet my sales quota. I was, however, able to listen to my body, and in the first trimester my body wanted lots of rest.

Before the end of the first trimester, my Honorable Husband said I could quit my job if I wanted to. We had saved enough money to pay for the baby. I was planning to be an at home Mom. If I continued working there would be extra expenses of a professional maternity wardrobe. I had a head full of ideas for making all of the nursery decorations. I thought about his offer for a minute or two and said, "Yes!"

Between high doses of Vitamin B6 and lots of sleep, I didn't have morning sickness, just occasionally a queasy feeling.

DD did not have that luxury in her first trimester. She works in advertising and marketing. She must be at work on time. She has a one hour commute from home to office. This meant she got up early - about 5:30 and got home late - about 7:00. There was no way she could get eight hours of sleep, much less the amount of sleep that BC wanted.

One day I got a text that said, "I cannot get enough sleep. All I want to do is curl up and sleep for the next 2-3 months." On Saturday afternoon I got another text: "Sleeping until 11 makes us feel so good."

She came up with several creative ideas that let her get a little extra rest. Some mornings she would leave for work extra early to avoid the traffic. Then she would sleep in her car until time for work. Her office has a fitness center for employees. Every day at lunch she would curl up on the mats and sleep for an hour. Often in the afternoon, she would go to sleep on the mats giving the traffic time to thin out. It meant she got home late, but she spent less time sitting in the car and got extra sleep.

Friends warned her about sleeping on either her stomach or her back. Those, of course are her favorite sleep positions. Last week I got this text: "I have a new pregnancy problem. Sleeping on my sides is making my hips, knees, shoulders, and elbows hurt. Not my joints, but pressure points on my skin. I tried pillows. No luck."

The next day she said, "I went to sleep sitting up. At some point in the night I went to my side. It was better, but now my neck hurts." Obviously sitting up was not going to solve the problem.

HH and I went to see her last weekend. We took an egg crate from our camping equipment. That worked great on the pressure points. No more sore spots in the mornings. I showed her how to put pillows behind her back when she was on her side. She can lean back on them so that she is technically on her side, but she feels support on her back. That seemed to help as well.

Now that she has entered the second trimester, she isn't as tired. In fact I would say that last weekend she was a little hyper. It was good to see all of her energy.

Modern women certainly have many advantages in terms of opportunity, creativity, and income. Our grandmothers and great grandmothers worked from home. They contributed to family economics in many ways, but rarely got recognition. The advantage they had was being able to listen to their bodies and accommodate their unborn baby's need for rest.