Hi Zak,

This is Malakai's mum, Georgia We met at your dad's house a while ago. Glad to see you hanging around here. I met your mum at Jen's potluck last month...but I didn't realise it was her as I know her as Nicole not Swami

Being only 4 Malakai can't read yet but I'm going to read your journal to him when he's at my place and I'll type back to you for him. He eats mostly raw at my house and once we move house this weekend I intend on us going back to 100% raw as I want my new baby to be a raw foodist from birth and Malakai's behaviour is much calmer and focused when he's on raw at my house. I just spoke to your dad this morning. Maybe we can get him onto raw too, hey!! He seems interested to learn more which I think is great. ONe step at a time hey!! Good luck with your thirty day challenge...and I hope you get a yummy rwa cake for your birthday. Miriam and I each made Malakai a raw cake for his 4th Birthday and I maed a raw pizza, cookies, dips, ice-cream, etc and everyone loved it...even the meat-eating cooked fooders we know thought it was the yummiest food ever!!!

Anyway, I've gotta get back to work or none of my customers are going to get their yummy organic fruit and veg this week...and I know Miriam will be most unhappy if that happens

Take care and catch up soon,
Love Georgia
ps. enjoy getting Ruby this weekend..I saw the pics...she looks beautiful!! Have fun

Hey Meg,

The new house sounds great!! We move this Friday into a new place...rental only but it's what we wanted and a really good price so it'll be home for now Am looking forward to finally getting to nest and finally knowing where I'll be birthing...now I can make it all how I want it. I'm 22 weeks today and found out yesterday that I'm having a girl....the baby sister that Malakai has had as his imaginary friend ever since he was a toddler :0 He's so pleased and so are we. I was pretty certain we were having a girl right from the start...the only reason I had a scan was because I am SO big compared to my pregnancy with Malakai that my midwife started to think I was having twins!!

Jen - sounds like we've had a similar pregnancy. I struggled keeping any raw down for the first 3 1/2 months...I couldn't even look at salad or nuts/seeds and fruit when I could handle eating it generally came straight back up within 20 mins! I was SOOO sick for nearly four months...now I'm enjoying mostly raw (about 90%) and am only vomiting every few days. Thanks heaven...I have to admit I was completely over feeling so C#*P for so long. And what I find amazing is that in that time I still put on 15kg!!!!!!!!!!! I'm huge!!!

Anyway, it's nice to be back here at RP and hearing your stories. I hope to make this a more regular thing as I know it helps me stick to raw when I come on here for support...i felt pretty bad when all I wanted to eat was eggs, steak, or potato for a few months!!! Pregnancy is a weird and wonderful thing

hey hon, add me. You know my email address. Thanks

Thanks Hon...unfortunately we have things planned for today...BUT..we are coming down to the Miami markets tomorrow morning. Will ring you later to arrange to meet you there xo

Hey Jen,

Having a baby can be very expensive...or very cheap! If you do Elimination Communication(EC) you won't have the cost of nappies...or atleast do cloth nappies...much cheaper than disposables, if you co-sleep...no cot cost, get a sling...much cheaper than a pram, Malakai has practically grown up in hand-me-down clothes as baby's/kids grow up so fast they don't wear out there clothing (ask friends who have older baby's or check out op-shops. I imagine you're planning on breastfeeding so you won't have any expenses there...other than you being hungrier The only thing I spent a lot of money on was a car seat...and there are birth to 18-20kg one's on the market which means they will fit in it for a long time before you will need to change to a booster seat.

So it can be done on a tight budget and to me, done more naturally, than going out and buyoing every mod con. Your baby needs you...your arms, your love and your bare breasts!! That's about it

Thanks Jen!! Glad to hear your feeling a bit better! I'm due around the 24th March...I know what date we conceived so it's pretty easy to estimate the due date. We won't be having any ultrasounds unless there are any complications. Malakai kept covering his face during his ultrsound everytime the scan went over his face...so i figure he really didn't enjoy it!

And I also was going to ask what Becky said...have you thought of co-sleeping? There is a really good book called "Three in a(the?) Bed" By Deborah someone...she's an english lady. There are also websites like Natural Parenting that talks about co-sleeping. I'd never have it any other way! ANd it makes it much easier for breastfeeding. Kai co-slept with me from night 1...and I know Becky has done co-sleeping with her kids so if you want to ask any questions I'm sure we can help you out.

I'm going to have a gripe now...I'm living in a share house with Martin (my fiancee), my son Malakai (part-time), and 2 other male house mates and there is another guy moving in this weekend into the caravan out the back of our house!! I'm SO over male energy at the moment. Especially when I'm feeling sick and tired constantly. And I'm tired of them all treating me like their mother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loving those hormones!!! AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

Ok, enough of a gripe...I think I need a women's day
Enjoy,
Georgia

Hey Jen,

What time are you going to the markets this SUnday? Martin, Malakai and I might come on down...the though of raw cake that i don't have to make is inspirational!!!

Thanks ladies

Yes, I agree Becky...I know I craved some weird food combos in the first trimester with Malakai...and I found that if i ate what i was craving i kept it down...whereas when i said, no i should have a salad or fruit....up it came!!! Yuck!!

I was so hesitant to announce my pregnancy on the forum coz i was eating cooked food...but i'm glad i have and i feel much better now

Love Georgia

Sorry to but in on your pregnancy here Jen...but I wanted to let you all know that I'm pregnant too!!! Yay!!!
I also got engaged on the same day that we found out I'm pregnant!

And I too can relate to the nausea thing!! Bleurgh!!! I had all day nausea nearly the whole nine months with my son's pregnancy and back then i was only about 50-75% raw. Well, I was doing really well at raw until I fell pregnant this time and then the nausea kicked in....6 DAYS AFTER I CONCEIVED!!!!!!! INSANE!!! At least it had the decency to wait until week 7 with Malakai

So i've been eating a lot of cooked and have felt guilty...yet i found with Malakai that if i ate what i craved the nausea wasn't as bad. But i'm 7 weeks now and am starting to feel pretty crap from eating the cooked food. I have had some raw cravings too...most notably tomatoes, olives and mandarins. I wanted to do a whole pregnancy raw and feel a bit disappointed that I haven't...and I know i need to get through and be a mum and run my business and that may mean not being 100% raw...though this is what I'm aiming for from now on. I think I have enough reserves of fat that I would rather not eat at the times that i feel completely nauseous than eat cooked and feel clogged and crap. I also notice that coooked immediately numbs my brain like a drug...takes me three times as long to get business stuff done as my brain seems lost in a cloud.

Anyway, I am so excited to be pregnant and i look forward to hearing how you'r going and maybe we can compare our journeys and support each other Jen as you're only about 4 weeks ahead of me in our pregnancy's.

Love Georgia

Congratulations Jen and Gary...well done! Enjoy it all xo

ps. it's not a raw book but if you want a laugh, get a hold of Kaz Cooke's book "Up the Duff". Bloody hilarious...i nearly wet myself laughing...especially when you need to pee all the time during the pregnancy

Hey Jill,

I have a similar thing with my blood pressure...usually around 90/50...even when I'm really healthy...if anything I've noticed that when I'm not healthy it goes up to around 100 or 110/60. As Freedom said, how you feel is a good indicator as low iron levels will make you feel quite fatigued and you will feel like you're short of breath when upon exertion as there is not enough iron to carry the oxygen around your body when exercising. If you pull down your lower eyelid and have a look at the inside, if it's really pale rather than a nice pinky-red then you may be low in iron. Although you are drinking the smoothie you may not be absorbing the iron? Finally, Harley has a point...we need to remember that all these "Norms" for medical test ranges are from the average SAD eating population...and with our type of diet our "no'raw'ms" will be quite different! Good luck and sorry I never made your birthday party.....that was the day I got served with the Court Papers from Malakai's dad...wasn't in a particularly social mood. Hope you all had a great night

Well, in the nicest possible way Harley YES!!!!!!!!!!! But it takes one to know one

My biggest issue with norms is that they are based on the average population and I'm sorry, but I have no interest in having the same level of "health" as the average person!! I remember my doctor commenting on my cholesterol levels once as they are always really low...well below the "normal range"...and he said that I had nothing to worry about and that he wasn't surprised as I was a vegan and not consuming the same kinds of foods as the average person! And he is a pretty middle of the road doctor...not some alternate hippie. I know when Malakai was younger he was a huge baby all on breast milk and was always way off the chart of norms for his age...still is...and again these norms were established from measuring the average baby...many formula fed...from years ago and were not at all relevant to my very healthy, happy fully breastfed, co-sleeping, non-vaccinated, sling-carried baby boy.

Also, from my memory, B12 is quite often taken from the gut as we need it isn't it...I mean our bacteria in our gut produces it for us and we use it as needed. So do we really need to be ingesting heaps and having it in high levels in our blood? And I also remember learnign that we get it from the dirt on our foods if we eat unwashed food...and with the amount of foraging that Harley does, I reckon he'd eat his fair share of dirt and bacterial matter

I agree with you on that one Harley...I'm making onion bread today from Panda's recipe...yummo!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am aware the cacao, onion and garlic all leave me feeling tired within minutes of consuming them!

I GET YOU COMPLETELY IVAN!!!!

Can completely relate to feeling like there are two cultural environments in existence!