Are there any magical foods to help get pregnant???

does running around after a 2 year old help? With my first pregnancy i did yoga, walked, worked out and felt better than ever before.  This pregnancy... i'm barely awake and barely can keep up with my 2 year old who thinks when his 8 month pregnant mommy is running to get him is his favorite activity.

several of my fellow yogis practiced up until one week before birth!  hardcore vinyasa flow classes, too!  it's recommended not to practice during the first trimester and to avoid twisting.  according to my friends, the yoga allowed their hips to be open, yielding a very comfortable birth.  

in my life after bulimia, i am growing everyday, opening up my heart to the prospect of one day finding comfort in being pregnant.  this post has given me additional inspiration.  you are so kind, alicia!  i wrote about my thoughts on pregnancy here:  http://nicoleandgwendolyn.com/2011/10/18/the-ex-bulimics-baby/.  

Unfortunately I'm not pregnant yet (I'm just 20 years old), but I agree so much with what you say. I go out for a walk everyday (sometimes I walk 7 kilometres, sometimes just 3 km), and I feel each time I do it, how much energy and happiness the trees and the nature give me. I really believe that the baby in you feel that.

I'm really looking forwards to live a vegan pregnancy, and I'm glad that you write about it.

Were do you walk? What kind of landscape is around L.A.?

I am 7 months pregnant and have been walking my dog, Roxy, about 2 miles in the morning and a short 20 minute walk in the afternoon.  I also have a 2 year old and was walking Roxy with the BOB stroller.  I've found that being so pregnant it's nice to walk alone and focus on the environmnet and being a "pack leader".  It feels really great and relaxing.  Good news to know that this could help my natural birth as well.

I walked my dogs every day when I was pregnant and even drove home during my lunch hour to do so.  I also lifted weights, but lighter weight than I lifted prior to pregnancy.

My labor and delivery was relatively easy and my doctor believes a lot of that had to do with my fitness level at the time I gave birth.

Gretchen

www.veggiegrettie.com 

I am a Belly Dancer-and contrary to the stereotype Belly Dancing was originally done for women by women to prepare their bodies/birth canal for birth. if you are planning on getting pregnant or already are, it is a fun way to get exercise and prepare your hips and stomach for birth. I would highly recommend it!

wow 5 miles the night before giving birth! thats impressive. i've heard swimming is excellent exercise for preggo ladies too!

http://livelovenyc.blogspot.com/

I walked almost every day when I was pregnant. I hiked in the woods and climbed steep hills. I walked for hours around the mall of america the day before I had my daughter. I had a natural birth with no drugs, 24 hour labor. I would do the same if I were to get pregnant again. I also lost all but 5 lbs of my pregnancy weight within a couple weeks of having her.

I'm a physical therapist and I love working with mom's to be.  I'm a big advocate for doing gentle daily exercises to strengthen the core, especially the pelvic floor muscles, open up the hips, and work on cardio/endurance to get ready for delivery (no matter how you decide to deliver) and get ready for the physical demands of being a mom.  Walking is a great way to work on your cardio/endurance, keeping the hips flexible and enganging the core.  Other great exercises are swimming, stationary biking, yoga, and Pilates.  Exercising during pregnancy also helps you recover from deliviery, get back into shape after your delivery, and have more energy for the coming sleepness nights. And bonus is you have more cardio capacity after pregnancy, kind of like a postpartum body high, from all the extra blood you needed for the pregnancy that you'll have more endurance postpartum than pre. Just remember to check with your midwife, ob-gyn or family practitioner before you start anything you didn't do regularly before pregnancy. 

Although both of my births were completely natural, the second labor and recovery was a lot easier. It can be attributed to many things I think, namely my awesome diet with  my 2nd compared to my terrible diet with my first. The other thing, I think, was that I walked 3 miles a day faithfully throughout my entire pregnancy the 2nd time around. Not even 2 days after delivery, my body felt like "normal" again, like I hadn't even given birth. Easier to get back to working out too!

Alicia, I would love to hear more about how you prepared mentally and physically for your labor with Bear, and what you changed, if anything, in your diet during your pregnancy.

I just got trained as a doula, and I've been vegan for several years - so it is super interesting for me to read these posts on healthy vegan pregnancies. I'm so excited to start working with women and will hopefully continue learning lots about healthy pregnancies and labors, especially as I continue my training toward becoming a midwife. Blessings and congratulations to Alicia and all of you moms and moms-to-be!

I just got trained as a doula, and I've been vegan for several years - so it is super interesting for me to read these posts on healthy vegan pregnancies. I'm so excited to start working with women and will hopefully continue learning lots about healthy pregnancies and labors, especially as I continue my training toward becoming a midwife. Blessings and congratulations to Alicia and all of you moms and moms-to-be!

Thank you for this post!  My hubbie & I want to start trying to get pregnant soon.  I would LOVE to see you write a Kind Pregnancy book- hint, hint- :-) 

is it ok to have natural birth? i am thinking about it (i am not pregnant). our culture has taught us to rely on hospitals/medicines too much, i guess.