I’m thrilled to announce that there is a mini Carra Lee brewing in my belly.
On the 25th of October we are expecting a little boy and I can already sense his little scorpion sting for passion (just like his mum) oozing through me!
Now that I’m into my second trimester I’m feeling a deep desire to share my pregnancy journey with my tribe. Especially to those women out there that are having issues with fertility or have been told fear statistics about fertility in your 30s.
Six months ago my blood tests pointed to quite a severe hormone imbalance. I had next to no progesterone, an over- supply of estrogen, super low iron and very unhappy adrenal glands.
To put it simply, I had a high chance of anovulation (when you are not ovulating) and was told that I would have problems conceiving.
This was devastating news to me, as I’ve always wanted nothing more than to be a mother. After over a decade of burnout and stress related health issues I felt I was finally ready to conceive. I felt mature enough, had my finances sorted and had found the love of my life.
Fortunately, my yogi instinct kicked in so rather than feeling like a failure, I remained positive and searched for ways to address these imbalances. I knew that my choices to push and punish my body for all the years I had (as an over-achiever and suffering with severe body dysmorphia) hadn’t served me.
One thing I knew for sure - I wasn’t going to give up on my number one goal in life.
So I reached out to some of the best alternative therapists in the natural fertility world and commenced my program of herbs and acupuncture.
Both of my therapists first and foremost recommended I ‘slow down’ (ah that good old line) but for the first time in my life, I really honored their advice. The reason being was that my desire to fall pregnant was far greater than my need to be highly prosperous and maintain low body fat.
They also recommended that I increase my calories and I especially had to re-introduce high quality red meat back into my diet to correct my iron.
After being predominantly plant-based for as many years as I had, this was certainly a struggle, but once again, I tuned back into myself and acknowledged that this was in fact the best way to get my fertility back on track, so I dived on in.
Bone broth and slow cooked meats (with lots of added vegetables) were my easiest ways to get back onto the carnivore wagon. With the support of my amazing Mother and partner opting to help prepare the meat dishes for me, I slowly assimilated to eating meat again and low and behold my iron levels recovered.
After four months of fortnightly treatment of acupuncture and maintenance on my not-so-appealing Chinese herbs I very surprisingly missed a period!! And that was it, I was 5 weeks pregnant. Here I am now at 17 weeks and our little man is still going strong.
I definitely feel like I want to continue sharing my on-going pregnancy journey with you guys as I know how prevalent fertility issues are. But for now, at this early stage of my pregnancy, the biggest message I have for busy woman out there wanting to fall pregnant or improve their fertility is:
- Slow down as much as you can. Maybe consider reducing work hours and other commitments if possible.
- Reduce your exercise load if you are a bit of a fitness fanatic.
- Make sure you are getting enough iron and protein into your diet and a add high quality red meat if you are iron deficient.
- Consult a reputable acupuncturist and naturopath.
Most importantly – do at least one act of self care every day. Whether it’s yoga, a bath, a nature walk, a dance class or meditation. (Side note - there are great apps these days if you find it hard to meditate – such as “Insight Timer” and “Calm”)
No one is too busy for self care – it’s simply a matter of priorities.
If you’re feeling depleted and burnt out though, self care sometimes just doesn’t cut it. That’s when we need a “health intervention”. It can be hard to break habits in our everyday life when we are surrounded by bad foods, alcohol, family and of course WORK!
But the reality is we don’t all have time to go to a yoga retreat but we can bring the RETREAT LIFETSTYLE home. I have recognised it can take a lot of time and money to commit to meditation classes and yoga classes so my team and I have developed a ‘retreat in a box’.
This goodie-filled gift box contains my ‘2o minute miracle routine that will take you from burnout to brilliance’, a pair of our ECO LIFESTTYLE LEGGINGS of your choice, a vegan nail polish a hand-made ceramic bowl, a healing crystal and a 30 % off online voucher.
The home routine constitutes 12 mins of stress-less yoga, 3 mins of breathing and 5 mins of meditation all of which are realistic time goals to decompress from your busy life without having to leave the house!