Female Friday
I'm thankful for today's rain because I planted some herbs and vegetables in my garden yesterday! Otherwise, it's days like today where fuzzy socks, a cup of tea and a good book are absolute musts. I have a lot of thoughts this week - so maybe grab that tea before you dig in!
IVFML | If you haven't listened to this podcast yet, and are having fertility issues - download this 5-episode podcast. Yes it's heartbreaking to listen to this couple's infertility journey, but I valued it because they go through the entire process (ICSI and IVF) and have experts on to talk about a wide array of topics and answer questions that many couples have. Moreover, it was interesting to learn how much it costs to have a baby. Couples who aren't able to conceive naturally have to pay a lot of money (at once!) for just basic testing - which always isn't guaranteed! Because they live in the US, we get an idea of what it costs there. In Canada and it's different provinces and territories, the costs differ.
6 Exercises for Building Strength in Pregnancy | Before you grab your resistance band - pause! A lot of these lists circulate throughout the blogosphere listing all that you can do during pregnancy. Fundamentally, we all want to be strong, be fit, be active, etc. But it pays to be critical about the information that you come upon (yes, min included).
Read this: Dougan emphasized the importance of women doing these exercises frequently, regardless of whether they are pregnant. “Especially the kegel,” Dougan said. “That’s the number-one exercise that all women should be doing anyway.”
Kegels are great. But they're not going to help everyone. When I was completely my level 1 pelvic floor certification for male and female urinary incontinence, my kegels were assessed. TMI aside, I have a hypertonic pelvic floor. Translation? My pelvic floor muscles are really tight. So if I were to do a kegel while pregnant, it's going to further tighten an already-tight muscle. How will that help me? It won't. Ideally I would need to relax the muscles first, before learning how to connect to my pelvic floor to ensure I can properly do a kegel.
So instead of doing that number one exercise right away, book a pelvic floor assessment first to see the condition of your pelvic floor - especially if you're pregnant.
Other things: Before you consider doing ab-work (like v-sits and bird-dogs) talk to your pelvic floor PT to see how that will affect your core and pelvic floor.
Activated Charcoal may disrupt your hormonal birth control | The summer's trendiest ingredient may actually absorb some of the drugs that you take - including birth control! Something to be cautious about before taking that Instagram photo of your black ice cream cone. It seems like this effect is limited to oral consumption - so that activated charcoal deodorant that I just bought, should be fine.
Are your hormones where they should be? | #1 is one of the best tell-tale signs that everything is not rainbows and sunshine inside your body. Fixing hormones takes some time, but is certainly worth it especially if you're looking to become pregnant in the neat future!
Achieving sexual satisfaction | Take a look at this in-depth article to learn more about the science of sex and that factors that go into achieving an orgasm!