Hi guys,

This is an update on my 3rd pregnancy.

I think it’s important to evaluate how and what I’m doing as an individual plus as a family to ensure baby is nice and healthy.

My last blog post on this topic details how my 1st Trimester was going.

I’m now nearing the end of my 2nd Trimester and I would like to review this stage of the ‘race’.

We had our 24 week check up at the new Joan Kirner Hospital in Sunshine and they’re monitoring my chances of developing pre-eclampsia.

Let me say that the new facilities at Sunshine Hospital is very flash and I’m so happy to be giving birth in such vibrant surroundings.

Let me continue the main themes throughout my pregnancy:

1. Pain
2. Energy
3. Self care

1. Pain

In comparing to my other 2 x pregnancies this continues to be the smoothest pregnancy so far!

I have very little stretch marks, my feet are not swollen and I have the energy to get around my day without being too uncomfortable.

With that being said, my stomach has jumped out a lot more and it can be ‘in the way’ when I’m doing things around the house.

The other day I was folding and washing clothes and I went to get up like I normally do but I struggled and had to rock and roll myself up onto my feet 🙂

To minimise my pain I have been very mindful of the food I choose to eat.

We subscribe to a low inflammatory diet strategy where we avoid sugar, grainy carbohydrates and focus on having great sleep.

The net result of all this effort and discipline is no pregnancy pain!

I continue to be in the best shape weight wise.

I continue to be in the best mood and maintain a positive outlook.

The choices I’ve made food and well being wise we believe has resulted in our ‘best’ pregnancy to date.

NOTE: Leki bought and read a book from one of his mentors – Dave Asprey called “The Better Baby Book“.

The lessons in this book is what we’ve followed in the lead up to this pregnancy.

Highly recommend!

2. Energy

I’m 5 months pregnant and I am responsible for running my household.

My husband works full time and I’m at home full time providing a nurturing environment for our little family.

In order to maintain a high level of performance my husband Leki and I need to make sure we are ok as individuals and strong as a couple.

He is responsible for a lot of the health strategies we follow from all the research and science he reads and tests on himself.

He is not only someone I lean on when I have weaker moments but also makes me feel special when I’ve achieved goals.

I also do my bit by pulling him up to our standard when he has his weaker moments!

As you can probably tell – we are very big on trying to eat well 80% of the time so that when we have our naughty meals on the other 20% it doesn’t impact our health as it used to.

If you have time I would recommend you research the ‘cyclic ketogenic diet’ which is the style of eating that we follow that enables the metabolic state of ketosis.

If we are good on the 5 working days then a couple of naughty meals on the weekend won’t hurt us aka ‘cheat meals’.

Keeps us happy and sane!

To get an idea of my meals check it out below which can alternate:

Breakfast:

• Low carb Toast + avocado, tomato and cheese
• Porridge, banana and raw honey
• Egg + baby spinach, asparagus, avocado and butter
• Smoothie = cacao powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, banana, MCT oil, almonds and coconut water

Lunch/Dinner

• Bone broth soup + vegetables
• Organic minced beef + boiled vegs (carrot, sweet potato, zucchini and broccoli)
• Wild caught salmon + boiled vegs (carrot, sweet potato, zucchini and broccoli)
• Organic chicken + boiled vegs (carrot, sweet potato, zucchini and broccoli)
• Take away – Pizza, McDonald’s, KFC

Snacks

• Rice cakes + butter
• Dark choc bombs = 70% dark choc (from Aldi), cacao powder, chia seeds, almonds, coconut oil and pitted dates. Blended and then left to set in the fridge
• Tim Tams/crackers
• Fruit = strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, banana, grapes, peaches and pears
• Water and coconut water

I also supplement with Blackmore’s Pregnancy Gold for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding every morning with my breakfast.

The Doctor has also recommended I take aspirin while I’m pregnant to minimise the chance of pre-eclampsia.

3. Self Care

Apart from happiness and food – one of the biggest return on investment is sleep.

In terms of self care – sleep is no. 1 for us.

You know yourself when you’ve had a poor nights sleep the next day is like a nightmare.

You’re a zombie.

That’s why we’ve placed a huge emphasis on getting the kids into their own room early and getting them to self soothe.

Our 16mo Kyneton is out of the cot and in his little big boy bed.

He needs me to nurse him to sleep (he’s the thumb sucker looking for comfort).

Once he’s asleep he’s pretty good at sleeping all the way through for 8-9 hours with a few little grizzles in between but we mostly leave him to self soothe.

Our 4yo Emelina is a superstar sleeper.

Sleeps over 9-10 hours consistently.

Both kids are in their own room.

Now you can imagine with a newborn due to join us – the last thing I would want to be is cranky with the kids because I’m not getting the rest I need.

Especially with the age gap of around 20 months between new baby and baby #2.

Sleep has to be a priority!

Another measure to improve your self-care is a regular break.

Leki and I returned from a Babymoon trip to Bali recently and it was a God send 🙂

We were like teenagers again although I couldn’t boogie as I’d would have love to.

A few breaks have been planned for the rest of 2019 and the first half of 2020!

Gives us something to look forward to as we battle through the weeks ahead!

Lastly, I’ve have been tracking my weight gain to keep an eye on the numbers.

Pre-baby I was around 71kgs comfortably.

I’m now 5 months pregnant and I weigh 81kgs.

My goals is to only put on 15kgs with this pregnancy and I will document my 3rd weight loss journey post baby!

Review my past game plan for safe and effective weight loss – HERE.

5 months along and we’re going really well.

But… Let me tell you a little secret.

We’re going to try and qualify for a ‘water birth‘.

We are still conducting some more research on this and what we need to do to prepare but if I do develop pre-eclampsia then I’ll automatically ruled out.

With the new facilities at Sunshine Hospital I think it’ll be a great experience and my basic understanding is that it is a lot easier for labouring Mum’s and less stressful for baby.

More to talk about here next time! 😉

Have a great day.

Love,

Belinda xo

Hi guys,

The struggle is real with how to feed my kids when they can be picky with their food.

“Eat your broccoli”

That’s what my parents used to tell me.

Then I would try and hide the vegetables under other scraps on my plate and try and look for the exit.

Soon my Mum or Dad would notice the veges that were poorly hidden and then I was forced to sit at the table until everything was eaten.

I’m sure you can relate to this scene in your own upbringing.

But, now the tables have turned.

I need to raise my own kids to ‘Eat Their Damn Broccoli” 🙂

Funny how life serves you justice…

When our children eat what we eat and when we eat sometimes I wonder whether ketosis is okay for kids.

To give you an idea of what we eat I’d already posted a big chain of blogs – HERE and HERE.

My older child Eme (4yo) goes 4-6 hours without eating and our food strategy helps ‘turn off’ their hunger so they can focus, read and play. (She knows that at Nana and Poppy’s house there are heaps of snacks but we don’t stress too much over that!)

Kids, because they’re growing, need a lot of energy.

We believe what you eat is important because it gives you the best form of energy!

I’m not a doctor, and you should consult one if you’re worried, but in my experience my 4yo daughter does well on a low-carb, moderate protein & high-fat diet, and she’s probably in ketosis at times.

My little guy (1yo) is eating 80% of what we eat. He only struggles in the morning as he doesn’t like eggs… yet 🙂

Here’s a great blog post from Dave Asprey that we like and I’d like to discuss the main points:

1. Use Superhero Language – something that makes sense to them
2. Be Firm At Dinnertime
3. Make Bulletproof Versions Of Favourite Meals
4. Cook With Your Kids
5. Be Grateful

Use Superhero Language

In trying to encourage the kids to eat what want Leki and I sell the idea that it will give them energy to have fun at School or train at Gymnastics.

It gives them the impression that if they don’t eat then they won’t have the energy to have fun.

Works pretty well although we don’t have to used this strategy that often.

We started Eme (4yo) on our food strategy when she was about 18 months and she’s never looked back.

She rarely gets sick, has plenty of energy throughout the day and sleeps over 10 hours every night. We’re blessed!

Be Firm At Dinner Time

This is our ‘go to’ strategy.

If the Emelina (4yo) doesn’t eat what we give her then we send her to bed without eating anything.

We are firm that what we have cooked for them was made with love and that we wouldn’t give them something to eat that we wouldn’t eat ourselves.

It’s almost an “up to you” situation which encourages them to make a decision.

Eat and be happy or be unhappy and go without food overnight.

It won’t kill them to go hungry for a little while.

After a couple of days of dinner time stubbornness we’ve found that she fall in line pretty quickly.

Intermittent fasting for a 4yo 😉

Again, with Kyneton our 16mo, we are extending him a little more time but around 18-20mo we will also encourage our strict dinner time routine.

We believe building Bulletproof kids requires a loving firmness which will build their resilience.

Make Bulletproof Versions of Favourite Meals

This is our second go to strategy.

Whatever your favourite meal may be we substitute with another handy paleo/Bulletproof product.

Rice? Nope… Zoodles or spiralised zucchini.

Chocolate? We recommend making Cacao chocolate bombs.

Brownies? Try pitted date brownies.

Toast and omelette? Maybe sub in sunny side eggs, avocado, butter, asparagus and baby spinach.

Chocolate and biscuits? Fruits and nuts are always friendly.

Plan flour and sugar? Try almond flour or coconut flour and stevia.

Plenty of healthier substitutes you just need to keep digging and research 😉

Cook With Your Kids

On occasion I cook with the kids mainly for a bit of fun for also so they understand the process it takes to prepare a meal.

In the morning Leki and Ky prepares breakfast. So when he’s lightly pan frying eggs Ky sees the process.

On weekends Leki makes pancakes and Eme often helps with cracking eggs and mixing the bowl.

It can be messy but more often it about the trial and error.

Once upon a time Eme really struggled with cracking eggs.

She didn’t have the right mixture of light handling and controlled force to break the egg shell.

Over time she has become a lot more confident in cracking eggs.

Now, our 4yo Eme can prepare fruit and cut the stem from strawberries for the family.

We’re so proud of her!

Be Grateful

Lastly we share things with the kids so they can understand how lucky they are.

If our 4yo was clumsy and spilt a cup of water. We often ask her to be careful and we don’t refill the cup of water.

She complains and asks why she can’t have more water.

We reply: “You need to be more careful Eme because some kids just like you don’t have water like you do”.

She usually cries trying to understand what’s happening.

Regardless, we stay firm and don’t replenish her cup.

She learns the lesson of disappointment and dealing with her actions.

Other times, if she’s not listening or misbehaving, we take something away from her that she loves.

We often keep her from her Montessori school or we threaten not to take her to swimming or gymnastics.

These aren’t empty threats.

Once we load the chamber we need to fire the bullet otherwise future threats/’negotiations’ are worthless.

We are reinforcing this feeling of disappointment so she understands things shouldn’t be taken for granted and that she should be grateful.

Ky gets off scott free… for the moment 🙂

BONUS! HERE are some Bulletproof sugar-free snacks for kids!

Love ya work Mama!

With love,

Belinda xo

Hi guys.

To be honest I sit on the fence with vaccinations.

But I can tell you that we are up to date with our vaccinations and booster shots.

Our 4yo daughter is about to have another round of vaccinations and our 1yo will have another round of shots when he’s 18 months.

Plus I’m needing some injections for my 3rd pregnancy (in the 2nd trimester now).

It’s a bit of a controversial topic for families but this is something I’ve been thinking and talking about with my husband Leki.

Parents only want the best for their children.

If you’ve been reading my blog entries then you’d know that Health is one of our top priorities.

So why am I interested about vaccinations now?

A lot of it comes from misinformation.

I know social media is not the best source of information and sometimes closely held facts can be challenged.

For example cocaine was a common medical prescription once upon a time in the 1800s.

At the time it was thought to be helpful in soothing pain. Much later it was found to be dangerous and had to be regulated as a narcotic drug.

So in this case something was thought to be helpful and then after some time and research – the opposite was found. It was harmful.

Then there are cases of the opposite.

Look at all the recent developments with medical marijuana and CBD oil for disease.

Something was once thought to be harmful and now through research is showing positive benefits.

And this is where I am at the moment.

What are we being told and what are we open to exploring further?

I’m not completely ruling out vaccinations all together but I think my family needs to ask more questions about what’s in it and how it actually helps?

We could be in a cocaine situation where vaccinations are thought to be helpful but end up being harmful.

Or we could be in a medicinal marijuana situation where something thought of as dangerous is actually beneficial.

This is why we sit on the fence.

At the moment we appear healthy and happy and as I mentioned we are up to date with all vaccinations. Adults, toddlers and newborns in our little family.

But some healthy scepticism remains.

Here are some of the places where we will be getting our information:

Pro-vaccination

• National Immunisations Program
• Australian Immunisation Handbook
• Australian Department of Health

Anti-vaccination

• SGT Report
• Free Thought Project
• Tay’s Way

For now we will continue to vaccinate our kids and say up to date until we feel otherwise.

Will update you in the next 6 months!

With love,

Belinda xo

Hi guys.

Had this thought during the Easter weekend and it is something I’d like to explore.

Who is My Favourite child?

I only have 2 kids with number 3 due to arrive in Sept 🙂

Why did this thought come to me?

Because I am one of 4 girls in my own immediate family.

My parents spent the most time with me before my older sister joined us from Tonga and there’s an 8 year gap between me and my younger sister.

So those 8 years would be special for my parents and I because I was their sole focus.

I’m not saying I’m the favourite child but I think there’s time there where I was all there was.

Then my younger sisters came along and then my older sister joined us.

My parents had to divide their attention equally among us.

The only thing I see though is that I got an 8 year head start 😉

When I look at my own Family I would say that I treat my 4yo daughter differently from my 1yo son.

I love them both… so much.

There was almost 3 years from baby #1 to baby #2.

I had more one-on-one time with Emelina and Leki and I got invested in everything we did together with her.

I’m spending that same amount of time with Ky but I’ve found it’s not as deep given that I have to divide my time up.

And with a new one coming to join us in September this will become even more apparent with dividing my time among them.

There will be 18 months between baby #2 and baby #3.

Leki and I are trying to have 5 kids God willing and so the time we give to each of them is important and something we think about a lot.

I’m not sure if I favour my oldest child Emelina but I must admit everything we go through with her is ‘new’.

With the younger lot we’ve already been through tears, diapers, school and sport.

I think it’s exciting doing and experiencing things for the first time and that is special in it’s own way.

Regardless of how it appears or how we deal with adding to the Family – we love each of our kids unconditionally!

With love,

Belinda xo

Hi guys,

I’d like to share with you some things we have planned for the future.

I’ve written in the past about how we like to have regular but small trips to keep us fresh.

In 2020 we plan to travel around country Victoria for 2 weeks with a little camper trailer.

Then we are looking to build up towards a 3 month trip around coastal Australia in 2021.

Emelina will be 6yo. Kyneton will be 3yo and Baby #3 will be 1yo.

Perfect timing!

Then in 2022 we want to spend 6 months travelling around Australia.

Eventually we plan to travel around Australia for 1 whole year! This will be when the kids are still in primary school and want to hang around Mum and Dad.

There’ll be a time where they’ll prefer to hang out with their friends rather then their family on school holidays.

So we would like to book them in before they’re too cool 😉

Here are some of the places I’d like to see around our beautiful country:

• The Murray River
• The NSW Central Coast from Merrimbula to Byron Bay
• The Red Centre – Uluru/Alice Springs
• Sunshine Coast
• Far North Queensland
• Coastal Western Australia

Plus many many more!

A benefit of being a Big 4 member is that there are plenty of places around Australia where we can dock our camper trailer in a cheaper site with shower and cooking amenities available.

Looking forward to documenting the trips ahead and here are some families that I’m following:

• The Bucket List Family (American Family)
• Trip In A Van (Aussie Family)

Hope you have a great day.

With love,

Belinda xo