I do work for a probiotic company– so wanted to acknowledge my connection– and at NATREN, we always recommend Natren Life Start and Natren Healthy Tummy for pregnany and nursing moms and babies. http://store.natren.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=N&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=47045&Category_Code=030

If you ladies have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me personally– yes I am a real person!

Thanks and Good luck to you!

Sincerely,

Adriana

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate your honesty. Looking back on it, I agree that I could have gone farther and deeper with this one than I did, and that it’s heavier on the warnings than I intended it to be.

But as unbalanced as they may be and however much more I could have, should have included, I stand behind those warnings. As any woman who’s experienced it will tell you: it is absolutely impossible to have a happy, healthy pregnancy when you’re suffering from gestational diabetes or especially preeclampsia. When you’re wondering if your baby will be born with birth defects, or, worse, die in the womb, those high stress levels create a whole new layer of health issues for both mother and child. Being prepared about those risks reduces stress, and promotes the happier, healthier pregnancy that any of us want. And ultimately that was the point of the post.

I don’t consider the fact it’s upsetting to think about extra weight putting a woman at high risk for those things as an excuse to shy away from it. Of course it’s upsetting. Nobody wants to hear it, and I’ve been in that camp too. But some of the things we need to tune into about our bodies in order to love and care for them are ugly — at 300 lbs or 100. Arming ourselves with knowledge is important to living the best life we can — just as important as surrounding yourself with people you trust and are comfortable with is during pregnancy, just as important finding clothes that make us feel good and proud of our bodies is, and just as important nourishing ourselves is.

FGG passionately embraces and promotes the HAES philosophy: that you ABSOLUTELY CAN be healthy, happy, live a great life, feel alive and vital and have a great time doing just about anything at just about any size. Without a doubt. That’s what we’re here for — to dispel the myths that we need to be a perfect size or weight before we can do all the things we’d love to do. Our purpose is to demonstrate, showcase and broadcast examples of that.

But we’re also real, and we know that HAES wasn’t meant to suggest that just because we love ourselves, fat and all, that it’s a guarantee of health, nor that anyone should button up about real health risks when they’re pertinent to a discussion. No matter where any of us stands on the weight spectrum, we should all be paying attention to our health…not our appearance. Ignoring real health risks in the interest of not making readers shift in their chairs would be silly and irresponsible.

I’ll be more diligent with that balance going forward, because all of that said, I get your point. I hope you’ll come back and give us another chance.

This article is fail.