Having Faith Through Pregnancy 

 

 

Pregnancy is such an exciting time…

 

Well, for the most part it is because we just can’t wait to meet our little bundle of joy.

But then we get hit with all the side effects of pregnancy, which is why most women end up hating being pregnant.

• Morning sickness

• Calf cramps

• Fatigue

• Lack of sleep

• Feeling Uncomfortable

• Swelling

• Excess Weight Gain

• Stretch marks

• Facial breakouts

• Bad moods

• Hormonal mood swings

• Smell sensitivity
• Food aversions

 

And the list goes on and on…

 

It’s crazy to say this because if more women knew what I am about to tell you, then more women would enjoy pregnancy a whole lot more.

 

But EXERCISE and HEALTHY EATING can prevent most of these “side effects”.

 

 

I tell you from both experience from myself with 2 amazing pregnancies and also because I have been working with thousands upon thousands of pregnant women on a daily basis for years with my Fit Mom-To-Be Workout Program.

 

It’s crazy the amount of emails and messages and posts I get on a daily basis from women who do my Fit Mom-To-Be Workouts telling me how amazing they look and feel and what an impact exercise has had on their pregnancy.

 

It really will make all the difference in the world.

 

So I hope that if anything you get from this post its that you exercise during your pregnancy. And also, that you eat healthy.

 

If you don’t know where to begin with what to eat during pregnancy, here is what I am going to do for you…

 

I’m going to give you a NUTRITION GUIDE with exactly what to eat, all the RECIPES, good SNACK OPTIONS, etc.  So that you can get an idea of how you should be eating during your pregnancy so that you can be healthy, be creating the best possible environment for your baby, and so that you don’t gain EXCESS WEIGHT so that you are not super uncomfortable all during pregnancy and feeling huge and self conscious.

 

And so that you can lose all your baby weight fast postpartum.

 

I made this 2-Week Nutrition Guide to give away for FREE to all my Prego’s because I work with so many in my Fit Mom-To-Be Workout Program that always have so many NUTRITION questions. So, I figured I would make this in an easy to read, print and follow way to help you take the guesses out of how to eat optimally during your pregnancy.

 

If you follow it and you EXERCISE, you will not just have a great pregnancy but you will feel CONFIDENT, RADIENT, GLOWING.  You won’t be uncomfortable and have aches and pains because you’ve gained so much weight. You will have an easier labor and delivery.  You will sleep better, have more energy.  And you will seriously decrease your chances of falling into POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION.

 

I can’t wait for you to get this Nutrition Guide, the recipes are amazing, and there are so many different options for snacks. You are going to love it.  

 

Download it here (It’s totally FREE):  PREGNANCY NUTRITION GUIDE.

 

The one thing that we don’t realize when we are pregnant especially not when it’s the FIRST pregnancy, are all the things that can go wrong. 

Listen, I am by no means trying to scare you, but I do want to share with you how through faith, I made it through my second pregnancy.

You see, the first time around, maybe you don’t have many friends that have been pregnant so you don’t hear a lot of stories. You just don’t know as much about pregnancy.

At least I didn’t!

I cruised through my first pregnancy.

Everything was a breeze.

 

I only gained 20 lbs. (thanks to my Fit Mom-To-Be Workouts), I had tons of energy, I never felt sick, all my tests came out perfect.

 

I was smooth sailing.

I had a great labor and delivery with a whopping 4 hours and 15 minutes of pushing (totally credit my Pregnancy Workouts to that too).

Then my second pregnancy came about 3 ½ years later.

 

First of all at about 20 weeks, after some of the routine tests and ultra sounds they tell me that I need some extra tests.

What?

Me?

Why?

 

As I sat in the doctors office with my husband waiting for the doctor to come talk to me and full of joy because we just found out we were having a girl which God only knows how badly I wanted her but scared out of my mind to hear what the doctor was going to say…

 

I waited anxiously…

 

She came in and told us that she needed to run some more tests because some things came up on the ultra sounds that led her to believe there could be a chance that my baby girl could have down syndrome or cystic fibrosis.

 

I thought for a moment that I was going to pass out.

I was living a nightmare.

I didn’t know what to feel or what to think.

We were just given the best news that we were having a baby girl, but then we got smacked in the face with this news.

If that wasn’t enough, I also got diagnosed with Placenta Previa.

I was put on mild bed rest.

I was not allowed to exercise, which was my sanity and what I know got me through my first pregnancy so great.

 

She barely wanted me to drive or even stand or walk for too long.

I couldn’t carry my son, groceries….. nothing!

My world was being turned upside down.

I remember that was a long weekend. Memorial Weekend…

We had rented a place on the beach with my family and while we were supposed to celebrate the much wanted baby girl that was coming, my heart ached and I was devastated.

My sister greeted me with a beautiful gift, an adorable outfit with shoes and bows and the whole shebang.

I wanted to be so happy, but I was so scared.

My husband and family kept telling me to have faith. I have always been such a faithful woman.

This was the time to exercise my faith.

I prayed so much that weekend and everyday for the next 3 weeks, which was how long it took to get the test results.

I don’t know if I have ever prayed so hard in my life.

It took everything out of me but I did it.

I just kept thanking the Lord for a healthy baby. I kept declaring health over my baby girl.

My husband wanted to choose a name and though I was scared, I did it…… Actually, on the way to the beach after the doctors appointment.

You see, I never gave in to what “the enemy” wanted which was to rob me of my joy, of what God had blessed me with. He wanted to fill me with fear and darkness and depression.

But I didn’t let it.

I declared the word of God over my child. I declared health over my baby every single day. I envisioned her being born perfectly healthy and beautifully made in Gods image.

We named her and for 3 weeks I praised God for that healthy baby girl.

When moments of fear tried to creep in….. I prayed! I worshipped! I thanked God! I declared favor!

I turned that fear into joy.

It wasn’t easy! But I did it!

And after 3 weeks of waiting and praying, we got the good news.

Praise be to God my baby girl was healthy.

 

 

Now I just had to deal with the Placenta Previa.

I continued to pray for months. Envisioning my placenta moving up and up and up. Thanking God daily for moving my placenta.

And 3-4 months later of praying, declaring and envisioning, my placenta Previa resolved itself. It shifted up and I was allowed to go back to my normal life and I wouldn’t need a C-section or anything.

Once again, God was good to me and faith carried me through.

After a few months of bumps in the road, it all seemed clear and then BAM…

Literally, BAM, a wood block on my toe.

A car ride later to the ER ended me with a fractured toe diagnosed by the doctor who treated my grandfather

who I lost in that same hospital with that same doctor.

A few minutes of inconsolable tears led me out of the hospital in a wheel chair and with crutches and a boot on my foot.

Yep, 6 months pregnant and on crutches.

Devastated once again but still believing God was in control, I thanked him for what was happening. Though I didn’t understand why this was all happening, I knew God had a perfect plan and after it was all said and done, I realized God just wanted me to slow down.

Once again, I had to arm myself with faith and fill my face with light and joy in a time of pain.
And that I did!

About 2 months later, the boot was off and I was walking again.

By the way, I still exercised throughout the toe fracture. I crutched around the gym with my big belly, boot on foot and crutches and I exercised 3-4 times a week during those hard months.

Again, I was in the clear.

Praise God!

Next appointment comes and goes. Whew! In the clear, all is good!
And then a few days later a phone call.

“I need you to come in for more blood work, Michelle”

As I drove to the office and began to speak to the nurse, she began by telling me I needed to be tested for Syphilis because some blood work came up “reactive”.

What Syphilis?

Um, there must be some other sort of Syphilis that I don’t’ know about because there is no way I have an STD.

Because if I do, I am getting a divorce.

Those were the words that uttered out of my mouth…………

I need an explanation…….

But the nurses couldn’t explain properly and my doctor wasn’t there.

After a FURIOUS PHONE CALL to my husband, a few flashes in my mind of raising 2 kids on my own, the doctor got on the phone to explain that “Reactive” didn’t necessarily mean I had Syphilis but that it needed to be tested anyways because it could be that along with about 100 autoimmune disorders.

Though he told me to be a ease that I most likely didn’t have Syphilis but they needed to test anyways………. I left the office to what was supposed to be a nice long weekend with my husband, but I could barely look at him.

He swore up and down that it wasn’t that, that I had nothing to worry about.

But at this point I was so emotionally and spiritually exhausted that I was in disbelief.

Four days of barely looking at my husband, we went back in the doctor’s office for confirmation that I did not have Syphilis.

Once again, God came through after 4 days of praising God and thanking him for what was happening because I knew he was in control, and all would be good.

I had been through and emotional roller coaster this entire pregnancy.

I had no idea so many things could go wrong.

But I had faith through it all and that is what carried me through.

God blessed me with a beautiful pregnancy nonetheless, many amazing lessons, a great 2 hour, 2 pushes labor and the most perfect little baby girl.

All of this to tell you that if you are going through a rough time in your pregnancy or if you get hit with bad news later on in your pregnancy………… HAVE FAITH.

Look at everything I went through in mine, and having faith, committing to prayer, praising and worshipping

God, he put favor in my life and my family. And he will for you too.

My prayer for you today is that God will strengthen your faith muscles so that if you must endure any hardships during your pregnancy, you will have the faith to break through the fear and depression and turn it into joy.

And in the mean time, if you want to do everything possible to have a healthy pregnancy, I am happy to help you with your REAL MUSCLES LOL.

I would be honored to be your Pregnancy Coach.

Nothing makes me happier than to help pregnant women have a healthy and fit pregnancy. After experiencing the effects myself of exercise on pregnancy and helping thousands and thousands of pregnant women, I can tell you that exercise and eating healthy will make the biggest positive impact on your life during this pregnancy.

I can’t wait for you to start my Fit Mom-to-Be Workout Program!

On a positive note, check out my beautiful healthy kids that God blessed me with and the fruit of exercise and eating healthy on my postpartum body. I’m actually really proud of myself because I never ever had ABS this way until now, after 2 kids.

 

 

I know you probably don’t feel super energetic and excited to workout, but force yourself.

You will feel better after and you will be benefiting so greatly from the workouts.

Check out more BENEFITS OF EXERCISE DURING PREGNANCY.

 

Also, see what the news has to say about Pregnancy Fitness here.

I hope to see you inside the Fit Mom-To-Be Workout Program.

 

If you start my pregnancy workout program, I will see you inside the program.  

I have lots of tips for you and I can’t wait for you to see all the videos of the exercises.

Send me YOUR BUMP PICTURES, would be great to compare with after you have your baby….

So you can see how fabulous you will look.  

 

I would also love to feature you and your beautiful bump.

Send them to michelle@michellemariefit.com

 

Click here to start the Fit Mom-To-Be Workout Program so you can have a really good, safe and effective pregnancy workout plan that you can do for the rest of your pregnancy.

If you are struggling with what to eat and different options that are SAFE for the baby and won’t make you GAIN WEIGHT, you will totally enjoy and get great use of the MMF Pregnancy Diet Plan.

1. Full Meal Plan for entire pregnancy (know exactly what nutrients you and baby need).
2. Increase energy & decrease fatigue with the best food combinations.
3. Easy Kid-Friendly Recipes that will save you time in the kitchen.
4. Helps reduce cravings so you eat healthier and gain less weight.
5. Yummy and comforting meals so you can still enjoy eating.

It’s not too late to SLOW DOWN & LESSEN your Pregnancy Weight Gain.

 

If you exercise, you will see a huge change.  

Less weight gain, not as fast and you will feel tighter, more fit, more energetic and less fatigue.

If you don’t want to spend 6-24 months postpartum losing your “BABY WEIGHT”, invest a little time, energy and possibly resources into your health and fitness this pregnancy.  It will be so worth it when you are back at your pre-pregnancy weight in less than 3 months and feeling like yourself again.

If you need guidance, support and a safe exercise plan, you will love my Fit Mom-To-Be Workout Program (tested by TENS OF THOUSANDS of pregnant women). 

And you can do it for your entire pregnancy (its not just a 12 week program).

Here is what you can expect:

• Less Weight Gain
• Less Stretch Marks and Cellulite
• Faster Labor & Delivery
• Faster Postpartum Weight Loss
• More Energy
• Less Aches & Pains
• Less Chances of Gestational Diabetes
• Better Sleep

 

What You Get:

• Monthly workouts that change every 4 weeks (which delivers the best results).
• No gym is required (2 versions available: home and gym).
• Exercise Videos & Pictures of every single exercise.
• Can view, access and download on any smart phone, tablet or computer.
• Private Facebook Group for support, community and questions answered by Michelle Marie.
• Monthly pregnancy nutrition tips to help you throughout your pregnancy.

 

**Don’t forget to send me your before and after pictures.  I would love to see your cute baby bump and it would be so awesome to see your postpartum progress after and how much your pregnancy workouts helped you.  Email them to michelle@michellemariefit.com**

To start your pregnancy workouts, click here:  Fit Mom-To-Be