Fertility through THM Testimony: Ramona MacDonald

For eight years we tried for a baby. A few times my irregular periods made me think that there was a possibility – only to be crushed by a late period. I’d gotten accustomed to the severe pain and general weirdness that my body constantly put me through. Testing and other measures seemed pointless as we accepted that the infertility that has affected others in the family might be to blame. In recent years, before Trim Healthy Mama, we made peace with never having children; not even daring to hope anymore.

At the end of May 2018, my sister and I were just DONE with being unhealthy. So, following our Mom’s example, we jumped into THM with gusto. We made charts, tracked our inches and weight, and wrote down on shared Google Sheets what we were eating so we could constantly offer insight and encouragement into each other’s journeys. We started really simply – no bread, no special ingredients, and no fancy recipes. We just adjusted what we normally ate and really concentrated on separating our fuels until it became second nature. Then, we gradually added some desserts, snacks, and special ingredients that we felt would be beneficial – “Hello Kefir!” (and baobab, acv, whey protein, nutritional yeast…)

Two months later, we were seeing some changes and I hoped I’d start to feel better soon. Instead, I started feeling seriously ill. I tried switching sweeteners, nothing. Then I started feeling more and more nauseous until I couldn’t even handle my morning coffee! My whole family was concerned – is THM making me sick? Then my sister had a thought…pregnancy. But because of some symptoms her mind went to an ectopic pregnancy! A quick home test confirmed: PREGNANT!

But with that news, there was more worry than excitement. What was wrong and what had to be done? We made an appointment with an OBGYN.

Finally it was doctor time. The technician doing the ultrasound looked at our baby and congratulated us. Congratulated?! Incredulous with astonishment we asked: “Everything is fine?!” “Yes! You have a perfect, healthy baby. Congratulations!” You can imagine how our family chat exploded after that!

I felt terribly sick and miserable for most of my pregnancy and the list of foods I could handle dwindled drastically! Any meat, even chicken, turned my stomach. Apple cider vinegar, which is supposed to help nausea, sent me running for the hills. Nut milks were a no-go. Even toast… wonderful, plain, dry toast just would not stay down! There were days that I survived on honey oat cereal and dried beef (biltong)! I tried to get in lots of Crossover meals, healthy fats, and protein – always keeping what I had learned through THM in mind. But I can’t say that I ever felt great. I was nauseous and exhausted 99% of the time. BUT, I continued to trim down as my baby bump and the little life inside me grew and flourished. Something was still going right. Other than blood pressure, all my other tests throughout pregnancy came back really great. I never did need to supplement or be medicated on any level, much to the surprise of the doctors and nurses.

Now, it’s just over a year after we started our THM journey and every minute is filled with the new parenthood adventure! And finally…FINALLY, I feel good! Even in my first postpartum weeks I had to remind myself to slow down and not over do it. And food is my friend again! There’s been Earthquake Cake for breakfast, many cups of luscious, hot chocolate to fuel a nursing Mama, no-bake cookies for snacking, fresh sprouted bread made by my hubby, and simple, but delicious meat and veggie meals.

I am so thankful that we’re a THM family and that I can be healthy and full of energy in these hectic baby-filled days. My daughter is blossoming! Nursing her is going wonderfully and she gets more milk than she knows what to do with! After all this time it is nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes my husband will stand beside our daughter, just stare at her and whisper: “I still can’t believe it.”

I can’t explain exactly how and why the pregnancy became possible. I can’t praise a certain food or a specific change.

All I know is that I’m holding the evidence in my arms.

Her name is Marika and she started smiling this week.