Before we moved, I was faithfully exercising, drinking nettle tea and chicken broth, and eating all the “right” stuff to help my growing babe and to keep myself healthy. I was determined to keep working out while traveling but I didn’t realize how hectic that would be. My broth didn’t keep for the whole trip and I was too nauseous to even think about drinking it most of the time anyways. Now though, I am determined to get back on track. I want both wee one and I to be healthy and to give the baby the best chance to grow and develop well. And I also would like to deliver naturally without drugs rather than having another caesarean. I think it will be a challenge so I want to prepare my body well in advance.
And so the broth is again being drunk daily and I have joined raspberry leaf tea (RLT)to the nettle tea. I drank RLT with my other pregnancies and I know many others who do as well. I like to start drinking it in the second trimester and then continue after the wee one is born. One reason that many drink it is because it is believed to help tone the uterus which then assists in labour and recovery of the uterus post-labor. Then there are the nutrients provided by RLT. It is believed to be a source of:
Vitamin A
Vitamin B-complex
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Fragrine (uterus toning)
Magnesium
Manganese
Phosphorus
Potassium
Accessible calcium and iron
This is a website that gives a decent summary of the components RLT http://theduncansonline.blogspot.com/2009/11/science-and-red-raspberry-leaf.html, while this one http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Pregnancy_Problems.html gives a summary of its benefits. There is also other information to be easily found as well.
For me, I find that when I drink it (and chicken broth) regularly, I have more energy during the day. I also don’t feel as constantly hungry and it helps with the dizziness that I tend to experience during pregnancy. Usually, I have just bought it because I either didn’t have access to leaves or it was the wrong season, but this time around, I am harvesting my own.
A helper on the hunt! We actually ended up with some blackberry leaves here, but no big deal.
Cecily wanted to help collect but tended to get sidetracked by pulling leaves out.
Drying on a old screen for a few days; it is so humid here that I did the last bit of drying on a low heat in the oven for a few minutes.
Once dry, it is time to enlist two little helpers again!
Because crunching leaves is fun!
I try to drink several cups a day, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, sometimes in the pot….a few hours old. And sometimes, I get sick of drinking it so i have been tossing in a few mint leaves when I let it steep or a dab of honey to my cup to shake it up a little. Usually I just get a pot or jar going every day and just keep tossing in a handful of leaves when adding water.
Enjoying the fruit that goes along with raspberry leaves!
And did I mention that this and nettle tea are great to drink even when not pregnant?
I know that many of my friends and readers also drink Raspberry leaf tea during pregnancy and regularly, so please, feel free to share your thoughts.
Confessions of a Young Mama 
Cool! Okay, your pictures make it look doable. I will attempt to make some of my own this summer, once I find a friend willing to share their raspberry leaves!
And I liked the peas porridge rhyme allusion. 🙂
I thought you might catch that:). And really, it is so easy drying the leaves and the girls loved crunching them…they did all themselves and then once it was all in the jar, I just gave a couple of crunches.
good girl drinking your tea and broth!! It looks so lovely there, wishing I could visit!
Thanks Aimee! I actually read through that book when I was pregnant with Cecily because my friend recommended it to me. By the time that Cecily arrived via emerg c-section (long story, but I had complete placenta previa), I was peaceful with knowing that it was needed and it went really well. However, this time I am more struggling with the fear that my body isn’t quite healed and also that Dr’s often would just rather go ahead with another caesarean. And that is definitely something that I need to work through, the fear I mean.
your blogs are always so lovely! 🙂 And i loved hearing about your plans to have a natural birth this time! Before i had Faith i began reading a book called supernatural childbirth. Basically it teaches what God says regarding conception and delivery, and it really helped me to grow my Faith and Believe Him for what he had already promised me and what i wanted my delivery to look like. 6 hours in labor, ( which was so totally tolerable!), a natural birth with no drugs, and no tearing or even abrasions!, and a health little girl! My Dr had told me that i would most likely be having a c section because i was so small and the baby was measuring quite large. But we prayed and Believed and continued to read the book. After she was born the Dr said ” i wish every first delivery could be like that!”… the way God intended. Long story short we called her Faith as that’s what God taught us through her. If you can get your hand on the book somehow id strongly recommend it!