Meet the Mamas – Jeanne from Live Well Mama

Meet Jeanne from Live Well Mama, passionate surfer, skater and hiker… Oh and did we mention that her due date was this week?

Jeanne’s pregnancy crept up on her rather unexpectedly and although she’s had to deal with gestational diabetes, she shares how she’s taken it all in her stride and managed to have a healthy pregnancy after all.

Meet Jeanne

I am a first time mother, I live in Southern California, and I love being active. I love surfing, riding my skate board, and hiking! I am currently 38 weeks pregnant as of today and was surfing until my 7th month of pregnancy, skating until 8th month, and still hiking.

My background is in child development but I was mostly bartending until May 1st.  My husband is a professional musician and I have just become the brand ambassador/ Media Manager for Bun Maternity. On top of this, the Live Well Mama blog and Instagram has had a awesome feedback and I am getting extremely busy due to it.

That being said, I am very excited to meet my little boy around June 3rd, but I am very anxious as I do not feel prepared. I keep hearing that I will never REALLY be prepared so I am just trying to be chill and take things as they come!

Have you had any difficulties during pregnancy so far?

My pregnancy was not planned, so it was very frightening and disappointing at the same time. When I finally came to terms that I was going to be a mother and started to get excited, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes during the 1st trimester.

When I was looking for inspiration on how to cope with this, I found that most of the resources were quite basic and boring. I decided to start an Instagram account hoping to find inspiration and be inspirational.

I really wanted to give birth naturally (with a midwife at the birth center) but my health system will not allow this if I am under any medication for the diabetes, so I decided I was going to do what ever it took to stay off the meds – strict diet and exercise! Which is another reason I have stayed so active.

It was definitely a struggle and pain to test 4xs a day and watch everyone eat what my pregnancy craved. Eventually it became easier and easier, now I am actually grateful for the gestational diabetes as it kept me healthy throughout my pregnancy and I am here meeting great people like mio!

While my after meal numbers were great, my fasting numbers required a small dose of medication at bedtime.  This unqualified me from my birth center and that crushed me, but being pregnant has been such a pleasure and while I know it may not be the next time around, I can’t wait to do it again! I just found out today that my diabetes is backing off and they have removed the meds! So if the next 2 weeks go well, I am back in the birth center!!!!!!!

Obviously Summer this year will be a really different experience for you! What are you looking forward to about Summer this year?

I am actually due June 3rd so I will not be pregnant during the summer. What I look forward to as a being a new mom in the summer and seeing how my son takes to the beach environment since Mommy and Daddy are ocean addicts. We love any and all activities that have to do with the ocean and Vitamin D is my favorite!!!

And what things do you think you will miss out on in Summer this year?

I will miss surf and travel!!!!  With such a young baby it may be a challenge to live the beach life. We also planned a trip to Korea before the pregnancy that has to be placed on hold. My husband and I are trying to figure out a way to safely take baby Q with us to the beach and trade off surfing, but I predict that I will be needed most of the time, so I will have to be patient.

To be honest, my husband and I have made a commitment to each other to not allow “being new parents” cause the feeling of “missing out”. We are going to team up and make sure that we continue to do everything we love, just safely with the baby!

Do you have any pregnancy tips that you think other women would benefit from hearing?

Do your research, find out which methods and plans are best for you and your family.  Don’t listen to everyone else, we are ALL different and you may experience challenges that get in the way of having the dream pregnancy and birth.

If you can maintain a positive perspective just know that all will turn out beautifully.  The worries will come but they do not need to stay.  EXERCISE and HEALTHY EATING is so beneficial and important for mom and baby, and of course a good balance of splurging if you’re allowed!

Remember, although the husbands or babydaddys may become annoying or challenging to be with during this time, try and be compassionate as they are taking this all in also, just in a completely different way, so give them a lil slack.