Iida is having a perfectly healthy pregnancy on her outstanding plant-based diet. You’ll learn how she is now able to live a pain-free life and concentrate on being the best mum-to-be that she possibly can.
Iida has a wealth of knowledge on plant-based food preparation, and a sizeable Instagram following who admire her attention to detail in preparing beautiful, healthy foods.
Clint: Good day. It’s Clint here, and thanks for tuning in for another “Paddison Podcast” episode. I’ve got Iida back on the show. Good day, Iida.
Iida: Hi. How’s it going?
Clint: It’s going really well. And just before we started recording here, you know, you and I were talking about how we would frame this episode. And the way that I wanna do this is, as I mentioned to you, I just wanted to give you a call as a friend and find out how you’re doing. You know, you’ve been…you know, I’ll let you share the news of your good news. But, you know, pretty much like life after graduating through the Paddison Program and what happens beyond that and how you’re living your life, and just to find out, you know, all about what you’d been up to and so forth. So, yeah, it’s really great to see your face again. You look happy and healthy. So tell us…
Iida: Thank you.
Clint: Give us, first of all, a bit of a summary of what happened since we last spoke?
Iida: Yeah. So I think you and I probably spoke…was it about a year ago?
Clint: Yeah. I think it was about episode 24, if people wanna go back and check that out. But, yes, it was about a year ago.
Iida: Yeah, exactly. And, yeah, I mean, since then, obviously, I’ve stuck with the Paddison Program. I’ve been incorporating more and more foods. And now, I am pregnant and I am 28 and a half weeks pregnant. So baby is due in August. And, yeah, I’ve been following a plant-based diet and really, really thriving on that, which has been just amazing for me because obviously, you know, I only went plant-based about a year and three quarters ago really with the Paddison Program. So this isn’t anything I’ve been doing all my life in any way. Yeah, so kind of reading up a lot about, I guess, what to keep in mind, I guess, mainly, when you’re not eating any animal product and things and any oils, making sure I cover all my bases.
Clint: Well, that’s right because when we…you know, Melissa and I had the same sort of feeling when you enter into it. Well, first of all, congratulations. I know we’ve spoken about that offline, but congratulations so I don’t appear rude to everyone. So when you enter…but first of all, you know, before we get into the pregnancy stuff, how are you doing? How’s your body? How’s your joints? You shared your full story last time, but can you just recap and just give us, like, a minute or two of what you were going through initially, where you got to before you got pregnant, and then how you are now with your joints?
Iida: Yeah, sure. So I was not on any medication for a year, but I could barely walk down the stairs. My left knee was my main culprit. That’s the one that was really swollen, and it was pretty bad. Like I said, I couldn’t walk down the stairs because I just couldn’t bend my knee. And I saw doctors and I was getting married at the time so I didn’t want to start taking any medication because I was reading all kinds of side effects and things. So I was just suffering through the kind of pain of that.
And then on my own account, I stopped having gluten, sugar, and dairy. I started the sulfasalazine for two weeks, got allergic to that. Stopped taking the medication, stopped eating these three things. And actually, my results very quickly came back to normal within a couple of weeks. But I could still tell that something was going on, so I was researching the internet, and in October…when is it? I think 2015, yeah.
Clint: That’s about…yeah, nearly two years ago or a year and half ago. Yeah.
Iida: Yeah. Found the Paddison Program, listened to your TED Talk which I think is awesome, and I keep telling everybody to check it out, you know. And, yeah, and it all kind of made sense and fell into place, the answers for me. And then I started on the Paddison Program. And, yeah, I did…just did really, really well. My body just responded to it incredibly well even though I thought I would be one of those few people that, you know, nothing can touch or nothing will work. But, yeah, it kind of immediately just improved more and more and more. And, yeah, I’ve been feeling awesome since, really.
Clint: And no pain to speak of?
Iida: No, exactly. I still find that I…kind of the reason mainly why I wanted to kind of sort this out naturally was because I didn’t want to get pregnant and be on any medication. That, for me, just didn’t make any sense. So that’s why I was really going kind of hardcore. You know, I’m gonna sort this out and [inaudible 00:04:41]. And, yeah, I guess it kind of kept improving, but obviously, I’m 35 so I didn’t want to wait much longer to kind of heal the stomach, I guess, completely because I always thought it would take me maybe about three years or so to completely get rid of everything.
When I was happy enough is when maybe I’ve had lentils, I can feel a bit of a swelling in finger or something and it goes away within the hour. Yeah, that’s pretty much…well, it’s like, “Okay, I’m cool with this. This is a good time.” So yeah. And it’s continued. It’s been fine. So whenever I have something that’s really high in protein or really high in fat, then again, I can notice a bit of a reaction, but the…
Clint: And then you just back off a little bit and then you can control…you’re pulling your own strings. You basically are your own puppeteer over the situation.
Iida: Exactly. Like you said at some point when I was asking you about putting on a little bit more weight, this is before we got pregnant, then you said that it’s a good idea to have maybe some spinach if you’re trying to have nuts, for example, to help it break down. So I just kind of massively go super green. I do that anyways. I do a little bit extra whenever I’m kinda having like a naughty food.
Clint: Yeah, that’s right. I mean I…one time, you know, not too long ago, I guess somewhat near a year ago or something, I just felt like craving for hot chips, but because I know that they were originally one of the worst things for me…I mean I would have one chip and it would just cause a massive amount of pain in my body, right? And so, you know, I’m sitting there at like an airport eating the hot chips thinking life is great, but in my other hand, I’m feeding myself baby spinach so I just don’t start things up.
Iida: I did the exact same thing and I’m like, “Oh, this…it’s so yummy.” [Inaudible 00:06:39].
Clint: Yeah, yeah. Whatever you gotta do, right?
Iida: And whenever you’re gonna do [inaudible 00:06:46]. I know what to expect, I know when to expect it, I know when it’s gonna go away. So I’m like, “That’s super cool.”
Clint: Yeah, yeah. Okay, that’s great. So you feel a great sense of control and your blood tests are good.
Iida: Oh, yeah. The blood tests are perfect. You know, they don’t show anything. So the doctors are pretty much just, you know, super happy. It’s more me, because I’m so kind of pedantic about wanting to feel completely perfect, then that’s why I notice it. But you know, no one else would be able to tell. The doctors wouldn’t be able to tell.
Clint: Exactly. Because I’ve had the condition long enough to sort of sense a level of inflammation that can lead to some joint degradation. It doesn’t take much if you have it for a very long time. So you know, I know my joints, like they all have kind of their characteristics, right?
Iida: Sure.
Clint: And so when I was inflamed, I knew for instance, like these two finger joints here, right, those two finger joints there, they’re in photographs and stuff that, you know, people might have seen. And you know, they had quite a high level of information for a very long time and yet they don’t feel like they’ve had any damage whilst, say… You know, as I’m saying this, because I haven’t done this in a long time, I’m not feeling the damage that used to be there, like its effect. I’m quite surprised. That one clicks a little bit. I’ll put it right here.
So anyway, I mean it takes an inflamed joint a long period of time before you have any… And even then, like I don’t even notice the damaging of little joints. It’s just like a little bit of a click or something. Anyway, like kinda getting…
Iida: No, but that’s the thing. So I feel that I am… You know, I was in a place where I was happy enough to kind of, you know, get pregnant and not be worried about having to get on to any medication or anything. And I know that there are some levels of hormone that kind of suppresses your immune system to make sure that the body doesn’t try to get rid of the baby. I think someone has written about that on…I can’t remember where it was. And so because I just feel better and better all the time, I’m thinking, “Okay. Well, maybe there is something like that kind of helping the body to get more well during pregnancy,” and then I think that’s why a lot of people get unwell after [inaudible 00:09:20].
Clint: Yeah. Now, it’s looking at me. We’ve got, I think the two…estrogen and is it… I should have looked at this…
Iida: I think it’s three letters or something. Yeah, I should have looked at it.
Clint: Yeah. But there are two hormones, one of them is the estrogen hormone. They both go up tremendously during pregnancy. Yes, and it must be a protective mechanism behind that. And then I love the word…when they…after childbirth, they fall precipitously. Basically, like they’re at this level and then they drop off crazy like that. And that’s where things like postnatal depression set in and everything because the hormonal change is like going from…it’s like, you know, you’re in summer, and then suddenly, the next day is brutal winter in terms of…yeah.
Clint: [inaudible 00:10:06].
Clint: Yeah. And so, you know, that’s a shock to the system amongst everything else that’s going on during childbirth, which you’ll look forward to very shortly. Okay. So we’ve ticked the box that you felt really, really good. Felt ready to get pregnant. And then you’ve fallen pregnant, which is just so exciting.
Let’s talk about having a plant-based pregnancy. What were your fears and concerns, and how have they been sort of…like, how have you got rid of those fears and concerns? Because let me just sort of, you know, stoke the fire a little bit for you. When Melissa and I got pregnant, we thought, “Okay, we’ve got to worry about things like the iron levels because everyone says I got to eat red meat because your iron levels drop during pregnancy [inaudible 00:10:54], getting enough diversity of nutrients so that you and the baby eating enough food, you know, this sort of stuff. I mean you must have had these concerns when you were first pregnant. And was it easy to address them?
Iida: Yeah. I think because I’ve been looking at so many videos by Dr. McDougall, Clint Paddison, Dr. Klaper, you know, all of the kind of…and a lot of vegan moms. There are two that I’ve been following that I will recommend now because I think they’re so awesome. You got Ellen Fisher. I don’t know if you…she lives in Hawaii. She’s pretty much on like a raw diet. But she just, like, advocates this amazing lifestyle. She’s got two super healthy little boys and they’re all…you know, she asked them, “So what do you guys want for dinner tonight?” And they go, “Salad.” You’re like, “Really?” “Okay, so what do you want with it?” “Nothing. That’s it.” And I’m like, “Oh, my God. That actually happens.” Yeah. So she’s so positive and she’s so encouraging. And, you know, she does these e-books and things. I haven’t gotten any of them because…I’ve seen the videos, and it’s pretty much what I cook.
Clint: Yeah, yeah. Exactly.
Iida: But it’s really lovely to see someone doing this and who already has, you know, gone a few steps further. She’s great. And then there’s Mr. and Mrs. Vegan who…I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, but, yeah, she just had a baby and they’ve been writing about that and kind of what I eat in the day as a, you know, pregnant vegan person or what I eat while breastfeeding. Yeah, then obviously, you know, reading Melissa’s book was also really helpful, the “Glowing and Showing.”
So I think that I actually didn’t have a lot of concerns because I had been reading up so much about it. I was rather expecting to have quite a good experience, and when I did, you know, everybody was so surprised and going, you know, “Yeah, but don’t you…aren’t you feeling sick? Aren’t you feeling, you know, unwell? Aren’t you tired?” And I’ve, like, never had this much energy before. You know, we get up super early in the morning because we kind of commute to London still. So getting up at, like, a quarter to 6:00 in the morning, and then only getting to bed at about 10:00. You know, I’d expect to be super tired, yeah. I know that I need to work a little bit more of trying to get to bed earlier, but there were never any problems.
Clint: It’s fantastic, yeah. Melissa found this similar situation. I mean, she barely changed her diet at all. She was already…you know, how we have, like, the optimal health guides? It’s sort of like a set of basic foods to graduate onto, yeah, once everyone has been through all the elimination process. Melissa has been eating like that her whole life. So Melissa is all about just a very diverse plant-based diet. And so she just ate like that and made sure that she mixed up the meals quite a lot. So she wouldn’t have just, you know, pasta three nights in a row, which we never do anyway, but just as a bad example. But we’d have, every night, something different. Sometimes, a takeaway meal, too, you know, Indian, or, you know, we have Thai food. Thai food is really good in Australia. I love the Asian influence. So we’d have Thai or Indian food once or twice a week and then the rest of the week, she’s eating, you know, just her meals, right, her diverse plant-based meals.
She took some supplements. So let’s talk about some supplements. She took RAW Prenatal supplement, which is just vitamins and minerals. And I know she’s mentioned that to yourself as well. I think you got those. And then the only other thing she took was some iron tablets. She made the mistake going into pregnancy of actually already having only just above the normal range or just within the normal range of iron. And so in her first pregnancy, she did actually have to supplement iron. And in the second pregnancy, we knew what happened, which was during her pregnancy months, the iron level dropped as baby took a lot of that from her. But then in the second pregnancy, we knew this. So going into it, she got her iron levels higher, both naturally and supplementary, and then it wasn’t an issue for the whole pregnancy because she was prepared.
What about yourself? What about with, say, supplementation? Did you feel the need?
Iida: Yeah. No. Well, not really. But to kind of cover my basis because people are so worried about these things and obviously, you know, we know that we’re getting everything we need from a plant-based diet, then obviously, getting B12 as an additional supplement. I know that people do that and recommend that. But yeah, because I had a question on Instagram about what supplements I do take. So the one that you mentioned, I’ll show it here because it’s the RAW Garden of Life. And it was so funny because when you mentioned it, I ordered it online, and then I got it and I read the ingredients. I don’t know if you’ve read the ingredients on this, but it’s like organic apple, organic beets, organic broccoli, organic tart cherry, organic garlic, organic raspberry. I’m like, “I’m already eating all of these.”
Clint: Exactly. It’s hilarious.
Iida: [inaudible 00:16:47] Sure.
Clint: That’s right. That’s right. So I think to expand on something you just said when everyone is worried about these things, you see, when people get pregnant, it’s not like they have a revelation of nutrition. If you look at the masses, they’re eating…you would give the average westerner a 1 out of 10 with their diet. Not even a two. I mean a one, right? And so doctors are worried about the effects of how people are eating on the future child for getting folic acid, so on, right? All sorts of… And so no one, or virtually no one is eating so well as you or Melissa were, coming into this, or our audience on this call, right?
Iida: Yeah, sure.
Clint: Because, you know, even the baseline format of our program meets all nutritional requirements, just those few…
Iida: Absolutely.
Clint: Right, right. As long as you eat enough quantity, right?
Iida: Yeah. Exactly.
Clint: Yeah. So that’s why everyone else is worried because everyone else is eating a 1 out of 10. But if you’re on a 10 out of 10, then you feel a bit silly taking a supplement that contains the same foods you eat every day.
Iida: I know, right? So I think you’re supposed to take three of these a day. I take one because… I take it in the morning, I remember, and then I don’t remember for the rest of the day. And I thought, you know what? I seem to be doing fine. And I just had my kind of 25-week tests done. I had to move them forward because of work. But yeah, so basically, they came back and she phoned me, my midwife and me. And she was like, “Yeah. So everything is looking great. Glucose, fine. Iron, fine. Everything is great. So yeah, nothing to worry about.” And I was like, “Phew.”
And then, you know, so I think that was the one thing that I was worried about also because…I think maybe because I’m quite slight and obviously with the baby needing to take a certain amount of space, people have been commenting saying, you know, “Oh my goodness, you look so big right now.” And that was really worrying me for a while, even though I know that I don’t really look big, but obviously, in comparison. Yeah.
Clint: That’s because… And this is not with disrespect to females, but this is just an observation of the human body when you watch a female pregnancy normally. There is a train of thought that, “Now you’re eating for two, you’ve got to eat just an insane amount of food and you can eat whatever you want. Let’s just feed that growing thing.” Right?
Iida: Exactly.
Clint: And as a result, there doesn’t become this sort of slightly expanding hips and slight increase of body weight with the baby bump. It becomes this ballooning effect across the board, like, you know, a disproportionate amount of weight gain compared to the baby’s weight and the internal requirements that come with the fluids and so on. So what you’ve got is like, you know, your same frame but like the bump coming out of the front. And Melissa looked exactly the same. Melissa looked exactly the same.
Iida: That’s the thing, and I think maybe we’re just not used to seeing that or something. And also, you know, a lot of people say that it’s like a typical boy bump, it is a boy because it sits quite high. So yeah. It’s just like it’s right there. And you know, it took me a little while to kind of get used that, and get used to these comments, and be able to say when someone says, “Oh my gosh, you’re really showing a lot,” I’ll be like, “Thank you. That’s a good thing.”
Clint: Exactly, exactly. Because that’s like your canvas on which your body is growing the baby is still in a wonderful shape. And so, you know, the canvas hasn’t been distorted along with the baby bump, right?
Iida: Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. I was just…
Clint: I think you’re amazing. You know, people’s comments inside our support forum as well is just like, “You look incredibly…you look exactly the same except for the bump which is…” Yeah.
Iida: Exactly. They’re so sweet. They’re so lovely. You know, being able to write this on the forum and kind of telling people that, “Yeah, you can totally have like a super healthy…and have the pregnancy, you know, even after having such a horrible disease, but then kind of well condition and then being able to sort that out naturally, you can do… It’s like whatever you guys…” So it’s so great to kind of be able to share that and then get people’s really positive response on that. So that I really like.
Clint: Absolutely. And just before I wanna talk about how you’re influencing others online, Melissa the other day…you know, we just went about an hour up the road here. I mentioned to you before we started recording. We went to a friend of ours’ beach house and stayed for few days. We were in the beach and she’s in her bikini and I’m like “Oh my gosh.” Like she looks the same as what she did before two babies now.” And I know that a lot of this is genetics, but there is obviously a large component of it coming from just eating well and her job, so to speak, as a yoga instructor and so forth.
But I mean, she…her body has returned to like the same. I’m actually still dumbfounded by it because when…just before childbirth, I mean her hips came right out, expanded. It was a fascinating observation of nature. She really had like the pelvic expansion to allow for the baby to come through, and yeah, now we’re about a year and a bit since our second child and her hips have returned to the same spot. I mean nature is incredible.
Iida: Nature is incredible, you know. And when you give it the space to kind of work the way it’s supposed to work and you’re not putting in a lot of kind of processed foods and whatever it could be, you’re not putting in a lot of like fake foods, things that we shouldn’t be eating and you’re not prohibiting it from working the way it was designed to work, then you know, suddenly all of these things just seem to work the way they should.
Clint: Yeah. Funny, though, isn’t it?
Iida: And nature does its thing. Yeah. And it’s funny that we think it’s funny, but it just…you know, that’s the way it should be, right?
Clint: Exactly, exactly. Oh my goodness, it’s like when I had the discovery and I got this when I, you know, did that episode with the nutritionist about our program. It’s like…but still after that like I’m just so kind of…just almost giddy with joy for nature that we don’t need to go and take essential fatty acid supplements. They’re in the food. And it’s like mind-blowing, even to me, who suspected that, but gosh, you just can’t… I mean you can get everything from the food and this is what’s amazing.
So anyway, let’s continue to talk about you. Now, your Instagram has just blown up. You’ve got so many people who like and comment on your post, and you know, you’ve got a lot of followers. I mean how many followers have you got now on Instagram?
Iida: I’ve just gone past 10,000.
Clint: Ten thousand.
Iida: Yeah, which is really nice. Yeah.
Clint: Yeah, it’s amazing.
Iida: It’s a nice mixture, yeah, of people from kind of all around the world. You know, that’s why I sometimes just write, “Yeah, this has happened in England. What are you guys up to?” You get replies from like, you know, from Canada, or Australia, or Hong Kong. You know, it’s really wonderful. And yeah, there seems to be also a big variety of people who are just interested in plant-based foods, or people who actually have a serious condition that they would like to get some help with. And yeah…I mean what I always do is I just say, you know, “You, guys, if it’s all right, you just need to go to the Paddison Program. Check it out. Listen to the talk because I won’t dive into the more kind of technical or medical side of things. You get all of that from Clint, but however, I am here to, like, inspire you guys and show you what I eat because I love cooking and I’m total foodie.”
And I’m just so grateful that I’m able to like use all these amazing plant-foods and create food that anyone who pretty much comes over and has something, whether they are, you know, omnivores, or vegetarians, or vegans, whatever, they love and they enjoy, including kiddies, including 85-year-olds. And they just go, “I can’t believe that there is no oil in this.”
Clint: Yes, yes, that’s right. There’s a big point of difference that you’ve put out there to everyone is that you have extraordinary skills with the food prep, making it not only taste good but to look enticing and to look amazing, which we want. And you’ve got your great photography skills so that the actual pictures of the food really are vibrant and rich, and you also have that elegant kind of English flavor to the photography, which is really right and like…one of your photos is instantly recognizable because of this sort of thing that you have.
Iida: Thank you.
Clint: And you’ve got this whole no-oil thing, which is essential because, you know, there are a lot of plant-based or vegan experts, but so few…other than yourself, you know, I’d hesitate to say that there are any others because you are able to reach that autoimmune audience because they know that they can’t have the oils. And so this is why what you’re doing, you know, really awesome. And can you tell us how you put the…how long does it take to do some of these photos sometimes and how much effort goes into behind the scenes?
Iida: To taking the actual photos?
Clint: Yeah, and the food prep. I mean, is it quite a half a day thing?
Iida: I mean, taking the photos, like, I’m so lazy so I’ll have my table and I always usually put flowers in because I love having flowers around. And the food is so grateful to photograph because it is already so vibrant. You know, you have red tomatoes and green spinach and yellow corn. It’ll always look lovely. So it doesn’t need…the food doesn’t need a stylist, basically. You just take a snapshot. And then, you know, you can play around with the filters a little bit. And then usually, I’m just too hungry so I just get started.
And then if I’m like…yeah, I’m like, “Shoot, you know, this is not great,” it’s gonna have to go up anyway, or there might be a picture of someone having had a little bite out of something, and that’s me. The photography doesn’t take that long at all. And I’m just using my phone. I know I should probably be using my proper camera, but I know it’ll take longer to get them up and [inaudible 00:27:51].
Clint: Wow. That’s cool. Are you shooting on a Samsung or iPhone?
Iida: iPhone 6.
Clint: Yeah, nice, nice, because the shots look fantastic.
Iida: Thank you very much. Yeah.
Clint: Yeah. We just bought a Google Pixel XL, and it is phenomenal with its camera and video.
Iida: Really?
Clint: Yeah. These days, I just use that for all my videos. I just shoot on my phone, and it looks as good as a SLR.
Iida: [Inaudible 00:28:23].
Clint: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it looks amazing. Yeah. Okay. Well, that’s interesting behind the scenes look there. And I wanna talk now about your book. We’ve been chatting about this for a while. Publishing a book, I think, is one of these things that just goes forever. You and I both have this going in parallel. Well, I will shortly be putting a lot of effort and attention into getting the Paddison Program e-book physically published so it’s available on Amazon. That’s been so overdue for many reasons. But you have been working with a legitimate real publisher.
Iida: Yeah, I have.
Clint: How is that experience going and when are we gonna see it on the shelf?
Iida: Yeah, gosh, I can’t wait. It is basically with…it’s been going…what I have done is I’ve contacted, you know, publishers in Sweden and here in the U.K. I’ve had an agent who’s contacted people as well. I think for this kind of a book, because it’s so personal, it needs to come from me, and that’s what I’ve noticed. So as soon as I contacted someone, I’ve actually had a response and a reply. So at the moment, it is with two publishers. One of them that I’m really hoping that it’s gonna go with, you know, she asked the relevant questions. She wants to talk to you as well. She wants to find out more about the Paddison Program and everything. So I’m really hoping that that’s gonna come through. And I’m not entirely sure. I mean, there was a mentioning of potentially that this should be a January book, which means when people are ready to kind of get back into shape and things.
I would like for it, obviously, to come out as soon as possible because I know that there is a need for it. But then I was kind of putting the idea that, you know, “Should people be able to kind of preorder it for Christmas, for example, because it is a very good book for Christmas?” But I guess you have all the big chefs, like, you know, Jamie Oliver and Nigella, all of those guys probably putting out Christmas editions. Do you want to compete with that at that point? So that’s kind of the question at the moment. But yeah. So I am waiting to get confirmation from her and her team if they want to take it on. And I’m thinking if they don’t, then you know what? I’m self-publishing this thing and I’m just gonna do it.
Clint: Yeah. And you and I have discussed this but just for anyone who’s curious about book publishing, one of the issues with self-publishing on Amazon…your starter book is that it’s rich with photographs and that makes the publishing process very expensive, which means that the price of the book itself has to go up. And it all starts to become a question of sort of price versus…
Iida: [inaudible 00:31:15].
Clint: Yeah. And that’s still the case.
Iida: Exactly. That is the case. Yeah, I actually have a friend who works at a printer’s and he’s given me a quote for it. He’s printed it out for me — it looks wonderful — just as a copy for me to get an idea of what it would look like and if it can be done. And it can. So maybe I could even, you know, go through him and see if I could just try to sell it.
Clint: Okay. So you wouldn’t… Because this CreateSpace on Amazon where you create…and that’s what probably I’ll be looking at doing. And I had a long discussion about this with Richard Matthews who published “The Symbiont Factor,” who was an earlier podcast guest. He does a lot of stuff for me on the research side of things with the drug research and stuff. Now, he self-published “The Symbiont Factor,” which surprised me, but his is all text. I think there’s only a couple of black and white, very small images in his whole book. And so CreateSpace and self-publishing on Amazon was, for him, the right way forward, and his book has been a big success. With your book, though, I guess that sort of rules out the CreateSpace Amazon, doesn’t it? And it’s more…with the…
Iida: With pictures.
Clint: Self-publishing but an actual printing, that sort of thing. So you would set up some kind of distribution location and people would order online and it would be sent off from a factory, so to speak, something like that.
Iida: Yeah, I presume so because he kind of gave me a quote for about 500 books. And then I guess, you know, if those would sell, which I hope that they would, then you could kind of invest into the next edition or whatever it is.
Clint: The next run. Print run.
Iida: Yeah, exactly.
Clint: Okay. All right. Good.
Iida: Potentially.
Clint: Well, I’m now up to speed on [inaudible 00:33:05].
Iida: But it is gonna come out because I’ve put down so much time and effort into this book and I use it all the time, because I obviously have it, like on my iBooks, which is really…annoys me that I can’t send it to people. And you know, sometimes someone will get in touch and they’d be like, “I’m on the Paddison Program. I have been craving burgers for so long. Do you have a recipe you can recommend?” And I’m like, “Okay. You know what? My heart just melted.” So then I’ll just screenshot the photo of the recipe. And then I’ll be like, “Okay. Why don’t you put up a picture on Instagram if you liked it?” And they do, and it’s amazing to get that kind of feedback because it’s helpful for me as well.
Clint: Yes. And for every one person who does that, there could be 100 or let’s say 20 to 50 at least who are thinking that who take no action. So once it’s available, I’m sure that, you know, you’ll be inundated with them. With interested parties both those who have autoimmune conditions and also the broader community of people who are just interested in heathy food that looks great, that’s easy to prepare and without the oils. So yeah, I’m super keen for you to get that. The timing with the baby coming, as we just look at wrapping this up, as the timing coming just as like…just a heads-up, you’ll get nothing done once that baby comes.
Iida: I know.
Clint: I mean it is so all consuming. It’s like incredible. The first month, you’re just trying to survive.
Iida: I can’t even imagine. This is why I’m like trying to get everything out of the way, you know, and getting a little bit of like redecoration done at home, trying to get everything done with the book and all. And, you know, the publisher, she was really lovely and she was saying, “Okay. Well, the timing of the baby, yes, it is coming at a very important time.” I think that’s also why she partly suggested that kind of way to give about six months, whatever it is.
Clint: Yeah. Okay, that gives you time to have really gotten into your rhythm with sleep patterns and, you know, all of the stuff. What our experience was that day 1 is the hardest, day 30 is easier than day 29, day 60 is easier than day 59. I mean it just…
Iida: [Inaudible 00:35:23].
Clint: Yeah. And then there’s an occasional problem with sleep changes as they begin to walk or begin to crawl. It’s like so stimulating. But everyone has a different experience, but just braise yourself for not getting any time to do a lot of work, and then if you do get a little time, because you’ve got family support and your little one sleeps pretty good, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised with…
Iida: That would be nice. Yeah. You only really hear about like the downside of everything, so I’m like, “Okay, I’ve no idea what to expect.”
Clint: Yeah, but at the same time when…I mean both babies when…I was right there the whole thing, hypnobirthing with Mellissa, two natural births under an hour, both of them at the hospital, natural without a drug. I mean we just cried with joy at the baby. When you see the baby come into the world and yeah. It’s just everything is worth it. Everything is worth it. Yeah.
Iida: Absolutely. Well, this is the thing, you know. These days, he’s kind of started kicking a lot and moving. Yesterday I was sitting at a dinner party and suddenly really kind of moving slowly along, and I was like, “Whoa. Hello, there’s actually someone in there.” You know, so yeah. And I was going to say the thing about hypnobirthing, that is definitely something because I obviously want to do everything as natural as I can. You never know what’s gonna happen. I’m very well aware of that. Anything might happen. But I want to kind of try to set up as kind of a natural birth as I possibly can, and the hypnobirthing just is…I’ve been listening to a few things. I’m about to…I’m gonna buy the program today, actually, and I’m gonna be doing kind of that from home course. And it just seems so, so incredibly positive and it seems to help so many people. So I’m really excited about that.
Clint: Yes. And we have some others who are also coming up to their births who are part of our support group, don’t we? And you and I chatted online about, you know, some of the tips around hypnobirthing, and you’re about to become an expert on it. But in a nutshell for Melissa, it was…after every contraction, just let it go and forget that it even happened. Do not anticipate the next contraction. In fact, it’s not a contraction, it’s called a surge. So you change your psychology and verbiage of…you know, the language around it. So just a surge, right? And in between, the only thing in the world to do is to relax to the deepest extent you can because…and this was Melissa’s experience based…you know, her experience twice after reading all about this was exactly textbook.
The more you relax and let go completely between surges, the faster everything happens. It’s like the body knows that you’re relaxed, so it just goes into autopilot and it just happened so quickly for us on both occasions. Again, like you say, everyone is different. And every female listening to this would probably say, “Oh, what does he know? Well, my experience was different.” I mean, that’s fine, but certainly, Melissa’s body responded well to intense relaxation between the surges. So, yeah.
Iida: Both super. The one thing that I’m so grateful for is the midwife that I’ve been seeing. Yeah, I mean, she’s quite young and she’s so open and so supportive to all of these things, all of the things that I’ve, you know, expressed an interest in. And she’s been also super supportive about me having, you know, sorted out the inflammatory arthritis the natural way. Yeah, and she’s waiting for the cook book and everything. She’s not the first doctor, which is really nice.
So, yeah, I think it’s very nice to be able to have that kind of a support because I do also know that sometimes, people just want to kind of get the birth out of the way, you know, at the hospital. And, no, it’s gonna be…I’m hoping that it can be on my terms as much as possible. I mean, people are saying, “Oh, I bet you’re really worried about the birth. I know you’re scared about it.” And I’m like, “Actually, I’m not.” It’s like with the pregnancy. Maybe I should be, I don’t know, but, like, I think it’s such a natural thing. And, yeah, it’ll be damn painful, but, you know, the body kind of knows what it’s supposed to do.
Clint: Yep, yep, exactly. And the more you dig into it…and this is a long conversation that we can share for later, but the more you dig into often some of the most common pain relieving or other interventions or making the labor sort of accelerate work against the body’s natural release of pain reduction and so on, yeah, it can get controversial and so forth. But, anyway, yeah, look forward to it.
Melissa described it to me, and I think is worth sharing. She described it as her being a conduit and a vehicle for her child entering the universe. And she needs to basically embrace that as a spiritual experience whereby in this moment, she is delivering a child into the world, and that it’s a wonderful and…a privilege to have a natural childbirth if at all possible. And that helped her because it was like, “Now, I get to do this,” not, “I have to do this.” Yeah. And it was painful…
Iida: Definitely, I like that.
Clint: It was painful. Don’t get me wrong. But, you know, this is…
Iida: Gotta be done.
Clint: Yes, gotta be done. It has to be done. All right.
Iida: It pretty much has to be done. Yeah.
Clint: I’ve had a wonderful time chatting with you again, Iida. And we could chat for a lot longer, but we’re speaking of babies, and I’ve got…little Ariel needs to be put to bed, and I have to now run off. I gave myself 45 minutes, and we chatted for 50.
Iida: Off you go.
Clint: So I’m gonna go and put her to bed because she needs a nap. But it’s been really, really enjoyable chatting with you, and as I’ve said, you’re glowing. All your blood tests come back is great news, that everything is on track, and I look forward to talking to you more before the delivery day.
Iida: Awesome. Thanks so much for having me. It’s super to be here again.
Clint: Yeah, and just a quick call out again. Just list your Instagram so people can jump on it and follow you.
Iida: Oh, yeah. It’s @akitchenfairytale and that’s the Instagram one, and it’s just www.akitchenfairytale.com. So that’s where you’ll find me for the website.
Clint: Okay. Will do. I’ll be following with great interest. Okay. Thanks, Iida.
Iida: Thanks so much for everything, Clint.
Clint: Okay, bye-bye.
Iida: Bye.