We were sitting at home yesterday, Leenah and I, drinking our kale smoothies, and I began to feel better. You see, hubby wanted to meet for lunch, because he forgot something at home, and it was convenient to meet up and just do lunch together. Little did I realize, forgot actually, that doing so broke our "Unprocessed October" eating rules! The funny thing is, we haven't been keeping TO close to the Unprocessed October eating rules since we have spent the last year eating quite strictly unprocessed anyhow, by making our own condiments (mayo, barbque sauce, using tomatoes instead of tomato sauce) and avoiding restaurants who don't serve local and organic foods...until this October! Of course! Perhaps it is the changing season? Well, after lunch, getting a stomach ache, headache AND feeling a tad guilty about breaking the rules, thought I would share! The main reason I felt so guilty about it, is because the food tasted SO bad! The hamburger was a salt bomb, and I started to freak out that there was MSG in it (because I instantly began to get a headache after my first bite) and Leenah was LOVING the sugar bomb strawberry shake...and after a few sips myself, I realized they had used strawberry JAM and sugar instead of nice fresh strawberries...I almost threw up, well I did a little in my mouth anyhow. I hadn't had such gross food in over a year!! The best part of the entire unbalanced meal were the fries, which any real taste of potato was masked by the frying oil, of course! What really amazed me is how awake my taste buds were, to my dis-comfortable realization, hehe. I was only able to take two more bites of the hamburger before I coached Leenah to hand over the shake (she had slurped an 1/8 of it down, and I didn't want a sick girl on my hands, since mama was feeling quite gross already!). So, I threw it all away, the majority of the burger and fries and shake. NEVER AGAIN. The last time we had eaten at Mama Burger was WHEN I was prego with Leenah, how in the world did I enjoy the burger then? OH ya, we weren't eating unprocessed whole foods the majority of the time! Lol. Oh well. I drove us home with a pounding headache and was determined to reverse my headache, hoping Leenah wasn't starting a horrible headache as well. As I drove home, I daydreamed about the lovely kale growing in the garden, and Food Babe's green kale smoothie recipes I couldn't wait to make, convinced it would reverse my growing nausea and headache. I also was amazed at how sensitive my taste buds have become. Besides sounding like a snobby self-proclaimed foodie, WHICH Beau and I are, (anyone becomes this once they start eating whole foods, as well as local and organic foods, because anything other than that just tastes crappy! Lol...this is WHY the majority of chefs in this world are for Proposition 37 in California, and against ALL fast food, GMOs and yes, even Wal-Mart...any self proclaimed health guru or foodie who is ok with Wal-Mart is either a sell-out, a liar, or just plain ignorant because Wal-Mart has been openly selling the new GMO corn grown with Agent Orange, btw...have you been eating it:?)
I AM amazed at how these fast food restaurants STAY in business with their overly sugared and salted foods...Beau had thought about taking his co-workers to Diablo Burger instead of Mama Burger, but because Diablo Burger requires cash, he knew it would be easier to do Mama Burger. I wished he had made the sacrifice and taken everyone to Diablo burger for the local (Lake Mary pasture raised) beef burgers and their in-house made sauerkraut... It MAKES all the difference and IS totally worth the "cash only" sacrifice;] hehe OH WELL. I am at least able now to tell everyone, it TOTALLY matters to consider switching your diet and eating-out habits, because once you do, your taste buds and BODY will thank you. You will be able to deCIFIer whether or not a place is truly caring about their food (aka, does their meat contain antibiotics or was the animal grown without ever seeing the sun? Was it fed on its own kind, because factory chicken and beef is...in fact all grocery store meat IS unless is otherwise proudly stated ) because you will TASTE the difference, and when you WANT to go out to eat, but all your favorite options are not available or not meeting your budget, making a nice meal at home will be preferable to BK's or McDonalds, or even Oreganos! (Yes, we can't even stand Oreganos anymore on a regular basis, less than once a year, because their produce and bread tastes OFF-ful, lol). Not to mention, when you start eating WHOLE foods and unprocessed foods (whole foods are unprocessed foods), the weight stays OFF of the body, and the more veggies we eat, the fuller we feel, and the more energy we have throughout the day!
NOTHing against meat, mind you, we choose to eat less of it SO we can afford the yummy "happy raised" meat!
SO, after having that kale smoothie, which Leenah LOVED, my headache and tummy ache went away within half an hour, and Leenah was a ball of energy, lol.
Not to mention, I felt SO much better!
Here are the smoothie Ingredients:
4-8 Kale leaves, torn off the stems
2 apples (or an apple and a pear)
Juice of an orange, lemon, or other citrus!
1/2 cup of whole fat yogurt:]
And the fun part is, as long as you have the kale base, you can totally play with the ingredients, depending on what you have on hand, to make it sweet enough...two apples and fresh squeezed orange juice was enough to keep Leenah happy (and away from that gross strawberry shake! hehe)
I tell you, once you start eating more whole foods, and stay away from ALL processed "treats" for your kiddos, (whether they say organic or gluten free, or NOT) your kiddos will NOT be constipated if the majority of their snacks are fruits and veggies, while the rest are full fat yogurts, cheeses, nuts, dried fruits and granolas:] Remember, kiddos need WHOLE foods probably MORE than you do, and not only that, but they NEED good sources of natural and organic saturated fats!! Would you believe that some of Leenah's FAVORITE snack foods are sauerkraut, cream from our cream top Strauss milk, provolone cheese, and raisins:}
So even though we have broken the rules of Unprocessed October, we will continue on, just as we have for the last year, and continue to find our favorite recipes to replace all the store bought processed options!
BTW, I'm going to include our favorite Mayonnaise recipe, but update it with a link to a new, possibly healthier mayo recipe that doesn't use safflower/sunflower oil! Here you go, it is SO super easy and fast to make, and OH so yummy, and now I hardly use it unless I have a RECIPE or a random craving for mayo! So AWESOME!
My go-to Mayo Recipe:
1 pastured egg, 1 pastured egg yolk
1 TBSP organic dijon mustard
dash of sea salt
1 cup of Sunflower or Safflower oil
Combine all ingredients except for oil, in a blender or food processor. Start processing/blending, then slowly add the oil, and continue to blend while adding the oil for 3 minutes. The mixture will turn into recognizable mayo within that 3 minutes and you will have some YUM for your sandwhiches:]
now here is the next recipe I am going to try that has the oils I MUCH prefer, coconut and olive. I don't like the sunflower or safflower oils because they are not as naturally occurring in the history of our ancestors, Bibically especially;]
Here is the link!
http://wellnessmama.com/1739/healthy-homemade-mayonnaise/
ENJOY:]
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
This Organic Mom's review of Flagstaff's Natural Grocers
Pathetic. Unless you are used to eating everything out of a box, jar or piece of plastic all the time anyhow. This place is the equivalent of Wal-Mart, but throw the term "natural" or "organic" in front of everything. And it IS cheaper than New Frontiers; however, New Frontiers does not pride itself on selling you everything processed, bagged, and without customer service. New Frontiers is everything this place is NOT. Though, it DOES beat shopping at Wal-Hell. Don't get me wrong, I will be getting my Eco-Over dishwasher detergent, some chocolate bars, biodegradable kitchen bags and essential oils from Natural Grocers because they ARE less expensive..AND though half the store is supplements, it is still a sorry excuse for a natural food store. BUT, for a family who has switched over to a wholly un-processed diet, NG is crap. So, New Frontiers has NOTHing to worry about. Especially since the Natural Grocers produce section is the size of a walk-in closet. This fact alone really makes me angry. And what makes me even angrier, except for the fact that it IS less expensive than New Frontiers, is that all their fruit and veggies that I HAVE bought from them, is already rotten when I get it home! I'm talking bananas, apples, peaches and plums AND mangos. I want to throw them out of Flagstaff already! Oh well. On to waiting for Sprouts in 2013, hoping they are better, and going back to what we did before...shopping at the only other options in town for good quality organic and local food. New Frontiers and the CSA here in Flagstaff...oh, and my backyard! The fact alone that we invested in our own property to learn how and grow our food this summer has helped keep the negativity away from the lack of local foods here in Flagstaff, but the learning curve has only wet our appetite for spring, summer and falls to come! I am already daydreaming about what to plant next year...as well as daydreaming about the types of rare and heritage poultry and fowl we will have someday with more land, as well as dipping our feet into the dairy aspect too, if the Lord allows! Until then, we are saying GOODBYE to the corporate stores (including Natural Grocers, which, somehow, survives in 11 other states?!) and will continue to embrace local food, support local chains (New Frontiers only has 4 stores not including their own farm in CA), and when we can't get a hold of local, we will either grow it and raise it ourselves, or pay the extra price of buying it organic at New Frontiers:!( I tell you, paying about 50% more on our food is HARD, but it sure does beat getting sick all the time and NEVER having to go to the doc anymore for most of the maladies we were suffering in the years before;] Not to mention, when you have to pay more for your food, you really start to get creative and use your brain on trying to figure out how to make it from scratch...and that is half the TRICK...because everything is more nutritious and tastes better when you make it, and learn how to make it at home with *quality* ingredients! And this is the second secret/trick...if you are truly going to make something taste superb AND have it be health-ful, the ingredients MUST be quality (hence the reason our family, and all chefs worth their salt, will NOT buy anything they cook with from big box stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway...etc...and do THEIR best to support local and small farms, due to the superb and obvious humane treatment of their crops and animals! Ok, that is all I have to say on the New *fake* "natural" food store here in Flagstaff, Az. Hope it was helpful;]
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
My Emphatic, (resoundingly enthusiastic) Case for Midwives!
This is a tad long, you have been warned!
I was sharing my comparison of home birth to hospital birth with a friend this morning, it was this:
Going to a midwife, and either having a home birth, or having a hospital birth with a doula/midwife speaking for you when you and your hubby are pre-ocuppied with labor, is like having your wedding day all over again. Midwives make the pregnancy and birth about YOU! OBGYNs and Doctors and hospitals are like having a baby at the the Motor Vehicle Dept... take a number and make it quick! (why do you think the number of C-sections are rising:? It's because doctors are taking precedent and demanding babies be born on THEIR schedule), which we all know is NOT how it is; babies come, when they want to come;] and all midwives build their practice on this philosophy!
Here is my story!
I have always had a deep disdain, from childhood, for doctors, hospitals and the painful, expensive western medical practices. I already knew in my teenage years that I would want something different for my birth...I just didn't know there were other options than the hospital, even when I was married! THEN, one night after work, being bored and hubby away on a work trip, I was doing some internet searching, especially after talking to a dear friend who had just had her first child in the hospital, and even though she said it wasn't a horrible experience, she was longing for the experience a lot of her mama friends had enjoyed with midwives at home and birth centers!
I tucked that info, and other birth stories I came across online, away in my heart for when "my time" came, down the road.
And then it finally came! Actually, what happend, is that my younger brother and sister-in-law got pregnant and I told hubby the time is NOW! God was kind to us, and it only took us two months to figure out how to get pregnant;] It probably helped that I had never been on any type of birth control, was also in the best "toned" shape I had ever been, and I had also stopped using tampons and paper menstral pads for over 3+ years (I started using resusable cloth Luna Pads, and still LOVE them today). And yes, I do believe that everything un-natural that we use on and in our bodies contributes to our fertility, or infertility!
Anyhow, I was finally getting the one thing I had always prayed for. But now, how to best protect this growing babe inside of me? I directly called the Midwifery center in town and set up a consultation. However, even mentioning this consultation brought my family up in arms against the idea.
When I sat down with the lovely lady, mother of six (3 hospital birth, 3 home birth!) and grandmother to many, also the wife of a pastor in town, she actually suggested a homebirth, even with this being my first baby!
But as she went into the lovely details of giving birth at home, and she stated that if my pregnancy went along safely and without any adverse happenings, there would be no problem being at home for my first birth! I already was uncomfortable with hospitals. That being said, she let me in on a midwife secret. Where ever you are most comfortable, is where you want to give birth because stress makes labor more painful. Let's face it, stress makes everything more painful, but more so, physically painful for birth!
I was sold.
Even though my parents, my in-laws, and even my grandparents...pretty much everyone in my family was against it! Everyone but my best friend, and hubby Beau. That was all that mattered, so we went for it!
The pregnancy was pretty mellow and undramatic. I saw the midwives once every two weeks in the beginning...I would go in, have my weight taken, chatted with them about my diet, how I was feeling overall, and they would suggest things I should be eating for the baby and my body's needs (don't think OBGYN's take the time to do this, do they?), the would also listen for the baby's heart beat each visit, and after an hour of talking about the next things to expect in the pregnancy journey, I would go back to work after a nice hour long visit/check up. Though I was nauseas up until 20 weeks, and constantly had to eat to feel decent, the pregnancy was very chill. Finally my due date came! And went! Though it was fun to go out to eat or just be chatting in public and see people look at me in fear that I would give birth on the spot, at any moment! Like a live bomb. Haha.
I had everything the midwives required for the birthing kit at home, and my mom was on stand-by to drive up from Oracle! She ended up coming to Flagstaff to visit for a few days and on the last night, before heading home, asked me to go into labor so she wouldn't have to drive home;] Contractions had started and stopped multiple times through-out the last few days, and they would stop every time I ate! So during lunch that day, while also talking to a dear friend in California, who was also a month out from being due for her baby girl, I shared my delima and she suggested to stop eating, so I thought that was a decent idea, especially since I already felt strangely nauseas, more so than usual! And that's what I did, skipped dinner and it didn't both me a bit. And...I went into steady labor at midnight exactly! I had those contractions that actual hurt "all the way down in the boondocks". That's how I knew it wasn't just playing the Braxton and Hicks tune! Not to mention the 1-3 minute time break, which was no break at all.
Ok, so I'm going to try and give the "quick" version of my birth story here because I want to focus on the wonderful-ness of my midwives! It was a 9 1/2 hour labor. I popped in 'Lord of the Rings' because that is what I wanted to watch, and knew it would keep me at peace, for some reason. Hubby and my mom helped me get through the contractions with various pressure points, by pushing my hips together (would you believe it cut the pain almost in half?!) That was another nifty trick the midwives had up their sleeves and they teach such things in their awesome birth classes. It was the secret of listening to your body, telling you that you are in pain, and then letting your body react in the way that it naturally does, to instinctively show you how to reduce or handle that pain! Well, because I was breathing through my contractions instead of screaming through them, my "team" thought I wasn't progressing enough to warrant a call to alert the midwives, even though I felt a tad differently, but was a bit distracted by the rolling 1-3 minute contractions!
By the time I was seriously in pain, I was getting into the warm water tub we had rented, and I was pushing! The dear midwives had missed my first birth. It was 15 minutes and 2-3 pushes while on all fours in the tub, and hubby had to catch our baby girl, hehe. After that, seconds later actually, the midwife came through the door! You see, hubby had called the midwives just as I started pushing. AS soon as she walked through the door, she took action. She demanded that I instantly put baby girl on my chest, and lay in bed. From there it was 3 wonderful midwives cleaning me up, helping me to start nursing, and they even sewed me up because I tore a bit in the quick arrival of my babe. Then, they left me to sleep once everything was clean and quiet. I cuddled with my baby and slept like one too!
My favorite part is that they were readily available for questions at anytime and came by daily the first week to check on us. I loved every bit of their care. And though my pregnancy and birth were very un-dramatic, we were all prepared to go to the hospital if necessary. The midwives had me register in my 36-37 weeks as a back up plan (that is also their mode of operation btw). But I also feel that being confident and comfortable and unstressed about your birth plan goes a long way with having an uncomplicated birth. Half the battle is a great mental attitude.
Another bit of history that began to turn my heart towards home birth was a sweet girl who I worked with at State Farm. She has 7 siblings, who were all born at home, un-vaccinated, and all SUPER healthy. The thing that caught me most when she would talk about her family, was that she enjoyed being near by when her siblings were born, and she mentioned how her mom LOVED being at home, being taken care of by the midwife, and most importantly, having her babies born in the household with their own germs. Unlike the scary germs floating around at the hospitals! Kinda gives a mama insight as to why the hospitals now push the Heb B vaccine on 24 hour newborn babes...cause they are most likely covering their butts in case poor babies happen to catch nasty things at those not-so-clean hospitals! I have to say, the most nerve wracking thing of the entire home birth was feeling "forced" to take my 5 day old into the pediatrician for a check-up because we were days away from Christmas and were told we needed a Pediatrician to see us in case anything happend over Christmas. What scared me to death was having my 5 day old in that office with a waiting room full of sick babies and kids! I want to say "never again", and I'm hoping with the second child we won't have to do this and stay at home with the babe as long as we want!
The other lovely lovely thing about midwives? They tell you ALL about what the hospital gives to newborns (Vitamin K shot, Hep B, eye drops) and tell you about alternatives to those vaccines and meds (like the fact that breast milk has plenty of vitamin K in it, and that 99% of the time our breast milk takes care of the babies deficiances, if there are any in the first place. AND that the eye drops the hospital wants to give all newborns for possible eye infections, can be substituted with breast milk!) Then, the midwives ask if you want it or not, and all you have to do is sign the needed paperwork, and you will be done with it!
Another thing I LOVE about our midwives here in Flagstaff especially? They ask parents to educate themselves on vaccinations and do not say good or bad about it! They just give you sites to check out that have info about vaccinations for both sides (such as the CDC and Dr. Sears).
They also encourage new parents to sleep with or very near by our babes the first few weeks of birth to correctly bond for the breastfeeding and sleeping aspects of our newborns. I LOVE how seriously they take breast feeding and how lovingly persistent and knowledgeable they each are on getting babies to feed! They are tireless, because they know how important breast feeding is, compared to hospitals (who much prefer to "supplement" a struggling mom with formula at the drop of a hat) where as the midwives consider formula the last resort!
By the way, did you know that when you have a natural birth, the hormones that are released with the adrenaline from giving birth are what is needed to successfully bond baby and mama for ease of breast feeding? This is why midwives are SO animate about getting baby on mama's chest ASAP after birth. And this is most likely why mamas have trouble breast feeding not only after C-sections, but even natural hospital births because the baby is taken away either directly or within the 1st hour after birth. It is the 1st few hours that are so crucial for just mama and babe to be together...it is like the wedding day...the day to enjoy each other and love on each other! SEE, this is the information you will get from midwives! I LOVE my midwives. I love that they make your birthing day about YOU and your babe. No one else. It is like your wedding day (or the way it should have been;) but better, because you HAVE fallen in love again...
Make it your BEST day by finding a wonderful midwife or group of midwives near you, to support the birth the way you want it!! Hospital, birthing center, or at home.
Also, if you want even more experiences and hard facts on hospital vs. midwife births, check out these
AWESOME documentaries, which most likely can be found on Netflix and Hulu!
"Pregnant in American"
http://www.pregnantinamerica.com/
and
"The Business of Being Born"
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
I hope and pray you, who are reading this, will have a wonderful, peaceful, and LOVELY birth day with your new babe!
xoxo
-Melissa
I was sharing my comparison of home birth to hospital birth with a friend this morning, it was this:
Going to a midwife, and either having a home birth, or having a hospital birth with a doula/midwife speaking for you when you and your hubby are pre-ocuppied with labor, is like having your wedding day all over again. Midwives make the pregnancy and birth about YOU! OBGYNs and Doctors and hospitals are like having a baby at the the Motor Vehicle Dept... take a number and make it quick! (why do you think the number of C-sections are rising:? It's because doctors are taking precedent and demanding babies be born on THEIR schedule), which we all know is NOT how it is; babies come, when they want to come;] and all midwives build their practice on this philosophy!
Here is my story!
I have always had a deep disdain, from childhood, for doctors, hospitals and the painful, expensive western medical practices. I already knew in my teenage years that I would want something different for my birth...I just didn't know there were other options than the hospital, even when I was married! THEN, one night after work, being bored and hubby away on a work trip, I was doing some internet searching, especially after talking to a dear friend who had just had her first child in the hospital, and even though she said it wasn't a horrible experience, she was longing for the experience a lot of her mama friends had enjoyed with midwives at home and birth centers!
I tucked that info, and other birth stories I came across online, away in my heart for when "my time" came, down the road.
And then it finally came! Actually, what happend, is that my younger brother and sister-in-law got pregnant and I told hubby the time is NOW! God was kind to us, and it only took us two months to figure out how to get pregnant;] It probably helped that I had never been on any type of birth control, was also in the best "toned" shape I had ever been, and I had also stopped using tampons and paper menstral pads for over 3+ years (I started using resusable cloth Luna Pads, and still LOVE them today). And yes, I do believe that everything un-natural that we use on and in our bodies contributes to our fertility, or infertility!
Anyhow, I was finally getting the one thing I had always prayed for. But now, how to best protect this growing babe inside of me? I directly called the Midwifery center in town and set up a consultation. However, even mentioning this consultation brought my family up in arms against the idea.
When I sat down with the lovely lady, mother of six (3 hospital birth, 3 home birth!) and grandmother to many, also the wife of a pastor in town, she actually suggested a homebirth, even with this being my first baby!
But as she went into the lovely details of giving birth at home, and she stated that if my pregnancy went along safely and without any adverse happenings, there would be no problem being at home for my first birth! I already was uncomfortable with hospitals. That being said, she let me in on a midwife secret. Where ever you are most comfortable, is where you want to give birth because stress makes labor more painful. Let's face it, stress makes everything more painful, but more so, physically painful for birth!
I was sold.
Even though my parents, my in-laws, and even my grandparents...pretty much everyone in my family was against it! Everyone but my best friend, and hubby Beau. That was all that mattered, so we went for it!
The pregnancy was pretty mellow and undramatic. I saw the midwives once every two weeks in the beginning...I would go in, have my weight taken, chatted with them about my diet, how I was feeling overall, and they would suggest things I should be eating for the baby and my body's needs (don't think OBGYN's take the time to do this, do they?), the would also listen for the baby's heart beat each visit, and after an hour of talking about the next things to expect in the pregnancy journey, I would go back to work after a nice hour long visit/check up. Though I was nauseas up until 20 weeks, and constantly had to eat to feel decent, the pregnancy was very chill. Finally my due date came! And went! Though it was fun to go out to eat or just be chatting in public and see people look at me in fear that I would give birth on the spot, at any moment! Like a live bomb. Haha.
I had everything the midwives required for the birthing kit at home, and my mom was on stand-by to drive up from Oracle! She ended up coming to Flagstaff to visit for a few days and on the last night, before heading home, asked me to go into labor so she wouldn't have to drive home;] Contractions had started and stopped multiple times through-out the last few days, and they would stop every time I ate! So during lunch that day, while also talking to a dear friend in California, who was also a month out from being due for her baby girl, I shared my delima and she suggested to stop eating, so I thought that was a decent idea, especially since I already felt strangely nauseas, more so than usual! And that's what I did, skipped dinner and it didn't both me a bit. And...I went into steady labor at midnight exactly! I had those contractions that actual hurt "all the way down in the boondocks". That's how I knew it wasn't just playing the Braxton and Hicks tune! Not to mention the 1-3 minute time break, which was no break at all.
Ok, so I'm going to try and give the "quick" version of my birth story here because I want to focus on the wonderful-ness of my midwives! It was a 9 1/2 hour labor. I popped in 'Lord of the Rings' because that is what I wanted to watch, and knew it would keep me at peace, for some reason. Hubby and my mom helped me get through the contractions with various pressure points, by pushing my hips together (would you believe it cut the pain almost in half?!) That was another nifty trick the midwives had up their sleeves and they teach such things in their awesome birth classes. It was the secret of listening to your body, telling you that you are in pain, and then letting your body react in the way that it naturally does, to instinctively show you how to reduce or handle that pain! Well, because I was breathing through my contractions instead of screaming through them, my "team" thought I wasn't progressing enough to warrant a call to alert the midwives, even though I felt a tad differently, but was a bit distracted by the rolling 1-3 minute contractions!
By the time I was seriously in pain, I was getting into the warm water tub we had rented, and I was pushing! The dear midwives had missed my first birth. It was 15 minutes and 2-3 pushes while on all fours in the tub, and hubby had to catch our baby girl, hehe. After that, seconds later actually, the midwife came through the door! You see, hubby had called the midwives just as I started pushing. AS soon as she walked through the door, she took action. She demanded that I instantly put baby girl on my chest, and lay in bed. From there it was 3 wonderful midwives cleaning me up, helping me to start nursing, and they even sewed me up because I tore a bit in the quick arrival of my babe. Then, they left me to sleep once everything was clean and quiet. I cuddled with my baby and slept like one too!
My favorite part is that they were readily available for questions at anytime and came by daily the first week to check on us. I loved every bit of their care. And though my pregnancy and birth were very un-dramatic, we were all prepared to go to the hospital if necessary. The midwives had me register in my 36-37 weeks as a back up plan (that is also their mode of operation btw). But I also feel that being confident and comfortable and unstressed about your birth plan goes a long way with having an uncomplicated birth. Half the battle is a great mental attitude.
Another bit of history that began to turn my heart towards home birth was a sweet girl who I worked with at State Farm. She has 7 siblings, who were all born at home, un-vaccinated, and all SUPER healthy. The thing that caught me most when she would talk about her family, was that she enjoyed being near by when her siblings were born, and she mentioned how her mom LOVED being at home, being taken care of by the midwife, and most importantly, having her babies born in the household with their own germs. Unlike the scary germs floating around at the hospitals! Kinda gives a mama insight as to why the hospitals now push the Heb B vaccine on 24 hour newborn babes...cause they are most likely covering their butts in case poor babies happen to catch nasty things at those not-so-clean hospitals! I have to say, the most nerve wracking thing of the entire home birth was feeling "forced" to take my 5 day old into the pediatrician for a check-up because we were days away from Christmas and were told we needed a Pediatrician to see us in case anything happend over Christmas. What scared me to death was having my 5 day old in that office with a waiting room full of sick babies and kids! I want to say "never again", and I'm hoping with the second child we won't have to do this and stay at home with the babe as long as we want!
The other lovely lovely thing about midwives? They tell you ALL about what the hospital gives to newborns (Vitamin K shot, Hep B, eye drops) and tell you about alternatives to those vaccines and meds (like the fact that breast milk has plenty of vitamin K in it, and that 99% of the time our breast milk takes care of the babies deficiances, if there are any in the first place. AND that the eye drops the hospital wants to give all newborns for possible eye infections, can be substituted with breast milk!) Then, the midwives ask if you want it or not, and all you have to do is sign the needed paperwork, and you will be done with it!
Another thing I LOVE about our midwives here in Flagstaff especially? They ask parents to educate themselves on vaccinations and do not say good or bad about it! They just give you sites to check out that have info about vaccinations for both sides (such as the CDC and Dr. Sears).
They also encourage new parents to sleep with or very near by our babes the first few weeks of birth to correctly bond for the breastfeeding and sleeping aspects of our newborns. I LOVE how seriously they take breast feeding and how lovingly persistent and knowledgeable they each are on getting babies to feed! They are tireless, because they know how important breast feeding is, compared to hospitals (who much prefer to "supplement" a struggling mom with formula at the drop of a hat) where as the midwives consider formula the last resort!
By the way, did you know that when you have a natural birth, the hormones that are released with the adrenaline from giving birth are what is needed to successfully bond baby and mama for ease of breast feeding? This is why midwives are SO animate about getting baby on mama's chest ASAP after birth. And this is most likely why mamas have trouble breast feeding not only after C-sections, but even natural hospital births because the baby is taken away either directly or within the 1st hour after birth. It is the 1st few hours that are so crucial for just mama and babe to be together...it is like the wedding day...the day to enjoy each other and love on each other! SEE, this is the information you will get from midwives! I LOVE my midwives. I love that they make your birthing day about YOU and your babe. No one else. It is like your wedding day (or the way it should have been;) but better, because you HAVE fallen in love again...
Make it your BEST day by finding a wonderful midwife or group of midwives near you, to support the birth the way you want it!! Hospital, birthing center, or at home.
Also, if you want even more experiences and hard facts on hospital vs. midwife births, check out these
AWESOME documentaries, which most likely can be found on Netflix and Hulu!
"Pregnant in American"
http://www.pregnantinamerica.com/
and
"The Business of Being Born"
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/
I hope and pray you, who are reading this, will have a wonderful, peaceful, and LOVELY birth day with your new babe!
xoxo
-Melissa
Friday, August 10, 2012
The sippy-cup conundrum solved! at least in this house;]
SO, on this plastic free journey, the very first things to go were all my baby's plastic toys and her plastic sippy cup. As much as this drove most everyone else nuts, I was resolved to have my 15-month-old-at-the-time, be content with drinking from a small glass cup! An though she was ok drinking her water out of the glass cup, every time we go to Grandma's house, she sucks down water and milk in her cousin's sippy cup! As much as I could let this drive me nuts, it drove grandma practically mad;] hehe OH well, I thought. And then, my mom gave me some un-used ceramic to-go cups that she and dad were not using. You know the kind that you see for sale at Starbucks and other specialty shops for "green" coffee cup option. Very nice indeed, wish more people would buy into it! The kinda cool thing is the top look-alike lid has a small sip hole and the whole lid is made of silicone. My husband, who works with medical grade silicone, informed me that is does leach "less" than regular plastics, though it does still leach. SO, while I hand wash this lid, and the ceramic cup instead of dishwashing it, knowing that, I feel a tad bit better with this option than all-plastic sippy cups. And though it does still spill, since Leenah has been drinking from an open up for the last few months ANYhow, she prefers this because it is the coveted sippy cup feel;] so she LOVES to drink her water now, where before I had to give her the cup to drink from, just about every time I would remember, which is never enough! So though this is still not 100% leach free option, it is much better, because it is a ceramic cup! And it will get us to eventually reaching the next stage of, being done with sippy cups all together;) or at least that is MY plan hehe.
Hope this helps any mamas trying to either get away from the plastic sippys, or just sippys in general, as this is a nice way to wean off of the sippy, and it holds more liquid...win-win I say!
Safer and Cheaper alternatives to tampons and pads!
SO, I haven't blogged for awhile, but I JUST got this crazy urge to send some info to a dear friend on alternatives to tampons and menstrual pads!! I have been using these cloth pads, from Luna Pads, since 2006/2007 since my periods started getting more painful, and as soon as I dropped tampons, I felt SO much better every month! PLUS, even though as a mommy it can be almost impossible to get consistent work-outs in, I notice that when I eat "cleaner", my flow is less intense, and when I exercise, my flow shortens by a DAY, if not more! BUT, these cloth pads not only save me the "pain in the ahem" of buying from the store, but they save me MONEY, I've had them for...what...5+ years, and they are still going STRONG, and they are WAY more comfortable than regular pads...PLUS, for those friends that feel tampons are a MUST, Luna Pads offers this thing called a moon cup, check it out! I personally think it is easier to use once having a kiddo ;] hehe
But I still personally like the ease of JUST using pads!
So, without further ado, HERE is the awesome website I LOVE. http://lunapads.com/
Now, fyi, this is a Canadian company, there are American companies too, http://www.newmoonpads.com/home.html
this is one of the larger sites here in the US...but for some reason, I really prefer Luna Pads!!
OK... just had to give my lady friends the down low on this, I truly believe menstrual pads and tampons have a negative effect on our feminine health, as well as the environmental impact...just like disposable diapers, and JUST like the negative impact on our health that birth control pills wage on our fertility and every other aspect of the monthly flow time. It is negative! Here is another option that I have been enjoying for YEARs...not to mention it is cheaper!
But how to wash these? I do a load of JUST these pads, and when I was washing cloth diapers, I would actually throw them in with the diaper load! So it's not that big of a deal...however, I did have to buy about 2 sets of these pads, and like cloth diapers, it IS an investment, but it pays off in LESS than a year;] ALSO, one last note for those of you seriously considering this option, I did also buy (in bulk, on Amazon) an all-natural, no chemicals added, panty liner for my extra heavy days when I know I DON'T want to have to deal with leaky undies;] I just found these by searching organic/all natural panty liners! I bought them in bulk about 3+ years ago, and am still going through it!! whoo hoo, and it was only like 50-60 bucks! OK, will stop now. Hope you all enjoyed this bit of info! xoxo
But I still personally like the ease of JUST using pads!
So, without further ado, HERE is the awesome website I LOVE. http://lunapads.com/
Now, fyi, this is a Canadian company, there are American companies too, http://www.newmoonpads.com/home.html
this is one of the larger sites here in the US...but for some reason, I really prefer Luna Pads!!
OK... just had to give my lady friends the down low on this, I truly believe menstrual pads and tampons have a negative effect on our feminine health, as well as the environmental impact...just like disposable diapers, and JUST like the negative impact on our health that birth control pills wage on our fertility and every other aspect of the monthly flow time. It is negative! Here is another option that I have been enjoying for YEARs...not to mention it is cheaper!
But how to wash these? I do a load of JUST these pads, and when I was washing cloth diapers, I would actually throw them in with the diaper load! So it's not that big of a deal...however, I did have to buy about 2 sets of these pads, and like cloth diapers, it IS an investment, but it pays off in LESS than a year;] ALSO, one last note for those of you seriously considering this option, I did also buy (in bulk, on Amazon) an all-natural, no chemicals added, panty liner for my extra heavy days when I know I DON'T want to have to deal with leaky undies;] I just found these by searching organic/all natural panty liners! I bought them in bulk about 3+ years ago, and am still going through it!! whoo hoo, and it was only like 50-60 bucks! OK, will stop now. Hope you all enjoyed this bit of info! xoxo
Thursday, August 2, 2012
My plastic journey...and BUTTER making on the deck;]
SO, I am excited about the random projects I have had going in my kitchen lately! First up...my non-cling wrap project...I had to hide the HUGE Sam's Club cling wrap that I bought because I will use it if it is near by...therefore, this is now what my crazy fridge looks like, but it is totally stack-able, and works GREAT!
NEXT, was a way to dry the left over plastic bags I have so I don't but ANOTHER box of dumb zip baggies...now that I don't have zip baggies in the kitchen, I am amazed at how many are still floating around! SO, instead of buying a "plastic bag dryer" at New Frontiers, my brain actually came up with a way to make one, yea!!! Take a used box of some kind, or even plastic container, fill it with beans (I used our plethora of old coffee beans) and old skewers, and chop sticks;] and WAL-A!
SO far, it's been challenging, but grand getting rid of plastic!! I LOVE IT!
Now, I have started to make butter out of heavy whipping cream I buy from New Frontiers, since it is actually LESS expensive because I can take the Strauss glass container back and get $1.50 of what I paid for it (initally $6.16!) While the butter I prefer to get, usually Clover, is $6.46!! Well...now the Natural Grocers is in town, this may not be the case, but until I find out how much their butter is, and make sure it is NOT Shamrock (sorry folks, don't much weight into companies that do both organic and non-organic products, especially dairy products! the possibility for cross contamination is huge), in fact, this is what our new Natural Grocers store says on their mission statement, hence the reason the carry ONLY Organic and non-GMO items! so KEWL!
here is the cream before it is butter...and then, 3 minutes of shaking it....
AND it's butter, with the buttermilk needing to be taken out, and then washed with cold water (which just means, you drain out the buttermilk into another container, but in some COLD water, shake it a bit more and then pour that off...it is just so the buttermilk won't make the butter go bad/rancid before it needs to, and will last longer!
OK...so this is a BIT of the fun I had yesterday...will share more later...now it is off to Natural Grocers with a friend to investigate the store a bit more, I will post my personal findings and feelings about this store in my next post!
SO far, it's been challenging, but grand getting rid of plastic!! I LOVE IT!
Now, I have started to make butter out of heavy whipping cream I buy from New Frontiers, since it is actually LESS expensive because I can take the Strauss glass container back and get $1.50 of what I paid for it (initally $6.16!) While the butter I prefer to get, usually Clover, is $6.46!! Well...now the Natural Grocers is in town, this may not be the case, but until I find out how much their butter is, and make sure it is NOT Shamrock (sorry folks, don't much weight into companies that do both organic and non-organic products, especially dairy products! the possibility for cross contamination is huge), in fact, this is what our new Natural Grocers store says on their mission statement, hence the reason the carry ONLY Organic and non-GMO items! so KEWL!
OK...so this is a BIT of the fun I had yesterday...will share more later...now it is off to Natural Grocers with a friend to investigate the store a bit more, I will post my personal findings and feelings about this store in my next post!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
And Months down the road...
So, I haven't posted in the last few months, once again revolting against the blog. BUT, since some of my closest, most awesome mommy friends post wonderful things, and it will keep me productively off of facebook, if I have another place to post my thoughts and never-ending finds on healthy living, I figure, it's time to DO this! With our coffee roasting company, Sky Island Roasters, really starting to take off, I am finding it harder and harder to keep up with my homely chores!! ahh! But non-the-less, I still can't help myself from also experimenting with my favorite hobbies...of late, are being on this plastic free journey (!!!) And finding more and more homemade stuff to make from scratch! SO far, on my plastic-free journey, I have officially started keeping MOST all of the plastic we collect that I have learned, can NOT be recycled, and therefore, goes into either our landfills, or the ocean, UGH. I have also started keeping ALL bottle caps and am planning on shipping my box to a cap recycling company once it is full (yea!) Because, it is the small plastic that seems to be killing the MOST wildlife right now:[ And the next step in this journey has been to wipe out the plastic wrap I have been using. So far so good! I bought a couple of extra plates from GoodWill, my new favorite shop since Target is pretty much out of my life on a regular basis (another goal reached!). And with those ceramic plates, I put them on all the glass wear I have switched to, to store our food! OK...so now I need to get back to being mommy, clean up some of the significant messes going on in the house right now, and figure out what I will journal/blog about tomorrow!! TTY-later;]
Thursday, February 2, 2012
And so it Begins
Never been a fan of blogs, until I started finding other mamas who were posting everything from ECing to recipes for homemade deoterant and toothpaste! And THEN, became a fan of Pinterest...BUT am upset that my posts/favorite recipes started disappearing from pinterest! Using this blog to LOG favorite recipes and the things that have made my life better, easier, and more FUN and want to SHARE!
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