I have not posted on here FOREVER! SO I thought I would quickly post a few AWESOME books I have read lately that lend themselves to the Naturally Healthy lifestyle.
MADE FROM SCRATCH-getting into homesteading
Jenna Woginrich
A really cute book, and really inspirational. It is about a 26 year old gal who decides to take up her life and start homesteading part time. I think this is so admirable! George Bernard Shaw said,'Life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself.' She absolutely is doing that.
THE CHINA STUDY-study in nutrition
T.Colin Cambell and Thomas M. Cambell
Holy cow, what a crazy book. I have not completely formed my opinion on it yet(I am only part way through the book). I do agree with a whole foods diet, and limiting meat and dairy. I gotta finish the book for a full opinion though.
SLEEPING NAKED IS GREEN-making green choices in your life
Vanessa Farquharson
I loved the concept of this book. This gal decides to make a new "green" choice everyday for a year. Pretty interesting.
THROW OUT FIFTY THINGS-Organizing your home and life
Gail Blanke
I LOVE organizing and getting things in order in my home and in myself. This is AN AWESOME BOOK. Very motivating and liberating.
I have also read HICKORY DICKORY DEATH by Agatha Christie, MY LIFE IN FRANCE by Julia Child, CONTENTMENT by Maria Covey Cole, and some other books. It is really important to read a wide variety of ideas and books. I find I get a bit unbalanced if I only read one type of literature for too long. Especially about nutrition. Don't get burned out, read fun stuff and interesting stuff.:)
Cheers and happy reading!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Alice's Birth Story
A few weeks ago we detected an arrhythmia in Alice's heartbeat. It wasn't anything intense, but it warranted enough of a worry for her mother that she decided that she wanted to do some natural induction this last Saturday after finding that she was 3cm dilated, 70% effaced and at a zero station. So at about 11am on Saturday morning I had my midwife April do some cervical massage to see if we could get this labor going. A few hours later I started feeling the beginnings of labor. I knew intense labor was still hours away and tried to keep busy by finishing my special friendship post partum nesting quilt I had designed. I knew I wanted this quilt done before Alice came so I was in a hurry to finish it. I figured that this labor would progress similar to Denny's so I thought we would be having this baby around 8 or 9 pm. With contractions coming regularly I finally finished the quilt and was ready to start timing contractions to get a reference for how I was progressing. They were consistently about 25-35 seconds long, happening every other minute. I thought for sure I would be feeling harder contractions by then so I had my midwife come over and check me. I was 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. A bit discouraging, but I knew effacement was more telling than dilation(I went from a 5-10 in one hour with Denny). April told me and BJ to go for a long walk and then see how things started to feel. So we left my Mum and the kids at home and started our long walk. As soon as it was me and BJ alone on our walk labor started to pick up.(I really believe me and BJ's mental/emotional connection in labor effects how I progress. Every time we start to be in two different places-like BJ in the kitchen making food, me in the living room laboring alone, it seems my labor starts to slow down a bit, or not progress, but as soon as we are together again in every sense, it picks up. I feel that his support is different than my midwife supporting me or my doula. It is my favorite thing about laboring, the connection that me and BJ get to experience in such a unique way.)
We had to stop at a friend's house to go to the bathroom(thank you Sara!) and then we were back home. I was definitely feeling stronger contractions by then and was ready for my Mum and kids to visit a friend(Thank you Annjilla!) and for me to get in the birth pool(which of course wasn't set up yet because I didn't want the kids playing in it.) By now it was about 9pm and I decided to stop watching the clock because obviously labor was going to be longer than expected.:) It took FOREVER to get the pool set up it felt, but I spent the time swaying my hips back and forth. I especially like to lean over something and sway. Like I would lean over the side of the couch and sway my hips, or put my head on the seat of our cushy swivel chair and sway back and forth on my knees. It felt really good to have my belly hanging parallel to the floor. Alice was very low the whole time. We had my fabulous doula Sherry come about then. I labored in and out of the pool. I felt like I wanted things very quiet and calm. I felt bad that my birth seemed to me kind of boring for everyone else in the room because I was so focused inward. BJ says I apologized like infinity times about it. I just really wanted to be quiet and listen to my body. It is really hard to explain what I was feeling. It is an extremely amazing experience to be so in tune with what your physical body needs and is telling you. To move how it asks you to move. To get up or down. To get water or ice or something to eat. So often, as women we turn our bodies over to someone else to get our babies out of our bodies, when really we need to turn inward and just listen and our bodies tell us exactly what to do. It is an amazing thing.
So I kept laboring but I didn't feel like I was progressing. It was getting to be around 11pm so we had my Mum and the kids come back home. Jane got in the tub with me which was fun.:) It was a little bonding experience:). But I was glad when she got out and I could feel like I could labor again. While she was in the pool I didn't feel as at liberty to move and sway like I felt I needed to. The kids finally were getting to bed, and I had a little melt down. I remember talking to Sherry and feeling upset that I didn't feel like I was progressing and just telling her everything I was afraid of. It was a really important part of my labor because after I released those emotions I could start to progress again. BJ had the kids down and was by my side from then on. I was worried the kids would wake up and need him, but that never happened(THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER!). I was a little worried about my Mum being there while I was laboring because you get pretty dang naked at a home birth, but that ended up being fine. April was there by then, and with BJ I started to progress more.
They say with a birth tub it is nice because it becomes a sort of private sanctuary. Your husband might get in with you, but besides that no one else enters that space. It is your space, and a lot of women tell me that is a huge part of their labor. For me the tub was wonderful, but where I felt the most alone with BJ and with myself was in our bathroom. I could shut the door and really focus on what was going on. It is a small space and when BJ would be in there with me I felt like I could talk to him and tell him whatever(my deepest fears at that point in labor, or just that I hurt, or to ask him for a priesthood blessing, or whatever) and I didn't have to worry about anyone else hearing me. Labor can make you feel extremely vulnerable, and I liked that I could talk to my BJ in a safe and secure place.
So after awhile I sort of started feeling the urge to push. It felt weird though. Like I couldn't push where I needed to. When I would push it felt like all the pressure was in the front of my vagina instead of where the cervix opening was. I would push and it didn't feel wonderful like it did when it came time to push Denny out. I also still couldn't imagine what position I wanted to push Alice out in. With Denny I was sitting on the ground leaning back on BJ. With Alice I had no idea. Nothing was feeling right. After some painful contractions and confusing pushing I realized that my body wanted to get back in the tub. I was loathe to do so since I knew that the water was not hot anymore, and I get cold and go into shock kind of easy. But my body was CLEARLY telling me that to push this baby out I needed to get in the tub. So I crawled over and in with the help of I think Sherry and BJ? I can't remember. I moved around in there trying to find a comfortable position to push, something felt off. April checked me again and a lip of my cervix still was in the way. She tried moving it out of the way while I pushed, and that felt HORRIBLE. It was so painful that I let out a really loud scream(pretty much the only really loud one I did for that labor-I did make noise, especially at the end, but nothing like that painful "You need to stop doing that now!":). Sherry was exactly what I needed as a doula and kept telling me to move into a specific position. After a few position changes I could tell this was it. I ended up kind of half crouching, half leaning over the side of the pool, half kneeling(how many halves is that?:), with BJ squishing my hips together pretty much the whole time. After some serious pushing, I could feel her coming down. I couldn't see what was happening. From what I felt, it felt like she was made out of a million more bumps and corners than a baby needed. It felt like I had pushed her head all the way out two or three times, and that she felt a bit stuck at various times of her body coming out. I remember as I was pushing the head out it hurt so much that I stood up and everyone was telling me to get back in the water(with a water birth, the reason a baby can stay under water safely for so long is because they don't take a breath until they feel that temperature change coming out of the water). What was actually going on and why pushing felt so weird and confusing was(this is a bit gross, but how it happened, sorry) there was a huge bowel movement in the way not letting the baby come out. If I had been in the hospital I am not sure what would have happened. I probably would have had an epidural and then moving into a position my body needed would have been out. I probably would have been pushing for a LONG LONG time, and the dreaded C word would have maybe come up after too long of pushing. I remember trying to lean back and push at home, and it was not happening, so I can;t imagine trying to push Alice out on my back at the hospital. Movement was KEY. I also would have torn. I know I would have torn if I hadn't been in the tub, this time pushing hurt millions(not like with Denny or Jane at all). I was completely shocked when April checked me after the labor with Alice and I hadn't torn at all.
So anyways, Alice was out and I got to pick her up out of the water and hold her fast to me(3:45am). She was so peaceful! Her eyes were wide open and she was breathing pretty good. She needed a tiny bit of encouragement to breathe really well, but that was quickly remedied with a few puffs from the oxygen tank April had for that sort of thing. BJ was holding the both of us in the tub, and it was just lovely. It felt SO good to have my girl out! I felt like a completely different woman!:)
After my cord stopped pulsating, BJ cut it, and got out of the tub with Alice. I waited a little while for the placenta to be delivered, but it was not feeling like it wanted to do that in the tub. So I was helped into my shower and like a minute later the placenta was delivered, and I was free to shower and can I tell you that was one of my favorite parts! I got into some comfy pj's and into my own comfy bed with Alice while BJ showered and got clean. Alice started to nurse right away(which was a huge blessing, I am not the most talented nurser:). April, Sherry, BJ, my Mum, Alice and me were all in my bedroom as Alice was weighed and checked out. Her arrhythmia was completely gone! Yay! We all got "birth"day presents, and then it was time to go to bed.:) Before Sherry and April left they must have emptied the pool and cleaned up a bit. BJ finished taking down the pool the next morning. People think there is such a mess to clean up if you labor at home, but the midwife is usually pretty discreet I think , and I have never been left with a mess.
It was a long but amazing birth. And I would definitely do it again. With the arrhythmia, even though it was gone, I am sure they would have taken my daughter away for way longer than necessary, just to cover their own butts legally. Sherry and April and my Mum and BJ were perfect supports for me. I knew this was going to be an emotional labor, and I knew I was going to need the support they were perfect at giving. I got to experience that wonderful and unique connection with BJ again, and I got to experience that amazing connection with my own body. Getting into the birth tub at the end was definitely my body's idea, and it turned out to be soooooo necessary. After birth it usually hurts so bad to go to the bathroom, but I didn't experience any of that, and I know that was because I gave birth in the water too.
Anyways, I am NOT a good story teller, and my English and grammar skills are AWFUL, but here is Alice's birth story as best as I can tell it.
In the pool with Momma:)
In comes the Daddy
Our Fabulous Doula and Friend Sherry
Our Midwife is on Fire!
We had to stop at a friend's house to go to the bathroom(thank you Sara!) and then we were back home. I was definitely feeling stronger contractions by then and was ready for my Mum and kids to visit a friend(Thank you Annjilla!) and for me to get in the birth pool(which of course wasn't set up yet because I didn't want the kids playing in it.) By now it was about 9pm and I decided to stop watching the clock because obviously labor was going to be longer than expected.:) It took FOREVER to get the pool set up it felt, but I spent the time swaying my hips back and forth. I especially like to lean over something and sway. Like I would lean over the side of the couch and sway my hips, or put my head on the seat of our cushy swivel chair and sway back and forth on my knees. It felt really good to have my belly hanging parallel to the floor. Alice was very low the whole time. We had my fabulous doula Sherry come about then. I labored in and out of the pool. I felt like I wanted things very quiet and calm. I felt bad that my birth seemed to me kind of boring for everyone else in the room because I was so focused inward. BJ says I apologized like infinity times about it. I just really wanted to be quiet and listen to my body. It is really hard to explain what I was feeling. It is an extremely amazing experience to be so in tune with what your physical body needs and is telling you. To move how it asks you to move. To get up or down. To get water or ice or something to eat. So often, as women we turn our bodies over to someone else to get our babies out of our bodies, when really we need to turn inward and just listen and our bodies tell us exactly what to do. It is an amazing thing.
So I kept laboring but I didn't feel like I was progressing. It was getting to be around 11pm so we had my Mum and the kids come back home. Jane got in the tub with me which was fun.:) It was a little bonding experience:). But I was glad when she got out and I could feel like I could labor again. While she was in the pool I didn't feel as at liberty to move and sway like I felt I needed to. The kids finally were getting to bed, and I had a little melt down. I remember talking to Sherry and feeling upset that I didn't feel like I was progressing and just telling her everything I was afraid of. It was a really important part of my labor because after I released those emotions I could start to progress again. BJ had the kids down and was by my side from then on. I was worried the kids would wake up and need him, but that never happened(THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER!). I was a little worried about my Mum being there while I was laboring because you get pretty dang naked at a home birth, but that ended up being fine. April was there by then, and with BJ I started to progress more.
They say with a birth tub it is nice because it becomes a sort of private sanctuary. Your husband might get in with you, but besides that no one else enters that space. It is your space, and a lot of women tell me that is a huge part of their labor. For me the tub was wonderful, but where I felt the most alone with BJ and with myself was in our bathroom. I could shut the door and really focus on what was going on. It is a small space and when BJ would be in there with me I felt like I could talk to him and tell him whatever(my deepest fears at that point in labor, or just that I hurt, or to ask him for a priesthood blessing, or whatever) and I didn't have to worry about anyone else hearing me. Labor can make you feel extremely vulnerable, and I liked that I could talk to my BJ in a safe and secure place.
So after awhile I sort of started feeling the urge to push. It felt weird though. Like I couldn't push where I needed to. When I would push it felt like all the pressure was in the front of my vagina instead of where the cervix opening was. I would push and it didn't feel wonderful like it did when it came time to push Denny out. I also still couldn't imagine what position I wanted to push Alice out in. With Denny I was sitting on the ground leaning back on BJ. With Alice I had no idea. Nothing was feeling right. After some painful contractions and confusing pushing I realized that my body wanted to get back in the tub. I was loathe to do so since I knew that the water was not hot anymore, and I get cold and go into shock kind of easy. But my body was CLEARLY telling me that to push this baby out I needed to get in the tub. So I crawled over and in with the help of I think Sherry and BJ? I can't remember. I moved around in there trying to find a comfortable position to push, something felt off. April checked me again and a lip of my cervix still was in the way. She tried moving it out of the way while I pushed, and that felt HORRIBLE. It was so painful that I let out a really loud scream(pretty much the only really loud one I did for that labor-I did make noise, especially at the end, but nothing like that painful "You need to stop doing that now!":). Sherry was exactly what I needed as a doula and kept telling me to move into a specific position. After a few position changes I could tell this was it. I ended up kind of half crouching, half leaning over the side of the pool, half kneeling(how many halves is that?:), with BJ squishing my hips together pretty much the whole time. After some serious pushing, I could feel her coming down. I couldn't see what was happening. From what I felt, it felt like she was made out of a million more bumps and corners than a baby needed. It felt like I had pushed her head all the way out two or three times, and that she felt a bit stuck at various times of her body coming out. I remember as I was pushing the head out it hurt so much that I stood up and everyone was telling me to get back in the water(with a water birth, the reason a baby can stay under water safely for so long is because they don't take a breath until they feel that temperature change coming out of the water). What was actually going on and why pushing felt so weird and confusing was(this is a bit gross, but how it happened, sorry) there was a huge bowel movement in the way not letting the baby come out. If I had been in the hospital I am not sure what would have happened. I probably would have had an epidural and then moving into a position my body needed would have been out. I probably would have been pushing for a LONG LONG time, and the dreaded C word would have maybe come up after too long of pushing. I remember trying to lean back and push at home, and it was not happening, so I can;t imagine trying to push Alice out on my back at the hospital. Movement was KEY. I also would have torn. I know I would have torn if I hadn't been in the tub, this time pushing hurt millions(not like with Denny or Jane at all). I was completely shocked when April checked me after the labor with Alice and I hadn't torn at all.
So anyways, Alice was out and I got to pick her up out of the water and hold her fast to me(3:45am). She was so peaceful! Her eyes were wide open and she was breathing pretty good. She needed a tiny bit of encouragement to breathe really well, but that was quickly remedied with a few puffs from the oxygen tank April had for that sort of thing. BJ was holding the both of us in the tub, and it was just lovely. It felt SO good to have my girl out! I felt like a completely different woman!:)
After my cord stopped pulsating, BJ cut it, and got out of the tub with Alice. I waited a little while for the placenta to be delivered, but it was not feeling like it wanted to do that in the tub. So I was helped into my shower and like a minute later the placenta was delivered, and I was free to shower and can I tell you that was one of my favorite parts! I got into some comfy pj's and into my own comfy bed with Alice while BJ showered and got clean. Alice started to nurse right away(which was a huge blessing, I am not the most talented nurser:). April, Sherry, BJ, my Mum, Alice and me were all in my bedroom as Alice was weighed and checked out. Her arrhythmia was completely gone! Yay! We all got "birth"day presents, and then it was time to go to bed.:) Before Sherry and April left they must have emptied the pool and cleaned up a bit. BJ finished taking down the pool the next morning. People think there is such a mess to clean up if you labor at home, but the midwife is usually pretty discreet I think , and I have never been left with a mess.
It was a long but amazing birth. And I would definitely do it again. With the arrhythmia, even though it was gone, I am sure they would have taken my daughter away for way longer than necessary, just to cover their own butts legally. Sherry and April and my Mum and BJ were perfect supports for me. I knew this was going to be an emotional labor, and I knew I was going to need the support they were perfect at giving. I got to experience that wonderful and unique connection with BJ again, and I got to experience that amazing connection with my own body. Getting into the birth tub at the end was definitely my body's idea, and it turned out to be soooooo necessary. After birth it usually hurts so bad to go to the bathroom, but I didn't experience any of that, and I know that was because I gave birth in the water too.
Anyways, I am NOT a good story teller, and my English and grammar skills are AWFUL, but here is Alice's birth story as best as I can tell it.
In the pool with Momma:)
In comes the Daddy
Our Fabulous Doula and Friend Sherry
Our Midwife is on Fire!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
SO pregnant:)
Sorry we slacked off on this blog. We are in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and that is taking ALL our energy(well, the toddlers are helping with that too;).
I want to post a really good long post with lots of pix, but today you will have to settle with two really awesome and important articles on c-sections in America. Being currently pregnant this is an issue that deeply concerns me. NV has a 40% c-section average, and the rest of the country is atleast at 30% if not more. There has to be a reason why a huge majority of women can't birth their babies without medical aid. Something is very wrong, and I don't think it is the women.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover-birth17-2009may17,0,7665456.story
http://vancouverdoula.blogspot.com/2005/08/off-to-scotlandill-be-climbing-dumyat.html
Please read these. This affects everyone. It is really important.
PS.Having experienced a natural homebirth with my son, I have to add this AWESOME blog post about birth not being a scary thing. It is a hospital birth story. READ IT! It is really good.:)
http://www.haveanaturalchildbirth.com/
I want to post a really good long post with lots of pix, but today you will have to settle with two really awesome and important articles on c-sections in America. Being currently pregnant this is an issue that deeply concerns me. NV has a 40% c-section average, and the rest of the country is atleast at 30% if not more. There has to be a reason why a huge majority of women can't birth their babies without medical aid. Something is very wrong, and I don't think it is the women.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover-birth17-2009may17,0,7665456.story
http://vancouverdoula.blogspot.com/2005/08/off-to-scotlandill-be-climbing-dumyat.html
Please read these. This affects everyone. It is really important.
PS.Having experienced a natural homebirth with my son, I have to add this AWESOME blog post about birth not being a scary thing. It is a hospital birth story. READ IT! It is really good.:)
http://www.haveanaturalchildbirth.com/
Monday, May 18, 2009
FINALLY! Some sense from accross the pond.
On our family blog I posted about how appalling it is that no one has suggested nutrition or personal hygiene to prevent catching the swine flu.
It took an article from accross the pond to finally get the beginnings of sense.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090514/hl_nm/us_flu_children;_ylt=AsR0awAgZudwYe4i85zLEk7gcbYF
Cheers.:)
It took an article from accross the pond to finally get the beginnings of sense.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090514/hl_nm/us_flu_children;_ylt=AsR0awAgZudwYe4i85zLEk7gcbYF
Cheers.:)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Herbs and Farm Envy:)
So today I sorted my collection of herbs. I am a herbalist in training with the Dr.Christopher School of Natural Healing and I LOVE IT! I have a million herb books, which I cross reference constantly. With the super overcrowded doctors' offices and hospitals I LOVE having the ability and knowledge and training to treat a lot of the simple things myself when my family is ill (IE: colds, flu, allergies, fevers, ear infections, etc.). It is really empowering too when I go the doctor with my kids and can speak intelligently(well, for me) with the Dr. It also helps me avoid unnecessary drugs that doctors sometimes prescribe as a matter of habit (to cover their tushes mostly in case your child gets sicker:).
Anyways, just for your growing curiosity, here is a current list of most of the herbs I own and use in my household and some of the things I use them for.:)
(PS. I must add that I am not advising anyone medically. Read with judgement and prudence.:)
Roots:
Yellow Dock-super source of iron, especially after labor
Valerian-AWESOME nervine- I suffer from super chronic insomnia
Turkey Rhubarb
Leaves(stems, flowers too):
Blessed Thistle-helps with milk supply
Red Raspberry-IT WOULD TAKE A PARAGRAPH TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS HERB! Strengthens all productive organs(male and female), excellent source of vitamins and minerals, expels mucus stored in the body, etc. LOVE IT!
Horsetail-super source of silica, which helps your body use and absorb calcium
Peppermint-yummy flavoring, also aids digestion
Skullcap-another superb nervine to help me calm down and sleep
Mullein-we use this one all the time for congestion, safe to use when pregnant and really does the job to expel mucus and help you breathe
Oatstraw-excellent source of calcium, my kids love it(I do too, it smells like a farm and I like that.:) Weird I know:)
Nettles-lots of iron, just a really great tonic herb
Comfrey-called the "bone knitter", we use the leaves internally in teas for building up bones and tissue.(Roots are recommended for external use only)
Spearmint-flavorful and kids tend to like it better than peppermint
Catnip-famous children herb, but good for lots of things. Digestion, teething, colic, calcium, etc.
Eyebright-eyewash, strengthens eyesight, rebuilds eye tissue.
Yarrow-EXCELLENT herb, said to be the one herb to help survive the flu plagues in the last days(sound like something we need now?:).
Powders:
Slippery Elm Bark-great gruel for ill children who need something nutritious. I also use this in a few recipes I have for different things.
Clove
Cinnamon
Chaste Berry
Barley Grass-I put a bit of this in my smoothies for extra vitamins and minerals
Ginger Root
Cayenne
I also have some herbs growing in my garden:
Chamomile
Lemon Basil
Greek Oregano
Italian Oregano
English Thyme
French Thyme
Lemon Thyme
Lemon Balm
Bee Balm
Mint
Sweet Marjoram
Two types of Lavender
Rosemary
Italian Parsley
St. John's Wort
Sweet Basil
Aloe Vera
Dandelions(excellent source of iron and minerals and vitamins you know:)
I am such a beginning gardener and have planted everything right on top of each other practically. I did space them out knowing they would grow, and I tried to put them in places according to what the little tags said as far as how tall they will grow, but I am afraid my garden is mostly a happy jumble.:)
I cut a whole bunch of herbs today to dry. I am so excited to use them in cooking, and teas, and herbal dream pillows!
We also are growing some vegetables in an effort to be more happy with what we put in our bodies(and we just really love gardening-this is where the FARM ENVY comes in.:) What with GMO foods, and chemicals, and pesticides, etc...lets just say I feel happier knowing what exactly is going in my family's bodies. I got to tell you too, food you grow yourself tastes MILLIONS better than food from the store. The cucumbers we harvested last year were AMAZING! It was so wonderful to not have a super thick coat of wax on them to uh....savor with their yummy crunchiness.:)
Here are the vegetables in our garden this year:
Cucumbers(two types)
Carrots
Beets
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Zukes
Tomatoes
Lemons AND GRAPES!(which aren't technically vegetables, but they grow in our garden too!:)
Not a huge amount of food, but our backyard is very small, and we are trying not to do too much since I am pregnant this year.:)
BJ and I both want to keep expanding our garden every year until we have at least an acre or two to farm on.:)(obviously we are going to have to move for that to happen, but all in good time dude! It is in the plans.:) We love the idea of growing as much of our own food as we can. I have had so much fun wandering around the blog world looking at people's farms, and how they are making naturally healthy changes in their lives too. Sometimes I feel very alone in my beliefs about herbs and what constitutes healthy wholesome food. It is hard talking to people about why I choose home birth and other natural medical options. The blog world has opened up new opportunities for making friends who feel the same as I do all over the world! I have found blogs where people have shared adventures in moving to Japan to learn organic gardening, and different degrees of living sustainably. I love reading the blogs by farm mothers who are taking the challenge to raise their children in a more sustainable and naturally healthy way. I love reading their adventures with learning how to raise chickens(it is appalling what constitutes a store bought egg-it can be up to eight months old for instance-ew.), and other farm animals. Their was one farmin' momma who seems to have been anti-farm animals, and then someone told the animal humane society that she was sympathetic to animals and ended up with a camel, among other animals.:) John Dunne is famous for saying, "No man is an island." I have thought about that a lot lately as I consider the impact I do or do not make on the world, and those around me. I am so grateful to have this medium of blogging to hear others voices sharing my same beliefs in a way I fail to communicate.
If you are interested in some of the AWESOME blogs I have been finding covering all sorts of topics(mostly sustainable farming:) here are some of my favorites:
http://tinyfarmblog.com/ This farm's story is really awesome
http://childreninthecorn.blogspot.com/ I love this website because the author is so personable. She responds to all the replies to her posts.
http://naturewithme.blogspot.com/ This blog is awesome and gets me excited about going Non GMO
http://potagergardengirl.com/ This blog has some really cute ideas of how to get your kids involved in the garden
http://freefarmgeek.wordpress.com/ This guy has written a really beautiful article called FOOD FREEDOM, I really recommend reading it, you go down on his blog a bit to find it in the May 7th post.
Ok, so like all those blogs are about gardening to some extent. I guess that is where my thoughts have been this weekend. I want my piece of land where I can grow all my own food and have a beautiful orchard, and ginormous u-pick herb garden for the public. I want my cashmere goats and horses and Southdown Babydoll sheep. I love heirloom veggies and heirloom chickens. I just love being outside and working in the dirt. I have had a passion for gardening since I was really young. My Mum can tell you all about how I would pour over seed catalogs as a ten year old and order all sorts of things, from butterfly bushes to sunflower seeds. I was always begging for more space to garden.:)
Well, that is enough garden chat from me. I have found I blather on quite a bit in my passion and have really loved reading other people's blogs who write much more prolifically than myself. There is a lot of beautiful writing talent out there in the world! Thank you all for sharing!
Have a healthy week!
C.:)
PS.I am so sad, my pix are having trouble downloading today-boo. So pix with the next post, I promise.
Anyways, just for your growing curiosity, here is a current list of most of the herbs I own and use in my household and some of the things I use them for.:)
(PS. I must add that I am not advising anyone medically. Read with judgement and prudence.:)
Roots:
Yellow Dock-super source of iron, especially after labor
Valerian-AWESOME nervine- I suffer from super chronic insomnia
Turkey Rhubarb
Leaves(stems, flowers too):
Blessed Thistle-helps with milk supply
Red Raspberry-IT WOULD TAKE A PARAGRAPH TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT THIS HERB! Strengthens all productive organs(male and female), excellent source of vitamins and minerals, expels mucus stored in the body, etc. LOVE IT!
Horsetail-super source of silica, which helps your body use and absorb calcium
Peppermint-yummy flavoring, also aids digestion
Skullcap-another superb nervine to help me calm down and sleep
Mullein-we use this one all the time for congestion, safe to use when pregnant and really does the job to expel mucus and help you breathe
Oatstraw-excellent source of calcium, my kids love it(I do too, it smells like a farm and I like that.:) Weird I know:)
Nettles-lots of iron, just a really great tonic herb
Comfrey-called the "bone knitter", we use the leaves internally in teas for building up bones and tissue.(Roots are recommended for external use only)
Spearmint-flavorful and kids tend to like it better than peppermint
Catnip-famous children herb, but good for lots of things. Digestion, teething, colic, calcium, etc.
Eyebright-eyewash, strengthens eyesight, rebuilds eye tissue.
Yarrow-EXCELLENT herb, said to be the one herb to help survive the flu plagues in the last days(sound like something we need now?:).
Powders:
Slippery Elm Bark-great gruel for ill children who need something nutritious. I also use this in a few recipes I have for different things.
Clove
Cinnamon
Chaste Berry
Barley Grass-I put a bit of this in my smoothies for extra vitamins and minerals
Ginger Root
Cayenne
I also have some herbs growing in my garden:
Chamomile
Lemon Basil
Greek Oregano
Italian Oregano
English Thyme
French Thyme
Lemon Thyme
Lemon Balm
Bee Balm
Mint
Sweet Marjoram
Two types of Lavender
Rosemary
Italian Parsley
St. John's Wort
Sweet Basil
Aloe Vera
Dandelions(excellent source of iron and minerals and vitamins you know:)
I am such a beginning gardener and have planted everything right on top of each other practically. I did space them out knowing they would grow, and I tried to put them in places according to what the little tags said as far as how tall they will grow, but I am afraid my garden is mostly a happy jumble.:)
I cut a whole bunch of herbs today to dry. I am so excited to use them in cooking, and teas, and herbal dream pillows!
We also are growing some vegetables in an effort to be more happy with what we put in our bodies(and we just really love gardening-this is where the FARM ENVY comes in.:) What with GMO foods, and chemicals, and pesticides, etc...lets just say I feel happier knowing what exactly is going in my family's bodies. I got to tell you too, food you grow yourself tastes MILLIONS better than food from the store. The cucumbers we harvested last year were AMAZING! It was so wonderful to not have a super thick coat of wax on them to uh....savor with their yummy crunchiness.:)
Here are the vegetables in our garden this year:
Cucumbers(two types)
Carrots
Beets
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Zukes
Tomatoes
Lemons AND GRAPES!(which aren't technically vegetables, but they grow in our garden too!:)
Not a huge amount of food, but our backyard is very small, and we are trying not to do too much since I am pregnant this year.:)
BJ and I both want to keep expanding our garden every year until we have at least an acre or two to farm on.:)(obviously we are going to have to move for that to happen, but all in good time dude! It is in the plans.:) We love the idea of growing as much of our own food as we can. I have had so much fun wandering around the blog world looking at people's farms, and how they are making naturally healthy changes in their lives too. Sometimes I feel very alone in my beliefs about herbs and what constitutes healthy wholesome food. It is hard talking to people about why I choose home birth and other natural medical options. The blog world has opened up new opportunities for making friends who feel the same as I do all over the world! I have found blogs where people have shared adventures in moving to Japan to learn organic gardening, and different degrees of living sustainably. I love reading the blogs by farm mothers who are taking the challenge to raise their children in a more sustainable and naturally healthy way. I love reading their adventures with learning how to raise chickens(it is appalling what constitutes a store bought egg-it can be up to eight months old for instance-ew.), and other farm animals. Their was one farmin' momma who seems to have been anti-farm animals, and then someone told the animal humane society that she was sympathetic to animals and ended up with a camel, among other animals.:) John Dunne is famous for saying, "No man is an island." I have thought about that a lot lately as I consider the impact I do or do not make on the world, and those around me. I am so grateful to have this medium of blogging to hear others voices sharing my same beliefs in a way I fail to communicate.
If you are interested in some of the AWESOME blogs I have been finding covering all sorts of topics(mostly sustainable farming:) here are some of my favorites:
http://tinyfarmblog.com/ This farm's story is really awesome
http://childreninthecorn.blogspot.com/ I love this website because the author is so personable. She responds to all the replies to her posts.
http://naturewithme.blogspot.com/ This blog is awesome and gets me excited about going Non GMO
http://potagergardengirl.com/ This blog has some really cute ideas of how to get your kids involved in the garden
http://freefarmgeek.wordpress.com/ This guy has written a really beautiful article called FOOD FREEDOM, I really recommend reading it, you go down on his blog a bit to find it in the May 7th post.
Ok, so like all those blogs are about gardening to some extent. I guess that is where my thoughts have been this weekend. I want my piece of land where I can grow all my own food and have a beautiful orchard, and ginormous u-pick herb garden for the public. I want my cashmere goats and horses and Southdown Babydoll sheep. I love heirloom veggies and heirloom chickens. I just love being outside and working in the dirt. I have had a passion for gardening since I was really young. My Mum can tell you all about how I would pour over seed catalogs as a ten year old and order all sorts of things, from butterfly bushes to sunflower seeds. I was always begging for more space to garden.:)
Well, that is enough garden chat from me. I have found I blather on quite a bit in my passion and have really loved reading other people's blogs who write much more prolifically than myself. There is a lot of beautiful writing talent out there in the world! Thank you all for sharing!
Have a healthy week!
C.:)
PS.I am so sad, my pix are having trouble downloading today-boo. So pix with the next post, I promise.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Natural Reflections on This Week's Progress and Mother's Day
Wow, so starting a Natural Health blog has awakened some thoughts in my mind! I have been thinking and thinking of all sorts of things to write about this week concerning naturally healthy living!
So here are a few of those thoughts:
1.I think when I finally finish my college batchelors degree through BYU's BGS program, I need to have my degree emphasis in WRITING because golly I have a lot to learn! I have lots of wonderful thoughts and ideas, I just stink at getting them into words! (BJ ALWAYS has to read my posts before I submit them and edit out the millions of writing mistakes I make:)
2.To a lot of people whole foods cooking means MILLIONS of hours in the kitchen. This is true and untrue. When you learn any new skill it takes time at first. Just try to pick up any kind of new crafting skill and you will know what I mean. Natural living is a lifestyle change--it is learning how to incorporate nutritious foods into your family's diet in a way that compliments your family's lifestyle and daily living--you are eating different foods, and that requires a change in lifestyle. So while it may take a little more time in the beginning, you will find a groove and a balance in what your nutrition goals are and how you want to spend your time.
Here are some ideas to help you not get discouraged when a lot of the new skills can be trial-and-error and a little more expensive and frustrating until you find your groove:
-Remember this is a learning curve! Make sure your motivation is correct. Food is medicine, it is what keeps us healthy and happy and able to serve our Heavenly Father and fullfill our obligations in this life. Whole foods living should not be thought of as a temporary diet or a trendy thing to do. I like to keep my motivation up by reading good literature on whole foods living. I love reading books about being proactive in my kids' health. One caution-reading too much too often can overwhelm and discourage you. Take your time, pace yourself. In our ongoing transition we are at a stage where we eat A LOT OF REALLY PERFECT FOODS! And a lot of bad foods at the same time. Try to focus on the good things you are eating, the more you do that, the less bad things you will eat over time.
-Enjoy your time in the kitchen! This can be hard when you have crazy kids nearby. Something that helps me is having a pretty kitchen. I painted mine yellow and hung some beautiful hand-painted asian plates by the sink. If you can't paint you can still hang something beautiful on the wall. Or put a plant on your windowsill. This doesn't work for everyone, but it really makes me love my kitchen when it is pretty. :)
-Batch cooking is really awesome. If you hate cooking, when you do make a casserole, make two! Eat one and freeze the other for another day. Another version of this is to always make enough dinner so that it can be lunch for the next day too. We have a favorite recipe that takes FOREVER to make, but it is SOOOOO YUMMY! So we make two at a time. I have a friend whose Mum cooks once a month for the whole month! There are lots of resources for this online.
-Don't try to do too much at the beginning. I am the kind of person who, if I am going to change something, I go head over tail! But the reality is that this is a lifestyle change and it takes a while to make a total transition. It is such a journey to find what works for you and your family.
3.So, on to progress this week with our weekly goals. Well, first of all we did pretty good. BJ was (almost) perfect with all his vitamins. Jane and Denny were awesome as well. Clair did very well for the first few days and then had some REALLY bad days for the rest of the week, including a lot of emotional eating, and well....it's another week tomorrow. We stuck to the menu pretty well until we got paid on Friday and Clair decided it was time for a serious treat.:)
Two things that would have made this week more successful would have been to post the food menu on the fridge where it was more visible, and making a chart to show who took what medicine when this week. Those two things will be our goals for this week.
MOTHER'S DAY
Today being Mother's Day my natural living thoughts have been focused on that. I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking about my kids, their education, making sure they have a spiritual education, etc. BJ and I have this shared dream of a place we call BEARHAVEN. A beautiful piece of property where we can have a GINORMOUS garden and orchard, and a beautiful place for our kids to grow up in. Bearhaven is too close to my heart to share all of our dreams about it in such a public blog, but I thought of it a lot this weekend. BJ and I love sustainable living. We love the idea of hardwork turning into food for our family. Canning, and all those kinds of things, have always been something I have loved since I was really young. I love being close to the earth, close to living things. I feel so sad for people who have never felt this. I remember as a child being taught during a Sunday School lesson on proper Sabbath day observance that gardening was not appropriate to do on Sunday. I was totally baffled! I never felt so close to God as when I am outside in my garden.
It seems so ridiculous when you get down to the details of natural living that anyone would want to do it. Making wholesome food is work, organic sustainable gardening is work, cloth diapering is work, recycling is work, not vaccinating your children is work, natural childbearing is work and can be painful! Why would you do any of it when the world shows us such easier options? Prepackaged or processed food, food grown quickly by using chemicals or hormones that the FDA approves as unharmful, disposable diapers that you hardly have to touch (just throw them away!), induced labor, non-emergency planned c-sections, etc. It is so hard for me to tell people why we believe in trying to do things the more natural way. To me it sounds so sensible to see how God has planned to do things (like helping our bodies stay immune from disease and illness through healthy and proactive living). We try very hard to always see how God does things before trying man's way. Men are very smart, but God is smarter. And the more I try to understand how He has planned how to grow veggies, or how to take care of our bodies, have babies, etc, the happier I am. I have learned that quicker is not always better. I have learned that efficiency is not the same as convenience and that learning efficiency is a better motto than convenience. I have learned that women can have amazing birth experiences in a hospital, but a homebirth experience can be something only those who have done it can understand. Labor can become something you get excited to experience instead of something to get over with. I have learned that it is ok to go at your own pace and to be different than the world, and most of the time it is WAY better and safer to be different.
Anyway, today has been too thoughtful so this post got wordy (but hopefully not too lofty). :)
I am a very pregnant Mumma so you will just have to humor me today, and next week I promise a VERY funny post.:)
So here are a few of those thoughts:
1.I think when I finally finish my college batchelors degree through BYU's BGS program, I need to have my degree emphasis in WRITING because golly I have a lot to learn! I have lots of wonderful thoughts and ideas, I just stink at getting them into words! (BJ ALWAYS has to read my posts before I submit them and edit out the millions of writing mistakes I make:)
2.To a lot of people whole foods cooking means MILLIONS of hours in the kitchen. This is true and untrue. When you learn any new skill it takes time at first. Just try to pick up any kind of new crafting skill and you will know what I mean. Natural living is a lifestyle change--it is learning how to incorporate nutritious foods into your family's diet in a way that compliments your family's lifestyle and daily living--you are eating different foods, and that requires a change in lifestyle. So while it may take a little more time in the beginning, you will find a groove and a balance in what your nutrition goals are and how you want to spend your time.
Here are some ideas to help you not get discouraged when a lot of the new skills can be trial-and-error and a little more expensive and frustrating until you find your groove:
-Remember this is a learning curve! Make sure your motivation is correct. Food is medicine, it is what keeps us healthy and happy and able to serve our Heavenly Father and fullfill our obligations in this life. Whole foods living should not be thought of as a temporary diet or a trendy thing to do. I like to keep my motivation up by reading good literature on whole foods living. I love reading books about being proactive in my kids' health. One caution-reading too much too often can overwhelm and discourage you. Take your time, pace yourself. In our ongoing transition we are at a stage where we eat A LOT OF REALLY PERFECT FOODS! And a lot of bad foods at the same time. Try to focus on the good things you are eating, the more you do that, the less bad things you will eat over time.
-Enjoy your time in the kitchen! This can be hard when you have crazy kids nearby. Something that helps me is having a pretty kitchen. I painted mine yellow and hung some beautiful hand-painted asian plates by the sink. If you can't paint you can still hang something beautiful on the wall. Or put a plant on your windowsill. This doesn't work for everyone, but it really makes me love my kitchen when it is pretty. :)
-Batch cooking is really awesome. If you hate cooking, when you do make a casserole, make two! Eat one and freeze the other for another day. Another version of this is to always make enough dinner so that it can be lunch for the next day too. We have a favorite recipe that takes FOREVER to make, but it is SOOOOO YUMMY! So we make two at a time. I have a friend whose Mum cooks once a month for the whole month! There are lots of resources for this online.
-Don't try to do too much at the beginning. I am the kind of person who, if I am going to change something, I go head over tail! But the reality is that this is a lifestyle change and it takes a while to make a total transition. It is such a journey to find what works for you and your family.
3.So, on to progress this week with our weekly goals. Well, first of all we did pretty good. BJ was (almost) perfect with all his vitamins. Jane and Denny were awesome as well. Clair did very well for the first few days and then had some REALLY bad days for the rest of the week, including a lot of emotional eating, and well....it's another week tomorrow. We stuck to the menu pretty well until we got paid on Friday and Clair decided it was time for a serious treat.:)
Two things that would have made this week more successful would have been to post the food menu on the fridge where it was more visible, and making a chart to show who took what medicine when this week. Those two things will be our goals for this week.
MOTHER'S DAY
Today being Mother's Day my natural living thoughts have been focused on that. I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking about my kids, their education, making sure they have a spiritual education, etc. BJ and I have this shared dream of a place we call BEARHAVEN. A beautiful piece of property where we can have a GINORMOUS garden and orchard, and a beautiful place for our kids to grow up in. Bearhaven is too close to my heart to share all of our dreams about it in such a public blog, but I thought of it a lot this weekend. BJ and I love sustainable living. We love the idea of hardwork turning into food for our family. Canning, and all those kinds of things, have always been something I have loved since I was really young. I love being close to the earth, close to living things. I feel so sad for people who have never felt this. I remember as a child being taught during a Sunday School lesson on proper Sabbath day observance that gardening was not appropriate to do on Sunday. I was totally baffled! I never felt so close to God as when I am outside in my garden.
It seems so ridiculous when you get down to the details of natural living that anyone would want to do it. Making wholesome food is work, organic sustainable gardening is work, cloth diapering is work, recycling is work, not vaccinating your children is work, natural childbearing is work and can be painful! Why would you do any of it when the world shows us such easier options? Prepackaged or processed food, food grown quickly by using chemicals or hormones that the FDA approves as unharmful, disposable diapers that you hardly have to touch (just throw them away!), induced labor, non-emergency planned c-sections, etc. It is so hard for me to tell people why we believe in trying to do things the more natural way. To me it sounds so sensible to see how God has planned to do things (like helping our bodies stay immune from disease and illness through healthy and proactive living). We try very hard to always see how God does things before trying man's way. Men are very smart, but God is smarter. And the more I try to understand how He has planned how to grow veggies, or how to take care of our bodies, have babies, etc, the happier I am. I have learned that quicker is not always better. I have learned that efficiency is not the same as convenience and that learning efficiency is a better motto than convenience. I have learned that women can have amazing birth experiences in a hospital, but a homebirth experience can be something only those who have done it can understand. Labor can become something you get excited to experience instead of something to get over with. I have learned that it is ok to go at your own pace and to be different than the world, and most of the time it is WAY better and safer to be different.
Anyway, today has been too thoughtful so this post got wordy (but hopefully not too lofty). :)
I am a very pregnant Mumma so you will just have to humor me today, and next week I promise a VERY funny post.:)
Cloth Diapering-HamakerLove's Perspective
I have been asked by a few of you to post on our cloth diapering experience. I have been waiting to do this post because we are about to upgrade from prefolds to pocket diapers, and I wanted a more experienced opinion on what we thought, but since so many people have been asking we will give you atleast a part one of our experience.:) Updates to follow I AM SURE.:)
Before you get our perspectives some really good cloth diapering resources of info are:
http://www.punkinbutt.com/
I have bought a few things from them; mostly the info on cloth diapering they have is really helpful.
Also my cousin made a cute blog about her diaper experience(scroll down all the way to the bottom for the best info).
http://nappybabybums.blogspot.com/
Ok Here are the HamakerLove Perspectives on cloth diapering:
The Mumma's perspective~
We started cloth diapering a few months after Denny was born for a few reasons. Being a naturally minded person I liked the idea of cloth diapering but was SUPER intimidated by it. But at a post partum birthing class I attended the teacher had her 2-month-old son with her and totally showed me HOW EASY AND WONDERFUL CLOTH DIAPERING IS! Her son happened to need a diaper change and so she changed him in front of us, and it was all so natural looking. She didn't even have disposable wipes, but used serger-edged flannel squares and a little squirt bottle with lavender, tea-tree oil water(she had made herself). I was totally sold.
Other reasons for cloth diapering, for us, incuded money savings. We had two babies in diapers and were spending almost $80 a month just on diapers and wipes! The fact that disposable diapers don't biodegrade super grossed me out. I won't give you the statistics, but the amount of poopy diapers in America alone is really, REALLY gross.
You can look on http://www.gdiapers.com/ for all the gross info. My babies have really sensitive skin and I was excited to know cloth diapers would help them not have rashes all the time. And I am just a texture person, and I just loved the idea of my children feeling cloth against their skin instead of the plastic.
So I did a lot of internet research and we decided to start by using the cheapest cloth diapers: chinese prefolds (with a cover). We decided to start out still using disposable wipes to make the transition easier (though that will change when we make the upgrade:) ). We bought a cloth diapering kit from http://www.clothdiaper.com/ because it was the cheapest. We got the package which had diapers in sizes small and medium. The small diapers worked on Denny until he was about 6 months, and then we had to buy more covers because both he and Jane were then in the medium sizes. To be more specific, the package had 3 dozen infant prefolds, 2 dozen premium(bigger sized) prefolds, and eight covers (four small and four medium). We also had to buy some snappis (really cool alternative to pins for fastening the diaper to stay on the baby), a small diaper pail, two diaper pail washable liners, and two small washable bags for the diaper bag (one for clean diapers, the other for dirty). We spent about $200 upfront, but you have to remember with two babies in diapers, we QUICKLY got our money back from the investment.
So prefolds are really easy to use, although they look intimidating at the beginning. Basically you have the cloth diaper part, either pins or a snappi to fasten it, and a cover. I had a friend recommend YouTube for prefold diaper folding instructions. (I won't try to explain it here.) You put the prefold on the baby, then the cover, and make sure the whole cloth diaper prefold is tucked inside the cover. SUPER EASY! Then later when the baby has need of a diaper change you take off the dirty diaper, put on a clean one. If it was just #1 you put the prefold in the diaper pail and hang the cover to air out (if you are laundering your diapers every day or every other day the cover should not stink, if it does there are a few things that might have happened. Either you are using too much detergent and you need to "strip" your diaper-see punkinbutt.com. If you aren't laundering every day or so you might need to start doing that). :) If it is #2 then you dump the poo in the toilet(you can buy disposable cloth diaper liners that make this SUPER EASY). We have a little shower-head-like spray nozzle thing we bought with the diapers that hangs on the side of the toilet that helps rinse the poo off if needed--no dunking required! Then you put the used prefold in the pail. We wash our diapers about every day or every other day. My kids are super heavy wetters so they get changed a lot. Laundry instructions are really easy--see punkinbutt.com. As an aside, I have found that with our energy efficient front-loading washer that powder detergent doesn't work well so we use a high-efficiency, biodegradable detergent made by All.
Overall with prefolds, I like them for little babies who can't fit pocket diapers. (Pocket diapers work much more like disposable diapers, they just have a liner inside you need to shake out of the diaper before you wash it. You also do not air out the cover with pocket covers; you have to wash the whole thing every time. So you need A LOT more of these than you would prefolds, which is more costly. My friend Kacy bought one and then tore it apart and made her own, using the first one as a pattern. She says this is really easy and much less expensive.) Prefolds don't seem to hold as much liquid as the pocket diapers. I have read of people having success using extra-absorbent liners made from hemp, fleece, etc., to help with absorbtion, but I haven't had a lot of success with that. Pocket diapers seem to use liners MUCH more easily. Pocket diapers are also my preferred diaper because they are just easier to use. There is no folding, no snappis, it goes on just like a disposable (which is easier for babysitters, friends, etc. when they are watching my kids). You can put the pocket diapers together (put in the liners) in the morning or right after they are laundered, put them in a basket, and they are ready for the day!
Cloth diapers are really cute. You can get them in all sorts of cute patterns. They WILL make your baby's bum bigger than with a disposable, so they WILL go up a clothes size, but I think it is super cute. :)
gdiapers are a really awesome alternative for when you are out and about. We have used disposables when we go out on vacation or are going to be gone all day--it's just easier--but I think we are going to switch to gdiapers this Fall for those times.
gdiapers are a hybrid diaper that combines all the goodness of cloth and disposable. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND looking at their site: http://www.gdiapers.com/.
They are definitely more expensive than disposables, and I would mostly recommend them if you are doing cloth already and want an easy alternative for those few times when disposables are more convenient.
I feel like this post is already too long, but I want to make sure I am answering everyone's questions.
I love cloth diapers.
I like prefolds for the beginning, and pocket diapers for the rest of the time.
Also, BABYKICKS makes a really awesome hemp fleece prefold diaper that I really really love because it absorbs TONS of moisture and is super soft. Chinese prefolds are not super super soft.
My children have had better skin since using cloth and fewer rashes, but I have to make sure I am still changing them often enough.
I feel like cloth diapering is one way I have power to do something for the Earth. I can't be perfect, but this is something anyone can do.
People ask about water usage because we launder so much. One load of diapers is the equivalent of flushing the toilet 7 times. All the friends we talk to about their water bills seem to say the same-it is not that much. To make one diaper in the factory uses as much water as washing one load of cloth diapers.
I don't know what else to say except that if you are going to go this route I HIGHLY suggest trying to find a local class to learn more. This will especially help with user error you will have in the beginning.
The Daddy's Perspective~
I don't hate changing diapers. It's not my favorite thing to do, but hey, it comes with the territory. I changed most of my younger siblings' diapers from time to time and we used cloth diapers growing up, so I was a little surprised when, once we had our first child, we didn't start using them immediately. But the transition for me was easy to the prefold system we've been using for many months now. My favorite thing about the way we're doing it is that we're using skin-friendly materials all around. When I was changing cloth diapers in my youth, we used the white Gerber diapers you see on movies and cartoons, plastic diaper covers with elastic bands, and the classic diaper "safety" pin. All three items are problematic. The white diapers, be they Gerber or otherwise, are bleached, and bleach is not good for the skin, especially for babies. The plastic pants trap in all moisture, which is advantageous in the sense in that things don't get wet, but also prunes baby's skin--and the elastic band can be very uncomfortable against' baby's tender, pruned skin. The safety pins' problem is manifest with every slip of the wrist and lanced, screaming baby. I felt so guilty every time I stabbed my little baby sisters! These problems are easily avoided with the better-thought-out prefold, velcro cover, and snappi we use now. Though, buyer beware, I have sliced my finger open once with a snappi; they use a very sharp little set of teeth to latch onto the cloth diapers.
As the diposition of human waste goes, it's not a big deal to me, but Clair and I have had a recent thread of conversation I think you'll find amusing. Clair went to another cloth diapering class a week or so ago at which several men were in attendance. The instructor asked the men about their diapering experiences. Apparently the reaction was of deep disgust and a history of avoidance. I can understand that--its poop--but for grown men to behave hysterically in this way made Clair laugh at their shame. She came home and told me about it, asking why manly men unafraid of poisonous arachnids and reptiles should cower at a poopy diaper--an article each of them had produced in his infancy several thousand times. I thought about it and couldn't come up with a good response, but today we had a conversation that turned the tables a bit, though not completely. We were talking about our future plans for a farm and what livestock we planned on keeping. Clair read a book about chicken farming recently and is keen on the idea of fostering yardbirds. When I asked whether she'd butcher them, she objected. I asked why a woman, so brave in cleaning diapers day in and day out, which are definitely full of such biohazards as e-coli, should cower at a pile of meat. Perhaps the principle of gender spheres does apply to the matter. Anyway...
Cloth diapering is no big deal, expecially if you can clean a fish, parse a chicken, or skin a deer. :) I've never used the pocket/insert method Clair wrote so much about, but I'm sure it will be just as convenient and simple as can be. Plus, I got to be handy when installing the little diaper sprayer thingie--plumbing is fun.
Before you get our perspectives some really good cloth diapering resources of info are:
http://www.punkinbutt.com/
I have bought a few things from them; mostly the info on cloth diapering they have is really helpful.
Also my cousin made a cute blog about her diaper experience(scroll down all the way to the bottom for the best info).
http://nappybabybums.blogspot.com/
Ok Here are the HamakerLove Perspectives on cloth diapering:
The Mumma's perspective~
We started cloth diapering a few months after Denny was born for a few reasons. Being a naturally minded person I liked the idea of cloth diapering but was SUPER intimidated by it. But at a post partum birthing class I attended the teacher had her 2-month-old son with her and totally showed me HOW EASY AND WONDERFUL CLOTH DIAPERING IS! Her son happened to need a diaper change and so she changed him in front of us, and it was all so natural looking. She didn't even have disposable wipes, but used serger-edged flannel squares and a little squirt bottle with lavender, tea-tree oil water(she had made herself). I was totally sold.
Other reasons for cloth diapering, for us, incuded money savings. We had two babies in diapers and were spending almost $80 a month just on diapers and wipes! The fact that disposable diapers don't biodegrade super grossed me out. I won't give you the statistics, but the amount of poopy diapers in America alone is really, REALLY gross.
You can look on http://www.gdiapers.com/ for all the gross info. My babies have really sensitive skin and I was excited to know cloth diapers would help them not have rashes all the time. And I am just a texture person, and I just loved the idea of my children feeling cloth against their skin instead of the plastic.
So I did a lot of internet research and we decided to start by using the cheapest cloth diapers: chinese prefolds (with a cover). We decided to start out still using disposable wipes to make the transition easier (though that will change when we make the upgrade:) ). We bought a cloth diapering kit from http://www.clothdiaper.com/ because it was the cheapest. We got the package which had diapers in sizes small and medium. The small diapers worked on Denny until he was about 6 months, and then we had to buy more covers because both he and Jane were then in the medium sizes. To be more specific, the package had 3 dozen infant prefolds, 2 dozen premium(bigger sized) prefolds, and eight covers (four small and four medium). We also had to buy some snappis (really cool alternative to pins for fastening the diaper to stay on the baby), a small diaper pail, two diaper pail washable liners, and two small washable bags for the diaper bag (one for clean diapers, the other for dirty). We spent about $200 upfront, but you have to remember with two babies in diapers, we QUICKLY got our money back from the investment.
So prefolds are really easy to use, although they look intimidating at the beginning. Basically you have the cloth diaper part, either pins or a snappi to fasten it, and a cover. I had a friend recommend YouTube for prefold diaper folding instructions. (I won't try to explain it here.) You put the prefold on the baby, then the cover, and make sure the whole cloth diaper prefold is tucked inside the cover. SUPER EASY! Then later when the baby has need of a diaper change you take off the dirty diaper, put on a clean one. If it was just #1 you put the prefold in the diaper pail and hang the cover to air out (if you are laundering your diapers every day or every other day the cover should not stink, if it does there are a few things that might have happened. Either you are using too much detergent and you need to "strip" your diaper-see punkinbutt.com. If you aren't laundering every day or so you might need to start doing that). :) If it is #2 then you dump the poo in the toilet(you can buy disposable cloth diaper liners that make this SUPER EASY). We have a little shower-head-like spray nozzle thing we bought with the diapers that hangs on the side of the toilet that helps rinse the poo off if needed--no dunking required! Then you put the used prefold in the pail. We wash our diapers about every day or every other day. My kids are super heavy wetters so they get changed a lot. Laundry instructions are really easy--see punkinbutt.com. As an aside, I have found that with our energy efficient front-loading washer that powder detergent doesn't work well so we use a high-efficiency, biodegradable detergent made by All.
Overall with prefolds, I like them for little babies who can't fit pocket diapers. (Pocket diapers work much more like disposable diapers, they just have a liner inside you need to shake out of the diaper before you wash it. You also do not air out the cover with pocket covers; you have to wash the whole thing every time. So you need A LOT more of these than you would prefolds, which is more costly. My friend Kacy bought one and then tore it apart and made her own, using the first one as a pattern. She says this is really easy and much less expensive.) Prefolds don't seem to hold as much liquid as the pocket diapers. I have read of people having success using extra-absorbent liners made from hemp, fleece, etc., to help with absorbtion, but I haven't had a lot of success with that. Pocket diapers seem to use liners MUCH more easily. Pocket diapers are also my preferred diaper because they are just easier to use. There is no folding, no snappis, it goes on just like a disposable (which is easier for babysitters, friends, etc. when they are watching my kids). You can put the pocket diapers together (put in the liners) in the morning or right after they are laundered, put them in a basket, and they are ready for the day!
Cloth diapers are really cute. You can get them in all sorts of cute patterns. They WILL make your baby's bum bigger than with a disposable, so they WILL go up a clothes size, but I think it is super cute. :)
gdiapers are a really awesome alternative for when you are out and about. We have used disposables when we go out on vacation or are going to be gone all day--it's just easier--but I think we are going to switch to gdiapers this Fall for those times.
gdiapers are a hybrid diaper that combines all the goodness of cloth and disposable. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND looking at their site: http://www.gdiapers.com/.
They are definitely more expensive than disposables, and I would mostly recommend them if you are doing cloth already and want an easy alternative for those few times when disposables are more convenient.
I feel like this post is already too long, but I want to make sure I am answering everyone's questions.
I love cloth diapers.
I like prefolds for the beginning, and pocket diapers for the rest of the time.
Also, BABYKICKS makes a really awesome hemp fleece prefold diaper that I really really love because it absorbs TONS of moisture and is super soft. Chinese prefolds are not super super soft.
My children have had better skin since using cloth and fewer rashes, but I have to make sure I am still changing them often enough.
I feel like cloth diapering is one way I have power to do something for the Earth. I can't be perfect, but this is something anyone can do.
People ask about water usage because we launder so much. One load of diapers is the equivalent of flushing the toilet 7 times. All the friends we talk to about their water bills seem to say the same-it is not that much. To make one diaper in the factory uses as much water as washing one load of cloth diapers.
I don't know what else to say except that if you are going to go this route I HIGHLY suggest trying to find a local class to learn more. This will especially help with user error you will have in the beginning.
The Daddy's Perspective~
I don't hate changing diapers. It's not my favorite thing to do, but hey, it comes with the territory. I changed most of my younger siblings' diapers from time to time and we used cloth diapers growing up, so I was a little surprised when, once we had our first child, we didn't start using them immediately. But the transition for me was easy to the prefold system we've been using for many months now. My favorite thing about the way we're doing it is that we're using skin-friendly materials all around. When I was changing cloth diapers in my youth, we used the white Gerber diapers you see on movies and cartoons, plastic diaper covers with elastic bands, and the classic diaper "safety" pin. All three items are problematic. The white diapers, be they Gerber or otherwise, are bleached, and bleach is not good for the skin, especially for babies. The plastic pants trap in all moisture, which is advantageous in the sense in that things don't get wet, but also prunes baby's skin--and the elastic band can be very uncomfortable against' baby's tender, pruned skin. The safety pins' problem is manifest with every slip of the wrist and lanced, screaming baby. I felt so guilty every time I stabbed my little baby sisters! These problems are easily avoided with the better-thought-out prefold, velcro cover, and snappi we use now. Though, buyer beware, I have sliced my finger open once with a snappi; they use a very sharp little set of teeth to latch onto the cloth diapers.
As the diposition of human waste goes, it's not a big deal to me, but Clair and I have had a recent thread of conversation I think you'll find amusing. Clair went to another cloth diapering class a week or so ago at which several men were in attendance. The instructor asked the men about their diapering experiences. Apparently the reaction was of deep disgust and a history of avoidance. I can understand that--its poop--but for grown men to behave hysterically in this way made Clair laugh at their shame. She came home and told me about it, asking why manly men unafraid of poisonous arachnids and reptiles should cower at a poopy diaper--an article each of them had produced in his infancy several thousand times. I thought about it and couldn't come up with a good response, but today we had a conversation that turned the tables a bit, though not completely. We were talking about our future plans for a farm and what livestock we planned on keeping. Clair read a book about chicken farming recently and is keen on the idea of fostering yardbirds. When I asked whether she'd butcher them, she objected. I asked why a woman, so brave in cleaning diapers day in and day out, which are definitely full of such biohazards as e-coli, should cower at a pile of meat. Perhaps the principle of gender spheres does apply to the matter. Anyway...
Cloth diapering is no big deal, expecially if you can clean a fish, parse a chicken, or skin a deer. :) I've never used the pocket/insert method Clair wrote so much about, but I'm sure it will be just as convenient and simple as can be. Plus, I got to be handy when installing the little diaper sprayer thingie--plumbing is fun.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Food is medicine.
From B.J.:
A few months ago I was surprised to hear one of our herbalist mentors turn an unfamiliar phrase. He said, "If I choose to use a peach," meaning if he were to eat a peach. Certainly everything we eat is going through the exact same pathways that medicine would if we took it, and sometimes comes to more benefit. I do not know whether he was trying deliberately to demonstrate the concept or if he just thinks (and therefore speaks) that way, but since he said it, I've been thinking more along those lines.
The funny thing is, every single medicine comes from somewhere, but only pharmacists seem to be very familiar with this. Aspirin? It contains salicylic acid, which used to be extracted from Willow bark to cure headaches. You can still take a willow bark decoction to cure a headache. Capsaicin, a popular metabolism booster, comes straight out of chili peppers (the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin, generally). Yes, you can get the same benefits from just eating the pepper, but most people don't want to.
And therein lies the rub. Most people don't want to decoct willow bark or eat a hot pepper, but they do want the benefits of having done it. So we pay other people to make it as convenient as it can be. And I don't begrudge anyone that choice--I take medicine as often as I have to--but there are some things you can do just by choosing to "use" the right foods right from the start.
For example, I have unusually healthy nails. This comes to my embarassment more than I'd like to admit. There was a fellow in one of my college classes a few months back who said, "You wearin' clear nail polish?" I said, "No, I just have really healthy nails. I'm mostly vegetarian, so I eat a lot of vegetables." He began to tell me about the human need for protein and that I probably should have at least some meat. I told him I get plenty of protein and that while it might not be enough by some standards, "here I am with healthy nails." It was a weird experience, but it reinforced my belief in natural health.
Hair, skin, and nails benefit very much from the Vitamin A found in orangey foods like carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. Dark. leafy green vegetables like Spinach, Romaine, Green Leaf Lettuce, Chard and Kale also make a big difference, if you know how to eat them. And that's been part of our journey, but on the way we've learned a lot of things. One of them is juicing. We started this one recently, but it's a really easy way to get your vitamins A & C:
REALLY Orange Orange Juice
Juice one or two carrots with five or six oranges. Or you can just use orange juice and blend the carrot in.
We like to use a VitaMix blender to make juice because you get to keep the pulp. This is exactly what turns some people off to the idea, but we like fiber. :)
*****Just two important add-ons by the gabby wife-
You can get all the protein you need without meat(I must say, HamakerLove enjoys meat in moderation), you just need to be smart about it. For instance, a whole grain and legume together make a protein, like rice and peas.
Also, while Aspirin, and many other synthetic drugs on the market, originated from natural sources, like willow bark, they do not contain those things anymore. They are made from similar synthetic, man-made sources that our bodies do not recognize as food, and therefore do not process the same. So if there is something in them that your body does not need, it may not get rid of it through the body's elimination processes(bowels, etc), it will deposit itself in various places in your body. This can be dangerous, and hard on your system. Which is why we should be very careful what goes into our bodies always. :)
A few months ago I was surprised to hear one of our herbalist mentors turn an unfamiliar phrase. He said, "If I choose to use a peach," meaning if he were to eat a peach. Certainly everything we eat is going through the exact same pathways that medicine would if we took it, and sometimes comes to more benefit. I do not know whether he was trying deliberately to demonstrate the concept or if he just thinks (and therefore speaks) that way, but since he said it, I've been thinking more along those lines.
The funny thing is, every single medicine comes from somewhere, but only pharmacists seem to be very familiar with this. Aspirin? It contains salicylic acid, which used to be extracted from Willow bark to cure headaches. You can still take a willow bark decoction to cure a headache. Capsaicin, a popular metabolism booster, comes straight out of chili peppers (the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin, generally). Yes, you can get the same benefits from just eating the pepper, but most people don't want to.
And therein lies the rub. Most people don't want to decoct willow bark or eat a hot pepper, but they do want the benefits of having done it. So we pay other people to make it as convenient as it can be. And I don't begrudge anyone that choice--I take medicine as often as I have to--but there are some things you can do just by choosing to "use" the right foods right from the start.
For example, I have unusually healthy nails. This comes to my embarassment more than I'd like to admit. There was a fellow in one of my college classes a few months back who said, "You wearin' clear nail polish?" I said, "No, I just have really healthy nails. I'm mostly vegetarian, so I eat a lot of vegetables." He began to tell me about the human need for protein and that I probably should have at least some meat. I told him I get plenty of protein and that while it might not be enough by some standards, "here I am with healthy nails." It was a weird experience, but it reinforced my belief in natural health.
Hair, skin, and nails benefit very much from the Vitamin A found in orangey foods like carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. Dark. leafy green vegetables like Spinach, Romaine, Green Leaf Lettuce, Chard and Kale also make a big difference, if you know how to eat them. And that's been part of our journey, but on the way we've learned a lot of things. One of them is juicing. We started this one recently, but it's a really easy way to get your vitamins A & C:
REALLY Orange Orange Juice
Juice one or two carrots with five or six oranges. Or you can just use orange juice and blend the carrot in.
We like to use a VitaMix blender to make juice because you get to keep the pulp. This is exactly what turns some people off to the idea, but we like fiber. :)
*****Just two important add-ons by the gabby wife-
You can get all the protein you need without meat(I must say, HamakerLove enjoys meat in moderation), you just need to be smart about it. For instance, a whole grain and legume together make a protein, like rice and peas.
Also, while Aspirin, and many other synthetic drugs on the market, originated from natural sources, like willow bark, they do not contain those things anymore. They are made from similar synthetic, man-made sources that our bodies do not recognize as food, and therefore do not process the same. So if there is something in them that your body does not need, it may not get rid of it through the body's elimination processes(bowels, etc), it will deposit itself in various places in your body. This can be dangerous, and hard on your system. Which is why we should be very careful what goes into our bodies always. :)
Try, Try Again Whole Foods and Other Natural Living Lifestyles:)
So we love healthy, clean living in the HamakerLove household, and we are constantly assessing our lifestyle choices, especially in the food area. We could be much healthier. We could make more sustainable choices. I am a total efficiency Nazi, and the more I learn about natural living(which in my definition means, using things in their natural state, or how God planned them to be used), is that God is REALLY smart, and His way is soooo much smarter than the "convenient" way most of the world is choosing to live. But most of the time we live as the world does, we FREQUENTLY frequent Pizza Hut and we throw away A TON of stuff that we totally could be recycling EASILY. And whole foods cooking, it takes forever right? Well, we have found lots of answers to that question and a lot of others, and that is what we want this blog to be used for. We want to share what we have learned and are learning about whole foods cooking, sustainable living, organic gardening, cloth diapering, etc. Mostly about how we are still on the journey from eating chimichangas and Pizza Hut on a regular basis to a more whole-foods-friendly and YUMMY diet!:) In this world of rising health concerns(from everything to obesity to HIGH high cancer rates) we feel it is sooo vital to try and improve our nutrition and personal immunity to illness and disease, especially for our children. These are the last days baby, and all those plagues they talk about in the scriptures are for real, and we need to prepare our bodies so we can be safe! We read A LOT in this household from all sorts of wonderful sources about nutrition and natural healthy living, and I will try to list the resources as I go(but I am horrible at that, so forgive me when I don't). If there is anything questionable please feel free to ask me for my sources of info, and I totally recommend asking the ultimate source(as I do CONSTANTLY on health issues in this world of crazy people theories) which is our loving Heavenly Father.
Just as a starter post, here are some things I might point out about this blog. On the side bar I put our ULTIMATE FAMILY GOALS and OUR WEEKLY GOALS. We do take herbal tea as a form of preventative medicine in this household. We do not drink any of the black, white, red or green teas as I have prayed about their good use and not felt good about them. I am training as a Master Herbalist through Dr.Christopher's School of Natural Healing and use herbs for medicine when needed (to the extent that I have been educated). We also take whole food vitamins to supplement our health, not to be confused with synthetic vitamins which are harder for the body to assimilate. At the bottom of this blog, from time to time, I would love to share some herbal tips I have learned and used and found helpful in my life. I will not post any herbal information that is not tested and true. :)
We hope that this blog is helpful and insightful, and useful to others. It can be such a hard journey, changing your lifestyle. We hope we can make it seem more worthwhile by reading our experiences of try, try, trying again (and again) and our slow but sure progress to a MUCH healthier and happier lifestyle.
Healthy Journeys!
HamakerLove
ps.By the by, BJ or myself are going to try and post weekly to keep our goals on track.:) Please feel free to leave a comment or join the followers link on the sidebar so we know people are keeping us accountable!:)
Just as a starter post, here are some things I might point out about this blog. On the side bar I put our ULTIMATE FAMILY GOALS and OUR WEEKLY GOALS. We do take herbal tea as a form of preventative medicine in this household. We do not drink any of the black, white, red or green teas as I have prayed about their good use and not felt good about them. I am training as a Master Herbalist through Dr.Christopher's School of Natural Healing and use herbs for medicine when needed (to the extent that I have been educated). We also take whole food vitamins to supplement our health, not to be confused with synthetic vitamins which are harder for the body to assimilate. At the bottom of this blog, from time to time, I would love to share some herbal tips I have learned and used and found helpful in my life. I will not post any herbal information that is not tested and true. :)
We hope that this blog is helpful and insightful, and useful to others. It can be such a hard journey, changing your lifestyle. We hope we can make it seem more worthwhile by reading our experiences of try, try, trying again (and again) and our slow but sure progress to a MUCH healthier and happier lifestyle.
Healthy Journeys!
HamakerLove
ps.By the by, BJ or myself are going to try and post weekly to keep our goals on track.:) Please feel free to leave a comment or join the followers link on the sidebar so we know people are keeping us accountable!:)
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