Sorry, blogspot. I've found someone new! Please follow my new blog at http://www.lanajoy.net/
Thanks for the memories!
-Lana
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
I Love Being a Baby-wearing Mama
Here's a pic of me and my little one enjoying time together in my new Maya Wrap ring sling. We both love the warmth, security, togetherness, and freedom that it offers us.I took up babywearing when my first son was born in 2007, but didn't really understand all its benefits right away. I got a Moby Wrap and tried to wear the baby for the requisite 3 hours a day, but he still spent all too much time in his swing, pack-n-play, and stroller. As time went on, babywearing became a bigger part of my life as I realized what a beautiful bond is built when your baby goes through your day with you, experiencing life as you experience it. And how much easier it makes my life!
The Moby Wrap involved quite a bit of tying, which never got easier since the baby was so rapidly growing. It was a great carrier, but with this baby I knew I'd want something that I could pop the baby into a lot quicker. So I invested in a Maya Wrap ring sling. I do notice my back getting sore a little quicker than it did in the Moby, but the ease of use is incredible. And I can still wear Leif in it for a couple of hours before I really feel like I need to take him off me.
I'm happy to say that this time around I'm doing a lot more babywearing. This is not only because it's something I believe in and enjoy, but also because of our circumstances. A year and a half ago we moved from our small one-bedroom apartment to a huge 4-bedroom home that we share with two of our closest friends. The Wahlquist Wing is upstairs, so I'm constantly battling the upstairs-downstairs problem and it's just easier to wear the baby around the house, especially while he's sleeping.
Soon we will start using our Ergo carrier, which I'm really excited about. I bought a new fancy cover for it so it looks all hip and trendy now! and clean... Here's a funny babywearing anecdote: yesterday at church I saw a dad carrying his baby in a messenger bag. No joke. A messenger bag. Do with that what you will.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Remembering my Pregnancy... Vitamin Edition
So now that baby is here and everything, I thought it would be fun to kind of get an electronic version going of the journal that I kept during pregnancy. In this entry, I will entail what I perceived to be a rather lengthy and complex series of supplements that I ended up taking by the end of the pregnancy. They all sort of built upon each other, like a symphony, until they reached their glorious climax at the end when I realized i was a legitimate pill-popper. BTW, this is ironic to me because I generally try to get all my nutrients from food, and as a rule I don't really "believe" in supplements at all. Well anyway, here goes:
Prenatal Vitamins: my midwife was rather indifferent about them, believing--as I do--that good nutrition is really all you need. Nonetheless, I headed over to the health food store and picked up a bottle of Rainbow Lights at the beginning of my pregnancy. I took them sporadically throughout the pregnancy, but really got disciplined about it in the third trimester. After all, I did eat pretty healthy but I ain't perfect!
Ionic Fizz Magnesium Plus: So very early in the pregnancy I started having crazy heartburn. Very painful. While it can be addressed through diet, the source is actually hormonal, and for me diet wasn't cutting it. Luckily, my midwife has a background in naturopathy, so she had great suggestions for all my pregnancy discomforts. This was the greatest! My heartburn went away and the fizzy drink even tasted yummy. So add this 1-2 times per day to my daily prenatal.
[SIDEBAR: Quercetin & Nettle Leaf Tea]: I started taking these when the winds got really bad here and my allergies went crazy. Helped a little. I stopped the Quercetin when things calmed down, but still drink the tea. It's yummy.
I kept up these two things for most of the pregnancy until the very end, when I got the only minor hiccup: I tested positive for Group Beta Strep. GBS is a bacteria that ebbs and flows in a woman's body all the time. If it is present at the time of birth, there is a small chance the baby could be infected and the resulting disease is rather serious. Pretty slim chances, though. In hospitals, when a woman tests positive for this, she is routinely given antibiotics during labor. We've had some bad experiences with antibiotics and really want to reserve them for an immanent, life-threatening illness. My midwife sent me some studies about the use of chorohexadine (??) rinse during labor as an alternative to antibiotics and the results were very good. So we did that instead of antibiotics. She also had an herbal regime outlined in the notebook she gave me, so I went ahead and got started with a few of those. Here they are:
Garlic: garlic is a natural sort of antibiotic, so it is very useful to use it to treat infections. Every night before bed.
Echinacea: Every morning for immune support. I'm using this still now during cold and flu season. Should have started it before getting sick, though.
Crystalline Vit C: 5,000 mg in my half-gallon water bottle each day. It's non-acidic, which my tummy liked. It tastes like nail polish, which my mouth did not.
Grapefruit Seed Extract: about 10 drops in my water bottle daily. Also tastes awful. But I'm keeping it around in the case of thrush for myself or any close friends that deal with thrush. I've heard it really works.
Those things completely ruined my enjoyment of my daily water drinking. But it actually made me drink more H2O. I had to really chug it and then chase it with plain water or some juice or something. Then I would end up finishing my water earlier in the day and needed to refill with more or I'd be parched. Peeing a lot, but very hydrated, and I was glad to be doing something to combat the GBS. That's not the whole regime, but I bought the vitamins I could afford and thankfully I had the baby a week later. So glad I didn't have to keep downing that horrible water for a few more weeks!
Cod Liver Oil: CLO has lots of Vit D for immunity and bone support and is also loaded with Omega-3 Fatty Acids, including DHA. All really good stuff for babies and pregnant women. Some people don't like this stuff because of its non-vegetarian-ness, but it is a natural source of so much good stuff that I love it. I've been giving it to Peer for years and my chiropractor convinced me that I should be taking it too. My midwife also liked the idea, stating that my baby's brain will grow more now in the third trimester than any other time in his life. So everyone on my team liked the idea. =) You can buy it flavored (if you don't mind the additives they use to flavor it), so it actually tastes pretty good. We buy the Emulsified orange-flavor and mix it with Peer's OJ for him. He knows about it, so I'm not tricking him! Andy and I take it straight and like it.
I'm still taking the Vit C (although NOT in my daily water bottle. I don't want to be drinking it all day long!), the echinacea, and the CLO. I finished out the fizzy magnesium and the prenatals and didn't replace them. Oh, and no, my baby did NOT contract GBS disease, thank God. Probably wouldn't have anyway statistically speaking, but I'm still glad I did something. I'm also glad to have been introduced to all these useful supplements. I will remember their usefulness even if I don't become a full-time pill-popper!
Prenatal Vitamins: my midwife was rather indifferent about them, believing--as I do--that good nutrition is really all you need. Nonetheless, I headed over to the health food store and picked up a bottle of Rainbow Lights at the beginning of my pregnancy. I took them sporadically throughout the pregnancy, but really got disciplined about it in the third trimester. After all, I did eat pretty healthy but I ain't perfect!
Ionic Fizz Magnesium Plus: So very early in the pregnancy I started having crazy heartburn. Very painful. While it can be addressed through diet, the source is actually hormonal, and for me diet wasn't cutting it. Luckily, my midwife has a background in naturopathy, so she had great suggestions for all my pregnancy discomforts. This was the greatest! My heartburn went away and the fizzy drink even tasted yummy. So add this 1-2 times per day to my daily prenatal.
[SIDEBAR: Quercetin & Nettle Leaf Tea]: I started taking these when the winds got really bad here and my allergies went crazy. Helped a little. I stopped the Quercetin when things calmed down, but still drink the tea. It's yummy.
I kept up these two things for most of the pregnancy until the very end, when I got the only minor hiccup: I tested positive for Group Beta Strep. GBS is a bacteria that ebbs and flows in a woman's body all the time. If it is present at the time of birth, there is a small chance the baby could be infected and the resulting disease is rather serious. Pretty slim chances, though. In hospitals, when a woman tests positive for this, she is routinely given antibiotics during labor. We've had some bad experiences with antibiotics and really want to reserve them for an immanent, life-threatening illness. My midwife sent me some studies about the use of chorohexadine (??) rinse during labor as an alternative to antibiotics and the results were very good. So we did that instead of antibiotics. She also had an herbal regime outlined in the notebook she gave me, so I went ahead and got started with a few of those. Here they are:
Garlic: garlic is a natural sort of antibiotic, so it is very useful to use it to treat infections. Every night before bed.
Echinacea: Every morning for immune support. I'm using this still now during cold and flu season. Should have started it before getting sick, though.
Crystalline Vit C: 5,000 mg in my half-gallon water bottle each day. It's non-acidic, which my tummy liked. It tastes like nail polish, which my mouth did not.
Grapefruit Seed Extract: about 10 drops in my water bottle daily. Also tastes awful. But I'm keeping it around in the case of thrush for myself or any close friends that deal with thrush. I've heard it really works.
Those things completely ruined my enjoyment of my daily water drinking. But it actually made me drink more H2O. I had to really chug it and then chase it with plain water or some juice or something. Then I would end up finishing my water earlier in the day and needed to refill with more or I'd be parched. Peeing a lot, but very hydrated, and I was glad to be doing something to combat the GBS. That's not the whole regime, but I bought the vitamins I could afford and thankfully I had the baby a week later. So glad I didn't have to keep downing that horrible water for a few more weeks!
Cod Liver Oil: CLO has lots of Vit D for immunity and bone support and is also loaded with Omega-3 Fatty Acids, including DHA. All really good stuff for babies and pregnant women. Some people don't like this stuff because of its non-vegetarian-ness, but it is a natural source of so much good stuff that I love it. I've been giving it to Peer for years and my chiropractor convinced me that I should be taking it too. My midwife also liked the idea, stating that my baby's brain will grow more now in the third trimester than any other time in his life. So everyone on my team liked the idea. =) You can buy it flavored (if you don't mind the additives they use to flavor it), so it actually tastes pretty good. We buy the Emulsified orange-flavor and mix it with Peer's OJ for him. He knows about it, so I'm not tricking him! Andy and I take it straight and like it.
I'm still taking the Vit C (although NOT in my daily water bottle. I don't want to be drinking it all day long!), the echinacea, and the CLO. I finished out the fizzy magnesium and the prenatals and didn't replace them. Oh, and no, my baby did NOT contract GBS disease, thank God. Probably wouldn't have anyway statistically speaking, but I'm still glad I did something. I'm also glad to have been introduced to all these useful supplements. I will remember their usefulness even if I don't become a full-time pill-popper!
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