The Birth Story of my Sweetheart

Our baby boy is finally here! As most of you know, I decided to have a home birth this time around. I'll quickly tell you the story so I can get back to my beautiful boy and Sweetpea.

Since I was uncomfortable in the hospital with Sweetpea, and since I'm part hippie, I had to try a home birth with my second child. I went to bed that night having some contractions and had a feeling that I would go into labor soon, but knew I needed to rest. I woke up a few times that night with contractions, but went back to sleep. At 3:00 am I woke up and the contractions were strong and close together, so I got up without waking anyone, and decided to do my hair and makeup since Sweetface said he was going to video tape. I was in the bathroom for about 20 min washing my face and breathing through the contractions and finally said, "forget the hair and make up you vain girl you, it doesn't matter, this baby is coming soon!" I ran into our bedroom and shook Sweetface and said, "lets do this! fill the birthing tub!" He jumped up and got the hose and had to run it from Sweetpea's bathroom because it wouldn't work in ours. I called the midwife and told her the contractions were 2.5 min apart. She said, "are you sure? drink and eat something and I will be there soon." Sweetpea woke up and was totally confused and started crying. I got her out of bed and laid with her in our bed for a few min but had to focus on the contractions. My mom was visiting, so I got her up and told her to lay with Sweetpea and take her somewhere. I locked myself in the bathroom and got in the bathtub which really soothed my pain. The midwife arrived and I was already 7 cm dilated! Whew, that was a relief. Then Sweetpea calmed down and my mom took her to my in-laws and that helped me relax more. In between contractions I quickly walked to the living room where the midwives were setting up and where the birthing pool was. Everyone spoke softly to each other and let me do my thing (on my knees, rocking back and forth, and taking deep breaths). I visualized the baby moving down and kept telling myself, "you can do this, just a little bit longer, and you get to see your little boy." It was more of an overwhelming feeling than a painful one. Like something so big was happening to my body, that I couldn't control it. It was doing what it was made to do. The sun started to rise and I could hear birds chirping outside and I thought, "this is special, and would be a nice time to meet this precious little baby." I could feel burning and pushed his head out in the water. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck! The midwives had to clamp and cut it because it was wrapped so tight. They told me to stand up so they could do that. Then they said, "PUSH!" and I said, "but I'm not having a contraction!" They said, "PUSH!" So I did, and he was born at 6:19 am. They had to give him some puffs of air and stimulate him to get him to cry.

So now it is 2 weeks later and his temperament seems very sweet and easy going. He doesn't fuss or cry much and is a good eater and sleeper. Sweetpea loves him to pieces. If she is upset about something and sees him, she will stop crying and kiss and hug him. I feel so blessed to have such an easy labor this time, and extremely happy when I see my two babies together. Right now, he is going through his 2 week growth spurt, so I have to go feed him again!

Spring Cleaning!

Fumes from conventional cleaning products smell great to me, but then I think about how BAD they are for my body and brain cells! Then I get really sick to my stomach when I think about that precious little girl running around my house in them. Young children are vulnerable to the toxins in such cleaning products. Everything goes in their mouths and they virtually live on the floor. And kids are more sensitive because they are still developing the basic body systems: the brain, internal organs, respiratory and immune systems are not fully developed until adolescence. So what's a girl to do when she wants clean, but toxin-free living?

The simple, cheap, and extremely effective nontoxic cleaning agent that I probably use everyday is white vinegar. Vinegar kills bacteria, mold and germs and won't hurt Sweetpea. If you like to see things bubble or fizz put some baking soda down on the surface you are cleaning first. This also helps exfoliate the soap scum or dirt in the shower. If you don't like the smell, don't worry, it goes away when you rinse it and it dries. You could also mix a little lemon juice (from a lemon, not from a bottle), vinegar, and water in a spray bottle to help with the vinegar odor.

If you want to get fancy, I make a spray that you can not only clean your toilet with, but also your face (but don't put it in your mucous membranes). I mix tea tree oil, colloidal silver, and reverse osmosis water in a spray bottle. Tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial disinfectant that was commonly used as a general antiseptic by the aborigine tribes for thousands of years. More recently, the scientific community has confirmed that Tea Tree Oil has tremendous medicinal benefits. I used it to get rid of some fungus I had on my toenail. Yeah, it took care of it totally and I didn't have to take that prescription crap that damages your liver and kidneys! Colloidal silver is good for everything (google it). I even drink it when I feel like I'm coming down with something and it goes away. Anyway, this product smells fresh and clean so you may like it better than the vinegar. Oh, and you can buy the tea tree oil and colloidal silver (my dad makes his own) at health food stores or online. I got my tea tree oil from vitacost.com.

You know those bumps that some people have on the back of their arms?

I used to have them. They annoyed the crap out of me, so I asked my dermatologist, my esthetician (when I had one), the lady at the makeup counter at Macy's and whoever else would listen, how to get rid of them. I got all kinds of answers: exfoliate every day, moisturize every day, use salicylic acid on them, try this prescription cream etc. Nothing really worked, and since I refuse to give up until I find the truth, I did some research on the subject. It turns out that it is a common condition called keratosis pilaris - a complicated name meaning bumpy skin. Actually, 50% of people have it, so if you don't have it yourself, you probably know someone who does. So guess what? I finally found an actual cure that I tried and it worked! If you suffer from this condition and want to get rid of it, try omega-3 oil. The best kind that I've found is krill oil and I order it from, you guessed it, my favorite website mercola.com. Now, I'm taking Carlson cod liver oil, because I'm not sure if you can take krill oil (it comes from tiny shrimp) while you are pregnant and I know that cod liver is great for an unborn baby's brain development. You can find that kind at most health food stores or online at vitacost.com. It took a while for me to see a difference. I wasn't really inspecting my arms everyday and was actually taking the krill oil for other reasons too, but then noticed one day while wearing a tank top that my arms looked pretty darn good!

I tried to find a pic of the back of my arm, but I guess it's just not natural to take pictures like that, so this is the only one I could find! Sweetpea sat on a strawberry.