Quickie post: Dangers of Hospital Birth

For those who keep asking and wondering why on earth I had a homebirth:

(I also highly recommend viewing The Business of Being Born, available through Netflix)

Full text here:  http://www.gentlebirth.org/ronnie/hospitalDangers.html

Dangers of Hospital Birth


Why Birthing in a Hospital Causes More Problems Than It Solves for Normal Birth

by Ronnie Falcão, LM MS

There's a saying that birth is as safe as life gets. Sometimes birth can become dangerous for the baby or, very rarely, for the mother. This is when hospital-based maternity care really shines, and we're able to save mothers and babies who might have died a hundred years ago. Thank goodness that there are skilled surgeons who can come to the rescue when truly necessary.

There's also a saying that when you've got a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail. So it is that for hospital-based birth attendants, it is easy to become accustomed to treating every birth as a disaster waiting to happen. Many obstetricians have lost touch with the possibility of normal birth, so much so that even a pitocin induction with an epidural, fetal scalp electrode and vacuum extraction is called a "natural birth". Some hospital staff seem offended by the idea of minimizing interventions, as if preferring not to have a needle the size of a house nail inserted near your spine is the same as declining to have a second piece of Aunt Sally's Fruit Cake. Sadly, some of today’s younger doctors may never even have seen a truly physiological labor and birth—a birth completely without medical intervention.

This is how the saving grace of the hospital can become the scourging disgrace of maternity care. In their rush to prevent problems that aren't happening, hospital personnel may aggressively push procedures and drugs that can actually cause problems. Pitocin can cause uterine contractions that are so strong that they stress the baby and cause fetal distress. [1] IV narcotic drugs affect the baby so strongly that the baby may not breathe at birth [2] ; there is even a specific drug that is used to counteract the narcotics to help these drugged babies to breathe . [3] There is considerable debate as to how epidurals affect the progress of labor, but they certainly affect a woman's ability to get into a squat, which opens the pelvic plane by 20-30%; anyone can understand that this could affect the possibility of the baby's fitting through the pelvis. Epidurals can lower the mother's blood pressure so that the baby isn't getting enough oxygen through the placenta; this can cause fetal distress and the need for an emergency c-section to rescue the baby . [4]

In addition to the specific dangers of individual obstetric interventions, hospital births suffer the effects of any form of institutionalized care. Perhaps the best-known risk of hospital birth is hospital-acquired infections. Those most susceptible to hospital-acquired infections are those with compromised immune systems, such as newborns. In particular, babies are born with sterile skin and gut that are supposed to be colonized by direct contact with the mother's skin flora. If antibiotic-resistant hospital germs colonize the baby's skin and gut instead, the baby is at high risk of becoming very sick from infections that are very difficult to treat. The overall infection rate for babies born in the hospital is four times that of babies born at home [5], and these infections are more likely to be antibiotic-resistant.

More people die every year from hospital-acquired infections (90,000) [6] than from all accidental deaths (70,000), including motor vehicle crashes, fires, burns, falls, drownings, and poisonings. An additional 98,000 people die each year from general medical error . [7]

Another obvious risk of institutionalized care arises from the piecemeal nature of the care. Because there are so many different kinds of personnel performing so many different procedures, there is a lot of potential for miscommunication about critical matters. In an astoundingly progressive admission of institutional shortcomings, Beth Israel Hospital published a paper [8] about a tragic miscommunication that resulted in a baby's death. To their great credit, instead of covering up this horrible mistake, they used it as a wake-up call to revise their protocols, in an attempt to reduce miscommunication and increase safety. Unfortunately, other hospitals are slow to adopt the reforms of Beth Israel Hospital.

One of the most dangerous aspects of hospital care is that those providing most of the direct care (i.e. the nurses) are hierarchically subservient to those managing the care from a distance (i.e. the doctors). This kind of a power structure can prevent knowledgeable nurses from mitigating the potentially dangerous actions of the doctors.

Many people feel that the hospital must be the safest place to birth because of all the equipment they have. Well, the equipment is only as good as the people using it. In many hospitals, there are not enough Registered Nurses to cover all the patients, so they use Medical Technicians, who are trained to perform procedures but not necessarily trained to interpret fetal heart tracings. Most labors start at night, and women birthing second or subsequent babies often birth during the night. This is the time when the senior staff are home sleeping in their beds, because their seniority allows them to opt for the more desirable daytime shifts. A recent study confirmed that outcomes at births are worse during the night, because even the most sophisticated equipment is useless in the wrong hands . [9]

(For the record, many homebirth midwives now carry equipment that is as sophisticated as that in most hospital birth rooms. This includes continuous electronic fetal monitors and equipment for performing neonatal resuscitation if necessary.)

Institutionalized care also suffers from the economic pressures of running an efficient organization, regardless of how this might interfere with the normal process of labor and birth.

Sometimes doctors recommend pitocin without true medical necessity, simply to hasten the birth. This may be due to a need to free up a birth room to make room for other patients, or because the doctor has other responsibilities elsewhere. Stimulating labor artificially overrides the baby's ability to space out the contractions if the labor is too stressful. This increases the risk of fetal distress.

Hospital staff have a strong bias towards confining the laboring woman to the bed and requiring her to push in a reclining position. This often puts the baby's weight on the placenta or umbilical cord, possibly restricting the baby's supply of oxygenated blood from the placenta. In contrast, upright positions put the baby's weight downward, towards the open cervix and away from the placenta and umbilical cord, reducing or eliminating fetal distress caused by cord compression.

A rush to clamp and cut the umbilical cord within seconds after birth is one of the most dangerous hospital practices. This premature severance of the umbilical cord cuts the flow of oxygenated blood to the baby before the baby has established the lungs as the source of oxygen. Premature cord clamping also deprives the baby of the blood that would naturally fill the pulmonary vasculature as it expands in the minutes immediately after the birth. This practice is documented to increase the risks of neonatal hypoxia, hypovolemia, and anemia, thus increasing the need for blood transfusions. [10]

There is some very new research showing that placental tissue itself may be a rich source of pluripotent stem cells, in addition to the blood stem cells in blood drawn from the umbilical cord. [11] We do not yet know whether premature cutting of the umbilical cord halts the migration of pluripotent stem cells from the placental tissue into the baby's body to repair damage from even minor birth trauma.

Perhaps the most egregious and unnecessary interference with the normal birth sequence is the separation of mother and baby immediately after birth. Even a ten-minute separation is too long during this critical first hour after birth - it prevents the natural nipple stimulation that increases the mother's oxytocin to contract the uterus and prevent a postpartum hemorrhage.[12] Instead of baby-provided nipple stimulation, hospitals are now routinely using synthetic oxytocin by IV or injection after the birth to control bleeding.

Similarly, early cuddling of mother and baby stimulates oxytocin production in the newborn, thus raising the baby's body temperature to help with the adaptation to the extrauterine environment. The mother's body is the best warmer for the newborn. [13]

Because different personnel are involved in providing piecemeal care for mothers and babies, providers do not always see how their actions in one area may cause problems in another area. For example, because obstetricians are not involved in breastfeeding issues, they may not realize that cutting an episiotomy hampers a woman's ability to sit comfortably in order to nurse her baby. Likewise, the pediatricians also are not involved in breastfeeding, so they may not realize that separating the mother and baby right after the birth in order to do a routine newborn exam also interferes with breastfeeding. Nursery nurses often do not seem to appreciate the importance of minimizing the separation of mother and baby and thus also unwittingly interfere with breastfeeding. They tend to ignore the World Health Organization's recommendations to delay initial bathing of the baby until at least six hours after the birth, even though bathing causes the baby's temperature to drop so dangerously low that they do not return the baby to the mother for an hour or more. [14] [15]

I emphasize the hazards to the breastfeeding relationship because breastfeeding is so vital to a newborn's well-being, reducing infant mortality by 20%. [16] This is a huge health benefit, and hospitals should be taking the lead in tailoring their routines to support breastfeeding. But because the functions of caring for mother and baby are separated into the roles of maternity nurses (who care for the mothers) and nursery nurses (who care for the babies), sometimes the mother and baby are also physically separated. Most of the time, there are no lactation consultants in the hospital - they are often only available during weekday business hours. But babies need to be fed around the clock, and if a Lactation Consultant isn't available to help a struggling mother/baby pair, it might become necessary to feed the baby artificial breastmilk with a bottle, which further interferes with successful breastfeeding.

Because the entire model of hospital birth is based on the birth as a medical procedure, hospital staff seem to miss the fact that they are interfering in a delicate time in a new baby's life. Perinatal psychologists describe the first hour after birth as the "critical period", during which the baby will learn how to learn and whether or not it is safe to relax and to trust the outer world. This has tremendous implications for mental health and stress-related disorders. [17]

There was a time when cesareans were acknowledged to be a risky surgery reserved to save the life of the mother or baby. Now even cesarean surgery has become almost routine. Some obstetricians and hospital administrators are advocating for a 100% cesarean rate as a solution to liability and scheduling problems that are inherent in providing maternity care. [18] Unfortunately, cesarean surgeries increase risks for the mother and for this baby. They also increase the risk for subsequent pregnancies, with higher rates of placenta previa and placenta accreta, and small but non-zero risk that a pre-labor uterine rupture could result in the baby's or even the mother's death.

When someone needs to be in the hospital and needs to be receiving medical treatment for a life-threatening condition, the risk-benefit tradeoff comes in heavily on the side of benefit.

But for women who are hoping to have a drug-free birth, it makes no sense to expose themselves to the infection risks associated with simply being in the hospital. Most people know that it is unwise to take a newborn baby out and about in public because of the risk of exposing the baby even to ordinary germs. It is even a worse idea to expose the baby to the antibiotic-resistant strains of germs commonly found in hospitals.

When a woman planning a homebirth needs medical care and care is transferred to a hospital-based provider, the phrase "failed homebirth" is often written in her chart, even if she goes on to have an outcome that is better than if she had started out in the hospital. I would like to propose the concept of a “failed hospital birth” as any birth where hospital procedures specifically cause more problems than they solve. When you consider hospital infection rates, surgical complications, and the damage to the breastfeeding relationship caused by routine separation of mother and baby, we might find that close to 95% of planned hospital births are failed hospital births. They failed to support the mother in an empowering birth experience to better prepare her for motherhood, and they failed to satisfy the baby's overwhelming need and desire to enter and adapt to the outside world as nature intended.

Our society has an obligation to improve maternity care services as much as possible. Consider that the countries with the safest maternity care rely on midwives as the guardians of normal birth, reserving risky medical procedures for cases of true need. "In The five European countries with the lowest infant mortality rates, midwives preside at more than 70 percent of all births. More than half of all Dutch babies are born at home with midwives in attendance, and Holland's maternal and infant mortality rates are far lower than in the United States..." [19] The United States needs to return to a model of midwives as the default maternity care providers, reserving the surgical specialists for the highest-risk patients. We need to educate pregnant women so that they understand that the choices they make about drugs during labor affect their baby, just like the choices they make about drugs during pregnancy. We need to offer women realistic pain relief alternatives to dangerous pharmaceuticals; warm water immersion during labor provides risk-free pain relief that many women find as satisfactory as an epidural. (Mothers who are uncomfortable with the idea of waterbirth can easily leave the tub to give birth "on land", while still deriving tremendous comfort and safety benefits of laboring in water.) Hospitals need to develop new routines that protect mother-baby bonding and the breastfeeding relationship as if they are a matter of life and death, because they are.

Obstetricians would do well to practice according to the wisdom contained in the phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This means supporting healthy women with normal pregnancies in birthing at home if they choose and encouraging women planning hospital births to work with them to minimize interventions that turn normal births into risky medical procedures.

"I could never do that"

"I could never do that."

This is a comment I often hear when what I eat comes up in conversation.  Especially when I tell people I don't eat any grains, even the so-called "healthy" whole grains.  People really respond strongly to that.   I can't say I blame them, especially since the USDA's food pyramid includes grains as the base of a healthy diet and recommends 6-11 servings/day. 

The truth is, if I really thought grains were healthy for me, I would eat them.  But I don't.  I will detail why in the next post.  For now, this post is going to focus on why a primal diet works for me and how I transitioned away from grains.

If you already read my first blog post, you know that I sort of stumbled upon the notion of a primal diet by trial and error.  Years of following the Standard American Diet finally caught up with me.  I finally figured out that my bloating, gas, acne, thinning hair, dry skin, mood swings, PMS, and difficulty maintaining my weight with the same methods was linked to what I was eating. 

I fooled around with my diet for a couple years, going vegetarian, eating less calories, eating less fat, eating more raw foods, following the blood type diet, and probably other tweaks I can't recall.  In the end, it turned out that I function best on a paleo/primal diet.  Why?  My body does not like most dairy (even raw) or grains (even whole grains, gluten-free grains, and rice).  I dislike even putting a label on my "diet" because it makes it sound like it is something temporary.  It's not.  It just so happens that the food my body craves and thrives on happen to all be on the paleo/primal diet list.  I have been eating primal for the past year now (with the exception of the first few months of my pregnancy where my primal go-to foods literally made me want to hurl, and of course I indulge here and there with cupcakes, birthday cake, and ice cream).

So what changes have I seen in my body since going "primal"?  Here are a few:

• stronger nails
• clearer, more hydrated skin
• thicker hair
• less bloating and gas
• less abdominal fat
• easier to maintain and build muscle
• less exercise needed to maintain/lose weight
• more energy
• less cravings for sugary foods
• less mood swings (although my husband may disagree LOL)

Of course when you grow up eating bread, pasta, cereal, and other grainy foods, it is difficult to transition them out of your diet.  I am a very disciplined person, especially when it comes to my health, so once I read that something is not good for me, it's fairly easy to eliminate that food.  But, I do crave some of the things I grew up on.  So what do I do when that happens?  I find primal substitutes.  Or, if it is a very strong craving, I indulge, and then I feel like crap afterwards and remember why I don't eat that food anymore!  But finding primal substitutes has really been the key to making the transition to a primal diet.

Here are some of the things I find myself craving now and again, and what primal food I use to fulfill that craving:

• Pasta:  I LOVE spaghetti squash and use it to replace dishes that call for pasta
• Breads/Crusts:  I use almond flour and coconut flour and find yummy paleo recipes online or in cookbooks
• Sweets/Desserts:  I find paleo recipes that use mostly fruit as a sweetener and sometimes I use a little bit of raw honey or stevia
• Crackers:  I make crackers out of nuts, seeds, or nut flours.  Sometimes veggies alone as a dipper do the trick
• Crunchy snacks:  Nuts always do the trick for me

Like I said, if I have a REALLY strong craving for something, I will indulge, but it is usually a "planned indulgence."  And I usually feel so yucky afterward, that I am glad I indulged, because it reminds me why I don't eat those foods and I am less likely to indulge (for a long while, at least!)

Paleo Banana Bread Recipe - Gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free

Every week, I make a little primal "treat" to keep on hand for my sweet tooth that tends to sneak up.  The last couple weeks, I have been really into a banana bread recipe I adapted from this one.  I basically just lowered the honey content, added an extra banana, and used coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil.  My hubby tried it and said it was super moist and tasted like it had a stick of butter in it!

Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tbsp raw honey
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 very ripe bananas (about one cup) mashed

Directions:

1.In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda

2.In a smaller bowl, combine honey, coconut oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas

3.Mix wet ingredients into dry

4.Place batter in either a cake pan or two small 7.5″ x 3.5″ loaf pans

5.Bake at 350° for 40 minutes (mine was done in 30 minutes)

6.Remove from oven and allow to cool

Serves 12

Food/Exercise Log

Today was crazy and if I wasn't breastfeeding, I would go drink a bottle of wine all by myself.  Bijon has been super fussy the past few days.  I am going to take him to the chiropractor tomorrow and see if that helps because I have tried ruling out every possible thing that could be bugging him.  I am desperate!

But anyway...here is what today looked like:

Breakfast:

crust-less quiche made with:  eggs, coconut milk, bell peppers, spinach and grass-fed ground beef, green tea with stevia, small slice of paleo banana bread

Snack:

handful almonds, half orange

Lunch:

I was only able to sneak in a protein shake made with Dr. Mercola's Miracle Whey protein powder, almond milk, chia seeds, and psyllium husk

Snack:

cottage cheese with applesauce

Dinner:

Crockpot pork chops, caesar salad, blueberries

Dessert:

I binged on extra dark chocolate - I ate like half the bar.  Emotional eating, anyone?

Exercise:

15 minutes on recumbent bike with Bijon sleeping in the Moby Wrap LOL

1.  15 bicep curls, each arm
2.  15 forward shoulder raises, each arm
3.  15 overhead tricep exercises (not sure what they're called), each arm
4.  15 back rows with resistance band
5.  40 abdominal bicycles
6.  Repeat the above five exercises three times total, performing as a circuit with no breaks in between exercises or sets
7.  A few planks for 45 seconds

Food/Exercise Log

I'm going to start logging my daily or near-daily menu (depending on how crazy that day is with the two kiddos!) and exercise routine. 

I probably exercise 10-30 minutes a day, depending on what I can sneak in.  But I always try to get something in.  I usually aim for 10-15 minutes of weights/resistance/body resistance while Bijon naps and Noah has quiet time and then some kind of light cardio with the kids.  I have learned that daily exercise fills me up and makes me a better mom, so I make it a priority and schedule it in, even if it's only for a few minutes.  If the kids need me, the session is cut short but I always feel better that I at least tried.  And I can always count on a daily walk if all else fails with Bijon sleeping in the Moby wrap and Noah gets to ride his scooter alongside us.  And I figure I must be burning some extra calories too while doing errands and chores with Bijon in the sling or Moby wrap most of the day!

As far as cardio goes, daily walks are always easy to sneak in and I just got a stationary recumbent bike (thanks mom!) off of Craigslist for an unbelievable price, which I will hop on here and there while I'm nursing Bijon.  My husband walks in the room and laughs :)  Bijon loves it because it jiggles him a little bit and I get some exercise in while bonding with him LOL!  Twice a week, I will do sprints on the stationary bike, which only takes 15-20 minutes.  I learned about the benefits of sprinting from Mark's Daily Apple and Dr. Mercola's articles on Peak 8 fitness.  According to Mark Sisson and Dr. Mercola, two to three short sprint sessions a week are far more beneficial than endless hours of cardio.  And Mark Sisson was a marathon runner; go figure!

So here's the menu for today:

Breakfast: 

2 slices roast beef, slice of paleo banana bread (recipe coming), green tea with stevia

Snack: 

Dr. Mercola Cocoa Cassava Bar

Lunch: 

salad made with spinach, brocolli/carrot slaw, grass-fed ground beef, salsa, dollop of sour cream, and 1/2 avocado (no dressing)

Snack: 

handful almonds, 1/2 apple

Dinner: 

Wild turbo fish with a shitload of broccoli on the side with butter

Dessert: 

Extra dark chocolate square dipped in peanut butter

Exercise:

10 minutes on recumbent bike

1. plank 45-60 seconds
2. 25 standing side leg lifts while balancing on one leg, each side
3. 15 squats
4. 25 donkey kicks each leg
5. repeat the above four exercises three times total (I complete the above as a circuit with no breaks in between exercises or sets; so I am going strong with max effort for 10-15 minutes to complete this routine)
6. 40 inner thigh leg lifts each leg

My body after birth...

I have to admit I was pretty worried about how my body would look after a second pregnancy and had lots of body issues while pregnant this time around.  Maybe it was because the first pregnancy is so new and exciting and I looked forward to my belly expanding.  Or maybe I had body issues this pregnancy because you "show" so much faster during subsequent pregnancies - I definitely did!  I felt like I looked seven months pregnant when I was only four months into it!  Or maybe I dreaded packing on those pounds after I had finally reached my ideal body weight and composition just prior to the pregnancy.  I would love to say that I am one of those women who thinks pregnancy is "beautiful" (I do think it is beautiful on others, just not on me for some reason!) and that I felt "glowy" but the reality is that this time around I was very vain and did not like the way I looked pregnant.  Just being honest here.  No matter how many compliments I received from my husband and others, the truth is, I felt very insecure and couldn't wait to get back to my old self, and wondered if that was possible.  (The fact that I felt absolutely blessed to have a life growing inside of me goes without saying and even if I never looked the same again, it would all be worth it!) 

Well, I followed a mostly primal diet while pregnant, not only to manage my weight gain but also because I feel my best when eating like a cavewoman.  I included some Ezekiel products and oatmeal here and there which are not primal, but I felt like I needed the extra carbs to steadily gain weight.  And of course I splurged on ice cream and other treats here and there, but I never made a habit of it.  So while I am vain, I know it's important to eat healthy and gain the proper weight to support the pregnancy and breastfeeding afterward.  I *wanted* to gain at least 35 pounds to have the healthiest pregnancy possible and to ensure I had adequate reserves for breastfeeding postpartum.  So I gained 36 pounds and although my ass was larger than I wanted and I had bra fat, I was very happy with my overall weight gain.

Fastforward to today.  How do I feel about my body now?  I feel fantastic!  I want to share how I lost the weight and toned up because I myself searched the Internet to find out real life examples of how women got their figures back.  Don't get me wrong...I'm far from a Victoria's Secret Model and won't be donning a bikini any time soon.  I have lovely stretch marks and cellulite dimples that I am learning to live with.  But I think for a new mom two months postpartum, I'm doing alright.  I lost 26 of the 36 pounds in the first month.  I have lost five more in the second month so I still have five more to go.  I do not believe in cutting calories (especially with breastfeeding) or depriving yourself when you are hungry.  I would rather be healthy than thin (well, preferably both) and it's really important to me that my diet is balanced to ensure nutritious breastmilk.

I have found what works for me.  I will say it is difficult to find the time and energy to exercise and prepare nutritious meals, especially when you are nursing and practicing attachment parenting.  But if I can do it, so can others.  Here is what has worked for me:

• following a primal diet - that means no grains and limiting dairy and sugar.
• consistent exercise - even if it's only 10 minutes a day, consistency will pay off.
• breastfeeding - burns up to 500 calories a day!

In my next few posts, I will detail some of my meals and snacks as well as some of my exercise routines.

Bijon's birth story...

I woke up at around 5am on Tuesday, November 9th (my birthday and due date!) with contractions lasting around 30 seconds and 15 minutes apart. I tried to go back to sleep but the contractions kept waking me up every 15 minutes. So I decided to get up and upload some pictures and do some other busy work I had been meaning to get to before little Bijon made his arrival.

I went out to breakfast with Simon, Noah and my mom to have some yummy pancakes, waffles, and cinnamon roll French toast at Ruby’s. Yum. It was like the last supper LOL. I figured that was my last chance to eat “like a pregnant woman” because I was pretty sure that the consistent contractions meant I was in early labor. Mind you I never ate like that during the pregnancy so it was really fun to finally splurge and go all out!

The rest of the day the contractions stayed about the same, so I decided to go for a few walks to get things going. I even decided to go get my eyebrows waxed and tinted. A girl’s gotta take care of important business while she can! I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that again for a long while with the wee one on the way. Later that afternoon, I texted my doula and called the midwife’s office to give them a heads up that I may be calling them later when I was in active labor. Later in the night, around 8pm, the contractions started getting closer together and lasting longer, but they were still all over the place (ten minutes apart, five minutes apart, seven minutes apart). I kept in contact with the midwife and doula and then around 10pm I decided to call the doula to get her advice because the contractions were coming about seven minutes apart, lasting around a minute long, and I kept getting the shakes. I took a shower to try and stimulate labor further, but the contractions stayed the same.

Jennifer, our doula, decided to come over around 11pm. When she walked in the door, she decided I still had a long way to go because I “still looked too pretty” in her words LOL. We talked and hung out awhile and I think I got into the tub at one point because the contractions were getting pretty intense. Simon filled up the tub in our living room. It felt sooo good. It didn’t take away the pain, but it definitely took the edge off and I felt much lighter in the water. Jennifer and I chatted in between contractions while Simon took a little rest. It was kind of like a slumber party but with pain sprinkled in every few minutes LOL. Jennifer decided it was time to get some rest because we still had a lot of work ahead of us. We turned on some relaxation music and had some lavender essential oil burning. I tried to sleep on the couch with Jennifer on the bean bag beside me, but I just wanted to be in my bed at that point with Simon’s massaging hands. So I went to the bedroom with Simon while Jennifer slept in the living room.

I tried to sleep in between contractions but they were about five to seven minutes apart so every time I would doze off, another contraction would wake me up. It took so much will power to just relax my entire body during that 60-90 second contraction. I wanted to kick and scream through each contraction, but as I learned in the Bradley classes we took, tensing up only makes the pain worse. So I focused inward, using my own little script, “Relax your face, relax your feet and hands, relax your whole body, especially your birthing muscles. Each contraction brings me closer to my baby.”

After a few hours of enduring the contractions while everyone slept around me, I decided I needed to get back in the tub for some relief. So Simon heated up the water again and Jennifer stayed by my side for another 30-45 minutes. She said we have to get in and out of the tub to get things moving. My contractions were consistently 4-5 minutes apart at this point. It was probably around 3am. I then got out of the tub and Jennifer suggested Simon make us some breakfast so that I keep up my strength. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal in the comfort of my own home, rather than be attached to some IV for nourishment. I was so bloated after all those IV fluids after I had Noah…

Then I went back to the couch with Jennifer, attempting to rest between contractions while she and Simon got some more sleep. I have to admit I felt pretty alone with everyone sleeping around me, but really there was nothing they could do for me and it was better for them to be rested if they could sleep so that my birth team was in good spirits for me when I really needed them.

Around 6am I decided to wake up Jennifer and needed her guidance through the contractions. They were really intense and I was feeling emotionally and physically drained. I got back in the tub for awhile and then Jennifer suggested we go for a walk to get the contractions going (closer together). I started to feel pretty discouraged with how long the labor was taking and was also missing Noah (he was at my mom’s since the day before). I did not want to go for a walk to get things moving LOL. Well, I wanted to get things moving but I felt like I couldn’t stand up and walk for the life of me. My whole labor I just wanted to lean over something, like the kitchen counter or the couch or kneel over the side of the birthing tub. I just did not want to be upright. But I knew we had to get things moving and I was tired of being in labor for so long.

Jennifer, Simon and I went for a walk down Bushard and then circled back through the alley. The walk really brought on the contractions and I leaned over Simon’s arms while he supported me and Jennifer massaged my back through each contraction. Her words of encouragement and massaging really helped me and Simon’s strong arms felt really good when I had no strength left in my body. We kept walking, stopping for each contraction. They were really coming now. I felt like each step I took brought on another contraction. I was not a happy camper. I did not want to take another step but persevered to get this going already! Oh yeah we ate yummy frozen grapes along our walk :)

After we made one loop around the alley, Jennifer said we had to go around one more time and that this is the time that birthing mommies do not like their doulas, because they make them do things they don’t want to do LOL. I was getting pretty irritable at that point, which made me think I had to be in transition. I also felt like I couldn’t go on any longer and kept asking Jennifer and Simon if they thought I could do it. Another sign of transition - self-doubt, hitting the wall so to speak. At one point I just plopped down on the sidewalk, which Simon and Jennifer found amusing. A lady driving by with her kids stopped and asked if everything was OK and I mouthed, “What the fuck are you looking at?” Yeah, definitely in transition. (They didn’t hear me or anything by the way!).

I said I couldn’t walk anymore and that I was feeling pressure in my bottom (a sign that it was soon time to start pushing). So we turned around to go home. Literally every step I took brought on the most intense contraction and even though I was only about 20 feet away from our front door, it felt like an eternity to get there. It was the longest 20 feet I ever had to walk!

We got inside finally and Jennifer called the midwife, Lorri. I got into the tub and endured another hour or so of contractions, each one bringing more and more pressure to push. But I wasn’t quite ready to push yet. My body still had some more work to do, so Jennifer continued guiding me through each contraction. I really needed her guidance at this point.

Lorri showed up around 10am and asked if she could check me. I was hesitant because the last vaginal exam I had was pretty painful and I was afraid that the pain would cause me to tense up and stall my labor. But she said that if I felt like pushing, her exam would tell me if we needed to change positions to get pushing going. I agreed and when she checked me, she said that I was right there, that “your baby is in your vagina, Laura “ and that if I changed to an upright position, the “lip” on my cervix would disappear and I could start pushing.

So I sat upright Indian-style in the tub and sure enough, I felt tons of pressure to push. Simon then got in the tub with me and sat behind me while I held his hands and I started to bear down with the next contraction. I turned into a bit of a crazy woman when I first started pushing. I wanted to be really calm and in control while pushing, but for some reason I just kept screaming with each push. It was a release to let out all those screams because I had kept them in throughout the whole labor through contractions. I’m kind of embarrassed about all the screaming but the birth team didn’t even seem phased and Simon said he thought nothing of it…that he just wanted to take the pain away.

Bijon kept coming in and out with each push and at one point he was right there and I felt like my vagina was tearing apart. His heart rate dropped a little because he was kind of stuck (Lorri said it was no big deal, that my “muscles” were really tight, and she pushed him back in.) That felt really weird! Everyone just kept telling me to listen to my body and push when I felt like pushing. They said that if I was in the hospital, the doctors would be really urging me to push and “coaching” me, but that they as midwives wanted me to really listen to my body. That was really empowering and yet really scary…I think we women in the U.S. expect someone to come save us and tell us what to do, when we have the inner strength, wisdom, and instincts in us all along; if only others would encourage us to listen to and trust our bodies.

I remember at one point sitting in the tub, absolutely exhausted, looking around at my birth team. Each one of them was patiently waiting and perfectly calm. At that point I knew that unless I did this, they would all be here waiting, including me, all day. It dawned on me that this was all me…only I could birth this baby. So I swear I turned into a different woman (Lorri said I turned into “Earth Mama”) and I pushed that baby out with all my might. At one point, when Bijon’s head was crowning, Lorri told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head. I didn’t want to at first for some reason, but I’m so glad I did! I still remember how his soft, wet head of hair felt and I reminisce how that felt when I now rub his sweet little head.

Soon after, Bijon’s head was out and I looked in the mirror one of the assistants was holding to see what it looked like. His face was so scrunched up and he looked like a little old man! I was so excited and proud because I knew the hardest part was over (birthing the head). I said, “I did it! Well, almost!” and Lorri flashed a huge smile, joining me in my pride, saying, “Yes, you did it!” So then it was time to birth the rest of Bijon’s body but for some reason my contractions stalled. Lorri asked me why I wasn’t pushing and asked if I stopped having contractions. I said that they had stopped and she asked if she could stimulate my nipples to get them going again. I agreed and sure enough I had another contraction and pushed Bijon out. Oh I almost forgot - at one point I was pretty exhausted with all the pushing so Lorri asked Simon to push down on the top of my fundus while I beared down with each contraction. This really helped and Simon was really excited to be able to “help” me push the baby out.

Once Bijon was almost out, Simon reached his hands down with Lorri’s hands and they guided Bijon out onto my stomach/chest. They had to maneuver a little so that Simon could reach and in the process, I could feel Bijon kicking his way out of me. It was surreal. Simon and I were both crying tears of joy (Simon especially J ) and we were stuck in time gazing at our precious little boy. Simon kept trying to pull Bijon up on my chest, but the cord was too short to reach that high so Bijon hung out more on my abdomen while in the water. Lorri advised us to get out of the tub and make our way to the couch. This is the best part…I was able to carry my own child after giving birth to him without any help to the couch. When I had Noah, they would not let me walk anywhere with him while holding him…I had to push him around in this stupid cart for liability reasons. Lame. This birth was therapeutic in so many ways.

So we headed to the couch and Bijon latched on perfectly right away with very little guidance from me. The whole birth team was in awe at how quickly and perfectly he latched on. I was able to nurse him for the next two hours on the couch with no interruptions. While I nursed him, I birthed the placenta (on our protected couch) and the midwife wrapped it in a blanket and put it in a plastic bag next to us. We were able to keep the cord attached to the placenta for the whole two hours while I nursed him, definitely ensuring all the oxygen reached Bijon from the placenta in that timeframe. I had learned how important it is to keep the cord attached as long as possible and was really pleased that we were able to do so.

My doula then asked if I was hungry. Of course I was! That was hard work man! So she came over to the couch and spoon fed me while I laid there nursing Bijon. Brunch in bed LOL! Simon stayed with me the whole time and the rest of the birth team left us alone to bond while they ate lunch and completed paperwork at our dining room table. This was really important to me…that we were left alone right away to bond. In the hospital, Noah was on my chest for a brief few moments before they whisked him away across the room with Simon and I was left there in the hospital bed all alone listening to my baby’s cries and being unable to soothe them with my breast right away. What a dramatically different, fulfilling experience we had at home.

After a few hours, it was time to cut the cord, stitch me up, and do the standard newborn exam. We opted out of everything they routinely do in the hospital - no vaccines, no eye ointment, no Vitamin K, nothing. My baby was born pure and clean and has only had breast milk in his system since birth! That thrills me! Not to mention the fact that I had no IV’s, no pitocin, no drugs, nothing in my own system being passed on to him. I experienced a natural high that only natural birth can provide uncomparable to anything else I’ve ever experienced in my life and seriously felt like I could do anything after that. The love, pride, and positive energy of this experience cannot be matched, I believe. I feel like I have completed the female rite of passage and I feel more “whole” if that makes any sense. I’m just beyond happy with my birth experience and love, love, love this baby boy!




on my due date in early labor



some relief in the tub with my doula, Jennifer

just hanging out on Bushard.  What, you've never seen a woman in labor on a major street?

starting to push

Happy birthday, Bijon!!!!

minutes after being born, bonding with mommy

daddy weighing Bijon

Mr. Scrunchy Face bonding with daddy

meeting big brother and Grandma for the first time

Mr. Smiles

WOW!

Bijon has arrived...

So I had a baby...
at home...
in my living room...
in a tub full of warm water...
with my hubby's arms around me...
baby boy #2...
so in love!

birth story to come...

Primal Custard Recipe

Oops I did it again.  I stole another recipe from the SoG (Son of Grok) to share with you all.  I was really craving something creamy yet light for dessert the other night so I decided to bake up some of the SoG's yummy Caveman Custard.  I've made it once before and it was so-so (didn't really hit the spot for what I was craving) so this time I decided to add another banana for sweetness.  Ooooh it's good.  I'm eating some right now in-between typing :)  I love how easy all his recipes are too! 

Here's the recipe:

Dairy Free, No Sugar Added Custard



Do you miss puddings and custards in your primal world? We have a local egg custard here known as “Flan” and for some weird reason, I have been craving it. Here is a custard recipe that I have been putting together. I finally got the proportions perfectly where I like them. If you like yours sweeter, all you need to do is add more bananas! This recipe is about as simple as it gets.


Ingredients:

- 2 bananas (I added 3 this time and liked it better than with 2)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 3 eggs
- Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except for cinnamon in a mixer and mix well.

2. Pour into custard or souffle cups (coffee cups or other oven safe containers work fine if you don’t have custard cups).  ( I just used an 8 x 8 baking dish coated with coconut oil cooking spray)

3. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.

4. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for approx 45 minutes. Custard will balloon a bit and you may see some liquid… its ok, it will work itself out.

5. Chill.

6. Serve and enjoy.

On my reading list: The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith

Having previously been a vegetarian, actually near-vegan, I am very interested in any books covering such dietary information.  I have read most of the popular and not-so-popular books (i.e. Skinny Bitch, Food for Life, Greens for Life, Becoming Vegetarian, Cancer is Good for You, etc. to name a few).  So I am fully aware of all the reasons people have for living a vegetarian lifestyle.  It was actually very difficult to let go of many of the notions I gleaned from reading the aforementioned books when I decided to eat meat again.  I try my best to choose meats and other animal-based proteins that were raised in a sustainable, humane way.  If you are interested in why I decided to forego a vegetarian diet, you can visit my very first post on this blog here.

What I have yet to come across is a book that actually attempts to dispell all the myths surrounding a vegetarian diet.  I have been hearing a lot about a book called The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith and it is going straight on my reading list! 

Check out this review by Dr. Thomas Cowan:

The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith



Very occasionally powerful, life-changing books are written that give one the palpable sense that "if people would only listen" the world might be a different place. The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith is one such book. In this book Lierre essentially tells two intertwined stories. One is the story of the deterioration of her own health as a direct result of adopting a vegan diet. The second is the related tale of the destruction of our planet essentially as a result of the widespread adoption of agriculture, specifically agriculture based on the growing of grains. Her central premise is that, unlike what we are all led to believe, the absolute worst thing that could ever befall humans or the earth is if we all adopted a vegetarian or, worse yet, a vegan diet. To many, this is such an unbelievable head spinner that they simply will not even be able to entertain the ideas that are presented by Lierre. The ideas, the argument she presents to make her case are powerful, coherent and irrefutable - grains and in fact a grain-based (i.e. vegetarian) diet are literally killing us all.


First, the ecological argument. We are told that the biggest users of fresh water and the most wasteful, ecologically speaking, food we can eat is meat. We are told that if instead of feeding grains to cows to get meat, which is anyway poison for us to eat, we should feed that grain to people thereby feeding at least 30 people with a grain-based diet for every one person we can feed on a meat-based diet. We are told to eat low on the food chain to conserve resources and be ecologically friendly. And, finally and crucially we hear people proudly announce they don't eat anything with faces as a sign that they are living out their deeply held convictions about social justice. The facts actually tell a completely different story.


Imagine the Middle East 10,000 years ago when the only people living in what we now call Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, etc., were nomadic hunter-gatherer types. This area was referred to as a paradise; it was lush, fecund; Lebanon was the land of the cedar forests. The area between the Tigris and Euphrates was literally paradise on earth. Then came agriculture, specifically the growing of grains. As happens where grains are grown and irrigation is used, the soil began to lose its vitality, the humous layer was lost. The irrigation and the converting of perennial grasses and the animals that live on these grasses to annual crops is akin to mining the nutrients and the fertility out of the soil. Without sufficient animal manure and animal bodies to put nutrients back into the soil, without the annual flooding of the plains that is stopped when irrigation systems are used, the land loses its nutrients, the soil becomes more salty and, as evidenced in the Middle East, eventually, inevitably the land becomes a desert. Lierre describes this process in intimate detail so the reader is left with no doubt that in human history, whenever the transition from perennial grass- based land - alongside naturally flowing lakes and rivers, co-existing with verdant forests - is converted into grain based agriculture, the inevitable result is everything dies. Everything - the plants, the insects, the wild animals and eventually the people.

If this wasn't reason enough for conscientious people to shun a grain-based diet, Lierre spends the second half of the book detailing the negative health repercussions from adopting a grain-based, vegetarian or vegan diet. For those familiar with the work of the Weston A. Price foundation or The Fourfold Path to Healing, this will come as no surprise. What will be eye-opening for many is a detailed chart that compares the physiology of meat eaters with that of herbivores. If you still have any doubts that humans are literally physiologically required to live on mostly an animal food diet, I recommend checking out this enlightening chart. Lierre has done her homework. She references many studies that have been done in the last 100 years documenting the superior health outcomes, the absence of chronic disease, and the total absence of cancer and heart disease in people who eat the food that comes naturally out of a perennially based grass and forest system. What do these people eat? What is the "human" diet, the diet that works back to heal the land? Conveniently it is one diet, called the GAPS diet. As probably more than a hundred of my patients can attest, those who have literally regained their health as a result of the GAPS diet, it is no surprise that the very diet that can heal so many sick people is the very diet that,when applied to agriculture, can heal a "sick" earth.


Get this book, read it, pass it to your friends, especially your vegetarian friends, for as Lierre often says in our current situation, it is not enough any more to just have good intentions. You also have to be informed about what it is you are fighting for.

Have you read this book or heard of it?  It sounds so very interesting and has received great reviews!

Grain-Gluten-Free Primal Pizza Crust

As you can probably tell, since the last three posts were recipes, mama is growing hungrier and hungrier with this little babe growing inside!  I've had a lingering craving for some pizza but knew I'd feel like doggy doo after indulging in the real thing.  Especially since I cannot consume less than five slices of the real deal.  But tonight I sent the hubby out for the ingredients I came across in this recipe over at Primal Matriarch.  It was a hit!  We were all stoked on it, including the wee one, and since almond flour is so filling,  two slices did the trick for me.  I even used some of the leftover dough and modified it a bit to make some of her primal biscuits and they were MAGICALLY DELICIOUS!  Yum!  Here's the recipe for the pizza crust:

AndreAnna's Grain/Gluten-Free "Primal" Pizza Crust


What you need:

*3 c. almond flour

*1 c. sour cream/plain organic yogurt

*1/2 c. grated Parmesan

*pinch salt

*1 egg

*1/2 tsp baking soda

*fresh parsley (optional)


What you do:

1.  Mix dry ingredients

2.  Beat egg into sour cream and slowly add to the dry mixture.

3.  Beat until well blended.

4.  Mixture will be batter-like and not dough-like, so you must SPREAD this with a spatula onto parchment paper, about 1/4-in thick.
 
5.  YES, it HAS to be parchment. Trust me.


6.  This amount makes three small pizza crusts in the size shown. If you're not going to eat them all, half the recipe. They do not reheat very well; they tend to get soggy.

7.  Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes or until brown all the way over.
 
8.  Top with whatever your heart desires. The possibilities are endless!!! I was just in the mood for a good ol' pepperoni pie!
 
9.  Stick back in the oven for five minutes to melt the cheese and toppings.
 
10.  Enjoy!!

Easy Primal Italian-esque Chicken Dinner

OK so this isn't the most gourmet meal, but I was actually surprised that I was able to take the fresh chicken, green beans and eggplant I made and add a few ingredients leftover in the fridge to make a primal Italian-esque dinner.  I am not that creative in the kitchen and if I don't have a recipe to follow, it's usually just some version of meat and tons of veggies drizzled with some sort of fat like olive oil or butter for dinner.  Which actually is very satisfying if you use quality, fresh ingredients.  But anyway, I just thought I'd share this one with y'all because it was pretty darn good and easy to make.  I realize the butter and cheese aren't totally primal, but I felt better about using them rather than some carby pasta that would make me feel sluggish and bloated afterward.  I already have enough of that to deal with being pregnant and all LOL!

Ingredients:

*one medium-sized fresh organic eggplant
*3 or more cups fresh organic green beans
*2-3tbsp melted butter
*garlic powder to taste
*3 organic chicken breasts
*organic marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's)
*grated parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut up eggplant and green beans and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush veggies with melted butter, then sprinkle with garlic powder.  Cook in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until desired tenderness.

3.  While veggies are in the oven, cook your chicken however you desire.  I use the Turbo Oven I purchased from Dr. Mercola's site and the meat always turns out soooo juicy and yummy.  I highly recommend this device!

4.  Heat up some marinara sauce.

5.  When the chicken is done, cut into long strips.  Stack chicken and eggplant on a plate and top with marinara sauce.  Add green beans alongside with or without marinara.  Top all with parmesan cheese.  Simple and yummy and totally took care of my Italian craving!

Paleo Banana-Coconut Flour Cupcakes (more like muffins)

My son is a cupcake fanatic and was begging me this morning to make some "healthy cupcakes".  He knows we try to make healthy substitutes for the foods we love when we're at home.  But don't get me wrong, it's fair game at birthday parties and outside the house for that kid!  I don't want him to feel deprived and then go off the deep end when he's older.  What I love though, is that he is finding out early on what is and isn't good for your body and he sees that the healthy substitutes take care of that sweet craving without leaving him feeling yucky afterward. 

So we went online to look for a primal cupcake recipe and found this one over at Cosomopolitan Primal Girl.  I didn't have the ingredients for the icing, so we just made the cupcake part.  It turned out to be more like a muffin and it was dee-lish!  I love that most of the sweetness comes from the bananas; there's only about two tablespoons of raw honey in the whole batch.  Plus, since it calls for coconut flour, it's grain free, and the coconut flour leaves you feeling full long afterward. What a winner!

Here it is, minus the icing directions (click on the link above for the full recipe):

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes)

- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 4 Tbsp coconut milk
- 1/2 Cup coconut flour
- 2 Tbsp raw honey or maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 whole mashed bananas (very ripe)

Directions:


1.  Pre-heat oven to 350

2.  In a bowl, mix together coconut flour, salt, baking powder, coconut milk, vanilla extract, bananas and eggs

3.  Melt the coconut oil and honey/maple syrup and then slowly add it to the mix.

4.  Mix together thoroughly and pour into greased (use coconut oil or non-stick spray) muffin baking pan.

5.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes – check after 20 minutes because you might have a better oven. You want to be able to stick a fork into the middle and have it come out dry.

6.  Remove from oven and let it cool completely.

While I'm on the subject of school...

I just came across this lovely post on my friend's blog at Finally...I'm the Mom! that really hits the nail on the head when it comes to all the reasons we do not intend to send our son(s) to public school and will be homeschooling.  Since I couldn't have said it better myself, I am going to re-post it here:

Schooled... why public school is not for us.



I often tell people when the discussion comes up as to where Elijah will go to school (as if most people have that figured out at 11 months old) that Elijah will not go to public school. I am then usually bombarded with how the schools in their neighborhood have high test scores or that their particular school is amazing. While I have no doubt these claims are accurate, they do not impress me.


I do not see public school as the devil. It definitely serves a purpose and for many children it is a safety net. It was for me. My public school teachers were the reasons I survived my childhood and one of them in particular still serves the role of a mother for me.


So why no public school for my child? Oh, where to begin...


1. The Curriculum. The phrase "Inch deep and a mile wide" seems to fit perfectly and that depth they speak of is not filled with entire accuracies either. If you don't believe me, pick up a history book. On top of that, it is monumentally boring to do ditto sheet after ditto sheet of stuff no matter how old you are, much less when you are 5! I do not want a child who hates learning or even one that tolerates it.


2. Lack of Play. If you are reading my blog, I probably do not need to convince you of the benefit of play in a child's life, how it is the ONLY way they learn anything, or that play is not 15 minute recess on a blacktop twice a day with one ball for 30 kids (if you are lucky). Ok, yes, some schools have more than that and maybe even a few blades of grass.


To get what I am looking for though, take a look at this and this company.


3. Extrinsic Control. Other than a life of love, the one thing I want more than anything for Elijah is to be internally motivated. To do things that matter to him with passion and to do what is right because it matters to him and not because he will get some reward for it or especially because he is afraid of what might happen to him if he does not do it. It is much more difficult to maintain that in a child when eight hours a day is spent in a rewards/punishments based, praise based, grades based system. I will get more into this in another post, but put more simply... I don't want Elijah to have to try to understand why he was demoted to the red card for talking to his friends during spelling.


There are so many other reasons that public school is not for us. These are the most important. And while there are excellent teachers out there who create amazing programs and who certainly make a difference, it is the system that is flawed. It is the politicians that have passed bills that do not allow those wonderful teachers to flourish to the best of their ability. And while things might one day change, the pendulum has swung so far in this direction, I don't see it coming back in my child's lifetime. I just can not let him be a casualty.

Satirical Article: Increasing Number of Parents Opting to Have Children School-Homed

I'm not really sure how this article fits into this blog...but in any case, I loved it and just had to share!


Taken from The Onion:  http://www.theonion.com/articles/increasing-number-of-parents-opting-to-have-childr,17159/

WASHINGTON—According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education, an increasing number of American parents are choosing to have their children raised at school rather than at home.



Deputy Education Secretary Anthony W. Miller said that many parents who school-home find U.S. households to be frightening, overwhelming environments for their children, and feel that they are just not conducive to producing well-rounded members of society.


Thousands of mothers and fathers polled in the study also believe that those running American homes cannot be trusted to keep their kids safe.


"Every year more parents are finding that their homes are not equipped to instill the right values in their children," Miller said. "When it comes to important life skills such as proper nutrition, safe sex, and even basic socialization, a growing number of mothers and fathers think it's better to rely on educators to guide and nurture their kids."


"And really, who can blame them?" Miller continued. "American homes have let down our nation's youth time and again in almost every imaginable respect."


According to the report, children raised at home were less likely to receive individual adult attention, and were often subjected to ineffective and wildly inconsistent disciplinary measures. The study also found that many parents expressed concerns that, when at home, their children were being teased and bullied by those older than themselves.


In addition to providing better supervision and overall direction, school-homing has become popular among mothers and fathers who just want to be less involved in the day-to-day lives of their children.


"Parents are finding creative ways to make this increasingly common child-rearing track work," Miller said. "Whether it's over-relying on after-school programs and extracurricular activities, or simply gross neglect,† school-homing is becoming a widely accepted method of bringing children up."


Despite the trend's growing popularity, Miller said that school programs are often jeopardized or terminated because shortsighted individuals vote against tax increases intended to boost educational spending.


"The terrifying reality we're facing is that the worst-equipped people you could possibly imagine may actually be forced to take care of their children," Miller said.


Parents who have decided to school-home their children have echoed many of Miller's concerns. Most said that an alarming number of legal guardians such as themselves lack the most basic common sense required to give children the type of instruction they need during crucial developmental years.


"It's really a matter of who has more experience in dealing with my child," Cincinnati- resident Kevin Dufrense said of his decision to have his 10-year-old son Jake, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexia, school-homed. "These teachers are dealing with upwards of 40 students in their classrooms at a time, so obviously they know a lot more about children than someone like me, who only has one son and doesn't know where he is half the time anyway."


"Simply put, it's not the job of parents to raise these kids," Dufrense added.


Though school-homing has proven to be an ideal solution for millions of uninvolved parents, increasingly overburdened public schools have recently led to a steady upswing in the number of students being prison-homed.

10 Great Reasons to Cloth Diaper

Being in baby mode, I've been going through some of my son's old clothes and baby items.  Which made me think about the fact that we used cloth diapers with him and plan to do so again with our next baby, which made me think that I should share some important information regarding the benefits of cloth over disposables on this blog.  Some of you already know all the benefits, but then there are some probably furrowing their brows wondering why on earth anyone would use cloth diapers when we have the wonderful modern invention of disposable diapers.  Well...did you know that disposable diapers are one of the top three items overruning our landfills?  That's just the beginning...read on...

10 Great Reasons to Cloth Diaper
(taken from http://infantstoddlers.suite101.com/article.cfm/whos_using_cloth_diapers_anyway )

1.  Safer for Baby

There are three chemicals found in disposable diapers that are disturbing and can potentially be harmful to baby – sodium polyacrylate, dioxin, and tributyl-tin.

Have you ever changed your baby only to find her sensitive bottom covered in crystals and gel? What you saw was sodium polyacrylate. It makes up the absorbent layer in most disposable diapers. The crystals become a gel when baby wets and that gel wicks the wetness away from baby. While it is pretty effective at its job by absorbing many times its own weight in fluids and keeping baby feeling dry, it also can cause allergic reactions in babies, skin irritations, and was banned for use in tampons in 1985 because of its association with toxic shock syndrome.

The use of chlorine to bleach the paper used in making disposable diapers creates dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical considered by the EPA to be the most toxic of all carcinogens. Traces of this toxic substance carry over to the finished diaper product. The World Health Organization claims that newborns are particularly susceptible to the effects of this chemical since their organs are developing so rapidly. Most countries, except for the United States, have banned dioxin. Long- term exposure can cause harmful effects on the immune, nervous, and reproductive systems.

Tributyl-tin (TBT) is a toxic chemical that can be absorbed through the skin and has been found to cause hormonal problems and harm the immune system.

2.  Better for the Environment

According to the Real Diaper Association (RDA), 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used in the U.S. each year, 92% of those end up in a landfill. Estimates say that disposables take between 250-500 years to decompose - that’s a very long time. There are some that say the water used in washing cloth diapers negates some of the positive effect gained by saving landfill space, but the RDA refutes that claim saying that the water used in manufacturing and consumption of disposables is 2.3 times greater than used on cloth.

3.  Cute Fashions and Style

Why settle for plain white paper? With all the variety of cloth styles and fabric available, your baby can be stylin’ and can have a diaper for every occasion. Match your outfits, show off your baby’s personality, be unique, whatever your taste – all the while, baby looks cute as can be.

4.  Feels Better to Baby

What baby wouldn’t want to feel soft fleece or cotton on their bottom over a harsh paper-like lining? With their stretchy designs and soft linings, cloth diapers are comfortable for baby and keep baby dry naturally.

5.  Save Money

You can find countless calculators and estimates that will compare the cost of cloth diapering with the use of disposables. While they all vary depending on prices and products used, they all pretty much agree that no matter how you look at it, cloth diapering is less expensive in the end. You do buy your products upfront which may make it appear more expensive, but many businesses selling cloth diapers will do layway or payments to help make it easier to start out. According to the RDA, using a basic cloth diaper setup of prefolds and covers, you could use cloth diapers for one-tenth of the cost it would cost you to use disposables.

6.  Next, Please!

Cloth diapers can be held onto and reused by your next baby. Usually a cloth diaper will last through use and washing for at least two kids, sometimes more. You have your next baby and you already own and have paid for their diapers. That adds up to a huge savings and makes for a great investment!

7.  Return on Investment

If you don’t plan on having any more kids of your own to use them on, you can resell or donate your cloth diapers. Sell them at a consignment store, on eBay, use a diaper swapping website. Regardless, used cloth diapers hold their value and can resell at a great price. If you would rather donate them, there are a few organizations out there like Miracle Diapers that will take your used diapers off your hands and get them into the hands of low-income families. You could also sell them yourself and donate the money to charity.

8.  Choices, Choices, Choices

You choose how much or how little you want to spend on diapers. You choose what kind of material graces your baby’s bottom. You choose the style and color. You choose how they’re made. With cloth diapers, you have the opportunity to decide what you want and what’s best for your baby. For more information on the choices available, read Cloth Diapering Basics.

9.  Easy to Use

Contrary to popular opinion, cloth is easy. Many of the styles available go on just like a disposable. Even getting rid of the poo is easy - before baby is on solids, you don’t have to do anything except throw it in the washer and it goes out with the water. When baby starts eating solids, you just dump it in the toilet or use a sprayer to spray it off – there’s no need to swish them around in the toilet anymore. And getting rid of the poo makes cloth diapering a lot less stinky than using disposables where the poo can sit around a few days before it gets taken out with the trash.

10.  Cleaning Rags for Years to Come

If you hang on to your prefolds, you never have to buy cleaning rags again.

Here's another great article well worth taking the time to read!

Because I really like this blogger's post...

I came across this post over at knitfit and could totally relate...if I had a diary or blog or something (oh wait, I do have a blog), these would be my exact sentiments.  Just had to share...

"Stop poisoning yourself: Why I care


Okay, I had a lot of fun stuff to share with you today, bunnies and nerdy crafty stuff and some thoughts about swimming and conditioning for sprints and quick recovery. But I want to get serious. I started writing the following rant in an email, and I realized it needed to go here on the blog. I know that pretty often I post about Paleo eating, usually just my personal experiences with it and an occasional recipe. This is a topic that is incredibly important to me. I believe that if people were more informed about their diets, about what healthy eating really is, based on the science, they could drastically improve the quality of their lives. Nothing is more important that that. I don't care how productive you are at work, how many friends you have, how rich and famous and fabulous you are, if you don't feel good and you don't have the energy to attack every day, your quality of life is compromised and that other stuff doesn't matter.


In my email, I started by ranting a bit about the breast cancer "industry", which doesn't really raise money for research so much as it sustains itself, with races and products. Think of all the pink tote bags, pink hats, pink ribbon everything. Cancer of any kind is a terrible thing, and I want nothing more than to support cancer patients and survivors in any way I can. But what kills me is some of the companies with the pink ribbons on their stuff are the ones causing the breast cancer!


Cheerios, Yoplait, to name a couple - they turn into pure sugar in your body, which raises your insulin, which over time makes you insulin-resistant, which screws up various hormonal cascades and feedback loops, especially estrogen, especially during menopause, leading to breast cancer and other reproductive cancers. I've been doing a ton of reading about this stuff and the science is there to back it up. I know how to critically read science and understand controlled studies and biological mechanisms. I have a Ph.D. in neuroscience, I'm not just some random crazy person out there who's found a weird niche on the internet and has fallen down a rabbit hole.


Why doesn't your doctor tell you this? Doctors are practitioners, not researchers. They don't question, they look for simple advice to give to people. They are generally overworked and simply not able to pay attention to all the studies that come out, so they just listen to and repeat the same stuff they've always believed. Minimizing cognitive dissonance.


The fact is that sugar is the worst thing for you; fat and cholesterol are a healthy part of the human diet and have been for hundreds of thousands of years. Whole grains, nonexistent for our ancestors, are just sugar wrapped up in a package, along with some dangerous proteins (glutens) that put your immune system on constant alert and make you low-grade sick all the time, so that you don't even notice anymore, and it gets worse over time (e.g., stomach problems, arthritis, lots more). It's just that the agribusiness lobbies have such a stronghold on the government, culture, media, the medical community, EVERYTHING, that nobody questions what they hear, nobody puts the pieces together and everyone keeps spewing the same conventional wisdom nonsense. There are some very powerful psychological and social mechanisms at work there, along with powerful vested interests and lots of money to be made on low-fat, grain and corn based non-food. There's no point in marketing an apple or a pork chop or a stick of butter.


I'm writing this because I care. I walk the walk. I see the tremendous benefits I've experienced in the past 10 months and no, I don't miss cake, I don't miss pasta, I don't miss any of it. I wouldn't ask anyone to listen to me if I weren't doing it myself. It's time to get serious."

Primal Recipe: Coconut Flour Pancakes

This morning I came down with a mad craving for some pancakes.  Trying to stick to a primal diet, I made a third attempt at some coconut flour pancakes.  Have you ever had coconut flour?  It is a primally delicious and nutritious staple.  Coconut flour is a low-carb, high protein, high fiber, gluten-free flour alternative.  Click here to learn more about the many benefits of coconut flour. 

So my previous two attempts at coconut pancakes were either too dry or too delicate.  Coconut flour is a little tricky that way.  I remembered reading about a coconut pancake recipe over at Girl Gone Primal and decided to give it a go this morning.  Yum!  The hubby came in from the other room asking what yummy concoction I was cooking.  Coconut pancakes!  Hubby:  "Those are primal, aren't they?" (He's super into this primal thing, as he's lost about 20 pounds and looks younger, more cut, and more rested, in my opinion.)  Me:  "Yes, they're totally primal!"  I got two thumbs up on this batch.  Finally!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

*1/4 cup coconut flour
*4 large eggs
*3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
*about 1/3-1/2 cup water

Directions:

1.  Preheat skillet to medium heat.
2.  Combine flour and eggs in a large bowl.
3.  Add oil and stir well.
4.  Gradually add water to the mixture while stirring until the consistency is just shy of runny.  (A runnier mixture will make your pancakes more delicate, a problem I had in the past).
5.  Spoon desired amount of mixture onto preheated, oiled skillet.  (You can use coconut oil or butter to oil the skillet, although butter is not really primal).
6.  Leave to fry until base is firm and edges begin to brown.  Flip and repeat.
7.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.

I served these puppies up with some defrosted frozen organic strawberries.  They were sweet and mushy and added just the right amount of sweetness.  You could also go a non-primal route and add a little maple syrup. 

Let me know if you try these as well, or if you have any favorite coconut flour recipes!

*Note:  I feel like I do have to warn you:  these pancakes will not taste like the ones you are probably use to.  I don't think any recipe will ever come close to the fluffy, carby, indulgent treats they serve up at pancake houses or grandma's house.  But if you want to satisfy your craving while maintaining your weight and health goals, give these a go! 

Go California! No more plastic grocery bags, please!

One of the issues I was going to address on this blog is the importance of reusing.  Specifically, grocery bags.  I feel like there is no excuse anymore for using paper/plastic when you can buy some reusable bags for only around $1 each.  Take them shopping wherever you go...Target, the mall, the grocery store, the farmer's market.  Whenever I forget my reusable bags (which only really happens when someone else is driving their car and I forgot to grab mine out of my own car), I feel like such a second class citizen.  Seriously!  I am truly embarrassed when I step out of a store carrying my items in a plastic bag, or even a paper bag.  Luckily I usually go shopping with my mom and she has some handy dandy purse-sized reusable bags that open up to a nice roomy bag when I'm in a pinch.  I need to invest in some of those.  Then they are always with you.  If I do end up with some plastic or paper bags, I reuse those as well as much as I can.  But never to clean up the doggie doo!  For that, I use those bio-bags.  Who wants dog sh*t rotting in a plastic bag that takes forever and a day to degrade.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I opened up MSNBC and found this article addressing California's plan to ban plastic bags in pharmacies, liquor stores, and grocery stores, to name a few.  Arnie fully backs this up, too!  If this passes, we will be the first state in our nation to enforce such a fabulous environmental law as this one. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37514616/ns/us_news-environment/

Yay team!

Primal Meatloaf Recipe

Well hello to those of you still following my blog:)  I've been MIA since becoming pregnant and feeling yucky, but I'm getting back in the swing of things now that I'm feeling better and have more energy...exercising regularly, focusing on eating primally (except for that cupcake last week, oh and that donut today lol), and trying to do more for my boys who both speak the "acts of service" love language :) 

That said, tonight I made my old favorite for dinner...primal meatloaf with farmer's market-fresh steamed asparagus and summer squash.  Yum!  I'm so excited to be craving some of my old primal stand-by's. 

For those of you scared of red meat, please read this article.  It's the conventional variety that gives red meat a bad rap...the corn fed, antibiotic-hormone-chemical-laden, crowded, inhumanely treated variety, that is.  Grass-fed, organic, free range cows that have been humanely treated from start to finish and allowed to eat and live the way they were meant to offer tremendous health benefits.  I hear so often that pregnant women (and non-pregnant women) are anemic and deficient in essential omega fatty acids.  I am easily prone to becoming anemic myself, and  I think the fact that I eat plenty of grass-fed, organic red meat has kept me from becoming anemic.  Plus, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the extra omega 3's from grass-fed beef are tremendously healthy for your child.

Anywho, here is that yummy primal meatloaf recipe, slightly modifed, courtesy once again of Son of Grok:

Ingredients:

Sauce:

-1/2 can tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
-1/4 of a green bell pepper finely diced

Loaf:

-1 lb organic, grass-fed ground beef (or ground buffalo)
-1/2 of a green bell pepper finely diced
-1/2 of a red bell pepper finely diced
-1/2 onion of your choice finely diced
-1 egg
-1/2 can of tomato paste
-4 slices of cooked bacon chopped (optional but it tastes better with the bacon!)
-1 tsp garlic salt
-1 tsp black pepper
-1 tsp salt
-(optional) swiss cheese broken into small chunks (not really primal with the cheese included)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Sauce:  Add water to tomato paste until you get a nice consistency and mix all sauce ingredients together.

Loaf:

1.  Mix all ingredients together in a big mixing bowl (with hands for best results, exciting)
2.  Form into round loaves on a nonstick pan.
3.  Paint some of your sauce on top of your loaves.
4.  Put in the oven and bake for 45-60 min.
5.  After cooked, paint some more sauce on top of your loaves and serve.

*This recipe made about four medium sized patties.

Do you know what's lurking in your mattress?

Do you know what's in the mattress you're sleeping on?  I'm not just talking bed bugs.  I'm talking toxic chemicals that have been banned in other countries.  That's right - if you're not sleeping on an all natural, organic mattress, you're most likely spending one third of your life breathing in toxic gases.  Not good.

When I first had Noah, I didn't know how important this really is.  I received numerous links and emails from natural parenting support groups warning me about the dangers posed by conventional mattresses, but I thought, "Hey, we recently spent $1800 on a top of the line mattress.  How bad could it really be."  I had a lot to learn, like many other things I've discovered since having a child.

I remember reading that the chemicals present in conventional bedding, including pillows and mattresses, readily enter a woman's breastmilk.  That really scared me.  Not to mention the fact that our child slept with us in our chemical laden bed.  And he was an infant with an immature, very delicate immune system compared to us adults.  As I learned more and more about all of these yucky chemicals and their effects on children and adults, it became clear to me that providing safe bedding was an important step in continuing to offer my child the best start in life. 

So we bought an all natural, organic cotton and wool full size bed, complete with organic sheets and pillows.  It was pricier and a little hard to adjust to since they are naturally firmer, but I am so happy we did this.  We also splurge on organic sleepwear for Noah.  They are pricier, but it's one of the things we feel is worth spending the extra money on.  After reading the information at the end of this post, you will understand why.  Sorry, but I don't feel like unnecessarily draping my child's body in chemical laden clothes while he sleeps at night. 

I only wish we could afford to buy an organic bed for my hubby to sleep in!  He just won't part with his $1800 bed.  Oh well, you do what you can!

Here is some information covering the various reasons for choosing organic bedding. 

Taken from The Natural Sleep Store at:  http://www.thenaturalsleepstore.com/whybuyorganicfaq.html


FAQ from The Natural Sleep Store


Why buy a natural and organic mattress?

1.  Your current mattress could be emitting toxic cancer-causing chemicals.

Conventional mattresses are filled with synthetic materials. For example, most mattresses contain polyurethane foam. Polyurethane foam constantly breaks down and releases chemicals, which is called off-gassing. Polyurethane foam is made from chemicals that are known carcinogens. Other toxic chemicals that can be found in conventional mattresses are PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) or boric acid. These are used in mattresses as a flame retardant.

PBDEs: these have been shown to have health effects in animals and are so toxic that Europe is phasing out the use of them completely! Read more about PBDEs at: http://www.thegreenguide.com/flame-retardant/ or http://apha.confex.com/apha/132am/techprogram/session_14062.htm

Boric acid: this chemical is also quite toxic, and is in fact used as a roach killer. The EPA and CDC warn of reproductive, developmental, and neurological damage. It has many known health risks jus due to inhalation, a few of which are: inflammation of the upper respiratory tract (including dry throat and cough), eye irritation, and reproductive damage in men (including low sperm count). Please see the following link for the complete report: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp26-c2.pdf

Read more about boric acid in mattresses here: http://www.peopleforcleanbeds.org/

What is that smell in memory foam? It is the off-gassing of toxic chemicals and is noticeably strong for weeks to months. This has been known to cause headaches and other severe health reactions in people who sleep on them. Get more information on the health effects of memory foam and conventional mattresses: http://www.chem-tox.com/guest/guestbook.html

You can avoid all these toxins by choosing an organic mattress / natural mattress.

2.  People tend to sleep more soundly on a mattress that uses natural fibers.

A sleep study conducted by Peter R. Dickson (1984) examined sleep quality of participants when sleeping on natural wool (participants slept on a wool pad that was placed under their sheet). He found that participants moved (tossed and turned) significantly less in the night. Additionally, participants in the study reported that they had slept better and that they felt better the next day when sleeping on the wool. The less a person tosses and turns is related to greater quality of sleep! Wool is hypothesized to increase sleep quality and reduce tossing and turning because 1) it reduces pressure points; and 2) it regulates body temperature. Believe it or not, wool helps keep you warm when it is cold and cool when it is warm. Wool can do this because of its moisture-regulation quality. Here is how it works: when you get too hot, you sweat. If you are sleeping with bedding that is not natural, the sweat will remain near your body and not evaporate, and not cool you down. You can wake up feeling sticky and clammy. However, if you are sleeping with natural fibers, which are breathable, the sweat can evaporate from your body and cool you down. Wool is able to wick water away from your body and is able to absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture and still feel dry. Wool helps you stay warm when the air is cool because it is a natural insulator. There are air pockets in wool, which trap heat and let the air circulate near your body. In this way, your body heat stays regulated. If you have a consistent body temperature, you will toss and turn less and have a deep and restful sleep.

References:

Dickson, P. R. (1984). Effect of a fleecy woolen underlay on sleep. The Medical Journal of Australia, 140, 87-89.

3.  Natural mattresses and organic mattresses help promote a healthy environment.

Natural Rubber/Latex: Natural rubber is harvested by tapping the milk (sap) of Hevea brasiliensis (the common rubber tree), which grows within 10 degrees of the equator. The rubber tree sap is whipped up and turned into latex foam. This is truly a sustainable resource because sap can be collected from the trees up to 180 days per year and the tree heals within an hour.

Organic Cotton: United States farmers applied nearly one-third of a pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for every pound of cotton harvested (these chemicals are the most toxic classified by the Environmental Protection Agency). This can account for 25% of all the pesticides used in the United States. The use of chemicals in producing cotton can lead to massive environmental and health problems. You are helping sustain the environment if you buy a natural mattress made with 100% organic cotton, organic sheets, and/or organic bedding. Read more about pesticides at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/

Organic Wool: Organic wool is produced without the use of hormones or pesticides, both in the animal and in the animal’s food. Wool is a sustainable resource because the sheep are not killed; they are merely shorn each year. See the quote from http://www.ota.com/OrganicWool.html:

In order for wool to be certified as 'organic,' it must be produced in accordance with federal standards for organic livestock production, which state:

• Livestock feed and forage used from the last third of gestation on must be organic.

• Use of hormones or synthetic hormones and genetic engineering is prohibited.

• Use of synthetic pesticides (internal, external and on pastures) is prohibited.

• Producers must encourage livestock health through good cultural and management practices.

That means that sheep cannot be dipped in pesticides to control external parasites, and all pastures must have gone a minimum of three years since last being treated with synthetic chemicals. Producers must also ensure that they do not exceed the natural carrying capacity of the land on which their animals graze.


Why choose organic for baby?

1.  One cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) may be from exposure to toxic chemicals being emitted from crib mattresses. Crib mattresses off-gas many toxic chemicals similar to adult mattresses (they are made from polyvinyl chloride [pvc], polyurethane, etc.). They also contain phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony compounds as preservatives and fire retardants. Toxic nerve gasses (phosphine, arsine, and stibine) can be emitted because of interactions with these chemicals and cause anticholinesterase poisoning and cardiac failure in infants. These chemicals are linked to SIDS; in fact, Richardson (1994) and Taylor (1996) found high levels of antimony in the blood and livers of babies who died from SIDS. An article in Midwifery Today goes into detail as well as explaining how these chemicals in crib mattress may be related to other SIDS risk factors (Quinn, 2002). To read this article, go to: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/bedding.asp?a=1&r=1&e=1&q=sids+crib+mattress. However, there has been some revolt against the conclusion that baby mattresses can cause SIDS (see, for example, Mitchell, Fitzpatrick, & Waters, 1998). As with most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle; toxic chemicals in crib mattresses may be one of the many causes of SIDS. Either way, most parents are not willing to risk it.

See also http://www.jeffreywarber.com/hc%20pages/sids.html for more information on SIDS.

Avoid exposing your baby to toxic chemicals by choosing an organic crib mattress and organic sheets for baby’s crib.

References:

Mitchell, E.A., Fitzpatrick, M.G., & Waters, J. (1998). SIDS and the toxic gas theory revisited. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 111, 219-221.

Quinn, J.B. (2002). Baby's bedding: is it creating toxic nerve gasses? Midwifery Today, 61, 21-22.

Richardson, B.A. (1994). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: a possible primary cause. Journal-Forensic Science Society, 34, 199-204.

Taylor, A. (1996). Antimony, cot mattresses, and SIDS. The Lancet, 347, 616.


2.  Greater quality of sleep for baby.

As discussed above, sleeping on wool has been found to increase the quality of sleep in adults (Dickson, 1984). We expect that due to the temperature regulation quality in wool, the same would hold true for babies sleeping on an organic crib mattress with wool in it, perhaps even more for babies since they cannot manually regulate their temperature by adding or removing covers like an adult can.

The Natural Sleep Store is currently trying to track down three articles in The Lancet on babies’ health and sleeping on wool. Please check back soon.

3.  A great deal of infant sleepwear is treated with toxic fire retardants.

By law, infant sleepwear has to be fire- or flame-retardant. As cotton is not naturally flame-retardant, it is treated with flame retardants such as PBDEs, which may cause cancer. What is especially disturbing is that companies do not have to place this information on the label of the clothes. The Natural Sleep Store contacted Carter’s to find out if their sleepwear was treated with flame retardants. Their polyester sleepwear is NOT treated because polyester is naturally flame-retardant (however, their cotton sleepwear is treated with flame retardants). The only problem with polyester as a material is that it does not breathe well, which makes it difficult for baby to regulate his or her body temperature. The only ways to get around treating cotton sleepwear with flame retardants are to 1) not sell them as sleepwear; and 2) disclose on the label that it is to be worn snug-fitting.

See http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/safety/fireresist.html for a discussion on flame retardants in infant sleepwear.

Choose organic baby sleepwear to reduce exposure of toxic fire retardants for baby.


What is a natural rubber or natural latex mattress?

Latex rubber foam is encased in wool and/or cotton to make the most comfortable, yet supportive organic mattress out there.

In a natural latex mattress, latex rubber foam is the core of the bed. Latex rubber foam is dense foam that will last for 10 to 20 years. Latex is great as a core, because it helps relieve pressure points from sleeping on an innerspring mattress, helps keep your spine in alignment, and is inherently hypo-allergenic, anti-microbial and dust-mite-resistant. However, natural latex doesn’t offer the breathability that cotton and wool can, so our natural latex mattresses are encased in organic cotton and organic wool. When sleeping on natural mattresses, circulation can be increased, tossing and turning can be reduced, and you will be breathing clean air. This helps you sleep more deeply!


Why should you sleep with natural or organic bedding?

Many cotton sheets are treated with formaldehyde to produce less wrinkles.

Non- organic cotton sheets are often treated with a formaldehyde-based finish that reduces wrinkling. These sheets don’t even have to have a label informing you of what they were treated with! Formaldehyde is a cancer-causing chemical that, unfortunately, is found in many common household items like furniture, particle board (which is actually used in the construction of your house), paints, and carpet. It would be hard to completely avoid exposure to formaldehyde, but about 1/3 of your life is spent sleeping, so by avoiding breathing formaldehyde fumes while you sleep (by using an organic mattress with organic cotton sheets) could greatly reduce your overall exposure. Follow this link for more formaldehyde information: http://www.homestore.com/HomeGarden/HomeImprovement/Safety/Dadd/Sheets.asp?poe=homestore

Additionally, the conventional cotton growers use more pesticide than almost any other crop. If you choose organic, you are choosing to help save the planet!

Choose chemical free organic cotton sheets and/or organic bedding to avoid formaldehyde.