Finding that Birth Center

I think that the comfort of having a birth at home for me is related to my living situation.  Right now, we have two wonderful roommates, there is not any real space to give birth, and everything is carpeted in the house.  I'm due in October, and we're planning to buy a house in July, so who knows what the situation will be then.  I've talked about why we don't want to use a hospital.  So, we were on a mission to find a nice birth center and a midwife with s similar philosophy to us about health.

When we started searching for birth centers in our area, we only came up with one.  There were certified nurse-midwives that worked there, and we discovered as we went along that we wanted to opt for a certified professional midwife instead to further remove ourselves from a conventional birth.  We didn't make an appointment with any midwife yet, because I was waiting to hear which place Sean recommended, as he's done way more research about childbirth than I have.  There was some spotting, so I started to freak out and just made an appointment with the certifed nurse-midwife that my pregnant coworker recommended just to make sure everything was all right.  After that experience, I was determined to find the right birth center, so I searched again.  Up popped  a new place that looked pretty fancy, so I scheduled us to attend the next open house.

The open house at the birth center went well. We sat in a circle in the cozy waiting room, shared our introductions, and then asked questions about having a baby at the birth center with the midwives. One of the women was having her fourth child, but this was the first child for everyone else.  Two of the men were doing their due diligence to the process by coming with a list of questions.  One of those gentlemen printed a list of questions off of the internet that was touted as good practice to ask prospective midwives. I had seen many of those question lists while researching midwives.  The other questioning gentleman was affixed on numbers and percentages of complications, deaths, and transfers to the hospital.

As long as we were in an environment with knowledgeable and experienced professionals where we had little interference from those who would push conventional medicine practices on us, we knew that we would make a fine choice. So, we were sure that we would have no problem at this birth center. We still had a few questions, but they were answered without us having to ask.  One of the midwives was originally a nurse that helped deliver babies at a hospital.  She said that she didn't want to work as a certified nurse-midwife in Virginia, because they are required to have a doctor back up and do tend to rely on conventional practices more so than certified professional midwives.  CNM's and CPM's do go through the same midwifery training.  That same midwife is also trained as a naturopathic doctor.  Before Sean could ask how they felt about hypnobirthing techniques, since we plan to use Hypnobabies, I pointed out that there were hypnobirthing pamphlets on one of the tables.  Score.  And, to put icing on the cake, the other midwife was drinking out of a glass VOSS water bottle just like we do.  This all said to us that it was very likely we shared many of the same philosophies about health.

The birth rooms there are nicer than any room in our house. Each has an electric fireplace, a birth tub, and their own private bathrooms with showers.  The use of the birth tub can be a last moment decision, as laboring moms are often guided to the right position by their bodies.

The only downside is that neither Sean's nor my insurance covers the birth center.  The total fee will be  $3,400 if we pay by cash or check before my 28th week.  So, we've made an appointment for the first week in April.

Hot Lunch at Work

When the hormones reared up, I really had trouble finding foods that wouldn't upset my stomach, let alone foods that would feel good when I ate them.  After organizing a new event at the community center at which I volunteer, I craved a big plate of fettuccine alfredo, which was the first thing that felt good in my stomach in weeks.  I went to Whole Foods and bought organic, whole wheat pasta, and some wholesome alfredo and shredded parmesan.  That lead to Amy's shells and cheese in a box.  I was eating that once or twice per day to sooth my tummy.  But, it had to be hot and fresh.  I also discovered that my aversion was to most seasoning, save a little salt and pepper.  So, my other fall back was a hot and fresh hamburger with cheese. The baby wants good fatty foods that to grow a healthy brain!

I discovered that Panera's broccoli and cheddar cheese soup soothed my tummy the best!  But, I didn't want a staple food to be something that wasn't organic, where the broccoli (and likely the whole soup), had been frozen, and that I was sure had seen a microwave at some point.  So, I found a similar recipe online.  I use organic milk, organic butter from grass-fed cows, and organic cheddar cheese.  I shred organic carrots and use organic broccoli.  I also used an organic chicken bone stock that Sean made from a free-range, vegetarian-fed chicken.  If I could find everything for the recipe from grass-fed animals, that would be glorious!  Free range, veg/grass-fed animals that produce organic products are much more healthy than conventionally fed and treated animals.  And, because they are healthier, we eat healthier meats, eggs, and dairy products.

I don't believe in freezing foods, because I believe the process of freezing foods kills the food and depletes it of a life-giving force that keeps us healthy.  It's fresh or bust for me.

My aversion to microwaves stems from the intuitive sense that using radiation on a regular basis isn't a natural process.  I just feel like it messes with my food.  I haven't regularly used a microwave since 2008, and when I moved in with Sean, I found out that his microwave was in the basement storage.  We use them for convenience, because we live busy lives.  Could you imagine your life without a microwave?  Dinner takes about 20 minutes to reheat instead of 5 minutes.  It just takes a little extra time, but, there's no radiation in the equation.

Sometimes, I eat an early breakfast, and then eat an early lunch while driving to work, so that I don't have to answer the food question.  Some shells and cheese or soup in a cup has done the trick.  There was one day that I took a long lunch and make pasta at home.  But, there are a few yummy places that I've been able to get hot food without a microwave while at work or on the go. I know that I can't have food the way I want it all of the time, but I can try to make better choices when away from home.

Zpizza: There is a Zpizza in my office building!  They cook everything via oven!  "A passion for great food is why we start with dough made from 100% organic wheat flour prepared fresh every day, hand-thrown and fire-baked until uniquely crisp. Our zest for quality continues when the toppings go on. We combine select ingredients using award-winning skim mozzarella from Wisconsin, certified organic tomato sauce, MSG-free pepperoni, additive-free sausage, and fresh produce."

Silver Diner: Fresh and local food.  Their beef is grass fed, which is perfect for a burger!  And, they can put organic ketchup in a container to go!

Whole Foods hot bar: And, most of the Whole Foods around here have a pretty good hot bar.  But, because I cannot eat seasonings right now, I have to stick to the macaroni and cheese when they have it.

Eating on the Job

Well, eating, like most everything these past six weeks, has been difficult.  And, eating at work has been even worse.  First of all, my body was demanding hot food.  Secondly, I refuse to let microwaves be a part of my regular routine.  And, of course, I'm now in need of hot, organic food, I can only eat about three things for a meal (fresh alfredo pasta, fresh burgers, and fresh pancakes), and I no longer live a five-minute walk from work.  Oh yeah, we're not lucky enough to have a full kitchen here.  That would be wonderful!

I've usually packed a pretty good lunch since I moved away from work and in with Sean (before he was baby daddy).  But, since the preggers stomach is so finicky, and the organic preggers worman so particular about her food, my lunch box has become a full-on paper grocery bag.  Let's peak into today's stash:

What we've got here is an organic baby romaine salad with lemon olive oil dressing, organic carrot slices, organic raspberries, organic bananas, a smoothie, a glass water bottle filled from home, and a mason jar of raspberry leaf tea.  We eat different lettuces at home, usually an herb salad or spring mix, but my stomach would only take romaine.  Most romaine salads have a lot of hearts, but the baby romaine salad we found was a better alternative, being dark green and purple.  Though these carrots are from a five-pound bag, I usually prefer to grab the ones from Whole Foods with the tops on and a little dirt still on them.  I believe that the more processed my food is before I buy it, the more potential that process has to remove nutrients from my food before I get it.  Baby daddy and Green Babies Sage Moms both say that banana's are safe when they aren't organic, and Sean goes further to say that organic bananas are a waste of money, because they don't require any pesticides to grow.  I still like to buy the organic ones, but I'll just grab whatever is ripest, because I want to actually eat them this week!

My fruit smoothie is a blend of fresh-squeezed organic orange juice, organic raspberries, organice strawberries, and a banana.  My friend, Norma, dropped off some raspberry tea for this preggers girl, which I had just been reading about in Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Years, is good for strengthening the uterus before and during pregnancy.  So, I brew it before work to ensure that I will drink it!  The water at home has an Aquasana water filter.  I was an avid Brita user, but Sean did the research long before I arrived on scene, and he chose this one because it's the only one that filters out unnecessary chemicals, like fluoride.

You'll notice that my water bottle is glass (a VOSS water bottle you can pick up at Whole Foods), as is the mason jar and my salad container.  We try to minimize the plastic in our lives.  It's hard to do, because plastic is so convenient and cheap.  I don't have a good glass container for my smoothie yet, but I just started carting those into work yesterday.  Prior to that, I was drinking it in a glass on the way to work.  I just really don't trust plastic to not leech junk into my food, even though some plastics are better than others.  Stainless steel leeches a little bit, and it's certainly better than plastic.  The only thing that doesn't leech into your food is glass and silicone.

In my next blog post, I'm going to talk about the yummy places that I've been able to get hot food without a microwave while at work.

Natural Makeup Switch

It's been about two weeks since I've last worn deodorant.  Some of my friends who are reading this blog gave great feedback that I still haven't had to try.  Some of my favorite suggestions were the lavender-scented natural wipes for when you start to smell during the day, trying out the crystal deodorant as a better alternative to Tom's of Main, or using using a splash of tea tree oil for it's antiseptic properties.

This next round of organic changes in my routine also started with a page in Green Babies Sage Moms by Lynda Fassa, who went on a roll about parabens and phalates in cosmetics, and recommended that pregnant readers switch to something more natural.  She highly recommended the Dr. Hauschka line, which they sell at Whole Foods, but it is SO expensive.  And, I don't think that I cared for the mascara when I tried it a few years ago.  I had already gone out and bought a cheaper set of natural makeup at Whole Foods, and I was happy to find that Fassa also listed Zuzu Luxe as a safe bet.  I just picked up the basics, which for me includes foundation, blush, mascara, and eye shadow.  I'll swear off eye liner for awhile to save a few bucks.

What could be lurking in everything from plastic and nail polish to fragrances, cosmetics, lotions, and hairsprays are dangerous substances called phalates.  Phalates have been linked to birth defects, and they aren't always listed in the ingredients.  Especially if it's part of a "fragrance," companies aren't required by the FDA to reveal their ingredients.  I've included some links below to more information. According to Divine Caroline, skin care lines such as Burts Bees and Kiss My Face are phalate-free.  I love Burts Bees!  I have used their tinted lip balm instead of lipstick for years.

Another set of chemicals to watch out for is used as a preservative in cosmetics, such as makeup and deodorant, which are ingredients that end in "paraben".  This includes methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben, which are the most common parabens according to the FDA. The issue with parabens is that they mimic estrogen.The Breast Cancer Fund even lists parabens as a contributor to breast cancer:

Measurable concentrations of six different parabens have been identified in biopsy samples from breast tumors (Darbre, 2004). The particular parabens were found in relative concentrations that closely parallel their use in the synthesis of cosmetic products (Rastogi, 1995). Parabens have also been found in almost all urine samples examined from a demographically diverse sample of U.S. adults (Ye, 2006a).

 Of course, the FDA doesn't think that parabens pose a considerable health risk, but the "FDA is aware that estrogenic activity in the body is associated with certain forms of breast cancer."  And, the FDA says that it doesn't know what effect phalates have on humans.  But, I don't trust the same agency that regulates food and allows chemical pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and other chemicals that they allow to be called "food" into our food supply to make sure that I stay out of chemical harm's way.  I believe that when we replace natural ingredients with chemicals (usually for cost-cutting measures) that we're poisoning ourselves.

I also don't believe that I'm making these changes just for the baby.  The baby is encouraging me make general organic choices that for one reason or another (including laziness, cost, availability, quality, or effectiveness).

Phalates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/07/news/la-heb-phthalates-20110907
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253722/
http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/revamp-your-pregnancy-beauty-regimen
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/11/swan_phthalates_study.html
http://www.ewg.org/node/26957
http://www.divinecaroline.com/112925/44788-beauty-products-avoid-pregnancy
http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/selectedcosmeticingredients/ucm128250.htm

Parabens:
http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/selectedcosmeticingredients/ucm128042.htm
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-glossary/parabens.html
http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/term/563

I Stink - What To Do About Deodorant?

A couple of years ago, I did the hippie thing, and I switched to a natural deodorant. I had a crazy roomie who was set on helping me be greener, and she always convinced me that I was the only one who could smell the rank odor emanating from me.  It took some of my best friends pulling me aside one day, shoving some antiperspirant towards me, before I understood that everyone could smell that awful smell that I smelled.  The natural deodorants made me smell even worse than if I hadn't worn any deodorant at all.  So, I switched back to Secret's antiperspirant.

But, Green Babies Sage Moms author Lynda Fassa's comments about aluminum in deodorant got me thinking again.  Though there's not a recognized scientific link between diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's with the aluminum in antiperspirants, folks who are environmentally or green conscious don't always subscribe to waiting around until the scientific community discovers a link.  We tend the follow our intuition about what conventional practices are good for our health, which is why we're branded a little kooky by mainstream society.  It's just like the things we convince ourselves is safe, even though there is scientific evidence to back up the fact that it isn't safe, such as smoking and drinking in large quantities.  We have our own reasons for following or not following the scientific data presented to us.  Personally, I don't think they want to find the correlation between some things for whatever reason.

When I mentioned that I was having salmon for lunch (the wild Alaskan sockeye variety), a coworker told me a story about a women he knew who ate a can of tuna almost every day during each of her three pregnancies.  Each of her children wound up developing autism.  Even though, I had made a good fish choice, the story still ruined my lunch.  With the correlation between mercury ingestion during pregnancy and brain development, it makes sense to me that using other metals that our body isn't set up to handle could also have negative effects on our bodies and the little ones that are growing in our wombs.  And, this doesn't just go for antiperspirant, but aluminum cans, pans, and its appearance in some foods as well.

I had accidentally stopped wearing deodorant for a few days last week, and I realized that if I made a point to shower and shave every day, I didn't stink.  And, on those days where I still smell a little bit, a spritz of a natural perfume could cover it up enough that I wouldn't even notice.  Yes, I bathed and still stank this morning, spritzed some Whole Food perfume on me, and yes, I smell great now.  I am hoping that I can keep up this no-deodorant game. If babby daddy doesn't want to take my clothes off for awhile, then I"ll know it's not working.

My First Three Pregnancy Books

And, I say the first three, because I am sure to end up with a small library.  The day we found out that I was pregnant, I went to the nearest bookstore and scoped out what books were available.  I wanted to buy something that gave a general pregnancy overview, but I was also checking to see if they had any books about natural pregnancy.  I didn't find any books about natural, green, or organic pregnancy.  I did walk out with a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting.  Then, I found a couple of great books at Whole Foods when I was wandering around one day.

What to Expect When You're Expecting

I spent the last decade either thinking that kids were too far off or that it was likely I wouldn't end up having kids.  So, I basically ignored most of the information coming at me about pregnancy and babies.  I wanted a book that talked about what was happening in each trimester and the basic stuff that someone should know about pregnancy.  What I don't like about the format of this book is that it mixes in general pregnancy knowledge with each month.  I was just keeping up with where I am now, so I had read up to the third month.  I just realized that I need to skim the book a little better to find pockets I missed.

Green Babies, Sage Moms

This book has lots of advice for how to have a green pregnancy and create a green home for the baby.  The author has had several children and adjusted her approach each time, and she talks about some of the non-green choices she made with previous pregnancies.  Besides the fact that my body is dictating a completely different diet than I was eating before, the biggest change that I've made since becoming pregnant was my makeup.  I tossed the most natural makeup I found at CVS and switched to Zuzu Luxe from Whole Foods.

The author talks about organic cotton clothes, which kinda freaked me out a bit.  Babies go through so many clothes, to keep them up in organic fabrics would be expensive.  And, if it fits for the baby, it fits for the parents.  This isn't just about an organic pregnancy, it's about us living organic lives.  I have bought a few pieces of organic and fair trade clothes.  However, would that mean that we should be wearing organic clothes, too?  Sean's comment on my question was that we wash our clothes so many times that any pesticides are likely washed away.  And, he said that since we're not ingesting our clothes, so GMO isn't as much of a concern.  So, I think the concern for Lynda Fassa, author of Green Babies Sage Moms, is that it's generally more eco-friendly, because we're not buying from producers that pollute the Earth with chemicals and genetically modify crops.  We're all for that, but it's okay if folks can't green everything in their lives.  Your thoughts?

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

The dedication ends with "So Mote It Be" so that says to me that a like minded person, likely a Pagan, wrote this book.  I haven't specifically looked into it.  But, it's full of information about herbal remedies and alternatives during pregnancy, from helping to conceive, how to not get pregnant, helping to finish a miscarriage (so sad!), and dealing with nausea and other pregnancy symptoms.  I haven't read it yet.  Still finishing up Green Babies.

Do you know of any other good books on natural, green, or organic pregnancy.

First Sonogram

I know that i just spouted off about hospitals, but there are several things that women who are preggers may want that some midwives just cannot provide.  For us, this is a sonogram and some blood work that we decided we wanted to pursue before really understanding the difference between a hospital birth and a natural birth.  I've read some articles that talked about some concern with over exposure during sonograms and ultrasounds, and Sean mentioned that he read that it was mostly a concern with folks who prolonged their exposure by making videos of the baby in the womb.  As my pregnancy progresses, we're going to find these routines less necessary than the standard schedule, because midwives do have their own less invasive tools for monitoring the fetus.

I didn't think I'd find a need for a sonogram until after our first visit with whichever midwife we chose to go with. We were looking, but not exactly finding the midwife for us. However, I started spotting on and off for the first couple of weeks.  In looking it up in books and online, there were lists of possible explanations for spotting, and some of them were very alarming, like an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage.  I was starting to worry that I might be having a miscarriage. And, despite the desire to divorce ourselves completely from the mainstream approach, I made an appointment with the women's center in one of the area hospitals that my pregnant coworker (she's due at the end of March) recommended, and then two weeks ago, we went in to have our first sonogram.

When the technician was doing the sonogram, we could see the little lima bean that was our baby and a heart rate of 142 beats per minute!  It turned out that everything was just fine, but we weren't as far along as we thought.  My last moon time started December 27th, so that would put me at 8 weeks at this visit, but the size of the little pea pod was only 6 weeks and 1 day, which puts the due date later in October than we thought.  My moon times were always flexible, so it didn't surprise me that I ovulated later than we thought.  But, we saw our little munchkin in the womb, oh what a validating experience!

Then, we had an incident.  The technician, who was very sweet, said that we should come back at our actual 8 week visit to see the nurse that we had been scheduled to see that day.  This to keep the visits on track.  She had first told me to come back in two weeks, but changed her mind, and told the gal doing the schedule to have me come back in a week.  This so that we can just check to make sure the baby was in fact growing, because it was a little odd that my due date was so far off.  That schedule gal gave me an appointment day that was two weeks away.  I said that the technician just told us all that I should come back in a week.  She told me to hold on a moment, a moment in which I thought she was going to ask the technician what she had said.  However, she brought over her supervisor to explain to me that I was to come back in two weeks.  That women, having not looked at my file at all, motioned us over to an empty exam room and told us not to be worried, and to make sure to call and ask for her if there was any spotting, and that she would personally take care of me.  Who are you, and why are you involved in this at all? 

We walked back out to the check out counter, expecting to get some kind of appointment card or receipt for the visit.  I was trying not to get upset.  The supervisor was still standing next to us.  I just wanted to collect my appointment card and get on our way.  But, there was no receipt or appointment card being handed to me.  Instead, the schedule gal was just staring at us as if we were stupid.  But, I'm pissed, because her fetching her supervisor indicated to me that she thought we were causing a problem. I didn't care whether we came back in a week or two weeks.  I was just repeating what the technician told the schedule girl to do, which we were all standing there to hear.  The supervisor walked closer to me to comfort me, seeing that I'm getting upset.  I told the supervisor to stop touching me, that I would be fine, and we just wanted to know if they validated parking.  They, of course, did not validate parking.  So, I left upset and even more convinced that the hospital was not the place for us to give birth.

We've since then decided on a different midwife, and more about that part of the story is to come.  I have to make a call to the women's center to see if we can schedule appointments for ultrasounds, but choose to deliver outside of the hospital.  The benefit of sticking with this women's center is that everything is covered 100% by my insurance with no copay.

No Hospital For Our Baby

Sean and I knew that we did not want to give birth in a hospital.  There is this whole rigamarole with hospitals.   Parents have no control over how their baby is born or what happens to them or their babies when birthing in a hospital.  Eh, you get some illusion of control, but if the doctor deems it necessary, that goes out the window.  Parents might have let their provider know of their wishes and birth plan.  But, when you're in the hospital, you're in the domain of doctors.  What you want and what actually happens are two different things.

In the hospital, mothers give birth on their backs with their legs spread wide in stirrups.  This is the best position for the doctor to work.  However, this is not the best position for the mother and baby during birth.  In fact, women are encouraged to stay in bed and not move into comfortable positions.  A women's body will let them know what position it needs to be in if we let it do it's job.  When at a birth center or at home, women can move about and get into a range of positions that facilitate an easier birth for baby and mama, be it on all fours, sitting, standing, walking, on a birthing ball, and/or in a birthing pool.

Hospitals administer unnecessary drugs to facilitate the birth process.  These drugs stop the body from being able to do it's job, and the body knows what it's doing.  A woman should be encouraged to eat and drink normally during labor, because the body needs strength to give birth.  But, a woman in labor is given IV fluids and is unable to eat/drink during labor.  If labor is induced, this speeds up the process of cervix dilation, which causes contractions to come more painfully.  Instead of opening at the natural rate that the cervix wants to, the drugs cause it to open the same distance in a much shorter amount of time.  There are other options for a less painful, but more speedy birth, including just standing or walking around.  But, the mother isn't permitted to really get up and walk around at a certain point.  Natural birthing positions minimize pain, but being on her back and/or after the pain of inducing labor, she might opt for the epidural.  This prevents the body from being able to feel the muscles in the lower abdomen, which prevents a women from knowing when to push.  So, she pushes too hard and doesn't let the baby come naturally.  The baby is coming on the doctor's schedule, not the baby's schedule.  

Speaking of the doctor's schedule, if the labor isn't progressing at a doctor-accepted rate, the doctor can opt for an emergency c-section.  A mother is given all of these drugs and put in a position that's not optimal for child birth.  No wonder things aren't going as planned.  In a country where our c-section rate should be around 15%, it's actually more like 40%.  And, if the doctor wants to do it, you don't really have a say, because it's an emergency at this point.  So, the doctor can opt for major abdominal surgery just because something Mother Nature has been doing for thousands of years is taking too long (according to the doctor).

During a natural labor, a mother can reach down and touch the head of her baby when it's crowning.  A mirror can be used to see the baby as it's starting to be born.  And, fathers can even catch their baby as it's making it's way into the world.  Sean wants to catch out baby.  What an experience for a new dad to be the first person to touch their child as it's born. A natural birth can even be organismic.  Rent Orgasmic Birth and check out Hypnobabies for some ideas. 

Lighting is important when a baby is born.  The womb is comforting and dark.  They have never seen light before, and so little ones should come out into a world that is dimly lit.  Hospitals have lights blaring so that the doctor can see what he/she is doing, and this is very jarring for the newborn.   Home or birth center births allow parents to control the lighting to make it more comforting to a newborn.

When watching videos of natural birth versus hospital birth, the hospital babies are all bloody, but the natural babies are clean.  Something is really wrong with the hospital process if the difference is a bloody baby.  When the little one is born, it is immediately weighed and cleaned, but those first few moments after emerging from the womb are so important.  A baby should immediately be placed in the arms of it's mother.  There are so many studies about the correlation between a baby's development and how much it was touched and held just after birth.  In the first week, a baby should hardly be put down, and newborns should be as close to their mother as possible. 

And, then there are vaccines. There are some useful vaccines.  But vaccines nowadays are preserved cheaply with a highly toxic metal, mercury.  There are stories of children who have tragic and irreversible reactions to vaccines.  The issue with mainstream vaccination is that hospitals are drug pushers and new parents aren't educated about vaccines or given the choice.

Not all pregnant women have a choice of home birth or a birth center, because there are risk factors that make birth in a hospital safer, as things can get sticky quickly.  Hospitals are good for emergency medicine, even emergency medicine during birth  They aren't good for routinely keeping us healthy.  Giving birth is a natural part of life that our bodies do so well on their own.  If it's not broke, don't fix it.

More to come on where we decided to give birth.

The Beginning

I am a 29 year-old broadcast technician that works in live television news by day and organizes Pagan community by night.  Baby Daddy (my husband Sean) and I met when he walked into my apartment in September of 2009 to take a class that I was offering on Wicca.  Eventually, we became best friends and realized we were in love with each other.  We started dating in November of 2011, just a few months before we found out about our little bun in the oven!

On January 31, 2012, my moon time (Pagan for menstrual cycle) was well over a week late, so I took a pregnancy test.  It came out negative.  That Saturday, February 4th, my moon time still hadn't started, so I took another pregnancy test, which came out positive!  That night, I took a 2nd test, which also came out positive.  And, then on the following Tuesday, I took another test, which also came out positive.  I was pregnant! 

What makes my husband and I different from a lot of people is that we believe that the U.S. food system and U.S. medical systems are not set up to naturally provide the proper care and nutrition that humans need for optimum health and livelihood.  We believe that good health starts with the things we put into our bodies and getting enough exercise.  Most of the foods made available are not made with real food, and in fact, they contain chemicals that are harmful to humans, cause cancers, and result in diseases and early death.  They do this because it is cheaper than making real food, and this chemical-laden food contains (poisonous) preservatives that help it last longer on the store shelf. Our water supply is purposefully poisoned with fluoride under the guise that it's good for our teeth, but it's not.  It's a waste product of industry that is cheaply disposed of in our water supply.  The U.S. has an infatuation with plastic, which leeches poisonous chemicals into our water and food.  Hospitals treat symptoms and don't look for the cause of illnesses, so they are typically only good for emergency medicine.  Doctors prescribe an ungodly amount of pharmaceuticals for little good reason, which are just chemicals that scientists say they think will treat a set of symptoms.  Those drugs come with their own list of side effects that are often worse than the symptoms they are trying to treat, and they don't actually fix the cause of those symptoms.  It is up to people to be educated and informed about the world around them.  We have to be constantly aware of what we put into our bodies.

It is every parents' wish that their newborn baby is as healthy as possible.  Sean and I think that our bun in the oven ended up with a super set of parents who are committed to optimum health in our family. Right now, everything that I do or eat affects our little one.  I am trying to give him/her the best nutrition that I can.  I think the body  makes that a little hard, because I can only eat about five foods right now without wanting to throw up.  But, my body is trying to give him/her a lot of good fat so that will grow a big baby brain!  I don't like taking supplements, because they're not real food, but Babby Daddy talked me into finding a whole food, organic prenatal vitamin.  I think that I did all right: