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.
2 others i'd reccomend... Birthing from Within, and the baby book by doctor sears.
ReplyDeleteSkinny Bitch, Bun in the Oven is a great book. 50% of it is the same as the orgional, with added info about preganat bodies and stand alone chapters.
ReplyDeleteEven if you don't follow a 100% vegan diet, it still have GREAT info!!!
kisses
A fuller comment, now that I have a bit more time, that other comment was rushed.
ReplyDeleteI found What to Expect when you are expecting, to be frustrating for the reason you stated. Also, sometimes people get paranoid when reading that book, because if you read too closely, you can end up convincing yourself you have some kind of medical problem, because they list so many. That said, it's an ok resource. Another resource i liked was babycenter.com, where you can get free weekly e-mails telling you how your baby is developing week to week. I didn't usually pay attention to the rest of the email, and they'll keep emailing you after the baby is born (which starts feeling like spam) so you would want to have it sent to a an email address you use for spam, if you have one, but still checking it as long as it holds your interest. The emails come with cute little pictures of what your baby looks like right now and explanations like "your baby now has eyelashes! your baby now can..."
Books... 1) "Birthing from within" is the best book I've ever seen about childbirth. it has all kinds of journaling and art exercises to help you get mentally and emotionally prepared for giving birth, and also has some practice exercises to help you prepare for pain control (like holding an ice cube in a tightly clenched fist for one minute and breathing through it). Also, it explains what happens in the brain through the different parts of labor, which is really really important information. Basically, your left brain wants to shuts off when you are between 7-10 cm,because your right brain can handle pain better, and if you can embrace that and trance out (which I did with flowy music and rocking), then you can just ride it. If you try to fight the natural trance state, or if your environment is jarring in any way, you will just want to yell at everyone instead. As a pagan, you have an advantage during the hardest stage of labor, because you already know how to get into and handle yourself in trance states. But, the book goes a lot more into how that all works, and how to embrace your power and bring it into your birthing situation.
2) "The baby book" by doctor sears was my bible after Joy was born, for the first year. It talks about attachment parenting, which includes breastfeeding on demand, co-sleeping, babywearing, etc. It also helps you understand different developmental stages that first year.
As far as organic clothes... its a nice idea if you have the money and want to do it, but honestly, there are so many things that matter more (like getting sippy cups or bottles that don't have bpa in them, or of course getting organic food). You don't ingest clothes, and as Sean said, you wash clothes anyway. It's a lot of money to buy organic clothes. Honestly, a better way to be ecologically friendly is request used clothes. Baby clothes don't get worn out, because babies outgrow them so fast, so if you can get hand-me-downs, that's awesome. Garage sale or thrift store baby clothes come so cheap, and you can still get really cute stuff.