Lets get angry!!!

So many topics come up on a regular basis, and this one is one of my favs. The only thing is I'm so passionate about it that I've had to sort of repress my feelings and beliefs  for fear of being the health Nazi! 

I can't help it, once I started researching foods, chemicals, and procedures,  it was only a matter of time that I went ORGANIC.

That famous word..... somehow  today it seems to be used to describe one too many things! What is the real meaning behind this crisp, clear word?   What does ORGANIC really mean?

Well here it is :

ORGANIC is no synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.   No antibiotics, genetic engineering,  or irradiation, and my personal favorite, NO use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. 

ALL organic meats are 100% organic fed, free of growth hormones, and animal by-products. 

Btw GMO or genetically engineered  foods are PROHIBITED in some countries but not in Canada! AND we don't know what is or isn't modified, but trust me when i tell you that through my research i have learned at most foods are!!! 

take a look at the chart scroll down there is a looong list of foods:

http://gmoguide.greenpeace.ca/shoppers_guide.pdf

Why is this allowed???  $$$$ money I guess.  Yes our grocery stores are filled with  these foods.  The ones we buy to nourish our families, so they may grow healthy,  make any sense? NO- but it's because most people are not aware and I don't blame them, who tells us that water in  plastic bottles is harmful? Really, where do you hear that cheddar cheese is really NOT orange , that it's the same chemical dye they use  to  preserve dried apricots. They don't mention that those small carrots you buy cleaned are eroded in acid to help shape them.  No one tells you that the meat you get on sale, has been fed animal by products and cement.  The government won't tell you that it radiates our fruits and vegetables so their shelf life is extended, and at the same time they consume the excess radiation they have sitting in huge barrels. 

Ever wonder about milk? How many cows should there be to supply ALL the stores you can purchase milk in!!!!  Really think about it for a sec.  Supermarkets,  gas stations,  walmarts,  local stores, even pharmacies!!!

Just how many cows does it take? Not  that many, they just pump them with hormones so they produce milk faster so they may meet the demand..... then those hormones get transfered to us,  remember 

"milk- does the body good".  

What part?  See why I can't get on this topic.....???

Really  all I'm trying to say without sounding like a total freak,  is know what you are buying, and if you don't read labels -start, and if you can't read it- don't eat it!!!!  If not for you,  for your babies.

So the next time you find cantaloupes or tomatoes or that flank steak on sale, wonder for a minute why so cheap?

Eye opener ?

hopefully

L&L

Things I love and won't live without !

I get lots of my mommy friends asking me, what do I love and use all the time? What do I use for emergencies, and what can't I live without! So here are a few things  I really love... both for baby and me!

I find lots of babies I meet have an eye cold, the runny eye that just never goes away. Here are a few remedies that worked for me: 

breast milk- put a little breast milk in both eyes, always do both eyes.

chamomile tissane - place the bag of tissane, once cooled, over babies' eye and wipe gently, (chamomile is  antibacterial )

collodial silver -both a great product for baby and for the whole family!!!  An amazing product i swear by, just one drop and Lewis's mucus filled eye cleared up in just 2 hours!!! Again always put in both eyes. If ever your feeling under the weather you can place a dropper full of liquid in your mouth, let sit for a couple of secs before swallowing. It's a wonderful immune booster and great for sore throats!!

During this cold season I was on the hunt for a disinfectant, something so that if I caught a cold or my hubby did, we wouldn't pass it on to Lewis. So here are a few tricks at keeping the air, and sheets clean of germs!!

I make a little concauction of tee tree, lavender, silver collodial, and steralized water. Put 5 drops of each essential oil , 10  drops of the silver stuff in a spay bottle and fill the rest up with sterilized water. I use this spray to clear up the room, refresh the sheets and just give that soothing  home smell... clean and relaxing all in one! ( if you find the scent too strong put a few less drops) * recently I started adding thyme oil as it's a decongestant and it smells oh so good!

You all now know how much i love my mabu cloths, if not view blog on "you know you need a vacation when..."

White clay is the next multipurpose thing I love. I've used it on rashes, mosquito bites (remember girls!!!)
as a mask, on burns. almost anything you want to remove inflammation from.  I've even used it as butt powder! (talc is sooooooooooooooo bad for babies). You can get some in most health food stores different clays for different properties, white , green, I personally love this white one for now and I'll let you know on the others when I try them. Basically add a little water mix into a paste and apply to affected area.

Probiotics for baby, I've used this often especially because Lewis was a c-section baby, he got none of the bacterias that babies delivered vaginally get, the good stuff that builds their immune system. So he took them from the very beginning and now whenever he has the runs or is not feeling 100% I give him some to bring him back to the amazing baby he is! Great stuff for the whole family!!!

Thanks to a good ol' friend of mine,(the kind that is always present in your life),  I drink coconut water almost every morning.   It gives me energy refreshes and hydrates all at the same time, really a miracle product.  I am soooo glad she introduced me to it ! (Thanks sandr!!!)  Along with the coconut water there is the oil, which makes a great cooking oil, but a better body lotion!!!! Again something super natural you can put on your baby and you of course, I leave a big pot of it in the shower so when I'm done, still kinda dripping wet, I put some all over then pat dry and voila soft moisturized skin with a hint of the Caribbean to lift your spirits-man! LOL

I just read an article on how good coconut products are for you. To take internally and topically.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030990_super_food_coconut_oil.html
Fantastic!

BIO93 from Dr. RECKWEG homeopathic  drops to build up the immune system, just a few drops a day especially in the winter is a miracle saver. Safe for both adults and children!

Thats  it for now i think it's enough info to absorb and sort through, if I think of anything else I will add on to this and pls feel free to ask, sometimes some things slip my mind!!!!

                                          hope some of this helps,

                                          Enjoy!!!

                                          L&L

you know you need a vacation when.....

When your next blog is about cloths...
Yes cloths, mabu cloths!!!!
I am excited about a cloth that I randomly picked up at my local heath food store that does not smell, that is odorless.
It can be used all over, bathroom,  kitchen,  even your face!!! It  is 100% natural , it DOES NOT STAIN, stays soft and white, it's nice and thick, and did i say DOES NOT SMELL..... i mean no garlic, no onion, does not smell, no moldy smell!!!! Something you will willingly wipe you tiny trikes faces' with and be proud!!! It's naturally bacteria resistant, and to make things better they come in a pack of 3 and each one has a different colored trim so it's easy to know which one is being used where.
I know it sounds nuts ~ I sound like an infomercial! Crazy, excitement over a dish cloth.
Yes, it's fantastic, the best 8$ I've spent in awhile.
Oh oh oh I almost forgot,  machine washable too!! They're killing me,  I LOVE IT ...One last thing,  it's made from wood and from what I read on their site no trees suffered to make these amazing cloths....  The best part of why i'm so excited is i'm gonna try the bum test.   I hate using wipes on Lewis,  those chemical filled tissues we keep wiping our babies bottoms with, hate! hate! hate! them . I kept asking myself  what can i use that won't stain , that can easily clean up this kinda mess and poof I found it!!!! I will test it out and let you know if it works, and if it does, wow I'm onto something!!!

So stay tuned for my wiping updates but for now either go out and buy some or e-mail me i'll get them to ya, or go online and see for yourself. Moms this is an amazing product and why aren't moms telling other moms!!!!??? I'm starting the mabu revolution here. Stand back !

L&L

                                                            

chop chop

This is one thing that makes me wanna put him back inside my belly!!!
Inside where I  knew he was safe.  In his bubble protected by me, warm , fed, comforted. Now he's in pain. He wakes up crying  in the middle of the night and is gnawing on all sorts of things in the day.
My little one is teething!!!!!!!!

What a horrible feeling to hear him cry like he does, you feel the pain, and teething is one of those pains we live with all of our lives. Who likes a tooth ache... ??? Thank God we don't remember the actually time our gums become thinner, rawer and well getting ready for the first tooth to cut through. OUCH!
All i can do is comfort, I feel helpless, there has got to be something other than the homeopathic viles he's been getting drunk on.( I actually thought to myself, what can I make with all these empty viles, besides recycling them, a empty vile gingerbread house, a bike, maybe a nice necklace) OK back to the point... I researched , went into all the books I have and everyone has a theory....homeopathic, herbal, medical.... here they are and well what I'm choosing to do:
I've chosen to give him 30 ch of camomillia ( a homeopathic teething remedy) often. At least 3 times a day
Also I read  rubbing rescue remedy  directly on the gums relieves and is very calming at the same time  (rescue remedy is a tincture from the Bach flowers)
There is a great recipe for a teething tea, which can be given to both mom and baby to help relax and ease the pain of teething. here it is:
1/2 ounce dried chamomile flowers
1/2 ounce dried lemon balm
1/2 ounce dried catnip leaves
1/2 ounce dried lavender flowers
1 cup of boiling water
combine all herbs
take one tablespoon of the mixture and let steep in water for 15 mins, for a very irritable baby leave steep for 30 mins. It can be taken safely in large amounts... give it to baby with a dropper or in a bottle or by spoon...
i just discovered this tonight so I haven't tried it yet but you bet I'll be heading to my local heath food store tomorrow to pick these herbs up !!!! You can also by these herbs in tinctures (liquid form) and give 5 drops of each mixed together 3 or 4 times a day. ( I think this is a much easier way)
Medically I will give him Tempra only if all else fails and nothing else works.

Hopefully this will  help, so that tomorrow I rock him to sleep once and I won't have to continuously comfort him as he wales in pain, and my heart breaks!!!

teeth and love everyone,
L&L

ninna nanna

"ninna nanna ninna o

 questo bimbo a chi lo do se lo do a la befana se lo tiene una settimana 

 se lo do al uomo nero se lo tiene un anno intero

 ninna nanna ninna o" 

This Italian nursery rhyme  has been sung and passed on from centuries ago, actually they say it originated in the 1950's and yet still today we sing the very tune that was sung to us years back. Except this nursery rhyme was written in the mist of a war, during a really  hard and sad time in southern Italy.   Translated word for word, this lullaby would not make Freddy Kruger sleep it's so unsettling! (If i give you to the fairy she'll keep you for a week and if i give you to the dark man he'll keep you for a year) what????

Thankfully we don't listen to the words, it's mommies voice that puts us to sleep,  and yet I wonder if subconsciously it's an explanation for Lewis waking up crying some nights!

 Sleepy time  became another obstacle - I don't know when it happened but we did and still do rock our son to sleep-

shhh don't tell the critics.... every one has a theory on this too... as soon as the baby falls asleep put him down. Except most of the time I fall asleep with him from pure exhaustion ( breastfeeding every 2 hours!!!) Some say, put him in his crib and let him fall asleep on his own,  and I tried this; it worked for awhile when Lewis was about a month old. He would fall asleep on his own, I would put him down and before I knew it he was out. It didn't last very long, because I vaguely remember that time. Before I knew it, he was fussy and not wanting to sleep.  Exhaustion was written all over his tiny face, and yet he fought it with all his might.... so the rocking started, I enjoyed it too, really. It never took really long, a few sways and poof he was out, no harm in that right? Well the rocking became a ritual and some nights I didn't feel like rocking and well, it was too late. Feel it or not you're rocking or you ain't sleeping get it? So rock rock rock till that doesn't help anymore, now it's tap rock shake... tap, rock, shake, rock, tap shake, tap shake rock...... I'm getting nauseous.  

Then we leave for a one week holiday and there is no rocking chair so I improvise with the stroller and once inside, I used the bed; I would bounce up and down, it worked -OUT!

People on the resort thought I was nuts !!! I found this cobblestone road which helped Lewis fall asleep,  but boy you gotta stroll fast ! They must have called us crazy!!! I thought I was until one morning I run into a family with a toddler,  the mom was watching me hurry along the path to help Lewis fall asleep , as we all get closer together, she smiles at me, that mother smile, and says "it'll pass" . Words of comfort and reassurance, words that I needed to hear. I wasn't the only one giving my child shaken child syndrome!!!! IT'LL PASS, (Oh thank you blonde lady in Punta Cana). She made me feel normal and  most of all gave me hope. 

So whatever the books say, great, and if you can follow it and it works, great! But if you have to improvise and get creative don't you worry this too will pass. And one day you'll wonder if you remember how it feels to rock your kid..... I definitely won't forget!!!

Buona Notte

L&L

Mmmm buono?

"mmm buono lewis??" I ask as I slide the spoon filled with avocado into his tiny mouth. 

Once you think you've mastered the teething dilemma it becomes time to "ween".  To finally introduce some sort of texture and flavor to the liquid diet .  


Oh yes it's feeding time  everyone!!!!


When to start? How to start? What foods to start with? Boiled or steamed? Oh you can bake really? What age is best for what foods? Cereal or no cereal?  Veggies? Fruit? Meat? What comes first?  


I knew Lewis was ready.   We had just come back from a vacation down south
(my sis got married in the Dominican republic)   I noticed he wasn't satisfied when he drank.  Then it happened- he bit me, yes you read me right, he BIT my nipple!  Hard enough that my first impulse was to smack him,  NO I DIDN'T!!! WOW it hurt! I sternly said NO Lewis,  and put my throbbing boob away.  He got the message.  He was frustrated ...  so i looked into it, and asked his pediatrician, it could be my milk production was low,  i  was told to get these  two natural products to help:
-blessed thistle, a tincture you add to water 1-3 times a day 
-fenugreek- an herb in pill form which you also take 1-3 a day
Before I knew it,  I had the milk flow I had when Lewis was a month old!!!! I hadn't felt that feeling of fullness for awhile now, this stuff really works!!! 


Yet he still looked at us so intensely when we ate, to the point where i felt uncomfortable (like the kid who sits across  the lunch table with the thin,  almost empty dry sandwich. Watching me eat my moms amazing fritata sandwich,  loaded with mayo and lettuce.  The kind where you open the wax paper, and it bounces up at you it's so thick!)  
What can i say,  we're Italian,  food is everything!
You see since Lewis was a tiny tot, I've been making him smell foods, anything I'd be cooking, I'd bring over to him to smell.   With everything I put beneath his tiny nose,  he would take a deep breath, as if he were actually taking it all in. Future chef-Perhaps.  I sit him down on his high chair at my counter where i do all my chopping and preparing and he loves to watch and touch.   So really  it was only a matter of time for him to want to start eating !!  One morning I just did it . I took out the brown rice cereal I had bought (healthy times organic cereal)   added my milk making it really liquidy and fed it to him..... HE LIKED IT!!! And so it begins Lewis is eating solids!!!! I went through all the books I  had on the topic and again all mixed messages.... no fruit , only fruit, cereal only , veggies first, add milk,  add water.  So i asked the  pediatrician, and then asked my friend what her pediatrician said? And well all were different.  What to do?
Who knew really? 
So i took everything I had heard and read and asked and decided on the things I  felt to be ok. I decided no fruit right now, lots of veggies and always for 3 days in a row ( in case of allergies)  so if it's zucchini ,organic of course, steam  (they say it's much more nutritious)
skin and all and then puree it,  add some of the water from the pot. 
(the exception to this rule is carrots, never add the water from steamed or boiled carrots) 
I always add a little of my milk so there if some sort of familiar taste for him,  I can't wait to see what his favorites foods are... hopefully  very many!!!


Things are going so fast, it seems like we want each step to move along, especially the  colic and teething steps but the introduction to foods makes you want to freeze time, each and every moment.   I will enjoy every bite along side him, As he begins to discover a big part of life.  What unites people in almost every country,  for almost every occasion;  food!


Buon appetito!!!
L&L

the big cut

I've heard of  many women scheduling  c-sections, that they prefer it over natural child birth. 
Some have said  because they know exactly when to expect their baby. "It's an in and out" one mother told me.  Unless absolutely necessary, why opt for an operation in a cold sterile room, where you can't hold your baby, are completely lifeless from the waist down, and later  drugged, and pass out  for  hours?  ( hmmm. that last part sounds kind of appealing.)


Unfortunately i have no idea what natural child birth is but,  i do now know a thing about the c-section. 


" The word Cesarean comes from the same root as the Latin verb caedo, which means to cut "  


Oh and cut they do! I was definitely not prepared for it. Any of it.... 
Labor for me never really started on it's own, so the nights i spent wondering or worrying if and when my water would break were useless.   All the questions possible run through your head ...how long it would take us to rush to the hospital? where would i be when it happened?   should i pack my bags? should we keep them in the car? (and at a certain point we did) 
Did i  pack right ? Did we forget anything? I went over the scene in my mind- till the day we drove ourselves in to the hospital to be induced.... Lewis was 10 days late already and no more waiting- this was it.


So on Sunday June 6th we checked in....as if into a hotel,  except we had a car seat with us!!!!! YAYE!!! I was excited I was gonna do this! I was convinced on trying as much as possible to do this as natural as possible. U huh, little did i know.  They placed what they called "tampons" to help my cervix dilate.   I had contractions all night Sunday overnight Monday and still when morning came no changes, we weren't advancing. So another attempt, and more contractions.  I went for walks, tried to eat, took baths (the hot baths were great)  by the afternoon they decided on petosin, (a drug i think should be given to horses really, it's the devil) they upped my dose every 1/2 hour, and still nothing , they broke my water ( the only feeling of some sort of relief really)   and still nothing and the contractions continued, I knew what I was going through with all that petosin in my system, i didn't even want to think of the effects it was having on my baby.  It was cruel, I stuck through it , really I don't think I would have made it then, without my husband and my Douala, Francine. ( thanks guys)
The two of them were amazing and we all worked together as a team and still nothing.


Labor, is one of the most painful things you'll ever feel, but really (and i don't tolerate pain really well)  it's do-able, because it comes in waves, so when it hits you it's rough.   Sway side to side, rock and breathe, deep breaths, and  right when you think oh my god this is crazy I can't - it passes.   Its over for a while, and you relax and gather your strength, never thinking for a moment,  at the next one. (that's the trick)
It's  like I've said before tackle things one at a time.   And let go,  Labor is all about letting go. 

Well eventually I had to let go.... let go of the idea of doing this without medication, after 2o hours of intense labor i asked for medical help. The epidural.   I really did  everything in my power not to but my body was shutting down,  it worked too hard- for too long .  So finally i gave in, before my body would give out. Still hours later nothing. Finally the next day the doctor decided that the only way was a c-section.  I was prepped for surgery, physically, 
- mentally,  I would have never been prepared.  After 28hours in labor, I was wheeled into an operating room.   I was tied sort of like on a crucifix, arms spread out on either end, and a sheet right where your collar bone is  so you see nothing (and if your claustrophobic like me, you can't breathe) but i looked  over to one side where my husband sat.  Within minutes Lewis was born, what an overwhelming feeling! The baby is checked and bundled and shipped off to the nursery with dad, while you get put back together, and then knocked out.  For what seems like FOREVER.  
I awoke from the best sleep i had in months ( what drug is that anyways?)  it was  painful -  moving around  is difficult.   With the incision being in the lower abdomen ,  even getting to sit up in bed was excruciating! But they give you pain killers,  they cut pain but also constipate. No one tells you.  Oh and the epidural also constipates, not to mention the anesthesia they give you for the surgery constipates, (nope no one said a word)
Put them together and no prune juice in the world can get you outta this jam.




Sitting up is a big deal!
Sitting down is a big deal!
Getting out of bed is a big deal!
Walking to the bathroom is a big deal!
Taking a shower is a big deal!
Taking a shit is a big deal!
Not seeing my baby for 2 hours after he was born WAS A BIG DEAL! 


Why would any woman willingly ask for a c-section is beyond me.


L&L