Life as we call it

Yesterday was the most recent appointment with my midwife, and good news the baby grew! The measurement is still a little small but the 2cm improvement is a big one! Thanks for those who prayed and sent good thoughts for her not to be growth restricted! Other news on the appointment I elected not to take the group b strep test. Why would I elect not to take a test for a bacteria that is linked to serious illness in newborns? First because 0.5 percent of the women who have tested positive for GBS and delivered without treatment, had infants that became ill from it making that a rare occurrence. Second I'm doing a home birth so I don't have the use of intervening drugs be pushed on me, but that doesn't mean that the midwife could not administer the antibiotics through an IV during the birth process. Third I do not do well with antibiotics, as I've had a problem with sinus infections for most of my life and came to the discovery that the antibiotics given to me by the Doc. would make me more ill so that I could "feel better." Which means I got all of the side effects, lets add a little nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, extra dizziness, ect on to that sinus infection. Needless to say I decided to prefer to function better and get better by using homeopathic remedies and by doing this I also found the cause of the infections (something I sought from the doctors but they never wanted to diagnose) which was dust allergies.
However, with my reasons not to do the testing that does not mean I'm not taking natural preventative measures which Mary Lou has included in the birth booklet that she gives to her customers. These measures and the statistic above are referenced from Mothering Magazine, prevention can be done through the use of probiotics or the ingestion of fermented foods such as pickles, yogurt, kefir, miso and tempeh. Miso and tempeh are pretty frequent in my diet as well as



GT's Organic Raw Kombucha which really boosts my immune system, gives me energy, and is packed with the best vitamins for pregnancy, since most of the immune system boosting herbs I use are so are not to be used during pregnancy I have defaulted to this and yes it is safe for pregnancy. Garlic is also very effective at treating this as well which is something I include in nearly every meal.

A day in the life

Today was the second official appointment with the midwives of Beach Cities Birth Service Mary Lou and her backup midwife Ashley, who works out of Mary Lou's home as well. I really wanted Jason to meet Ashley so this was my second appointment mainly with her and the next one is with Mary Lou. The appointments are extremely relaxed and generally the same routine with a lot more care and respect. The general routine is pee in a cup and insert a strip that checks for protein (preeclampsia) and sugar (gestational diabetes) which showed up negative for both! Checked my weight which is 170.5 I gained a whole half a pound from the last visit. Next was getting the blood pressure checked which turned up good as usual. Then Ashley checked the positioning of the baby which it seems that she has turned already (meaning she's upside down which is a good thing) but it won't be really noticeable or an issue till the next visit. Things are progressing really well and I pray they continue to!
Also this past weekend Jason and I found out two of our friends gave birth, another two are pregnant and the wife of a new business contact of his is pregnant as well! So ladies if in California beware the water unless you want to get pregnant ;)

On with my creative ambitious eco friendly side, I have completed phase one of operation Christmas Tree Demise which was using a little hand saw on out little four foot christmas tree to remove the branches from the trunk. Phase two is set to begin shortly and is the removal/collection of the needles (for candles and perhaps potpourri} and the drying/sectioning of the trunk (for a variety of items one of which I just thought of ...I may carve a section, with my new dremel 300 =D, to make my own candle mold which is classified as crazy ambitious but I love me power tools) So I've got a lot of work ahead of me.