more knit breast patterns

Check this website out that has lots of colorful knit breasts. Exciting, I think so. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTbits.html

nontoxic sunscreen

Yipee the sun is out. But now we have to be sun smart, but often that involves smothering ourselves and our children with chemical filled sunscreens or hiding from the sun. But I found this great website that rates the cosmetics that we are all using for health and safety. It is called Skin Deep and can be found at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php. You may be shocked at some of the ratings on your products, but it can help you find products that are not harmful.

Home Made Deodorant

Skip the chemicals, stick it to the corporate man who says you smell bad, and make your own deodorant. Look at this great recipe for home made deodorant from Angry Chicken. It looks fantastic I can’t wait to try it out and tell you about my armpit adventures. Or please try it out and tell us about it.

Angry Chicken writes:

I realize not everyone wants to make their own deodorant. It probably falls into the category of lollipops for some, and for me, crackers. I just think, “Why?” However, I found myself revisiting the homemade deodorant issue again lately, and here’s a few good reasons why; I stink, conventional deodorant ingredients freak me out, the natural stuff rarely works for me, and when I have made my own in the past (using rubbing alcohol or just baking soda, etc.) it’s not really done the trick. Also, I love the way essential oils smell, especially ylang ylang and orange, which are easy to add to my own concoctions.

I thought all my problems were behind me when I started using Lush’s aromacreme 2 years ago. I loved this deodorant. It’s soft and smells heavenly. But, like many other users, I eventually got a rash. I had to use it less often, finally got sick of the smell, and the other deodorants Lush sells have ingredients I want to avoid.

Plus, I love making body products and get so sick of reading ingredients and worrying about all that. I also wanted to make my own because I thrive on the Stick-It-To-The-Man feeling I get when I don’t have to buy basic necessities that most people assume you have to buy, you know? I find it thrilling.

And recently I have been curious about making crackers, go figure.

So, using the aromacreme texture as a goal, I made my own. I had recently bought and used Florere, which is also a cream deodorant and it’s perfectly good—it just doesn’t smell amazing. It’s also a bit grainy. Here’s what I ended up mixing together for this batch:

3 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
2 vitamin E oil gel caps (puncture and squeeze out the oil)
Essential Oil (I used ylang yang and orange)

I melted all the ingredients (except the oils) and gave it a good stir. This only took about 30 seconds in the microwave. Then added the oils, stirred again, and poured it in a jar, then placed it in the fridge to set. This recipe filled the jar in my hand, which is a 1/4 pint.

I bought the cocoa butter and shea butter here. I’m on week 3 and it works so well, I am stunned. When it’s cold in the bathroom, it’s not as smooth, but the warmth from my fingers softens it up enough to spread on. On hot days the texture is perfect. I can scoop a little bit out of the jar, roll it into a pea-sized ball, and rub it in. I am very very happy with it. I found other recipes online for cream deodorants that have beeswax, vegetable glycerin—all kinds of combos.

It smells wonderful. I had to add a bit more essential oil than you think—shea butter smells strong, not bad, just shea butter-y. If you try this I would highly recommend splitting ingredients with a friend and having a I’m Not A Dirty Hippie party, otherwise you’ll end up with a lot of ingredients that could spoil in a year or so. In the next batch I think I will add a little vegetable glycerin to make it softer.

So, next up, homemade toothpaste. I know you can just use baking soda and water, but I also want to try it with a flavor and make it into a paste.

Oh! To report back: I am on month 2 of no shampoo but only baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse. More info here. And I forgot to mention, I haven’t used shampoo on the girls’ hair in about 2 years. I know this sounds insane, but the soapy bath water has always been enough. I really hate worrying about soap in their eyes and their hair is always clean and not greasy because I’ve never used shampoo that has stripped the oils from their hair to begin with. I swear, this is why. I’m just saying. I’m not sure why I didn’t make this connection when shampooing my own hair, but I didn’t until this latest baking soda kick I have been on.

Occasionally now I do use baking soda and vinegar on them (it’s so great because there is no lather to worry about) but usually it’s still just a good rise with the bath water. The baking soda is easy to just mix and pour carefully on their heads, but the vinegar I have to dilute a TON and then add essential oil so it smells good, otherwise they freak out. I have a bottle with a spray mister so I can just spritz on the acv and rise. They don’t even notice. Sadie’s hair is getting quite long, and the vinegar really helps with tangles, so this is awesome. Both girls have very different types of hair, and so far so good. I swear they aren’t the stinky kids!

**update: some answers to questions (And thank so much for all the great info you all are leaving! woot!)

-Is the deodorant white or clear? sort of both. Goes on white-ish and gets clear-ish later. I haven’t really tested it sleeveless. Does is really work? Yes, for me it does, but you know that’s just me—we all react different to this type of stuff, but yes, I can tell you after 3 weeks of using it: 100% NO STINK. Will it keep you dry? absolutely not. I sweat buckets and always have, so I am used to it. How long will it last? Probably 2-3 months, possibly more. I would probably split the batch next time and keep half in the fridge. Do I like the no shampoo thing? Yes I do, I just got my haircut and was told my hair is in great condition, too. I will tell you, I am not super into hair/hair products, you know what I mean. I love my hair, but spend very little time thinking about it. It’s not the way, say, shoes are for me, so my expectations and general level of fussiness about my hair is very low.

http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/homemade-deodor.html

New La Leche League Group in Vancouver

Great news; I was in the Commercial Drive Midwifery office and noticed a poster from La Leache League, the breastfeeding support group. They have started a new group on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. They are meeting on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm. I am unsure of the address and will make sure to post it as soon as I can find out (later today). This is an evening group which is great for working mothers. If you know more about this group please contact me so I can pass this info along.

I have researched this and have discovered that it was an old poster, and thus the group does not meet.

Morning sickness = smarter kids?

For every woman who has choked down dry toast to combat morning sickness comes new Canadian research suggesting an upside to pregnancy nausea: It may lead to brighter children. Researchers at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children are reporting that babies born to women who experience morning sickness score higher on IQ tests when they’re older. The more severe the nausea and vomiting, the higher the scores. The study, to be published Thursday by the Journal of Pediatrics, is being described as the first to assess the impact of morning sickness on a child’s brain development. Morning sickness — which can actually occur all day — is the most common condition of pregnancy, affecting as many as 80 per cent of pregnant women. It’s the most common reason for a woman to be hospitalized in her first trimester, and, in severe cases, can lead to dehydration, salt and vitamin imbalances and weight loss. In Canada, the only approved drug for nausea in pregnancy is Diclectin. But many women “are afraid to take anything” during pregnancy, says Dr. Gideon Koren, director of the Motherisk Program at Sick Kids and the study’s principal investigator. Motherisk has a special hotline just for morning sickness. It receives about 30 calls a day from women in Canada and the U.S. Koren says Diclectin’s approval was based mostly on “morphological” studies showing “that the kids don’t have malformations. “It was very important for us to be able to show that, OK, the babies don’t have malformations but they also develop right.” The study, which was partially funded by Duchesnay Inc., the Quebec drug company that markets Diclectin, involved 121 women who called Motherisk’s NVP (nausea and vomiting of pregnancy) hotline from 1998 to 2003. The women and their babies were split into three groups: 45 mothers who experienced morning sickness who took Diclectin; 47 who had morning sickness but who didn’t take the drug; and 29 women who didn’t have any morning sickness at all. The women had similar IQs and came from similar socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. When the children were ages three to seven, they were assessed with a battery of age-appropriate psychological tests. All scored within the normal range of IQ. But the children whose mothers had morning sickness scored higher on performance IQ (games and tasks), verbal fluency and “phonological processing” — how well children process the sounds of letters and letter combinations. Taking Diclectin did not appear to have any negative affect on brain development, the researchers say. “Probably even more interesting, the achievements of the babies of moms who did not have morning sickness were not as high,” Koren says. “It’s important to stress it was not mental retardation or anything,” says Koren, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto who has been a paid consultant for Duchesnay. The difference “wasn’t clinically very important,” he says. “It was a few points of IQ, and other functions such as language development. “This does not mean that a woman who does not have morning sickness should be worried, that’s not the idea here.” Rather, he says, the study should offer some comfort to women who do. Other studies have shown that women who experience morning sickness have a lower risk of miscarriage and fewer heart malformations in their babies. Morning sickness is a poorly understood phenomenon. “Some people say that if it was a man’s condition it would be known by now,” Koren says. Hormones secreted by the placenta are thought to cause the “yuckiness” of morning sickness. No one knows which hormone. “But clearly something that is associated with the morning sickness confers better outcomes. We said, ‘Let’s see if it’s true for brain development.’ ” Some evolutionary biologists believe morning sickness is a defence mechanism of the body to let women vomit out things she might have eaten that may harm the fetus. “The most important implication for women is, if you have moderate or severe morning sickness, don’t hesitate to treat it with Diclectin. The drug is safe,” Koren says. “You don’t need to suffer from symptoms and you don’t be afraid that the condition itself will affect (the baby’s) long-term outcome.” The study was also supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, SickKids Foundation and Research Leadership for Better Pharmacotherapy in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding.

skirkey@canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/Morning+sickness+leads+smarter+kids+Study/1526192/story.html

Pregnancy Popsicles: Nettle and Red Rasberry Leaf

I am at the end of my second pregnancy and have discovered a rad flavor sensation. When I am pregnant I drink nettle and red raspberry tea every day. In the morning I make a pot, and sip it as the day passes. But sometimes I don’t finish it all. Summer has arrived and I had the idea to put the left over tea in my popsicle makers. Well this tea is far more fun digested in popsicle form than warm tea. You could do this with any tea that you are drinking for what ever reason, just think of the possibilities. I recognize I have not invented the wheel. Add a bit of sweetener if that is your thing or oat straw for calcium and a nutty milky taste.
Steep three tablespoons of nettle and three table spoons of red raspberry leaves for an 1 to 24 hours (how ever much time you have). Cool in fridge. Put in your popsicle maker.

Enjoy, Amanda Emsley

Peri Pads for mothers-to-be recipe

I was given this fantastic recipe for “Peri Pads” from Holly Malashewsky: a Doula and mother in BC. I am happy to pass it on as she has to me. A Peri Pad is applied after birth on the perineum or if a woman has had a cesarean birth on the abdominal incisions to promote healing. Thank you Holly for the useful recipe.

Peri Pads to do with mother-to-be:

I recently attended a beautiful homebirth with a doula friend of mine, Stephanie Bernath. During our last prenatal visit with the mother-to-be we sat in a circle and made peri pads together. Steph, myself, Hannah and her 7 year old daughter Taylor. Stephanie brought the preparations and showed us all how to make the healing pads for after the birth. We sat together chatting about the upcoming birth while spooning a herbal infusion over the pad, then rubbing it with aloe vera. We had a nice stack going and when we were done, we put them all in a bag and stored them in the freezer.

Here’s a great recipe:
Plantain
Comfrey leaf
Comfrey root
Rosemary
Thyme
Yarrow
Calendula
All steeped together for about 4-5 hours.

Spoon onto pads of choice, preferably overnight pads

Open up sprigs of Aloe Vera and rub the healing gel onto the pads

Store in bag or container in the freezer

Put onto perineum after birth and heal Also works well on incision if the woman has had a cesarean birth.

Green diapers: Their is a new kid on Canadian blocks, and he is more affordable.

The revolution happened and I didn’t have to lift a finger. Months ago I went off about how I was going to write a letter to the Real Canadian Super Store to manufacture green diapers at an affordable cost. If anyone could do it they could. I went in yesterday to find their new green diapers lined up for my purchase. THANK YOU SUPER STORE. They are more expensive than their regular disposable diapers, but they are way cheaper than other popular brands of green diapers. As they say on the package:
“ Whether disposable or cloth, diapers have an impact on the environment. Disposable diapers are often made from non-renewable sources of wood pulp and plastic, both of which negatively affect the environment. For cloth diapers, pesticides and chemical fertilizers are often used to produce the cotton needed in their manufacturing while washing these diapers also consumes considerable water, energy, detergent and at times, bleach. This is why we have produced our most environmentally responsible super absorbent diaper. President’s Choice diapers are made with wood pulp sourced from certified sustainably managed forests where reforestation occurs at the same rate as harvesting. Also, the processing of the pulp takes place in a mill which does not use chlorine bleaching compounds therefore reducing the amount of harmful chemicals being released into rivers and lakes. We are also diligently working on replacing most plastic components in our diapers with revolutionary plant-based polymers instead of petrochemical-based ones. Our long term objective? To produce a diaper made from 100% renewable materials – and we are now well on our way to achieving this goal.”

If you are going to be using disposable diapers you now have a new more affordable option. Yay for greener options and green products moving into the mainstream.

Breastfeeding Art:

Mammals
16×12 linen and acrylic
Painting by Amanda Emsley
From Vancouver BC

This picture tells a true story of a female ape in captivity in the Ohio zoo. This ape gave birth to a healthy baby, but when it came time to feed the baby, she had trouble. She had been in captivity with only males, and had never seen breastfeeding done. She would put the baby up to her breast backwards, the babes mouth would be facing away from her, while the babes head would face towards her. The mother could not sooth her crying babe. The zoo care takers watched, but were unable and unwilling to get between the pair to teach her how to feed her baby. The baby died due to starvation.

The female ape got pregnant soon after, and the zoo staff panicked, worrying about how to help the mother learn how to feed her baby. After much thought, they came up with the idea to bring the local La Leche League group (the LLL is a global breastfeeding network) in to breastfeed in front of the soon to be mother. The baby was born, and sure enough, after being around other breastfeeding mothers, she knew what to do, she fed her baby and her baby survived.
http://mamatoto.ca/welcome.html

MODERN BABY SHOWERS

In the act of creating and sustaining a life other than our own, we can truly explore the depth of what it means to be human and alive. What an opportunity for a profound journey. With such an opportunity for a deep human experience, I am perplexed as to how western culture has decided to celebrate and acknowledge the passage into parenthood. I am talking about the baby shower, and its desperate need for revisiting.

The complex passage into parenthood has been reduced to women meeting with gender appropriate gifts and playing games that make many people uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, we all love gifts, and games can be fun: But for one of the most creatively powerful moments in the human life span it seems like we could be more creative, more sacred, more steeped in meaning. As thoughtful creatures with the ability to ponder our own existence we must be able to do better. Is our most meaningful passage marked with baby tees and games: Games designed to fill our discomfort with each others presence and the reality of childbearing and rearing.

So next time you are going to a “baby shower” use your imagination and intuition to spice it up. Maybe you could each bring a poem, you could draw together, share stories about what it means to you to be a mother or father, make the mother to be a crown of flowers, henna her belly, gather blessings for the mother, sing… Lets take back the rituals that celebrate human experiences from corporate interests. Reclaim this right of passage as being far to sacred for such trivial cultural pollution.

If you want neat ideas research blessing ways on the internet, talk to your grandmothers about what they did in their day, or research what other cultures do to welcome motherhood.

baby shower with a hint of a blessing way to spice it up

warm words and images written on silk for mother to be to hang up