New Addition!

Okay, so I have been completely M.I.A these past two weeks, but I have a good excuse! I had my baby!!!!  That's right, I am no longer prego! I delivered my little man at 8:13 pm on Sunday September 7th 2014, and it was a whirlwind of a delivery!

It all started the morning of the 6th when I woke up and noticed that my face had swelled a lot over night. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT! The size of my face had almost doubled while I slept! It was so bad my husband even noticed (and anyone who spends any amount of time with a man, knows that in general they aren't very observant so this is saying something).  The swelling was so bad my husband was concerned enough about it to risk getting his head bitten off and mentioned it to me. After a quick discussion he convinced me to call my doctor just in case, and she told me to come to the hospital now because she wanted to make sure I didn't have pre-eclampsia. So, off my hubby and I went to West Hollywood to get checked out by the doctors.  It turns out, I did not have pre-eclampsia (phew), but when my cardiologist ordered an echo and blood work (I have multiple congenital heart defects and have had two open heart surgeries) he found out that my extreme swelling has resulted in water accumulating around my heart (the water has to go somewhere), which was resulting in my heart being put under a lot of stress.  All of my doctors discussed what the best plan of action would be and they all agreed that the swelling and fluid accumulation would only get worse the last four weeks of my pregnancy and that there was a chance my heart could go into failure if the stress became too much.  The final decision was to induce me the next morning!

So 6 am rolled around on Sunday morning and the induction began. The intensity of the contractions varied as they SLOWLY increased the pitocin, I labored without pain medications and I guess I eventually became use to the contractions because I actually fell asleep for quite a while! At 3:15pm my contractions were consistent enough for my water to be broken. Once my doctor broke my water, boy did those contractions start up HARD! I don't even consider all the time before this point true labor because I was doubled over in pain moaning and pacing trying to cope.  My nurse was amazing! She was so respectful of my birth plan (and props to my husband for keeping everyone in check when it came to my plan), she spoke in the softest voice, never pressured me for pain medicine, offered me a squat bar to help relieve the pain on my back during contractions, honestly she felt more like a dula than a L&D nurse.  And my husband, God bless him, was so kind and attentive.  He rubbed my back, lightly tickled my legs, held me during contractions, told me I was beautiful and amazing at the height of the contractions...he even acknowledged that he would have been screaming for an epidural after the first contraction!

This continued until about 6 pm when I started feeling a lot of pressure and the doctor was called.  After a quick check she said it was show time! Everyone got into position and I began to push, and push, and PUSH! After a while of pushing my doctor noticed that with every push the baby's heart beat would go down a little, and she was concerned that the cord was wrapped around his neck.  With our permission she used the vacuum to help get him out while I pushed. One word....OWE!!!! After several more pushes and A LOT of pain our little guy was here!!! He was quickly placed on my chest where he let out one hell of a scream! This was music to my ears since there was concern with him being only 36 weeks that his lungs may not be developed fully.  After the initial scream he became very quiet and started looking around. The NICU team took him to do their assessment of him since he was premature.  He was perfect! His APGAR was a 9! My husband was crying and so was I, our little guy was finally here and most importantly he was healthy!

The NICU team was actually very surprised with how good he was doing, he didn't need to spend any time in the NICU! He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long, even four weeks early he was almost as big as his big sister was at birth!! I was also very proud of myself for doing a natural childbirth, and experience I had dreamed about since I was little. It was so amazing to see and feel just how strong of a person I am and exactly what my body is capable of doing!

We stayed at the hospital for two days and then went home where we introduced Isabella to her little brother. Our little family is perfect! The following two weeks have been a whirlwind with a bout of jaundice that is not under control, pumping and formula issues that have thankfully been resolved, and just getting use to the new family dynamic.  I am so grateful for this new little blessing and the blessing that is my family. I am so grateful for every ones health and for my quick recovery. I am grateful for my amazing hubby for taking two weeks off of work and doing everything he can to help me out and give me a smooth transition to two kids. I am loving this time of my life and can't wait to see what's in store for us now. And I can't wait to get back into a routine!!!!

Family Fun Day at Medieval Times

I know it's been VERY quiet over here these past few days, and I will get into all of that on my next post. But before I went on blogging hiatus I had planned on writing about our fun family trip to Medieval Times. My husband and I decided last Friday (September 5th) to take our daughter for her first trip to Medieval Times as a special treat before she became a big sister.  We didn't tell her anything about it until we were in the car...and boy was that too early! For the next hour and a half all we heard about was the princesses and knights and horses....literally nothing else. We were happy she was so excited, but having to explain and re-explain what a knight is and what exactly it was we were going to do at this place was pretty exhausting, but it was great seeing her so excited.  Of course the first thing we had to do was take a tour around the castle, Isabella LOVED the horses she had to see every single one!

Then we of course had to go and get a flag to represent our knight's colors, we knew we couldn't cheer him to victory without it! Isabella was so excited and was LOVING it when the king made his

announcements and gave us instructions. She cheered  just as loud as everyone else! And then we were able to go inside and get to our seats!  We decided to upgrade to the royalty package since it was her first time and we wanted to give her the best experience possible, so we were able to sit right in front! We were so close that when the knights began their competition they raised this net in front of us to prevent dirt from getting kicked into our food! Isabella was so excited she could barely sit still!!!  She was waving her flag and screaming "wooohooo" so loud my husband and I could barely talk! We kept laughing about how excited she was even though she had no idea what was going to happen. It was so awesome to see the pure joy in her eyes and it made me so grateful that we are able to do these fun sper-of-the-moment things with her like this. I was actually really surprised with how open she

was to eating all the different food they were serving, and to eating with her hands! Normally Isabella

 very quick to wipe her hands when they get dirty while she eats, but I guess the atmosphere got to her and she dug right in! For those of you who have never been to Medieval Times, your dinner is a "typical" medieval feast that is supposed to be period correct (minus the soda) so there are no utensils! As dinner got underway we were introduced to the knights! We had the black and white knight and boy did Isabella cheer him on!  After every contest the knight(s) that won received some flowers from the princess to give to some fair maidens in the stands.  Whenever out knight received the flowers Isabella began screaming and cheering trying to get his attention.  She was so bummed when she didn't get a flower from him, but she held it together. But then when our knight won the final competition he was able to select one fair maiden become the Queen of the Tournament and he chose Isabella!!!!  She got a flower from him and a sash that showed her new title and the knight was going to battle in her name! She was so excited she slept in her sash!  Our knight ended up not winning the tournament competition which in hind-sight I think it was kind of good for her. Isabella hasn't had that much experience with competitions and loosing, so I like that she was able to see that she could still have fun even if she didn't win at something. There I go again, finding teaching opportunities in everything!! Isabella was especially excited when the orange and red knight got to fight the "bad guy" I swear, I have never heard her cheer so loud...and boo!! After the tournament was over and the orange and red knight was victorious over the evil knight we left the arena.  Of course we had to go and do another round of looking at every single horse in the stalls.  Then we went and got some pictures with 

 the king and princess and our knight.  Isabella was so excited to meet a "real princess" and king. She was so excited she became extremely shy. And if you know my little girl, shy is a word one would most definitely NOT use to describe my daughter.  Eventually she worked up the courage to actually talk to the princess, take a picture, and ask for a hug. Then we went to our knight.  Again she was a shy, but not as much as with the princess.  And of course my little princess is so well mannered she made sure to thank the black and white knight for making her queen of the tournament! The knight was so nice to her and really made her night! I am so happy we were able to give her this amazing experience and can't wait to come back again and see how she reacts now that she knows what it's all about.  The final picture on the left basically sums up our night. She had so much fun she crashed before we made it to the freeway (I was actually quite impressed she lasted that long).  Not only did she pass out within minutes of getting in the car, but she was so exhausted she actually slept in the next morning!! I love times like this where we get to make fun family memories that will stay with all of us forever.

Yummy Candles

Okay, so I am a BIG fan of candles, really anything that smells great, but especially candles.  I had never thought of all natural candles until recently. I've been doing a lot of all natural homemade products and just got to thinking about what's in a regular candle.  It's actually pretty hard to find out since ingredients aren't listed on candle jars, however asking the employees at your local candle store should be able to tell you what's in the candles you are looking to purchase.  However, according to Green America: 

"A candle with a lead-core wick releases five times the amount of lead considered hazardous for children and exceeds EPA pollution standards for outdoor air, says the CPSC, which is why they banned lead wicks in 2003. Exposure to high amounts of lead has been linked to hormone disruption, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and numerous health problems. 

If you think you may still have lead-wicked candles in your home, see below for a simple test.

In addition, you’ll want to look out for aromatherapy candles made of paraffin—a petroleum by product—which release carcinogenic soot when burned. The soot can also cause respiratory problems and will aggravate the conditions of those who already have asthma, lung, or heart problems.

“Burning an aromatherapy candle made of paraffin is similar to preparing a healthy drink of fresh squeezed juice and adding a shot of gasoline,” says Eric Johnson of Candleworks, an Iowa City, Iowa based company that specializes in wholesaling nontoxic aromatherapy candles.

Besides endangering your health and that of your family, soot from paraffin wax can cause significant damage to the inside of your house, plus your computers, electrical appliances, and ductwork.

“Some families have reported so much soot damage that they have filed insurance claims, only to find such damages aren’t covered in their policies,” says natural living expert Debra Lynn Dadd, author of Home Safe Home.

And if that weren’t enough, aromatherapy candles that are scented with synthetic oils release microscopic particles that can cause cancer and other health problems when inhaled. 

Natural Candle Alternatives
There are no rules or bans in the works for paraffin candles and those scented with synthetic oils. In the meantime, you don’t have to give up candles altogether.

• Buy 100 percent beeswax candles with cotton wicks, which are free of toxins. Beeswax can cost as much as six times the price of paraffin, so many candle manufacturers blend paraffin with their beeswax to cut costs. Be sure your candles say 100 percent beeswax on the label.

• Buy candles made from 100 percent vegetable-based waxes, which are also nontoxic. For example, Way Out Wax in Morrisville, Vermont, makes their candles with a combination of vegetable wax and hemp oil wax.

• To reduce soot, no matter what kind of wicks are in your candles, trim wicks to 1¼4 inch, and do not burn candles near a draft."

The No-Lead Test 
To find out whether a candle has a lead wick, follow these steps:

1) Look for a “lead-free” label when shopping for new candles.

2) For unburnt candles, rub the tip of the wick on a piece of paper. If it leaves a gray mark, like a pencil, the wick contains a lead core. If you’ve already purchased the candle, take it back to the store and tell the manager why you’re demanding a refund.

3) For candles that have already been burned, you should just throw out any that have metal cores as a precaution. Simply look at the tip of the wick and see if it has a metal core. If you still
can’t tell, peel back some of the cotton. 

I've also had some great success with soy wax candles as well, they are all natural, don't release soot, and burn at a slower rate than regular candles so they last a long time.  According to So Many Candle Waxes-What's the Difference Soy wax has many benefits and the only "cons" are related to it being a difficult substance to work with for candle makers:

"Soy wax is hydrogenated soybean oil.  Yes, soy candles come from the same plant as tofu.  Crazy, huh?  Soybeans are incredibly versatile plants.  They can be used for pretty much everything.  They're like the duct tape of the plant world.  The advantages of soy wax are:

• it's a sustainable resource (one day we'll run out of petroleum, but we're never going to run out of dirt, water, and sunlight),

• getting soybean oil doesn't require mining and does not harm the Earth or cause habitat destruction,

• it's biodegradable,

• it's made from American soybeans so it stimulates the US economy and makes money for our hard-working and often underpaid farmers, and

• it's *much* easier to clean up when you spill it on something (just warm water and soap and a little rubbing and it's gone). 

• except for paraffin, it's the cheapest wax around

Disadvantages of soy wax:

• Soy wax molecules don't grab onto fragrance oil molecules as well as paraffin (yeah, yeah, so "grab" isn't a very scientific word, I know) and this means that some fragrance oils simply do not work in soy wax.  I don't know enough chemistry to know why some scents work great and some don't work at all, it seems pretty random and requires a lot of experimentation.  Soy candles can be strongly scented with fabulous scents, and can be scented with most of the same scents used in paraffin, so as long as you're the customer instead of the candlemaker you don't have to worry about this one.

• Most regular candle dyes can't make strong colors in soy.  So you'll need to either buy specially formulated dyes designed for soy wax, or learn to love pastels.

• Soy wax can make great candles, but it's a lot harder to get the hang of and can cause beginners to give up in frustration.

• In its pure form, it has a much shorter burn time.  Add stearic acid to boost the burn time.

• Not as good for wax tarts/scent tarts/wax potpourri as other waxes.

• Some people are allergic to it.

Good uses for soy wax:

• Pretty much everything!  The only thing soy wax isn't very well suited to is scent tarts.  But don't worry nature lovers, mixing soy wax with other plant waxes can solve this problem.

• A good choice for when you need a large number of candles on a small budget. 

• Large candles, as they would be much more expensive made from another wax."

So with this information in hand I decided to look for more natural candles to use in my home. I mean, if I'm spending all of this time making my own homemade cleaning products and switching to organic food to make sure my family is safe, how could I not look for better options to get my relax on!? As I said before, you can always ask your local candle store employees what the candles are made of, and also going to your local small, mom and pop candle store will most likely give you a larger selection of all natural, lead-free candles.  I was really lucky because I didn't have to go very far to find soy candles that I really liked that smelled AMAZING. I actually stumbled on them after my daughter's music class at Earth Baby Boutique I was just doing some window shopping and stumbled on these amazing homemade candles by a local mama! These candles are handmade by

 

Two Birds of a Feather  and are wonderfully scented, soy based candles. I purchased these two at Earth Baby Boutique, but if you don't live in southern California you can buy directly from Two Birds of a Feather and have these absolutely yummy candles delivered straight to your home!  These candles seriously smell SO good, they are probably some of the best smelling candles I've ever had, AND the smell is great both when they're lit and when they're not lit.  I don't know how many candles I have that smell great once I open the jar, but after I light it the smell quickly dissipates and I can't smell anything until I close the lid and let the scent accumulate in the jar again.  I haven't had this situation at all with these candles, I light them and the smell stays strong throughout the entire time I have them on. Yes, my nose habituates to the smell a little, but I can always smell the scent, it never fully goes away.  I've also just left the lid open and not lit the candle and had the same

lasting smell as when it's lit.  This is especially helpful when I want to have a nice scent by my bed while I read or go on the computer before bed, but don't want to light a candle just in case I fall asleep.  On top of the wonderful smell from the candles, I LOVE knowing that I am not exposing myself or my family to any harmful chemicals while I try to relax-that's the best part in my opinion! I will definitely be purchasing these candles again, either from Earth Baby or from the Two Birds of a Feather website, especially for their holiday scents!  I hope all of you found this informational, and I hope I gave you a good start in your search for amazing all natural candles! Let me know what your favorite all natural candle/melt brands are. And yes, Two Birds of a Feather also creates melts for burners!

Catching Up

I know it's been pretty quiet around here these past couple days and I'm sorry about that guys, but it's just been SO crazy this past week! It all started last Thursday night when I started feeling some pretty intense contractions that were about 10 minutes apart.  I thought that this may be "IT" so the hubby and I stayed up timing, walking and waiting, and while the contractions where hard and consistent they never became more intense or closer together. So we decided to try to get some rest.  I couldn't rest at all with contractions coming so often, but then around 1am the contractions stopped...they just STOPPED! I was so confused because these were NOT Braxton Hicks, I knew that for sure. So I ended up going to bed.

The next morning I woke up bright and early and packed my daughter up into the car and headed for my ultrasound appointment downtown.  I was feeling pretty good, minus a sore tummy, so I thought that the night before had been a fluke and thought nothing more of it.  Once I arrived at the doctors I realized that there was a scheduling mix-up, so my ultrasound wasn't going to happen that day. I decided to call my OB just to let her know what happened the night before, and she told me to go straight to labor and delivery for observation.  I have to admit I was freaking out A LOT, I called my husband in tears and he said he would be right over. I took my daughter and we went to the L&D floor and I was brought in.  At around noon the contractions started up again and they were INTENSE! The nurses checked me and I had dilated 2cm in two hours! The contractions were intense, lasting for more than a minute, and were about 5 minutes apart. My doctor said that I was moving into active labor and she thought I would be having the baby that day! I was 35 weeks and we decided that we wouldn't do anything to stop the delivery or help it along, we wanted my body to do what it needed to do. So I was admitted, my hubby took our daughter back home and got all of our hospital bags that I never put in the car because I thought I had a lot more time, and came back to the hospital.  Again the contractions lasted until 1am and then stopped and I had made NO PROGRESS. WTF!?!?!?! 

The next day the contractions started again and my doctor had us walk around L&D for an hour and a half! She wanted to see if I was truly in labor.  When I didn't dilate any more she diagnosed me with prodromal labor, which is basically extended early labor.  The doctor said it could last a couple days to a couple weeks! So my husband and I decided to leave the hospital so I could labor at home and just let my body do its own thing. When I got home I realized how much I still 

needed to do to get ready for the baby. I went through all my supplies and realized that while I have a bunch of newborn cloth diapers I didn't have enough one size cloth diapers for when baby Charlie gets bigger! I quickly went to the Earth Baby Boutique website, checked out their inventory, and then called in my order.  One of the ladies at the store lives close to me so she actually dropped off my order on her way home from work! I seriously love this place SO much-mommies helping mommies!  I then spent the rest of the night prepping my new diapers and making sure I had everything "just right" because I was SURE that this baby would be coming soon! Fast forward one week later and I am STILL having contractions and I have not dilated any more! This kid is going to be my "difficult" child I'm sure! BUT he's doing good in there and

 in the end, that's all I really want, it's just these contractions are emotionally and physically draining! I've been trying to keep our regular schedule and just work through the contractions all week, which I guess is good practice for a successful natural childbirth so that's good.  I took Isabella to dance class and we started a new 6 week music class at Earth Baby Boutique that Isabella absolutely LOVES! I can't wait for her next class.  Today I also started my first semester of MOPS (moms of preschoolers) and I am SO excited to be a part of this group of ladies! Everyone at my table seems so nice, and I am so excited to be able to make some great, close, mommy friendships where we support and guide each other.  I seriously can't wait for our next meeting in two weeks!! The only downside with all of this craziness is I am WAY behind on my housework-ugh. I plan on working on it tomorrow and trying to catch up. I don't want the baby to come home to a messy house! OH! Something else that happened this week, Isabella is becoming quite the academic! She is doing so great with her school work AND even ASKED for homework on Tuesday!!! I sat next to her while she did her work all by herself, she literally would not let me touch the papers! I was very impressed with how much her tracing and coloring in the lines has improved! We work in some pre-k books at home, but for those she usually asks for help, or at least lets me help her, so I was very impressed with her independence and her abilities. She was so proud to show her daddy and put her homework in her backpack to give to her teacher, made my heart swell.

   

Well that's the quick overview of all the craziness that's been going on here lately.  I have filmed some new videos as well, I just need to edit and upload them and then (once the housework is caught up) I will be back on track. I am now 36 weeks so hopefully the little guy decides to make his appearance in the next week or so, because my back is killing me!!!

DIY Air Freshener

So, I don't know about all of you, but I am OBSESSED with making my house smell absolutely yummy! LOL. With a husband, toddler, and two dogs it can be a struggle to keep my home smelling absolutely perfect all the time.  I try to do as many all natural products as I can to help keep my home smelling great. I LOVE my DIY Febreeze to keep my household linens, couches, and pillows smelling awesome, my DIY carpet freshener does an amazing job at keeping my rugs and bedroom carpets smelling great and fresh for when the family is playing on the floor, and of course the essential oils in my all purpose cleaner keeps all of my hard surfaces smelling great too, (don't worry I use the same scented oils for all of the products). BUT, I was having a hard time finding an air freshener that I really liked.  I was using the air-wick air freshener with two compartments with different smells in each which makes it so you can always smell the scent.  This is really important to me since I mainly use these in my kitchen by the trash, in the bathrooms, and of course by the diaper pail (eww).  But, I always hated that they weren't all natural, I didn't like that with all the efforts I've been making to keep my home as free of harsh chemicals as possible, that I was shoving chemicals into the air, just to make it smell good! So, once my air-freshener containers ran out I decided to experiment with ways to make an all natural air freshener that actually worked. I was so excited to get it right on my first try, AND it's SUPER easy!!!!!

Materials:

1) Empty Air-which air freshener

2) Essential oils

3) Water

Instructions:

Okay, so this is so easy you don't even need official steps! First you want to separate the part of the air freshener that actually holds the liquid. All you have to do is pull the glass section (that holds the liquid) apart from the plastic top-this will have the holes where the smell comes out of. Then you want to open the glass container. You may need to put a little muscle into this, but be careful not to break the glass or the lids/sponges that pull the liquid up to the plastic part of the container.  Once the container is open, I washed the sponges as best I could to remove an residual smell from the original oils. I then filled both sides of the glass container about 2/3 of the way full and then added about 40 drops of essential oils into each side. I chose spearmint for one side and lavender for the other. If you are using essential oils that have a weaker smell you can put more oil into the water to make the smell stronger, and visa versa for stronger smelling essential oils.  Once the oils are in put the sponges and caps back onto the top of the glass container and make sure it is secure.  I then shook the glass container gently to help mix the essential oils and water together. The water will be cloudy once shaken and that is fine. Then you just put the glass container back into the plastic top and plug in the air-freshener. See, super easy!!  

I really like this air freshener for a couple reasons:

1) It's all natural (can't beat that).

2) You can manipulate the water/essential oil ratio to get the exact strength you want

3) You can customize the smells for what works for your family, needs, and the smells of the other products you use.

4) The smell you get is very subtle and not too overwhelming, which I find the commercial products can be.

I hope you guys found this helpful! Let me know what other home products you would like to see DIY all natural substitutes for, I love to experiment!!! And if you want more information on essential oils, click here.