Whole Health Dietitian — Tastefully Fueling Active Transportation
Over the past several weeks, I’ve had second thoughts about that whole,”Oh, we can just fit a third person into our one-bedroom apartment,” thing. My rationale going in was, sure, we’re adding an additional person, but a very small person, and we’re committed to minimizing stuff for that person, so it will be no big deal, right? Not exactly.
It’s not as much an issue of space for stuff as it is of living vs. sleeping space.Continue reading “Two’s company”
Or not. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that title, but if you really want to know how to make a placenta smoothie, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I opted for the much more palatable encapsulation.
The Placenta — To Eat or Not To Eat
I first heard about placenta encapsulation in our childbirth education class. I initially thought encapsulation was just a way to save the placenta, kind of like cord blood banking. Not exactly.Continue reading “How to make a placenta smoothie”
I’m a bit overdue for this post — the “three months” part of the title is quickly becoming dated — time to write! We’ve made a good bit of progress since my first Elimination Communication (EC) post. While he’s still most definitely in diapers, Gabriel pees and poops on his potty regularly when we’re at home, and we’ve had some 24-48 hour stretches with only one or two wet diapers 🙂
I’m not amazing at reading his pee signals (if he’s giving them), so pee catches involve putting him on the potty at regular times: when he first wakes up, right after a meal, if he’s hanging out and it’s been awhile since a pee, etc. Poop signals are easier to read, but I still hesitate to interrupt a good feeding to rush him onto the pot.
The biggest issues at present? Diaper rash and the daycare dilemma.Continue reading “Psst, psst: EC at three months”
In a recent post, I mentioned the possibility of starting another blog, one entitled Blue Green Mama. While I don’t intend to start another blog, the title is worth a post, because it alludes to postpartum adjustment issues.
Ironically, I started reading blogs, and later writing my own, because of a blogger who wrote very openly about her own struggles with postpartum depression. Yet, when my blues set in 2-3 weeks postpartum, my initial reaction was denial. I’ve taken psychology classes, my mom’s a social worker, I’m somewhat familiar with the depression screening inventories – nope, not me. Sure, there are some pretty low lows, but sometimes I feel okay, and I’m still getting out of bed in the morning, and semi-functioning, and I’m an exhausted new mom . . . this is normal, right?
Normal only in the sense that many women experience some form of “baby blues,” but not in the sense that it’s okay, or just something I had to struggle through on my own. However, in my denial, struggling through it on my own is more or less what I did for several weeks.
Gabriel’s smiles finally snapped me out of my denial. He started smiling around nine weeks, this adorable little grin, yet I found myself so emotionally drained that I often couldn’t return those smiles, and that made me feel even worse. Until that point, I didn’t think my problem affected anyone other than me, but now it limited my ability to interact with my baby.
I contacted Mother-to-Mother, a local postpartum adjustment resource, and started to realize that maybe I didn’t have to feel this way – I only wish that I’d made the call earlier. After calls to various counselors, wading through insurance coverage issues, and some deliberation, I settled on seeing an “out-of-network” counselor who came highly recommended.
I’m pretty sure (and this is not just the denial speaking) that I don’t have full-blown postpartum depression, but some degree of postpartum adjustment disorder. Either way, there is help available — I don’t have to feel this way. I started counseling last week, and while it won’t happen overnight, things ARE going to get better.
To say the past twelve weeks have been a blur would be putting it VERY mildly. We naively expected that we would accomplish any number of tasks during our maternity/paternity leaves.
I planned to give some serious attention to blogging, including purchasing a domain name and turning this blog into a more official site. Instead, I’ve barely had time to write, or even read favorite blogs, much less expand things here.
While I love reading “mommy blogs,” I really did/do not want this to veer in that direction. To that end, I considered starting another baby-specific blog (proposed name: Blue Green Mama), so I could stay on-topic here. On the other hand, my goal here is to share stories and inspiration on sustainable and healthy living from my own life, which, like it or not (let’s be honest, it depends on when you ask), now involves being a mom.
Becoming a parent really drives home the whole “what are we leaving for future generations” argument for sustainability. Yesterday, we had a naming ceremony for Gabriel at the Ethical Society, and the platform topic just-so-happened to be global warming, sustainability, and social justice (our completely haphazard, hey, let’s do this next Sunday form of “planning” worked amazingly well). Listening to the well-delivered message, which I’ve heard plenty of times before, took on new meaning as I looked into my son’s eyes.
While I now more fully appreciate how lack of time can be a significant barrier to behavior change (whether a health-related behavior, or a “green” behavior), it seems more important than ever to stay committed to a sustainable lifestyle and advocate for larger scale change.
Her Green Life