Monday, January 9, 2012

Pregnancy?Diet? Labor delivery,? How important is it all?

When I wrote my first and only blog over a year ago I did warn readers that I wasn't a good blogger, and that includes being inconsistent, (good thing I hardly had any readers) but here I am again making a second attempt. This time I will be back sooner. So tonight I want to talk about pregnancy, pregnancy diet, and labor and delivery choices. I will be discussing many of theses topics through the stories of my own experiences so I hope you enjoy.

I'm feeling a little discouraged and disillusioned with the natural birth movement right now. Maybe not the movement, but people in my life who know me and have access to me as a plethora of knowledge on birthing naturally yet choose to birth in hospitals and take medications during pregnancy and do every and anything their doctors or insurance companies tell them to do. Even people who I think would birth naturally, seem to do most other things naturally and organic, when it come to birthing its another story. I mean I was raised by the mom who birthed in a hospital strapped to an O.R. table screaming and eventually sedated, who didn't breast feed, and did not support any of my decisions to birth naturally. I also grew up constantly going to the hospital, getting all of my vaccinations, eating meat and going to school. I turned out to be an all right person, but one who hasn't fallen victim to all of the programing of society and who does the complete opposite. Its just a wonder to me how people who know better don't do better.

When I was pregnant with my first child, who is now 11 I was just coming into myself as a natural woman. I had not to long ago became a vegetarian and the back slid because of a guy. This same guy who was responsible for my condition suggested that I get Ina May Gaskins Book "Spiritual Midwifery" when I brought up to him the option of taking a "Lamaz" class with me. He said why don't you think of a more natural way to go." So within a week we found the book at one of my favorite book stores in DC and purchased it. That book was my bible throughout my pregnancy and the ones following and half way through the book I vowed to never birth in a hospital ever, and I never have. So why is it that all I had to do was read a book about people who I have no connection with, yet people who, know me and have me as a friend, and some who claim to be so anti establishment, and all natural and organic, lay the most natural process of their life over to a money grubbing establishment, that is in every way opposite to nature and who only care about profits and not what happens to you or your baby. In fact most of the practices and rituals around hospitals births are design to cause disruption to the natural order of things thus causing harm to the impeding birth. Which forces farther interventions which eventually makes them more money, but that's a topic for a later blog.

So my good friend is pregnant now, she is due at the end of March, we were friends many years ago when I lived in California and then lost contact and then reconnected about two years ago when she came to visit Boston. I always thought of her as an all natural culture mama, who when faced with pregnancy would eat all the healthy foods, even be a vegetarian and for sure birth at home or at least in a birth center. Now that its actually a reality in her life she has completely gone the opposite way. She is allowing her health insurance and her doctors and "friends and family" to tailor her birth around whats convenient to them and ultimately what is less scary, and easier for her. I mean I know having your first baby is scary, I know I was there, and life brought us many changes so shes not the natural rootsie, organic, vegitarian, mama that she use to be and thats fine, but she is still very aware of the detriments of hospital births, and really wanted to home birth, but didn't have the support she needed and her insurance wouldn't pay for a birth center birth. They also convinced her that here sugar is uncontrollably high, although I told her to take brewers yeast (which is a natural way of eliminating diabetes) and changer her diet. The brewers yeast she claims "taste nasty" and its "too hard" to take, and to changing her diet she says she tried and; "I need to be able to eat what I want.and can afford.so I'm shooting up"In other words they put her on insulin and she'd rather take insulin injections then change her diet. Wow, I love you my old friend, but I mean isn't whats the very best for your baby worth the sacrifice. I remember do my best to eat super healthy when I was pregnant. I mean its really difficult, what with all the cravings and stuff. I mean I could have done what better, but I did try. My sugar was high too. 276 at one point, but I never went to the doctors, I was never put on drugs and my baby was born 8.5 lbs. I got my sugar down to 96 all on my own. I changed my diet, took my brewers yeast and walked. and that sugar came right down. Again it was difficult but I did it. I went from eating hash browns, in the morning, french fries with my lunch and some other form of starch for dinner to eating steamed greens and steamed fish or a grain like Qunoa or something. I mean I like to eat as much as the next person and especially while I'm pregnant. My goal was to only eat raw while I was pregnant, I couldn't do it, but I did the best I can. So maybe that's the best that she could do and I should accept that, but I'm a little discouraged and disillusioned, why don't women want to birth naturally, why don't they want to change there nutritional intake to create the best environment for their babies. Why do we want to put the control of our bodies in the hands of others who don't care about our well being. I know its scary but we are built to do it. We can do it and I'm here to tell you that YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ARE WOMAN THE MOST POWERFUL CREATOR ON THIS PLANET!!!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

What is a Baby in The Raw?

Hello world,
I've been meaning to start this blog for some time now, and haven't done it. I'm not quite the blogger, but I'm hoping to become one. I thought it had to be eloquent and masterful writing...then I started reading some other peoples blogs, and was like, "hey, I can do this." So here I am at 1:30 am ready to speak upon a subject that is very dear to me.

So what is a Baby in the Raw. Well when I first came up with this concept, my son was almost two years old. He was a complete raw foodist (as much as a baby can be). What I mean is that he only fed on Breast Milk (which is raw) and raw fruits (mostly) some vegetables, and some nuts and raw grains. He was intelligent and plump, and he still is. I wanted to write about it, because when I search on line for feeding babies on a raw diet, I couldn't find ANYTHING! ok well I exaggerate, I could only find one short video clip that showed a man feeding a baby some raw sea plankton or something. I thought wow, that's awesome, now if only I can get me some of that, but I never did, didn't quite think my baby would fill up on that, and it was probably really expensive. So I continued to feed him breast milk, mostly avocados, and raw oatmeal from time to time. I use to make him milk from Cashew, till I found out it was mucus forming, and moved him to hemp milk. But a Baby is the raw is not just a baby who eats raw food, its much more then that. All babies should be a baby in the raw. My baby is a baby in the raw.

A Baby In The Raw is a baby who is born at home, unassisted by any medical intervention or personnel, like my baby was. Just at home with his mommy and daddy and sister and brother. A Baby in the raw is one who is exclusively breastfed for at least 7 months or more, like my baby was. Only breast milk, no formula, no juice and not even any water (if he seemed a little dehydrated and I was too, I'd give him a little tiny bit of water.), He's also breast fed for at least two years, like my baby was. A baby is the raw is a baby who sleeps in the bed with his parents, and not in a crib, which alludes to a prison cell. A baby in the raw wears cloth diapers (mine only did sometimes), and is carried in a sling and not pushed in a stroller, so he can learn closeness and language skills from his mama, and he's a baby who does not receive and Any immunization shots, just like my babies. And when he gets old enough for school, this Baby in the Raw is home schooled, like my baby will be. As these babies get older they will become children in the raw, Raised, naturally, healthy, loving, closely, and with strong moral fiber, but mostly, naturally, as close to God as God made him.

Its a very difficult path in this society, raising raw children, but it can be done. A network and a good support system is important, but I will do my best through this blog to share with you, tips resources and ideas on how to raise a Baby in the Raw.