Meet Mama Earth! She’s bigger than a bread basket but smaller than a mouse. She’s here, there and everywhere. She sees you when you’re sleeping, and she’s very quiet because she knows that doesn’t happen very often! Mama Earth’s hands create beauty in the world, and can wipe away the smallest teardrop or gild the farthest star. Her feet can tread gently as a butterfly or chase down the fastest toddler as she helps you find and walk your own true path. She possesses clarity of vision and sees goodness all around, but you should know she also has eyes in the back of her head, so don’t try any tricks! Her bosom can rest a weary head, is a home for the heartbeat of the world, and naturally nurtures the smallest bee and the largest elephant.

Mama Earth is here at Earth Mama Angel Baby. Let’s have some fun!

Did you know that “castile” is just a way to describe a style of soap, not a particular brand? That little fact often comes as a surprise to many people.

Castile soaps are “real” soap: balanced, naturally sudsy, with a natural pH high enough that they don’t require the addition of synthetic surfactants or preservatives. Real soap is pretty simple stuff, and it’s very simply made. No artificial ingredients, no detergents, no pesticides needed, just pure, clean soap for cleaning your family head to toe.

But real soap’s amazing-ness doesn’t stop there! It has so many different uses, that you can’t help but save money when you’re able to eliminate multiple household products with a few simple changes.

1) Whip up some all-purpose soft scrubby cleanser.

Real soaps clean from head to toe, but would you believe from “head” to kitchen? Perfect for making a safe and super effective DIY scrub that cleans your whole house, stem to stern. You’ll be tackling kitchen counters, sinks, toilets and tile, plus birdbaths, coffee stains in ceramic mugs, scuffmarks on woodwork before you know it! And all without the cancer-causing, endocrine-disrupting, asthma-inducing chemicals that are often legally undisclosed on the labels of commercial cleaning products.

Round up four simple ingredients to make a non-toxic scrubby cleanser, including castile soap, baking soda, a few drops of essential oil and lemon juice or vinegar.

See the full recipe and how-to video here.

2) Make your own diaper wipe solution.

Making homemade baby wipes takes just a few minutes of work and saves loads of money. You can make them with cloth, so they are reusable, or with paper towels if you need disposables. As an added bonus, the wipe solution can also be used as a diaper spray!

All you need to make your own wipes are washcloths or a roll of premium paper towels cut in half lengthwise, pure castile soap, Angel Baby Oil or olive oil, and water.

See the full recipe here.

3) Skip antibacterial soaps and wash grimy little hands with real soap.

Are you worried about the soap your kids will encounter at school? Many studies have proven that simply washing away the bacteria and viruses with soap and hot water is just as effective as using soaps made with antibacterial chemicals, like Triclosan – which is actually a pesticide. So instead of soaps filled with detergents, antibacterial pesticides and other worrisome ingredients, send the kids with their own pure soap! Detergent-free, organic castile soaps contain no artificial foaming agents, sulfates, Triclosan, preservatives, parabens, fragrance or dyes.

4) Mix up some homemade laundry detergent.

This all-natural laundry detergent recipe is safe for people and the earth, leaves your clothes smelling fresh, and costs about one-tenth what conventional laundry detergents do. For tough stains, use it full-strength as a pre-soak before washing.

DIY Laundry Detergent Recipe

1 cup vinegar (white)
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
1/4 cup any Earth Mama pure castile soap

Simply pour Earth Mama pure castile soap into a large mixing bowl, add the washing soda and baking soda, mix well. Then add the vinegar in small batches (fun foaming action will occur). Keep stirring! The thick paste will turn into a heavy powder detergent. Store in an airtight container. We hear that about 1/2 cup per full load yields great results!

Learn more  here.

5) Stomp out ants with a non-toxic spray.

Before you reach for that can of bug spray, consider that exposing your family and pets to chemical-laden pesticides can causes serious health problems. And there’s just no need for it because castile soap works to kill ants too – safe for you and your family, not so great for the ants.

All you have to do is fill a 8 oz. spray bottle with water, add 3 tbsp. of liquid castile soap and 10 drops of peppermint essential oil. Shake to mix it well, then spray it directly on crawling bugs and around the perimeter of your house, even in your flower box. Just be careful not to douse your plants, because peppermint oil is too strong to spray directly on them.

Castile soap is pure, safe, economical and versatile too!

By Jennifer Taggart, The Smart Mama

I’m speaking at The Divine Female, an event from yogitoes and The Yoga Beauty Bar for conscious beauty and breast cancer awareness, on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. about deciphering beauty ingredients.  I was talking to my mom about it, and she espoused a view held by many – that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) makes sure the beauty products we use are safe.

But that assumption is false.  In fact, despite the fact that most of us believe the FDA looks out for  us, when it comes to cosmetics, it really doesn’t. So I thought I would discuss a bit of background about the FDA.

The FDA is responsible for over-the-counter and prescription drugs and medical devices, biologics, food (except for meat, poultry, egg products, and the labeling of alcoholic beverages and tobacco) and food additives, radiological products, and cosmetics.  How the FDA oversees personal care products is the most relevant generally to this blog.

The FDA’s authority over cosmetics is relatively limited.  As explained on the FDA’s website, “FDA’s legal authority over cosmetics is different from other products regulated by the agency, such as drugs, biologics, and medical devices.”  FDA does not approve cosmetics ingredients before they are placed on the market, with the exception of certain color additives and a few substances are banned from cosmetics.  In fact, the FDA explains

“[i]n general, except for color additives and those ingredients which are prohibited or restricted from use in cosmetics by regulation, a manufacturer may use any ingredient in the formulation of a cosmetic provided that the ingredient and the finished cosmetic are safe, the product is properly labeled, and the use of the ingredient does not otherwise cause the cosmetic to be adulterated or misbranded under the laws that FDA enforces.”

The list of prohibited or restricted ingredients is amazingly short.  In comparison, the European Union list of prohibited or restricted chemicals is over 1,100 chemicals, although some of the chemicals would never be found in cosmetics.

Who determines whether a cosmetic is safe?  As explained on the FDA’s website, “[c]osmetic firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing,” and not the FDA.  In other words, no independent agency determines whether a product is safe.  In fact, the FDA doesn’t even define the criteria.  While the regulations provide that each ingredient must be adequately substantiated for safety prior to marketing, the FDA doesn’t provide clear guidance as to the meaning of “adequately substantiated” or “safety” for cosmetics.  If cosmetic companies don’t adequately substance a cosmetic product’s safety before marketing it, they are required to include on the label the following statement:  “Warning – The safety of this product has not been determined.”  But if there are no definitions or guidance, how does a company even determine whether a product complies?  In fact, the Environmental Working Group (“EWG”) states that it reviewed more than 20,000 cosmetic product labels and did not find a single one with the statement.  I’ve never seen such a statement either.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that cosmetics are inherently unsafe.  But, at least one study concluded that approximately 89% of the ingredients routinely used in cosmetics have not been assessed by the FDA or the industry.  According to the EWG, 98% of all personal care products contain one or more ingredients never publicly assessed for safety.

Who does review cosmetics ingredients?  The companies manufacturing beauty products may privately conduct their own assessments.  The cosmetics industry also relies upon the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (“CIR”).  The CIR was created by the cosmetic industry trade group to police the industry.  The CIR is funded by the member companies of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association and its recommendations regarding safety are just that, recommendations, not requirements, and can be ignored.  Also, the CIR’s focus is whether a cosmetic ingredient causes irritation or allergic reactions, not carcinogenicity or reproductive or developmental toxicity.  For an illuminating discussion of the CIR and the cosmetics industry, I highly recommend Stacy Malkan’s book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.

Not only does the FDA have no authority to approve cosmetics ingredients before products hit the market, the FDA is not authorized to require recalls of cosmetics.

The FDA is also responsible for food contact substances.  FDA’s regulation of food contact substances is also relevant to this blog (think BPA for example).  Food contact substances are those items that are not directly added to food, but are in contact with food, such as packaging materials.  If a new food contact substance is proposed, or a new use of an existing food contact substance is proposed, a manufacturer must give the FDA notice of it unless there are existing regulation related to the used or the substance or use is considered “Generally Recognized as Safe” (or “GRAS”).

This voluntary GRAS notification program was proposed in 1997.  In 1997, the FDA abolished its existing procedure by which it approved petitions to designate substances because the FDA did not have the resources to review and approve the petitions.  Under the GRAS notification process, a manufacturer informs the FDA that it has determined that a substance or use is GRAS, as opposed to petitioning the FDA to approve the use or a substance is GRAS.  As explained by the FDA, if the manufacturer’s determination is correct, the use or the substance is not subject to any legal requirement for FDA review and approval.  In fact, since the GRAS notification process is voluntary, a manufacturer may market the substance or use without informing FDA if the manufacturer determines it is GRAS or, if FDA is so informed, while FDA is reviewing that information.  Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?  As long as a manufacturer determines the food contact substance or use is GRAS, it can go ahead and market it.

What is “safe” for these regulations?  According to the implementing regulations, the term “safe” means “that there is a reasonable certainty in the minds of competent scientists that the substance is not harmful under the intended conditions of use.  It is impossible in the present state of scientific knowledge to establish with complete certainty the absolute harmlessness of the use of any substance.  Safety may be determined by scientific procedures or by general recognition of safety.”

So how does this voluntary GRAS notification process work?  Let’s look at one potentially relevant example.  If you’ve used or are using formula, you probably know  some manufacturers supplement their infant formula with DHA and ARA.  But, some manufacturers use DHA and ARA extracted from laboratory-grown fermented algae and fungus and processed with hexane, known as DHASCO and ARASCO, although not identified as such on the list of ingredients.  DHASCO and ARASCO are structurally different from the DHA and ARA found in breast milk.  The manufacturer of DHASCO and ARASCO submitted a notice to the FDA stating that DHASCO and ARASCO added to infant formula are GRAS.  The FDA responded to the notice that it had no further questions.  DHASCO and ARASCO are currently marketed in infant formula.  But, the FDA and the manufacturer recognize that some infants have adverse reactions from consuming infant formula with DHASCO and ARASCO such as diarrhea, bloating, vomiting, jaundice, apnea, flatulence, and other gastrointestinal problems.  Nevertheless, the manufacturer maintains they are GRAS, so the manufacturer is free to market them.  And these infant formula products are not labeled to indicate the presence of DHASCO and ARASCO (as opposed to DHA and ARA), so you can’t tell when buying formula.

So that is a bit about the FDA. More information to come on deciphering beauty ingredients.

Reprinted with permission from The Soft Landing

Have you ever been so bothered by an injustice that you wanted to drop everything and do something drastic about it?

That’s just what Ed Brown and his wife Lauren did when they learned that it’s perfectly legal for manufacturers to add thousands of un-proven, un-tested and un-labeled chemicals to the products we use every single day.   It was after Lauren suffered two miscarriages that they began asking, “What if the health problems we’ve encountered in our lives were due to environmental toxins and other chemicals that our bodies couldn’t handle?”

And then they stopped talking about it did something drastic:  they threw everything they had into documenting the problem of chemical exposures at low levels and introducing us to a new level of understanding about what this means.  Ed and Lauren believe we all deserve to know what is going into our bodies, and into the bodies of our children, so they’ve devoted themselves to working on the Unacceptable Levels film for the last three years.  And I’m excited about supporting their efforts, aren’t you?

Donate $1 for a Chance to Win the Grand Prize

Many of my favorite green companies have donated non-toxic products to create a Grand Prize to help drive the Unacceptable Levels IndieGoGo fundraising campaign (see the complete list below). The film is fully completed, but there’s much more work to be done before it can be distributed. The Unacceptable Levels team needs to raise $50,000 to help them get this film into theaters and to spread the word about hidden chemicals to mainstream Americans.

You’ll be automatically entered to win the entire bundle of prizes when you donate $1 or more to the project anytime between October 18 and November 6, 2012.  One winner will be drawn at the close of the campaign and announced on November 7, 2012. The contest is open to US residents only.

See What’s Included in the Grand Prize

The list goes on and on!  Don’t miss your chance to score some major goodies from these trustworthy companies.

Did you ever wonder what it takes to create one of Earth Mama’s beautiful, ethereal photos? Behind the scenes at an Earth Mama photo shoot you’ll find heavenly golden lighting, the mesmerizing music of waterfalls and soft bird calls, a sprinkling of enchantment, and 12 frazzled, frustrated adults trying to get the perfect shot while holding wings on a scampering toddler and enticing him with giggles, goofy faces and a plastic cupcake.

]]> http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/in-the-news/3198/feed 1 http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/in-the-news/honoring-breast-health http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/in-the-news/honoring-breast-health#comments Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:06:01 +0000 mamafier http://blog.earthmamaangelbaby.com/?p=3187

For information about breastfeeding and cancer see Best for Babes Stand up for Prevention. Prevention is the New Pink.

UPDATE

We have good news and other news! Michelle has TWO baby names that she really likes, that’s the good news! The other news is that she still hasn’t decided, so we don’t really have a winner but we have a booby prize (well not a full-on booby prize but somewhere around the breast area)! One of the names she likes nobody said, Keenan, so there’s no winner on that one. The other name was posted at least once so if you offered the name Ryder before noon Monday, raise your hand AND email CustomerCareMama {at} EarthMamaAngelBaby.com.

Think YOU have what it takes to name a baby? Well, do ya, mama? Let’s see if Michelle thinks you do! Our friend Michelle’s baby boy is due in November, and she’s having a rough time coming up with a name. So listen up and see the parameters and rules below: we’re throwing the baby-naming gauntlet at your feet! If Michelle chooses the name you post, we’ll announce the winner Monday afternoon and the winner can pick a favorite Earth Mama Bundle as a prize. If she doesn’t like any of the names, you all get sent to the Island of Terrible Baby Namers!

So, here are her parameters:
No names that start with B
Middle name: James
Has to sound good with Ella (his sister)

And the rules:
Add your name  suggestion in the comments below.
If Michelle chooses a name that lots of people have suggested, the first one who posted it wins.
Prize can be shipped to US addresses only.
It’s Michelle’s choice! If you get sent to the Island of Terrible Baby Namers it’s not our fault!
You can enter names until Noon, Monday, August 27. Winner (or losers) will be announced that afternoon!

Earth Mama®’s pure castile soaps clean from head to toe, but would you believe from “head” to kitchen? Perfect for homemade baby wipes, camping dish soap, and even a safe and super effective DIY scrub that cleans your whole house, stem to stern. Kitchen counters, sinks, toilets and tile, plus birdbaths, coffee stains in ceramic mugs, scuffmarks on woodwork, and more!

Safe, non-toxic Scrubby Cleanser can be made with any of Earth Mama’s pure, castile soaps. So safe, you can even let your kids clean the toilets! Click here to watch Mama’s own granddaughter show you how easy — and safe — a scrub can be!

by Sebdann Ingen Shinaig

When Earth Mama asked me to write a guest post, I wasn’t sure how. Was I writing about delayed PPD? Was I writing about birth trauma? Was I writing about the emotional effect of an unplanned cesarean? And how could I possibly separate any one of those things from the others when telling my story? I guess the only way, really, is to share my own journey of discovering and battling all of those things.

What follows are mostly excerpts from my journal, starting at almost 11 months postpartum. Every time I read over it, I’m still a little surprised at the changes I’ve gone through in one short year. From frustrated but-okay-with-it and resigned, to “what is wrong with me,” to “next time I will…” to rage, to fear, to obsession, to research. Despair, hope, progression, regression, cycles and circles and spirals… mostly spiraling up, these days.

At the beginning, I was consciously being very rational. I wasn’t one of those women over there who were depressed or traumatized by their cesareans. I simply had learned from the experience and was “fine.”

29 March, 2011 (11 months postpartum) – All in all, it wasn’t a horrible experience, and certainly not a traumatic one. And I healed so quickly and cleanly it’s ridiculous. But it’s not the experience I want for me, my husband, or the next baby we have.

A little while later, I started realizing that I might not be “fine,” and immediately felt tremendously guilty. What right did I have to be struggling when I had it so good?

25 June, 2011 (13.5 months postpartum) – Everyone says my healthy baby and healthy me are all that matters. I even said it for a year. Why isn’t it all that matters to me? Why am I so upset over DD’s birth when it was so long ago and I was fine at the time? Don’t I love her enough to make up for it? Why does it hurt now? Do I not love my baby enough? Nobody gets it. I feel so alone. And so stupid for sounding like an angsty teenager.

It’s funny how one person you don’t even know that well, saying the right thing at the right moment, can change everything.

2 August, 2011 (15 months postpartum) – Just before S left, she said something amazing. She gave me a hug and said, “It was good to see you, and I’m sorry you didn’t get the birth you wanted.” That was it. She didn’t add anything to it, she didn’t remind me of the silver lining, she just said she was sorry.

S’s words tore everything apart that I had so carefully constructed to keep myself safe from confronting the rage that I was so afraid to associate with my baby.

15 August, 2011 – It took me so long to realize that it was okay to love my baby and HATE how she was born. Every life is a pile of good things and bad things. For a long time, I thought the pile of good things was supposed to make the bad things not hurt. So I tried really hard not to let them. When sometimes they did anyway, I pretended they didn’t. And felt guilty that they did, and wondered if there was something wrong with me. I still wonder sometimes. After all, I failed at birth, and you don’t get more basic biological function that that, right? Am I also failing at loving my baby enough?

Somewhere in there I consciously realized the importance of my support network, and came far enough out of my hole to reach out to a select few.

19 September 2011 (16.5 months postpartum) – The next time I make the journey through birth and Motherhood, I will take with me the strength of those women I know who are strong in the ways I want and need to be strong, the women who’ve gone before me on this road, the women who are beside me on this road, the women I now know from experience will be strong for me when I’m not and hold me up as I learn how.

In early November, 18 months postpartum, I wrote a list of things I would say at my daughter’s birth if I could go back in time. I won’t go into it here, but it was extremely cathartic, full of expletives, and an important step in my healing.

Then on New Year’s Eve, my husband reduced me to sobs, in a good way. I still had not talked about any of this except to my sister, but somehow, subconsciously, he knew how much I needed to hear exactly what he said.

1 January, 2012 (20 months postpartum) – “I know I get frustrated, and I get distracted, and I’m not always there for you like I need to be. But I love you, and I love our daughter, and I love our life together. Do you know that? Do you know it all the time?”
Remember that moment. It means everything.

It was somewhere around this point that the obsession stage really took off. If I had asked for more information here, if I had refused an intervention there, then it would all have been different. Now I know it’s the bargaining stage of grief, but I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, that I was legitimately grieving the birth I had wanted. At any rate, when I obsess, I research. Among many other things, I ate up “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” and “Birthing from Within” in a matter of days, and came out with my head spinning. I had a wealth of information from Ina May, and a wealth of introspection from Pam England.

5 January, 2012 – Ironically, the very fact that I wasn’t at all nervous or scared of birth worked against me because I never ‘needed’ to do the research that would have given me the info to make and stand up for my decisions. I didn’t need anything for pain, so I was okay with following doctor’s orders for every other reason. I didn’t know risks to baby, or ‘cascade of interventions’ it could (and did) cause.

I now thought I had learned enough to order my medical records from the birth. I was pretty sure I knew what had gone wrong, what to do differently next time, and wanted to be sure there wasn’t anything I was forgetting or hadn’t known. And this is where I experienced my first regression. DD’s apgars at 2 and 5 minutes were 8 and 9. Wait… I thought she was in distress? This leads me to read over the labor notes. Turns out pretty much every time they told us something scary and advised an intervention, they were writing in my chart that everything was fine, even perfect. And when they were telling us things were fine, they were writing, “advise c-section.”

2 February, 2012 (21 months postpartum) – The part that the records showed me that I didn’t know before was that they weren’t just wrong, they lied to me. Before, I didn’t trust them to advise me correctly. Now, I don’t even trust them to tell me the truth so I can make my own decisions. I’m angry, and I’m hurt, and I feel like I’ve gone back months in the healing process.
I thought I was in a good place. I don’t want this. I need to be more than this, for my daughter, for my husband, for my friends, most of all for myself. More information usually makes me feel more solid, like I know where I am and can plant a foot firmly to start a journey. Now I just feel lost. I don’t even recognize myself some days. Birth fundamentally changes you, it’s supposed to, but not like this. Oh my god, this hurts.

About this time, I discovered the birth trauma community Solace for Mothers. The above is an excerpt from my first post there, and the responses were… simply amazing. I was sure I was insane. But here were women saying, “Yes, I felt just like that. Here’s how I got through it.” One in particular pointed out that for her, “knowledge of how someone else experienced or perceived the birth and recorded it didn’t do squat to change how I had perceived it.” The medical records were useful for what I intended them to be useful for, and were irrelevant to my emotional recovery. I’m recovering from my experience, not the doctor’s.

3 February, 2012 – Perfect words for the change of perspective I need to re-frame it. Not over, but I will work toward this. Easier said than done…

Talked to husband about this whole mess for the first time. Had a false start, but managed to get across to him that I don’t need him to fix it, I need him to hear me, know where I’m at, and why I’m crazy, know he thinks I do anything right. I need him to see how messed up in the head I am right now and know he still loves me, still respects me. I need him to see all my crazy and all my ugly and not run away. Because I’m doing enough running right now for both of us and I’m trying not to but it’s so hard and I need help.

Opening up isn’t easy for me. I wanted so badly to run away after that, to hide, to protect myself with layers of armor. I was so afraid. So, knowing myself, I did the opposite. I started seeing my massage therapist again, and let her know that I needed specific work on the physical damage resulting from my cesarean, and that I was leery of touch around the scar, and that I was likely to be an emotional wreck on her table sometimes. She’s awesome. It has helped so much.

31 March, 2012 (23 months postpartum) – I knew body work was my best way to heal what my mind does to my body. I’d forgotten what I always insist is true, that it goes both ways. Not only does my body chronicle what my mental/emotional state has done to me, but this yoga/massage process of healing my body is helping my mind. As J traces back through the layers of locked up tissue, unlocking places my body is physically holding on to, it gives me direction for where to direct my mind. First we worked on neck and shoulders. I had to work between treatments on sitting and standing tall, which meant I had to want to stand tall, I had to know I deserve to stand tall. I had to be proud confidently, not defensively. Then down into my hips and legs and lower back, all the areas surrounding the real damage, and I had to work on balance, symmetry, openness, uncircling my wagons, sort of.
We’re just starting to work on my belly. I hadn’t realized how tightly held I keep my abs until I had to consciously relax them for J to work. Even lying flat in my bed, the habits formed by the necessities of healing keep my core and my pelvic floor always some degree of flexed. And so I wound up lying on the massage table, yoga breathing through my belly and having to continually tell my muscles to relax. Just touch is enough to make me focus there, and I reflexively close up. So she gave me exercises to take home, and when I do them, focusing on breathing into my belly and relaxing that tissue, it makes me focus on the thoughts and emotions that go with it. But now instead of it being this overwhelming flood, there’s a system, an organization of sorts. Just like we have to unlock my body’s protective layers before we can work on the real damage, so I’m following along with my mind, also unlocking the layers of defense mechanisms to get to the hurt I really need to work on.
It’s not easy. It hurts, and it’s scary. I had a not-quite break-down moment after yesterday’s massage, and doing the little belly-focus exercises this morning is harder than I thought it would be. Now I have to face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me, and when it has gone, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. I think I understand those words and their meaning on a gut level more now than I ever have. I’ve been more afraid in the past year than I ever have. That inner eye part, that’s the rough part. Where the fear has passed, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

And then, a month later, less than a month ago, the light came on and I finally understood. I accidentally saw this article about a link between weaning and depression, and started googling like mad. There it was! There was all the information I needed a year ago when I was trying desperately to figure out why I was suddenly guanopsychotic, as it were.

28 April, 2012 – I had never head of ‘delayed postpartum depression’, but now the past year makes so much sense. With DD nursing less starting with the debacle of November 2010, my period started again, so I was dealing with those hormones. Then she went on that nursing strike in March 2011 and my mental state got tenuous, and then she totally weaned herself at a year and that’s when it all went really bad. ‘Oxytocin withdrawal’, and suddenly, too. Weird stages of grief: avoidance, obsession, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, rage… acceptance, I think, finally. Learning to love my baby-making apparatus again. I still grit my teeth at being naked with my scar showing, but I can grit my teeth and fight through it. I got some C-Mama salve and have been rubbing it in every day. It’s making me get to know it, sort of. How the tissue lies against the layers below it, how the hair grows funny over it. It’s part of me. It’s time I got around to understanding it as well as I understand the rest of my body, instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.
One good thing about the last year though, the silver lining I guess, is that the obsession stage combined with my research tendencies means that I now know more about the physiology of birth and how it’s supposed to work, than most women who’ve given birth multiple times. This puts me in a distinctly different position if and when we have another baby that I was in last time.
It’s not over yet. I’m still getting used to this me, and there are good days, bad days, and semi-uncomfortable days. But there are more good days (days where I don’t think about it or avoid it) than bad days now, and I’m getting better at turning the uncomfortable days into good days.
DD’s second birthday is next week, and we’re doing her party today. This long, hard year is over… Spring is here, and things are finally looking up.

One thing I realize now that I would have been truly lost without is my triumvirate of support. I’m lucky enough to have had my husband, my sister, and an old friend, who knew at various times, to various levels, what was going on.

My husband was there. He could not understand at all, he just loved me, even though I know it scared him, especially before I explained it all to him, when I just seemed inexplicably crazy. That let me have one thing somewhat solid, even when I was wondering why anyone would love me.

My sister… is amazing. I would have been so lost without her. She listened. She understood. She responded. She had a cesarean too, though in different circumstances, and it didn’t ruin her life, didn’t ruin her mothering. She gave me hope that it didn’t have to ruin mine. She didn’t make me explain when I didn’t make any sense, she validated my emotions, she supported me in my role as a mother, and she loved me.

My friend did not understand. She’s not a mother and doesn’t necessarily want to be. But she knows me inside out, we can communicate volumes without words a lot of the time, and I talk to her about this stuff when I know I need to be rational for a minute. She did make me explain, because she didn’t get it like my sister did, but she was outside it enough not to be scared of it.

So I had someone to give me a foundation, someone to hear all my crazy and ugly, and someone to help me organize the pieces. They’d probably all be shocked to learn how essential they were. Everyone else is shocked now when I tell them I’m finally coming out of a year of pretty severe depression. My facebook wall is full of delighted posts about my daughter’s shenanigans, and I was and am truly delighted by her. As I said just today to someone who was surprised by a rare post about a rotten day (today has not been one of the good or semi-uncomfortable ones so far), “Being depressed doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have fun. It doesn’t necessarily mean the sun never shines. Sometimes it just means you’re always wearing sunglasses.”

Ever wonder what was in our foremother’s first aid kit? We imagine her with a full array of roots and berries, herbs and oils tucked into her trusty animal-skin pouch. What did she keep around for cave boo-boos: the odd singe from the cooking fire, skinned knees from outrunning woolly beasts, or a massive splinter while on the family’s daily 12 mile walk?

Herbs have been used for thousands of years as plant medicine, and the traditional knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. The herbs below are essentials for any herbal first aid kit, and if you don’t have them in your own backyard, they are easily found at your local healthy foods market or online.

An important thing to remember about herbal medicine is that herbs are processed in your body like food. You need meals and snacks all day long to keep you nourished, and plant medicine works the same way. You can’t take an herb in the morning and expect it to be around when you go to bed. Nature’s medicine is not dispensed in little 12-hour time-release capsules; you need to replenish it just like you need to eat meals to keep you going.

Nausea and vomiting – There are very few up sides to feeling like you’re going to up-chuck. Fortunately, there are many herbs that can help your settle an urpy tummy. Ginger, Peppermint and Chamomile tea are all anti-nausea herbs that work wonders on the digestive system. Ginger is known for soothing nausea, and has even been clinically proven to be as effective as conventional over-the-counter drugs for motion sickness, and to safely reduce pregnancy nausea. During flu season, nibble some Ginger chews and sip a soothing cup of fresh Peppermint or Chamomile tea. And during a long car trip with the kids, try a safe aromatherapy mist with Ginger essential oil for a quick hit of tummy soothing goodness to ease the urps over a winding mountain pass.

Stress, sleeplessness, anxiety – However you slice it, the daily pressures of life are no piece of cake. When the deadlines come before you’re ready or when the kids are hyped up after an inopportune pre-bedtime wrestling match, Lemon Balm, Chamomile and Lavender will be your best herbal allies. All three of these herbs are shown to significantly reduce agitation for peaceful rest. A few drops of Lavender essential oil in the bathtub and on your pillows, and a calming cup of Lemon Balm and Chamomile tea will safely help settle overexcited kids and their exhausted mama too.

Seasonal allergies and hay fever – In the spring, before the trees and grasses are a-bloom, make sure you start taking dried Stinging Nettles capsules in preparation for the pollen filled air. This iron-rich leafy herb is a tender spring vegetable that delivers fortifying nutrition along with mild antihistamine relief. Remember, herbs are processed in your body like food, so take them frequently through the day.

Teething – Keep some Chamomile  tea at the ready for teething pain. Soak clean, soft baby washcloths in Chamomile tea and keep them in the freezer for infants working on new chompers. The cold cloths comfort sore gums and the Chamomile helps settle the teething crankies. Or make ice cubes and use them in a safe mesh teether. An added bonus is Chamomile’s ability to help the diarrhea that often accompanies teething. Make sure the cloths are well rinsed and free from dryer sheet or detergent residue.

Diarrhea – Even though it often has a starring role in songs that illicit giggles on the playground, diarrhea is no laughing matter. From intestinal cramping to frequent trips to the bathroom and burny bottoms, all you want is quick relief. Red Raspberry Leaf tea is rich in tannins that can help slow diarrhea. The leaves from this berry plant don’t have a fruity flavor, but they are safely soothing to your digestive system. A bowl of Oatmeal and a cup of Chamomile tea can also help.

Minor Burns and Sunburn – Lavender essential oil is one of the few herbal oils that can be safely applied even without dilution. If you get a little too close to the campfire when making smores, dab a few drops on straight to help speed the healing and reduce the ouch. Spent too long at the beach? Make your own cooling, soothing spray for minor sunburns with a few drops of healing Lavender and refreshing Peppermint essential oils mixed with water.

Itchy Rashes – Oatmeal doubles as a staple for the kitchen and for your first aid kit. Oatmeal makes a soothing bath for itching, irritated skin. Just powder it in the blender or mix it straight into the bath. Mix Oatmeal and water into a poultice (a soft, moist heap), and let it dry on the skin to settle uncomfortable itching rashes. From chicken pox to allergies and eczema, oatmeal has no negative side effects and may be a safer solution than prescription creams or medicated powders. Oats are also rich in calcium and magnesium, making them calming and nutritive, and one of the best herbal aids to eat during recovery from illnesses.

Bleeding – Yarrow is must-have for every family’s herbal first aid kit. Sprinkle a little powdered or crushed fresh Yarrow flowers on cuts and watch the bleeding stop fast! Yarrow’s styptic ability is impressive, and an added bonus is its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Make sure to keep a little jar of powdered Yarrow in your kitchen for when you grate your knuckle instead of the carrot! Follow up with a soothing Calendula balm to help protect the wound and encourage healing.

Scrapes and abrasions – Keeping infection away is the biggest challenge for abraded skin since they typically don’t bleed much. Bleeding is our body’s way of cleansing wounds. If the score is Pavement -10, Your Child’s Knee – 0, it’s time to make sure the area is cleaned and well-protected to keep away infection so it can heal. A cleansing first aid spray is helpful to have in your bag of tricks. To make your own, mix about 10 drops each of Lavender and Tea Tree essential oils with about ½ cup water, ¼ c organic oil, and 2 tbsp of Calendula extract and keep it in the refrigerator. This cooled spray will help take away the sting, make sure the wound is clean, and give it a healing jump-start. Lavender helps  mend the skin and at the same time fight infections. Tea Tree Oil is an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal essential oil that is also great for fungal rashes. And of course Calendula is one of the most impressive healing herbs, used to help stimulate collagen production and minimize scarring. Its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties make it an invaluable addition to any first aid kit. Use Calendula extract, oil or balm for minor wounds, cuts, abrasions, chapped skin, minor burns, diaper rash and cradle cap. Covering the wound with a soothing Calendula balm will help protect it and encourage healing.

Fungal rashes - For athlete’s foot and fungal rashes in underarms or under breasts apply some diluted Tea Tree essential oil. Or use your homemade first aid spray (see recipe above) on all those areas as well as in shoes and even on diapers before they are washed. To reduce reoccurrence, add a few tablespoons of vinegar to the final rinse cycle of your laundry. Soak stubbornly rashy feet in a small amount of warm water with 10-12 drops of Tea Tree oil, dry well and tuck those piggies into fresh, clean socks.

Heartburn and indigestion – Gas? Bloating? Heartburn?  Whether you have a sensitive stomach, or you indulged when you might have declined, or something just didn’t agree with you, it’s time to turn to herbs traditionally used to help ease the burn and put out the fire of indigestion. Fennel seeds do double duty as both spice and herb, and also as a carminative to help relieve gas, and a galactagogue to help support breast milk production.  Non-pregnant people can munch a few Fennel seeds after meals to help relieve gas and reduce bloating. Pregnant women (and over indulgers too) can safely try sipping a blend of Marshmallow Root, Chamomile, and Peppermint tea.

While you won’t need to outrun woolly beasts (hopefully), these time-tested remedies are herbal must-haves for your modern family. You may, however, want to invest in a good pair of running shoes, just in case!

Love the idea of herbal first aid, but don’t have a green thumb? You can use Mama’s! Mama’s Herbal First Aid Bundle includes every little herbal thing you need to care for life’s little mishaps, safely, naturally and effectively.