Homeopathy article

I have had some interest in alternative medicine or natural health for quite awhile. Since having kids, I've also become even more sensitive to how many chemicals and substances go into our bodies that could have long-lasting effects. I've embarked on becoming more educated on both conventional and alternative medicines and found this article extremely interesting.

Nobel Prize Winner Takes Homeopathy Seriously

Maybe I'm opening a can of worms here...or maybe you're all yawning. But, I found it thought-provoking enough I just had to share!

Surviving the 1st Trimester, and beyond...

Thang tells me things were pretty rough for me during the 1st trimester with Nora, but I feel like they've been rougher this time around. Not to go into excruciating detail, but with Nora there was a lot of nausea, with this one, things went well beyond nausea (catch my drift?). I seriously have an even greater appreciation for those ladies who are sick throughout their entire pregnancies (I know several) and yet have had multiple children (can't imagine being sick like this for literally years of my life!).

God is so gracious though, and instead of the 16 weeks of yuckiness I had with Nora, things have seemed to settle down for me around 15 weeks this time. Now to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy (well at least until the back pain and swollen ankles begin, but I'll take that any day over the 1st trimester stuff).

I thought I would share a few of the things that seemed to provide me some relief.

Papaya enzymes. These are a great digestive support and helped alot with the burning, acidy feeling I would have sometimes after eating. These were recommended by a natural health practitioner, but I also checked with my nurse midwife to make sure they were safe. She gave the ok and while they were by no means a cure-all, they definitely helped.

Chewable prenatal vitamins. I quickly learned there was no way I could choke down those horse pills they call prenatal vitamins when my gag reflex was already on overdrive. I was so happy to find these...they were like a special treat, tasted like candy. I especially liked that they used natural coloring like blueberry and and carrot juices. I was surprised to see that most prenatal vitamins, including the samples provided by my midwife used artificial coloring.

Sea bands. A friend lent me hers when I was about 12 weeks along. These bands are worn on the wrist and provide a special pressure point to relieve symptoms of motion sickness...and pregnancy blahs. I don't know if it just happened to be the timing and things were starting to get better on their own, but after starting to use these my nausea got much more manageable. They basically look like some sweet, 1980's-style wrist sweatbands. I joked I needed one of these lovelies to match...

Aaaaah, ice cream, a little bowl/cone of heaven. As with my last pregnancy, the be-all, end-all, sure-thing when absolutely nothing else sounded appetizing was ice cream. Thang found an awesome sale on Breyer's and literally stocked our chest freezer. No, probably not the most nutritional meal, but often my dinner, and yes, a couple of times my breakfast. But, hey, there's calcium in ice cream, right?!

Another sure-fire remedy for the yuckies was a decaf Frappuccino. If I was out-and-about and started feeling sick, I was so thankful to know there would be a Starbuck's at the next corner. Can I just say, Target + Starbucks = DANGEROUS, DANGEROUS combination!

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And, last but most certainly not least, PRAYER! Looking back over the past 2 1/2 months, I honestly don't know how I got out-of-bed some days, let alone took care of Nora, but by the grace of God. There were many days, my heart's cry was simply "help me, Father, help me do this next thing". There were many times when I just needed to get out-of-the-house for small group or an appointment and I would pray and ask God to ease my yuckiness and He would take away my symptoms for several hours! It was awesome! I wish I could say this was always my first thought when morning sickness hit hard, but God was so faithful in the times that I did.

Hope some of these ideas are helpful. I know some of these come from the advice of several friends and I always appreciate hearing what other mom's have found to help them through.

So, for those of you who've been through a pregnancy or two, what got you through the worst of it?

(I'm tucking your ideas away for the next time...)