For the record, the WINNER is...

Remember when I asked you to guess when baby would be here? 

Well, in case you were wondering who guessed the best..

Cheryl and Alice both won. 

Alice guessed: Boy, April 13, 8lb 8oz. Bald.

And Cheryl guessed: April 10, female, 8 pds

He Who Must Not Be Named was: Boy, April 11, 8 lbs 2 oz.  

What did you win? My love and adoration!  Yeah for you two!

To do...

Saturday May 5, 2012

My To Do List today:

1. Dig out the winter clothes, which we JUST packed up, so the boys can go out and play in the snow storm going on outside. 
- CHECK

2. Clean the garage. 
- Not going to happen - see item #1

3. Go shopping for more produce. We go through it like... like... herbivores.
- CHECK

4. Sand down the top of the kitchen table for refinishing.
- Maybe next weekend - again, see item #1.

5. Name the baby.
- ...

6. Teach the baby to talk so he can name himself.

Well, 2 out of 6 aint bad... right?

There's a RAW-volution going on

For anyone that's known me for more than a year, you'll know that last year my mom, Jared and I did a 30 day Raw Food Challenge, which turned into about 6 months of us eating pretty exclusively raw.  It was fantastic.

Then... I got pregnant.  And, for the next 9 months I pretty much ate whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it.  I'd like to blame my amazing ability to put on pounds in pregnancy on genetics, but I think it has more to do with the late night ice cream runs and the indulgences all along the way.

Seeing as summer (and the cabin!) is just 2 months away, and I'd like to naturally and healthily drop the extra weight I'm carrying, two weeks ago Jared and I started eating raw again.

Now, lest I seem totally vain and only concerned about my appearance, let me tell you another story - the story of baby brother and his terrible skin!  When baby was born his skin was already pretty dry. Even though he was only 39 weeks gestation, he was definitely full term. He had no vernix left on him to protect him.  In the days that followed his already dry skin broke out into a horrible rash, with little sores all over his body.  I couldn't help but notice that the rash was aggravated when I ate certain things.  I'm not entirely certain, but I think MSG, gluten, and refined sugar were the main culprits.

So, with a baby covered in sores, and a lot of weight to be lost, we have embarked on another raw food adventure!  It was hard for the first week or so, but I think that I have fallen back into the good habits I developed last year, and I'm finding it's no trouble at all. It helps that I already know the recipes and the work involved in each.  We've basically just picked a few of our favourites, and will recycle them over and over for two months.  There are a few more involved recipes that I will tackle every once in a while, but basically, we will stick with the simple.

I do love opening my fridge and seeing it full of fresh fruits and veggies (you will notice some non-raw things in there too: they are for the boys, who are not eating only raw.)

And, really, there's nothing to complain about when this is what you get to eat.  That's a cauliflower couscous salad, onion bread with cashew quiche, and some veggies (or are avocados and tomatoes fruit? I never know.)

 

And, what really makes raw food not just bearable, but delightful: raw desserts!

Auntie Phoebe came home from Paris where she's been for the semester, and I made this raw strawberry cheesecake to celebrate. It was, I assure you, absolutely delish. In fact, it's all I ate for lunch the next day.

The boys (excepting Silas, who was in the worst mood in the world) were as excited to see Phoebe as I was to see the strawberry cheesecake. Welcome home, Phoe.  

 

Boys in Suits

Whoever says that boys are not fun to dress obviously just needs to find a neck tie the size of my thumb, match it with a pink argyle dress shirt and put it on their two week old.

Honestly, I could not have handsomer boys.  They are darling.  I didn't, however, get to hear anyone ooh and aah over the baby at church, because Jared kept stealing him from me!

What I did with my Placenta

The placenta is a truly amazing organ.  For nine months it homes and nourishes our babies in a way that no man has ever been able to replicate. It is formed from the same sperm and egg that babies develop from. It grows perfectly with the baby, providing exactly what the baby needs at the different stages of pregnancy.

After my first two births I have no idea to what end my placentas came to.  In surgical births you don't really get a chance to admire that first home of your newborn baby.  They just clean it up with the rest of the "mess" and cart it away.  Well, in a home birth, it's up to you to dispose or do otherwise with your own placenta.  I've always had plans of burying my placenta's in the "Pet Cemetery" at the farm where I keep my horses.

But then, several months before I got pregnant, I learned about placentophagy, the act of eating your placenta after childbirth. 

Let me stop right there and tell you that when Jared and I got married, he would never have imagined that 7 1/2 years later I'd be birthing our third child in our living room and eating my own placenta.  I had an inkling about the home birth, but never would have dreamed of ingesting placenta.

Yet, here I am, two weeks and two days postpartum, and I am ready to become the poster child for the practice!

While I have never suffered from postpartum depression or had issues with milk supply, the two most sought after benefits of consuming ones placenta, I have felt the "baby blues" in the days after birth, and was very curious to see what other advantages I might gain from it.  So, in the minutes after birth I made sure my placenta was saved and properly stored and called my friend Susan from Pure Birth Services to come pick it up and do her magic!  While the placenta capsules are often prepared using the Traditional Chinese Medicine method of steaming the placenta with healing herbs prior to dehydrating and encapsulating it, I asked Susan to prepare mine raw.

There is lots of information online about why you might consume your own placenta, including:
- balancing your hormones after childbirth
- replenishing your lost iron supply (most moms loose 1/10th to 1/8th of their body's iron during childbirth)
- giving you more energy
- shortening postpartum bleeding time
- increasing milk supply
- reducing the chance of postpartum depression
- quickening the involution of the uterus to pre-pregnancy state
- it can even be helpful during menopause, if you save the pills until then

On the second morning after I had the baby Susan brought me back my placenta, now encapsulated into well over 100 capsules, for me to take over the coming weeks and months.

I immediately took two pills, and continued to do so over the course of the day.  That night my milk "came in", something that doesn't usually happen that quickly after childbirth.  And, while it may be just because this little one is my third baby, my milk supply also settled very quickly, by day four.  With both Eli and Silas I battled over-supply for weeks.  I recall sitting on the toilet after Eli was born with milk dripping from my very swollen breasts, in such pain, sobbing and sobbing.  I felt none of that this time.

In fact, I have not felt a moment of the very typical "baby blues."  I haven't had a weepy day. I haven't felt overly tired.  I have felt so good I've had to force myself to take it easy for these past two weeks.

At my appointment this week Carol, my midwife, said that my uterus has shrunk to where most women's are at 12 weeks.  I have almost completely stopped bleeding, at two weeks, which didn't happen until 6 weeks postpartum with my past births. 

Perhaps it's all in my head, perhaps it's just a placebo, but it's working, and that's fantastic!  I will definitely encapsulate my placenta again, and am excited to see what other benefits I will discover still.

Unfortunately it hasn't helped me pick a name for this baby: He Who Must Not Be Named.

Madly in Love!

I just thought you'd like to know that I'm deeply, madly, entirely in love. 

This little man has won my heart over:

No, he doesn't have a name yet, but that doesn't stop us from thinking he's just about perfect.  Silas covers him with kisses every chance he gets, and Eli insists on holding him whenever he can.

They change so quickly, and I can't stand it.  He's already gained 2 lbs, at 2 weeks.  He's a champ nurser, a fantastic sleeper, a cuddling master, and I just love him!!!  I'm not a big fan of the whole "good baby" concept, as I don't think sleeping for long stretches and not crying makes a baby better than one who doesn't sleep for long and has colic, but honestly, this little man is such a good baby! He gets his ability to sleep from me: he can do it anywhere and at anytime.  Okay, he's only 2 weeks old, it's likely to change, but I'll revel in it while I can.

Oh ya, and he molted.  That's right, check out his face.  It started at his chin, and spread like wild fire.  But, now that that layer of skin has come off, he's quite handsome, if I do say so myself. I just hope he's not like a snake and molts every time he grows. 

 I do wish that he'd find those fingers more often.  They sure keep him happy!

This was his first car seat ride, when he was a week old.  It was strange not having some random nurse tighten and fit the car seat for me, but somehow I managed.  He sure isn't a big fan of being buckled in, but since he's only ever awake for a few minutes at a time, as long as I nurse him before, he is usually out pretty quickly.

I haven't caught it on film (or memory card, if you will) yet, but I swear, this boy is already smiling.  And not just gas smiles, but looking straight at us and grinning.  He did it first at 9 days.  He especially loves Eli and will smile wholeheartedly at him.  I love it.  When he's not smiling, he's usually quite pensive.   

Silas is a firm believer in co-sleeping.  When I a need him to, Silas will sleep with his "Baby Bra-der" quite happily.  Seriously, aren't they adorable!

And, this is a weird one, but I'm planning on taking a picture of him every week for his first year just to document how he grows.  Check him out!

Don't worry, I will tell you all just as soon as we pick a name.  I think we're getting closer... maybe.  Eli's voting for Thunder and Crossbow, and Silas insists on Baby Bra-der - Jared and I are less sure. Soon, I promise. 

Introducing....

...our newest bundle of joy!!!

We are officially a family of boys!  This little one was born on April 11, 2012, at 9:23 am, at home, in the water.  It was a quick, peaceful labour.  The midwife barely made it (because I didn't call her until I was pushing), showing up just 19 minutes before baby was born.  It was such an empowering experience, and very healing. Baby weighed in at 8 lbs, 2 oz and measures 21 inches long.   He does not have a name yet, but when he does I will update with his name and birth story.  We are all doing amazingly well - in fact, I've never felt better!