Hi Everyone,
So, I'm not really sure how to start this blog. Do I just tell you about me, or my life as a mom, or why and how I'm going green? Because I'm starting this blog for so many reasons. And my kids are my number 1 reason for doing everything that I do. I am so thankful for them every single day. Which is, of course, why I'm trying to be more green and earth conscious.
So, I suppose I should start with the basics and work my way from there. My name is Liz and I have never been much for being too "green". In fact, I'm the complete opposite now of who I was 5 years ago. Back then I didn't even like kids. I threw my soda cans in the trash, and didn't check to see if my tuna was "dolphin safe". I didn't know what "co-sleeping", "upcycling", or a "lactivist" was. I just plain didn't care. And then something happened that I never saw coming, but I'm glad it happened all the same. I met my husband, and life got crazy fast.
Within the first two weeks of our first date, we opened a joint savings account at the local bank and I moved into his parent's house with him. Keeping in mind that he was a senior in highschool and I had just graduated highschool the month before. After nearly a year of living there, I found out I was pregnant with our son. And that's when life changed really fast. I went through what I now know as pre-partum depression. We bought a trailer and had it set up on my in-laws property. My husband was attending college full-time, and working part-time. A month prior to our son's birth we finally got married. And then in September of 2006 the most wonderful and scary thing happened. We welcomed our beautiful baby boy to the world, and everything just clicked.
I no longer was depressed about having a baby so young, nor was I quite so lost and confused. I now knew that this little perfect person needed me to take care of him. And at that moment I knew what life really meant. That feeling that is so hard to describe, an overwhelming joy that you'd do absolutely anything to protect.
Of course, that feeling came at the same time I heard our OB calling for a respritory cart STAT. My baby wasn't breathing, and I didn't know what to do. It had been a very long and traumatic labor. Being so young, I didn't realize that doctors don't really know everything. That as a patient, you have the right to question the doctor's judgement and down right refuse any treatment they suggest. I had a very detailed birth plan. I didn't want heavy drugs shot into my system, but I did want an epidural when the time was right. I wanted to be able to labor standing, walking, moving in any way and not tied down to a bed with IVs until it was absolutely neccessary. And I didn't even know a woman could deliver in any possition other than laying on her back. And I most certainly did NOT want an episiotomy. That was my biggest stressor of all. But of course, my OB did the exact opposite of everything we had talked about. She used both the kiwi AND forceps. She cut me so bad I tore from end to end. I lost so much blood I had to have a blood transfusion and 3 days of bed rest after the baby was born. And all of this, in my honest opinion, was caused by my OB deciding that the baby would be too big for my little body to deliver so she wanted to induce me 2 weeks EARLY. My mind today tells me I should have run away screaming in terror at such a suggestion. But my 20 year old brain told me that the doctor knows best, and you just do whatever she says. Boy was I wrong. And now, after everything I'd done to get this little person into the world, he wasn't breathing. THAT was the moment that motherhood really slapped me in the face and I realized that I didn't know what I'd do if I never got to meet him. But luckily, after the longest 30 seconds of my life, he started breathing fine and he passed his APGAR with flying colors.
And that was when I knew I had to start thinking about somebody other than myself. So I started wanting to make changes to make his future a better place. We've always made small steps, but a lot of little steps adds up, right? I suddenly found myself recycling soda cans and bottles. We stopped using paper plates every night of the week. We started eating more local fruits and vegetables, and eating local beef. I even started a co-op garden with my father-in-law. Instead of going to town to shop several times a week, I saved up all of my trips for one day and had one big shopping day to cut down on gas.
3 years later we finally decided that it was time to add another member to our family. Hubby was finally working a good job under the electrical union, so I would be able to stay home with the kids. So once we knew I was pregnant again I made an appointment with the OB's office. --NOT the OB I had the first time around. Apparently she had been under investigation for another infant dying at birth, and she left the state only a few months after I had my son.-- So I met with a new OB, and she was fine and dandy. But after my first experience with an OB I definately was a little leary about how things would go. I was older now, and more educated about birth. I had done lots of research after our son, to be sure nothing like that happened again. I really liked this OB, she was friendly enough and didn't seem to be suggesting anything too outlandish. But after getting through my first trimester, she wanted me to do the triple-screen test. (I don't remember what the medical jargan for it is, but most of you moms will know what I'm talking about.) Now, for those of you who don't know, this is a test that screens for abnormalities like Down Syndrome among many others. This test is very controversial, since it has a high rate of false possitives. And the only way to get a more precise reading on the test is to do a biopsy, which can cause a miscarriage. At my age and health, I'm honestly not worried about my baby having any of the abnormalities associated with this test. So I delined the test, and the doctor was giving me a thousand reasons to do it anyway. During this same doctor's visit, I found out that the office had just welcomed a new midwife to their team. And by golly, at that moment I just knew I had to start seeing her. I didn't know much about midwives, but I at least knew she wouldn't be pushing tests I don't want down my throat. So I made my next appointment with the midwife. And boy, am I ever glad I did!
My Midwife is awesome. Young and hip, and just the most wonderful person you could hope to meet. Offering all of the tests the state requires her to offer, but not pushing me to do the tests one way or the other. And she's, of course, all about natural remedies. She taught me so much about myself, I can't thank her enough. When we were getting down to the end of pregnancy and baby wasn't turning into possition, she suggested different excercises to try, and accupuncture. At first I thought accupuncture was just a load of you-know-what, but after giving it a try I'm a total convert. If you have something wrong with your body, I swear accupuncture can cure it! Not only did accupuncture get the baby to turn into possition after just a week, but it also helped kick my labor into progression.
After a very short labor(for me, anyway. Active labor was only about 5 hours long compared to the 23 hours with baby #1) I gave birth to a very healthy and happy baby girl. And everything went according to "plan". Yes, I had my epidural. And hubby got to cut the umbilical cord. (He didn't get to with #1 because of the STAT situation) Our son was brought in to see his new sister about 15 minutes after birth. And I just feel so good and happy about this delivery. I was up and walking by that afternoon, not 3 days later like with my son.
And now our baby girl is 8 months old! She's crawling around, and things are new and exciting every day. Of course, I'm starting to think about baby #3 now. I want one more, but Daddy seems to think that we should be done. But let me tell you, if (when) we have another, I'm going to do it all natural. I'm not quite brave enough to do an unassisted delivery, but if I had my midwife here by my side, I think I could totally do a homebirth. I want to be able to say "Look what I did. All by myself." But if we don't have another baby, I'll be happy enough knowing that our daughter's birth was pretty darn close to perfect.
Well, I guess that's enough information for a first attempt at a blog. I'll save my "go-green" mission for another post. And I'm sure there'll be some breast-feeding, cloth diapering, and baby-wearing posts in the near future too!
