Baby Keenan Update and a Tiny Visitor

At 38.2 weeks I'm feeling good - fully pregnant - but good. Past two weeks had some wonderful chiropractic adjustments (Triple Crown Chiropractor - Dr. Jenny Millen) which made my back pain go away! I am a huge fan of her and her office. She is certified Prenatal and Pediatric - so Keenan will be adjusted before he even comes home! Dean has an upcoming appointment as well.

Keenan is measuring normal for this stage in my pregnancy - just like Dean did. I'm much smaller both in weight and (I'm told) smaller in how I'm carrying him. However, I'm still misjudging and bumping my belly into Andrew, doors and walls - Keenan this is why you have a protective fluid barrier around you, Mama is a klutz.

I am so relaxed and happy going to my weekly Midwife appointments  Melissa Courtney APRN, CNM. So much different than I was at 38 weeks last time. I'm super excited about my natural birth, so confident, so relaxed.

Dear Rabbit Dogs (mom's and dad's), Turner has you beat.
Our dear Turner quickly bounded past Andrew late the other night and I saw he had something in his mouth. Quickly knowing the time of year and who's little feet those were sticking out "Drop It!". And he did, over by Dean's toys - I thought it was just like Turner to get an Easter present for Dean. Andrew was trying to get Turner outside and had not yet identified the creature/thing in his dog's mouth - Andrew was jumping around the living room thinking it was something much much worse than a little bunny. Who knew I could move fast enough to scoop up this little bunny. Completely unharmed, he was photographed and put back outside.

Carrageenan - Carcinogen in your FOOD!?

"Just like the NOSB has accomplished with the USDA, the FDA also has continuously approved countless chemicals to be added to our food in a low doses. Does anyone really know what the accumulative effect of these additives is over time? Our soil is already depleted of several vitamins and minerals and the nutrition content of our food is declining every single year. How can we afford to put these chemicals in our body? Should we let the FDA tell us what percentage is safe? Or should we use our common sense and decide as a collective group not to consume these additives and chemicals?" (quote from blog: FoodBabe.com)
What to Watch out for at Whole Foods
This article is about a whole lot more than just natural supermarkets like Whole foods. I shop and will continue to shop at Whole Foods. They are making decisions about their bottom line - that may or may not be best for my family. But this isn't a reason to be complacent; we have to be educated about how we spend our money (know what we eat!) and support good practices. So the flip-side of this coin:

Living Maxwell site article from March 9, 2013: Whole Foods said that by 2018 "all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). The importance of this announcement cannot be underestimated. Why? Right now, there are 62 countries (YIKES!) around the world that require GMOs to be labeled, but the U.S. is not one of them. By mandating that its suppliers label any products which contain GMOs, Whole Foods has made a enormous commitment to transparency and has gone above and beyond what federal laws require.Read full article with video.

Carrageenan
Watch Out For This Carcinogen In Your Organic Food
Shopping Guide to Avoiding Organic Foods with Carrageenan

How to do it better: Cosmetics, Cleaners and GMO-free foods

Please take the time to start protecting yourself and your family from the chemicals that are unfortunately laden in our cosmetics, soaps, lotions, detergents, cleaning products, air fresheners, food, home goods  - well just about everything we use, consume and buy. There are better alternatives - sometimes cheaper sometimes a little bit more. But how much is you and your family's health worth? The Environmental Working Group is a wonderful advocate to help you accomplish healthier choices and to help educate you on how to be what I see as a better consumer. Many laws are being proposed, even passed that are taking these rights away from us as American Consumers - make your voice heard to your representatives and your buying choices.

Look up products in your home on the Environmental Working Group's site - it is free!

Cosmetics and ingredients: "SkinDeep" http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Cleaners: http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners They have a suggested list or you can look up products.

No More BabyGanics: Labels Can Still Be Misleading
And then despite my best efforts, I read something like this and am left discouraged, angry and defeated as a consumer. My entire home is/was filled with BabyGanics products - I've even highly recommended them based on the ingredients - turns out they weren't all listed!!  Cleaning Products Marketed As Safe For Babies Contain Known Human Carcinogen



Food - Organic and GMO's

Organic Shopping Guide - lists foods that are high in pesticides so you know when to go organic and when you don't have to: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/. I've formatted my own full list of the clean and dirty foods in word - if you'd like it emailed to you let me know.

There has been a FB post/emailed article circulating about the PLU produce codes - make sure you know the truth - Organic = organic* but GMO foods are not required to label as GMO and are labeled as "conventional". Read this 2010 article: The Myth of PLU Codes and GMO Foods.

Keep in mind of WHO is certifying the food as "ORGANIC". Foreign countries (grapes from Chile or any foods from South America, Mexico, etc.) are not regulated like farmers are in the USA. Read the USDA's site for explanations of what "organic" means and about certifying agents (when Chile says their grapes are organic - who is certifying the foreign foods and by what criteria.

America’s Unwitting Prescription Drug Addicts: Livestock

Local is always better - for economy, community and they probably use pesticides only as needed. Talk to your local farmers, go to the farmers markets, make new friends ;). Support the little guy instead of the monopolies and large corrupt corporations!

GMO
Obama betrays America yet again by signing the 'Monsanto Protection Act' into law

A good friend shared an interesting story about chicken feed. Her sister wanted to raise organic chickens, thus researching the chicken feed. Someone recommended she just do GMO-free chickens; use GMO-free chicken feed and not have organic chickens. When their isn't a good supply of organic chicken feed, the alternative is GMO-free feed. However, GMO-free is tested to be 'free' and the organic feed is not tested to be 'organic'. However, when the organic feed is tested it is not really organic and actually contains GMO grains!!

Names of ingredients that contain processed free glutamic acid (MSG)1 (Last updated February, 2011)

Milk
Dean and I drink milk - ideally Organic Valley whole milk. My understanding is that whole milk is less processed, less additives = healthier? I'm pregnant right now and the extra fat is ok, so I'll probably look into this again in the future, but for now that is what we are doing. Do not buy Horizon products; they are made by Dean Foods (what a shame to disgrace such a nice name - Dean!) and they'd rather pay the fines for not being organic than to actually do the organic practices. This is a great resource to look up your organic milk and to find alternatives: http://onlygrassfed.com/the-daily-beef/103-rating-organic-dairy-brands.html