It doesn’t get better than this, in my humble opinion…

, , , , , ,

probiotic-baby-slider

I’m greenie right? So it gives me incredible pleasure to smother natural and organic products on my kids. Not only because I know it’s best for them, but because I know by using responsible products, I’m partnering with those caring for the environment, and taking our impact on Creation seriously. (We watched Before the Flood last night, and it.is.terrifying).

A while back I went to a talk on probiotic skincare. I felt like I was in a Higher Grade Science class – and with my post-baby brain, I reeeally had to concentrate carefully. And it made so much sense to me. Talking about our microbiome, and a healthy gut. Talking of pre and probiotics and their effect on our health. I’d heard these words thrown around before in my green-world, but had never taken it all that seriously. Let’s be honest, I was a new greenie and was just getting to grips on it all, and learning about what an Ecocert certification meant was new to me.

screen-shot-2016-10-17-at-10-58-10-pm-510x728

Fast forward to present time – and then this happened. And I stopped, and shared a moment of pure thrill and almost disbelief in the genius of it. Probiotic products for baby. Wrap these up and pop them under the Christmas Tree because THIS beats anything you can buy your newborn baby for Christmas (in my humble opinion).

Trail blazers, Pure Beginnings (who are now available at Dischem – yeeeaaahhhhh), has brought our 2 Probiotic Baby products – Probiotic Baby Sensitive Body Cream, and a Probiotic Baby Sensitive Cream Wash, both fragrance free. So no more do you need to rub a kombucha scoby onto your baby’s skin (not that any of us were doing that anyway). The formulations of these products combine the best in organic baby skin care with breakthrough innovations in probiotic technology. Done. I’m sold.

If you’re clueless about the microbiome, probiotics and prebiotics and are curious as to why I find this really, really exciting, here is some more info for you:
probiotic-prebiotic-510x510

pb_sensitive_wash_web

pb_sensitive_cream_webHere are just a few of the ingredients they use and why they’re so different to anything else you are putting on your newborns skin…

  • Baobab Fruit Extract – a natural prebiotic which is also packed with anti-oxidants,
  • Inulin & Lactic Acid – prebiotics which deliver a food source to the good microbes, assisting them to colonise over the pathogenic ones,
  • Lactobacillus Ferment – the probiotic additive in the product that will protect the skin from pathogenic microbes but also assisting in the production of good microbes.

Both of these beauties are essential oil and fragrance free (fragrances being a real skin irritant for sensitive skins). The pH is balanced at the same as skin to ensure the skin is not stripped of natural oils and the microbiome is not disrupted, and of course it is certified by Ecocert Greenlife.

I know you want them – so here’s where you can get them. The Probiotic Baby Sensitive Cream Wash (200ml) retails for R99.99 and the Probiotic Baby Sensitive Body Cream (250ml) for R109.99.

Because you can’t push pause

, , , ,

So today, my eldest finished Playschool. And this is only Playschool number 1, as in, his first, before his next. We’re not even heading to Gr R or Primary School yet. And oh man, it was emo.

I’ve LOVED this school. Like a heart and soul gushy love.  It genuinely seemed like yesterday we’d paid the deposit from Canada and were so stoked our eldest was booked into this epic, rustic farm-school for the upcoming 2 years. 2 YEARS! That’s an eternity. Considering the kid was only 2.5 when he started it was pretty much the next half of his life I had planned. I remember the first day – so clearly – thinking to myself ‘we’re sorted. For the next TWO WHOLE YEARS. I don’t need to think about anything school-ish for a looooong time’. And here we are.

Done.

img_1217

img_6344

THE BIGGEST, most irritating cliche of alllllll time, is how fast time flies. But it’s sooooooo truuuuue. Time is a total conundrum. I can’t even remember being pregnant, and I was pregnant 11 weeks ago. It baffles us, confuses us, shocks us and freaks us the heck out.

Because my son is turning 5, and heading to a bigger Playschool next year and WHEN WAS HE EVEN BORN? I can barely tell you that.


Sure, my memory is way below average, and so I don’t have that in my favour, but I just can’t wrap my head around it. How do I slow down and embrace this all? Because I swear, next minute, our daughter will be an angel in that nativity play and the disbelief will be real.

Often when it’s inappropriate to be on your phone at the dinner table or out with friends or when your kid is painting the walls behind you, that old quote by Jim Elliot comes to mind. “Wherever you are, be all there”. This is one of the few things I can hold onto when these days FLY past.

Jim Elliot

Wherever you are (esp. with your kids), be all there. Put down the phone, talk in the car, build his Lego, paint her nails, walk slower, bake, dance, read, engage, interact, absorb, embrace, feel the feelings, hum the tunes, create the rhythms, start the traditions, write down the memories. Live IN that space. Because it’s moving. The sun will rise and the sun will set. And you can choose how to invest yourself while it’s up.

(Cue the tears… and the wine).

Not to terrify you but…

, , , , , ,

Sometimes I think that other moms must look at me all like “she’s so overboard on her stainless steel sippy cups, and her glass mason jars and her kids’ fabric snack bags, and her vegan nailpolish”, and sometimes, I wonder if I’m a little over the top myself. Then I read something like this (below) and I’m reminded that I’m NOT and that in fact, there is MORE I can do. Yes. I know. Because while, yeah, this requires extra thought, time, patience, and energy – I’m driven. I’m inspired, I want to do this.

kids sitting on beach

The world is changing (hellllooooo, Trump is in office?) and we are changing too. We are evolving, and not in the right way. We’ve all heard of BPA and phthalates and their dangers, but really… we don’t all have time to consider those things and their negative consequences with the millions of thoughts running through our heads on a minute by minute basis… It takes serious conviction and intentionality.

The more research I do, the more I learn, the more important it is. The way the world is changing is bringing with it terrifying truths such as hormone disruption in kids. Now, I could say that my journey towards green-ness came from my concern for the environment, but I’d be lying. It all happened after I had kids. And that is why THIS scares me so much.

Read the full article here – this calls for change.

Avoiding Hormone-Disrupting Substances is Crucial for Children and Adults Alike:

While young girls may show obvious signs of exposure to hormone-disrupting substances via early puberty, other signals are more insidious and may not show up until a disease is already present. Here are 11 measures you can implement right away to help protect yourself and your children from common toxic substances that could cause precocious puberty and other long-term health problems:

1. As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic meats to reduce your exposure to added hormones, pesticides and fertilizers. Also avoid milk and other dairy products that contain the genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST)

2. Eat mostly raw, fresh foods (helllooooo paleo). Processed, prepackaged foods (of all kinds) are a major source of soy and chemicals such as BPA and phthalates.

3. Store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap and canned foods (which are often lined with BPA-containing liners).

4. Use glass baby bottles and BPA-free sippy cups for your little ones. (I stick with glass or stainless steel).

5. Make sure your baby’s toys are BPA-free, such as pacifiers, teething rings and anything your child may be prone to suck on.

6. Only use natural cleaning products in your home to avoid phthalates. (You can even make them yourself).

7. Switch over to natural brands of toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, antiperspirants and cosmetics. The Environmental Working Group has a great safety guide to help you find personal care products that are free of phthalates, parabens and other potentially dangerous chemicals. BAHHHH!!! THIS! This is where so much of where my mind is at, and which is why I love Pure Beginnings so much.

8. Avoid using artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners or other synthetic fragrances, many of which can also disrupt your hormone balance. (Stick with organic essential oils!)

9. Replace your non-stick pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware.

10. When redoing your home, look for “green,” toxin-free alternatives in lieu of regular paint and vinyl floor coverings.

11. Replace your vinyl shower curtain with one made of fabric.

12. Avoid non-fermented soy, especially if you’re pregnant and in infant formula.

Theo Colburn’s book Our Stolen Future is a great source for further investigation as it identifies the numerous ways in which environmental pollutants are disrupting human reproductive patterns.

I’ll leave it right there. A LOT of food for thought. You don’t need to overhaul everything. Just pick a few which are manageable and go for it.

With love, from my family to yours xxx

I am exhausted

, , , ,

Yes, it’s that time of year, yes it’s been a hectic one, yes we fell pregnant, bought a house, renovated, started a business and had a baby. So yes. I’m pretty tired.

This is me in the foetal position on my unmade bed, hiding from the rest of the family…

This past weekend we (I) reached semi breaking point. We have 3 utterly INCREDIBLE kids. Like, I adore them. With all of me. Every cell. BUT I’m also a normal human parent with my own dreams and desires and needs and they’re NOT about finding this.exact.piece of Lego, or making a hat with a button and a helicopter propeller and which propels you into the sky (I mean) or eating aaaaaanother piece of peanut butter toast after I made bovril by mistake. I’m soooooo tired of changing your nappy (Ryler) when I can verbally have a conversation with you about how great the potty is and how excited you are to use it, and please, for the love of all humanity, if I fall over your bike which is *not* supposed to be in the house ONE MORE TIME I will literally melt into a puddle on the floor. I don’t have spare batteries for that, please stop picking that scab on your face, and I think you’ve lost all our screwdrivers ‘fixing’ your own toys I have repeatedly asked you not to ‘fix’. I love your singing Clay but if Batman smells any more and Robin lays just ONE more egg… I’m going to implode.

So on Saturday, the crazy-o-meter was cranked up to max and I had to make some big decisions. My immune system has been on the blink since our 3rd arrived and I needed space from the noise, I needed an escape. After a go at the hub (which, let’s be honest, is what moms just need once in a while), and then a lovely un-shouty debrief of my current state of mental stability, I decided I was gonna take my smallest to my friends for a girls night. Daddy was gonna have a boys night with movies and popcorn and ice cream and chocolate (which they rocked), and I had wine and girly chats until midnight (which we rocked). We both got our kids to bed no problem and had a decent nights sleep.

Tummy time party at our girls sleepover…

What a calm, peaceful evening we both had – apart. I made my way home in the morning, to the boys screaming MOMMMMYYYY with open arms upon my arrival. Cute, but loud. Clay still in his jarmies and Ryler with an exploding nappy but whatevs – hubby was vacuuming. Go hubby. The welcome home was dear, but the chaos that then ensued put the maxed crazy-o-meter to shame. To SHAME. Our littlest wouldn’t settle with her dad and the boys sounded like they were playing, screaming, and singing joyfully through megaphones. Attached to amplifiers.

Both hubby and I looked at each other like ‘what the effffff is going on?’ “We had a great night” states hubby. I sigh and return with a “as did we”… Both of us were a little stumped at how the re-addition of only 2 of us, set the world ON FIRE. We also happened to have a wonderfully jam-packed afternoon planned (the eternal optimist in me), so much so that all 3 kids had fallen fast asleep before family tea, and they remained in la-la land the entire time. Hubby and I even snuck in a game of pool. It was like a date night, but at family tea.

All that to say, we got home, shattered (I even fell asleep in the car on the way home holding a jar of splashing kombucha and scoby), fed the kids toast (I couldn’t have been bothered to try feed them their ‘rainbow’), my mom bathed them and we sent them to bed. Right, so it turns out 3 kids is MANIC. Maaaaaaannnnniiiicccccc.

Even in admitting that, I wouldn’t change a thing. We have wonderful sleepers, adorable, considerate, kind, playful, adored and passionate children. But we feel it. I’m home with them, we don’t have a nanny, and I try go out drinking with my girlfriends as often as possible. But yes, this is trying.

So chip in here – please. How do you genuinely make this parenting gig work for you? And please don’t say ‘a hot candlelit bubble bath’ because I can still hear my kids screaming ‘maaaameee, where aaaaaare yooooou’ through the hollow unable-to-lock bathroom door.

DIY Dummy Clips

, , ,

I have recently become good friends with someone who is a kindred spirit in every sense of the word. We are so like minded it’s creepy. When copy each other’s baking ideas, pinterested pins, home DIY and kids crafts. We also both also find it thrilling to score a good deal and stock up on our kids’ clothes a season in advance. The what’s apps fly between us, with quick online sales, ideas for Christmas crafts, the best place to get this or that, and a mutually shared celebration of a deal scored.


So this is the latest. Dummy Clips. I remember buying a certain brand named baby clip for my first born, and it was about R80 and I lost it a week later. Fail.

Not even being sure if my third would take a dummy (our second vehemently rebelled and re-fused) I wasn’t going to risk buying a dummy clip at that price.

My kindred spirit buddy showed me what she had done – made dummy clips for under R10. So I asked her to show me her ways… and here’s how we (she) did it!

What you need to buy: 

– Silver clip (R6.00)

– 20cm of fabric ribbon (R1.00)

– That plastic platted ‘rope’ (R0.30)


What you need at home: 

– Matches, scissors, needle, thread.

How to: 

Cut the ribbon to the length you want it and singe the ends with the matches. Hand stitch (or sew) the one end of the ribbon around the silver clip loop, and the other end around your rope…

Melt the ‘plastic rope’ together to form a loop. Hide the melted part of the rope where the ribbon has been stitched.

Attach it like follows and you’re done!



What I’ve wrapped up for my 3 month old this Christmas

, , , ,

It’s Christmas. Again! WHAT? You may have read that I enjoy personal challenges – such as running half marathons (shortly post baby) and dramatically cutting down our water consumption. Another challenge I love, is having all our Christmas pressies wrapped and tagged by mid November.

It goes without saying that I err on the side of beautiful presents. Wooden, classic, minimal plastic, meaningful, educational and long lasting gifts.

want need wear read

I’ve also taken this 4 present rule for my kids really, really literally this year. Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read. Sure, the extended family will no doubt shower them with gifts and the stockings will be stuffed (it’s a family tradition), but as each year passes by, our house remains the same size, and the gifts seem to take up more and more space… (Fighting my inner minimalist here).

I LOVE gift giving. I love wrapping up pressies, using ribbon and raffia, stamping names on the gift wrap, baking a little something to include and adding personal touches. I love giving gifts, and I love receiving gifts. But WHICH gift, is where I become a little neurotic (not really, but kinda).

wrapped presents

Recently at a new moms group, I met a lovely woman called Rosa. We connected over chatting about our love for cloth nappies. Ha! Obviously the conversation turned to ‘all things green’. Turns out she is a family therapist with a huge heart for children and families. Being a therapist (with her partner an environmentalist) she told me she was always on the hunt for well made and beautifully designed toys and games that had both therapeutic value and at the same time were appealing to all children (not limited to those with special needs).

Chatting with her, she had said that it was important to her that the toys were gentle on the environment during the production process and not exploitative of people involved in their production, as well as being safe and non toxic. Basically, safe for children, the environment and those who manufacture them. (Not obvious why we connected so easily).

Many of her colleagues and the families she was working with started asking where they could purchase these similar toys and games, and ‘taaa-daaaaaa’ the online store Carenect Kids was born. Carenect Kids (an amalgamation of the words care and connect) now stocks a beautiful range of educational, functional, environmentally friendly, hard-wearing and all round great quality and long lasting toys and games.

carenect-logo-05

Back to how this makes my heart happy… Try find a pressie for a 3 month old baby girl who has a million toys to grow into. It’s HARD. I’m becoming more passionate about minimalism every day, which makes these decisions all the harder… and I’ve been stumped about what to buy my newest born – ideally something meaningful, and symbolic for her first Christmas. This store has totally given me refreshed hope. Rosa has answered this dilemma for me and it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. And, I think it’s what you’re looking for too. It is jam packed full of awesome gift ideas – puzzles, board games, and toys from incredibly reputable and well known names, including Moulin Roty, Seedling and Le Toy Van. So, these are the goodies I’ll be popping under our (yet to be dressed) Christmas tree. A beautiful ‘Bashful Bunny’ from Jellycat (read this fascinating link about the importance of teddy bears) and a 3 piece baby bear puzzle ‘for little hands’… awwww.

d0f5099c-1938-47a0-a77a-3d820bf1cf51 fc2cbab7-7dfc-43e0-97f1-01154c149b2f

How stinkin’ gorgeous? Now… I’m sure you’re as keen as I was to get your hands on some of these amazing gifts for baby this Christmas… Well luckily for you, Carenect Kids and Our Greenish Life are spreading the JOY (and the awesome, honest, enviro friendly goods)! A Carenect Baby Bundle is up for grabs – and it’s AWE-SOME! The prize is worth over R715. Yes, please.

AND (bonus!!), if you don’t win, don’t fear! Carenect Kids is offering R100 off all orders R500 or above. Just type in 6462A78kxuWq in the discount code box as you checkout.

The Baby Bundle up for grabs is:

1 x Small Bashful Cream Bunny from Jellycat,
1 x Le Toy Van Baby Bear 3-piece puzzle, AND
1 x Pack of Baby Milestone Cards

How to Enter:

  • Like Carenect Kids on Facebook,
  • Like Our Greenish Life on Facebook,
  • Comment below OR on the Facebook post with which Carenect Kids toy or game you would choose to buy for your fave ‘lil person… (clue: take a peek here)

Share this competition on Facebook for an extra entry. Dooooo it. Doooooo it now!!

Thanks for entering. Good Luck!

Contact Carenect Kids
(t) 082 358 4152
(e) hello@carenectkids.co.za
Web: www.carenectkids.co.za

Terms and Conditions

The competition runs from Saturday 19 November – Friday 25 November 2016.
This competition is South African residents only.
The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email.
Winner will be announced on the Our Greenish Life website and social media channels on Friday 25 November 2016.

 

How we’re kicking ass at saving water…

, , , ,

So while pouring a bucket of water collected from our shower into our toilet cistern, hubby turns to me and says “I’m really proud of how much we’re thinking about this water thing”… Pat on the back KF’s.

We’ve taken the most recent water restrictions seriously. Lank seriously. Inspired by a post written by blogger Blessed Barrenness, and the post I wrote here when given 10L of water to use a day, I’ve been thinking a LOT more about how ignorant I’ve been to the ease of clean water however and whenever I want it, and how my thinking about all this needs to change, permanently. Ask my 4 year old about water availability – he’ll tell you all about our dam levels.

save_water_4_by_serso

Sure, we want to spend less money on water and not pay the hefty fee hike if we dare tiptoe above our threshold, but more-so, we want to play our part. It’s a bit like when you have a group project at school and that one slacker gets off scott-free, and all the other hard working students are irritated (and rightly frustrated). Let’s not be that lazy kid guys – let’s be better than that.

I like a challenge. Why else do you think I have 3 kids? But really, I do like a challenge, and now I have this internal competition with myself to see how little water I can use. It started off with collecting the initial cold (will-soon-turn-warm) shower water in a bucket and emptying it into our water dispenser in our fridge. It filled a 4.5L water dispenser. WHAT! Challenge accep-ted! (I’ve also been known to collect the water pooling at the bottom of the shower with my empty hands, to fill the bucket now living in our shower, ready for my next toilet flush. I told you. The challenge is on.)

save-water-save-life

So here’s what we have been, and what we are currently, doing… (armed with our borehole – to be used on stipulated days – as well as our grey water systems my handy hubby has recently installed)…

If it’s yellow let it mellow! If it’s brown flush it down: Yes I know, I’m having flash backs of my mission trip to Mozambique in 2006, and it can be super gross, but really. As soon as the toilet starts to reek like the public toilets on St. James Beach I grab that bucket and give it a gooooood flush. And then use a natural bathroom spray.

Bathing the kids: As much as I’d love to ignore bath time, and have any excuse to skip it and throw my kids straight into bed, they need a bath. Like need. I feel like I’m already constantly running after them with wet wipes in hand. So, we fill the bath with a minimal amount of water, wash wash wash, and out you get. We have taught the kids to then use their beach buckets to scoop up and throw the water on the grass. We’re teaching them to be water wise, and that somethings can be used twice.

Washing kids clothes: Do you ever just find so many clothes on the floor you scoop them up in an exhausted huff and throw them in the wash basket? Well I do, and actually, quite often, those clothes are not dirty. I’ve become more military about checking these clothes and I fold and put back those which don’t actually need a wash.

Showing: We have a new showering buddy. Our bucket. We fill it with that initial cold shower water, and then sit it on the shower floor and have it lap up the shower spray while we are showering. If I wash my hair, I intentionally ring out my wet hair into the bucket – try it – you will be AMAZED (and equally horrified) how much water it collects.

save_water_2

Be intentional about cleaning/shampooing/teeth brushing: Turn off the water when soaping up, washing your hair or brushing your teeth. This clean drinking water does not fall from the sky. Okay, it does. But supply and demand guys. Supply and demand.

Use the ‘short cycle’ on your washing machine and the ‘eco’ setting on your dishwasher. I also, put my biggest tupperware in our kitchen sink and let it collect the used water when I’m washing fruit or veggies or rinsing something. When it fills, I take it out to the garden.

Fix leaky taps and don’t fill your pool (if you have one). I’m so addicted to water saving, when I find drinking glasses upon drinking glasses holding sips of water next to hubby’s side of the bed (or school water bottles), they are emptied onto our indoor pot plants, my hanging fennel or my 4th child, my hand-reared lemon tree. We genuinely try not throw a drop down a pipe that won’t land up somewhere beneficial.

Get a borehole for your garden, and install some grey-water systems.

What have I missed? Join in the challenge… and watch your wallet, and your country, benefit.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

, , ,

The perks of growing up means you start to think about things that matter. Like brunch. How underrated is brunch? Brunch means you can wake up later (admittedly not right now), it be okay for you to be on your 3rd coffee; brunch often comes with friends, and it’s totally acceptable to have either savoury and sweet.

Brunch, as we have learned, is one of the best meals of the day. And thanks to our foodie Aussie friend, we were introduced to this recipe which is one of the best things you might ever taste. Ever. Don’t be put off by its high maintenance. Invite some friends over and put them to work in the kitchen – community at its best.

A sure fire way to start your weekend off RIGHT. Very, very right.

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast (I’ll give credit to the one who opened our eyes to good, honest, community building food – Claire Perini).


What you need:

  • Loaf (or 2 or 3) of unsliced bread – an oval shaped loaf (cut into thick sliced, and then lengthways and then slit in the middle for stuffing).
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Sprinkle cinnamon
  • Large tub of strawberries (you can also use nectarines, raspberries or blueberries) but strawberries are in season in SA…

  • Tub of double thick plain yoghurt (full cream preferably, and organic if you wish to add some kind of healthy something to this recipe)
  • Toasted sliced almonds
  • Maple syrup (the good kind, not the fake stuff)
  • Bacon (optional – and always so good with maple syrup – yummmmmm)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice fruit and stuff those little bad boys into the bread (not too full though). Whisk all the other ingredients together. On medium heat butter the pan, dip the stuffed bread into the egg mixture and fry on each side (turning once only, it doesn’t need to be completely cooked as it will cook a bit more in the oven). Popsy pop in the oven to crispy crisp it up for about 10 mins.

And you’re done. Please make this recipe. It’s a taste sensation. 

Image credit: justataste.com, homemadehooplah.com. 

 

Back to HypnoBirthing… Did it Work?

, , ,

And here we find ourselves on the other side of birth. Phew.

And yes, I’ve been asked from my fellow HypnoBirthing moms in the know, the skeptics, and everyone in between… Did it work?

beautifully-born

My answer: Ask my husband, who you can find on the corner of the street holding a huge placard reading ‘HYPNOBIRTHING REALLY WORKS’.

I guess it also depends on what you imagine HypnoBirthing being. I didn’t imagine a pain-free birth, and, well… my birth certainly wasn’t pain-free. I also didn’t imagine any rainbows, silver gloves, thermometers, control switches, and I didn’t tap into any deeeep, hypno, out of body experiences. Nada. None of that.

hypnobirthing-woman

Here are excerpts from the text I sent my fellow hypnobirthers (when I was all post-partum-hormoney) the day after our daughter was born:

pink-line

‘My last two births were similar regarding their intensity and speed but were chalk and cheese! Hubby (as am I) is convinced the hypnobirthing helped tons.

1) Breathing was AMAAAAZING. The calm breathing gave me tons of energy in between contractions (at one point I was dozing off in the bath) and the surge breathing gave me something to focus on during surges.


2) I had highlighted a few affirmations but in labour all I could think about was ‘bringing oxygen to my uterus/womb’ – I think because the physical side of how the uterus works made such sense to me. So every time I took a quick 20 count breath in and out in (surge breathing) I was imagining filling all of my uterus’ blood vessels with oxygen. And knowing that 2 or 3 breaths will get you to the peaked the surge helps you handle each one.


3) Our daughter was born sleeping. She woke after a min or so, and then went back to sleep. Heart rate happy the whole time. Hubby is convinced it’s because she was calm and there was no panic.


4) A doula is a REALLY good idea. My doula was on form and so helpful because she embraced the hypnobirthing idea. I definitely felt intensity and (dare I say) pain and so knowing natural pain relief techniques (hip squeezes etc.), combined with the mental strength was incredible.


5) I felt empowered. As each surge approached, I wasn’t panicky and scared (or just anxious/tense). So I felt like I took charge of each one – as opposed to my middle child’s birth where each one smacked me across the face… Hubby said this was very apparent to him.

And here’s where (mid birth) I tossed the HypnoBirthing idea out the water…

‘Breathing baby down’ felt like saying “here’s a watermelon, now slice it in half with your eyes”. Impossible. I tried to keep with the birth breathing but that force to push is HARD-CORE and when baby is right there it’s hard not to so desperately GET.IT.OUT! Not purple pushing, but not breathing either. Aggg.. and after all that rehearsing on the loo…’

pink-line

My biggest takeaway from the classes (and from the birth) which helped me, was UNDERSTANDING the body better (mainly the uterus, hormones, endorphins and what does what) and what my mind needs to do, to help my body get into its primed and ready birthing vibe. I’d recommend this course to ANYONE remotely interested in natural birth (be it with or without pain meds), but even just the education alone is incredibly empowering.

Have you done a HypnoBirthing class, or experienced a HypnoBirthing birth? If so, please share your experience…

Image credit: Rebecca from Love Made Visible. 

Finding the Real Scent in everything…

, , , , , ,

The one thing that sometimes bums me out a bit about natural products, is that a LOT of them don’t have ‘a smell’. I have a friend who just always smells amazing – and not because of her perfume either. Just that clean, fresh, ‘her’ smell. I want a smell too. And my house, and my laundry. And while I know it’s all deceiving – I like to smell good, and have my linen smell good and have my living room smell good. The thing is, there is a reason honest, natural goodies often don’t have a smell. It’s because that fresh fresh fresh smell you’re smelling… it’s all lies. (Disclaimer: many natural products do have gorgeous smells, but many also tend to go fragrance free for babies and kids with sensitive skins – my current world). And since I’m a sweaty, smelly lactating being, I’m lusting even more so after ‘a smell’. 

It’s a tricky one isn’t it? Go with that all natural ‘person/house smell’ (healthy) or have it be dandelion fresh (a treat to your olfactory sensory neurons)… Meh. It’s tough.

Fooooortunately, WE DO HAVE OPTIONS! And exciting, creative ones at that. My aunt just came to SA from overseas and she bought me a SOL burner and some DoTerra essentail oils. She read my mind. I put it on. Daily. It is now my most favorite house addition. I want one for every room. Every room. (Meet the glutton in me). House smell – tick.

There is a real problem with synthetic scents, like a REAL problem. And most fake green ‘natural sources’ are not natural at all. Trust me. They hide under the terms parfum, perfume or fragrance. Synthetic scents are a chemical toxic super storm. Why do you think ‘fragrance free’ has become the latest trend in marketing know-how?

So, ESSENTIAL OILS. Oh essential oils. And not just essential oils, but ethically sourced, certified organic essential oils. Not only do they smell about a gazillion times better than their synthetic counterparts, but honestly, it’s like comparing pecking duck to gristle on the bone. And no one likes gristle on the bone.

Walk into any Whole Foods in North America and the choices are endless. Back here though, well, it can be tricky. But, yay me, I found SOiL Aromatherapy. They have an impressively large range of organic essential oils, as well as burners, wax melts, shea butter, carrier oils as well as body and hair care products as part of their Treemendous range.

My fave baby products, Pure Beginnings, use top notch essential oils in all their products (except the fragrance-free ranges obviously). Here you can replace your (and your kids, and your babies’) usual day-to-day toiletries with a natural and safe alternative – deodorant, hair care, toothpaste, body wash… you name it!

Right now, I’m burning a Spa Valous eco-friendly body candle. It is a massage candle. Have you heard of massage candles? Massage candles are a new variety of candle serving several simultaneous functions. While they light a room, provide a delightful ambiance, and scent the immediate area with subtle fragrance, massage candles also contain cosmetic ingredients that make them an excellent body moisturizer offering anti-aging benefits and massage oil alternative. Because of their unique ingredients, a true massage candle will melt at just over body temperature. Much like a hot bath, they are comfortably warm, but not hot. (source)

There are so so many amazing things you can do with essential oils, and so many options out there – from disinfecting wounds, to encouraging deep relaxation. I used essential oils in my birth, HypnoBirthing preparation as well as my post partum recovery (hello tea tree oil bath). They are little drops of intensely gorgeous smelling gold.

I dare you to dip your toes into the world of essential oils, as opposed to synthetic fragrances, just one item at a time… find your fit and go for it.