It's not all bad news... there's Sophie la girafe...

I lot of my posts lately have been negative things, like how bad BPA is, how bad Johnson & Johnson baby products are, etc... so I thought I better tell you the good news... there are some nice companies out there who are making safe products for kids :-)

A few weeks ago I took my son to visit our friend Katie from We Heart Books (a fantastic blog and online shop that reviews and recommends books for kids) who had a stall at the Magnolia Square Market when it was in Melbourne. He fell in love with Sophie la girafe aka Sophie the Giraffe. Sophie is a french childhood icon. According to the lovely ladies from Les Folies (the Australian distributors of Sophie) she is the only teething toy in the world made from 100% natural rubber and non toxic paint. Sophie is hand made in France today exactly as she was when first produced back in 1961.

You can get Sophie in Australia from Les Folies. The rest of the world can order Sophie the Giraffe on Amazon, where she is the #1 top selling item for babies!

There was lots of other cool stuff at Magnolia Square, I especially loved the recycled designs of Y Knot? and the divinely cute baby clothes (organic cotton and bamboo of course) from Green Bean a New Zealand-based company.

We Heart Books and Y Knot? are at the Magnolia Square event in Sydney that's on now at the teahouse at Randwick Racecourse Friday 3 July 10am-5pm and Saturday 4 July 10am - 4pm ... the first 500 guests each day will receive a goodie bag. Sophie the Giraffe will be back in Melbourne from 6-8 August at the Magnolia Square event at the Malvern Town Hall.

while I fry an organic egg...

So we started the official 6 month pre-conception detox on Monday, and I've been wanting to blog about it but feeling overwhelmed about where to start and therefore have been doing nothing... so I thought I'd do a super-fast, while I fry an egg post to get started. It's all about baby-steps. I might end up doing a bunch of mini-posts, since I seem to be much better at micro-blogging on twitter these days at the expense of my real blog...
so here's my tip-of-the-day.

When preparing for conception, and during pregnancy and breastfeeding it is essential to maintain good supplies of iron. A lot of iron supplements aren't easily absorbed and/or make you constipated... thankfully I've found one that works beautifully, it's called Spatone, and it's simply spa water from Wales (from the spa in the picture) that's naturally very high in iron. One small sachet can be taken in water or juice, and is safe for kids over 2 years old. Pregnant women can get enough iron by taking two sachets a day. I love that it is so simple and natural, and it comes from a company that I have used and trusted for a long time, Martin & Pleasance, which also makes Rescue Remedy, a wonderful combination of Bach Flower Remedies that helped me through my law exams and helped my husband with his fear of flying!

Iron is essential to the body for many reasons, not least of which is that it helps carry oxygen around your body! Pregnant women need at least twice as much iron as the rest of us, and growing children need a lot of iron too. I would not hesitate to recommend Spatone to anyone and everyone! Stay tuned for more info on what supplements I'm using to support my body during my mindful period of pre-conception health optimization!

p.s. I actually fried an egg, ate it, fried another egg, ate that too, and I'm still going... so much for short posts...

p.p.s I have no association with Spatone or Martin and Pleasance whatsover, however if they want to send me some free stuff to review I won't complain! ;-)

One Angry Organic Mama!

My husband said to me last night, you don't sound like yourself in your blogposts, you sound so angry! I'm generally a very peaceful, calm, loving person. But the things that have been coming through my inbox over the last few days have got me pretty fired up! The latest is a story that was broken by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) when they were sent a leaked memo from a meeting that suggested that Coke, Del Monte, and other food and chemical lobbyist were plotting to deceive the American public about the safety of Bisphenol A (BPA).

For more info, read EWG's article: "Coca-Cola and Del Monte Caught in Plot to Deceive Moms and Minorities Over Dangers of BPA" or read the actual BPA Joint Trade Association Minutes from Meeting on Communications Strategy. This is smoking-gun kinda stuff reminiscent of some of the memos that came out in litigation against Tobacco companies... they know that they have no chance of getting a real scientist to stand-up and support the "benefits" of BPA, so they are looking for a "pregnant young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA.” They also want to target minorities and the poor, who can't afford to buy fresh food that doesn't use BPA in it's packaging, and they want to befriend "people that are able to manipulate the legislative process." Seriously. If you are half as outraged as I am, let's tell Coke and Del Monte that the world will not stand by and let them pull the wool over our eyes.

P.S. Great work Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post for bring this to the attention of the world's mass media, and Nena Baker from the Huffington Post for bringing it to the Attention of the blogosphere. EWG has a great blog called Enviroblog, which posts regularly on environmental connections to public health... check it out :-)

No More Tears... until baby grows up and gets cancer!

I have a whole stack of new posts in the works, but in the meantime, I'm going to "borrow" this one below from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is a fantastic non-profit. See the original post for more links and footnotes, and a chance to tell Johnson & Johnson what you think!

"Last month the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and partner organizations released a report revealing that dozens of popular bath products for babies and kids contain at least two hazardous contaminants: 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde.

Both of these chemicals cause cancer in animals, and formaldehyde is also known to cause skin rashes in people who are sensitive to the chemical. Parents around the world were particularly infuriated that Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, the iconic brand that many hospitals send home with new babies, contained both of these contaminants – neither of which are listed on ingredient labels.

The story was covered across the United States, around the world and online. Concerned moms called Johnson & Johnson – and then blogged about the company’s dismissive response.

Of the report, J&J said, “The trace levels of certain compounds found by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics can result from processes that make our products gentle for babies and safe from bacteria growth,”2 and the Campaign should stop “alarming” parents.

We think parents have a right to know if the products they buy for their babies contain hazardous chemicals linked to cancer and skin rashes. Other companies are making safe and gentle baby products without hazardous chemicals.3 Instead of playing defense, J&J should live up to its promises of purity and be the safest, most responsible company it can be."

If you're as infuriated as I am about all this, then don't forget to click here to tell Johnson & Johnson that it is not ok to put carcinogens and irritants in baby products!

ok, so here's the deal...

The reason why I have an organic baby blog, and an organic personal care products online shop is because I am passionate about creating a non-toxic world right now. Not just for future generations, but right now, for all of us, today. It's not that hard really, we all just have to stop buying so much toxic stuff. Stop buying toxic stuff altogether actually. Even the non-toxic stuff usually creates toxins in the packaging, shipping, consuming, disposing cycle... so stop buying so much stuff.

Is now a good time for me to plug my business?

We've recently acquired some baby chickens. We are raising them so that they will make organic free range eggs for us, and amuse us with their chicken shenanigans... anyway, I have been spending a lot of time thinking and researching what to feed them so that they will be nice healthy, happy organic chicks... so for a little while this might become Annie's Organic Baby (Chicken) Blog...

But I digress. I've been thinking about my chicks and thinking about how people sometimes put more effort into keeping their pets healthy than keeping their children (or for that matter themselves) healthy... would you feed your cat a caffeinated cola beverage? would you feed your puppy chocolate milk? I sat next to a couple on an international flight recently who gave their two year old some pepsi and then had to drug him with an antihistamine (which has been banned in a number of countries by the way!) to get him to sleep during the 14 hour flight! (Still digressing, well, just plain ranting now.)

Here's the thing. If you are going to spend your hard-earned money on products for your baby's skin (most of which they don't need anyway) then

please do not fall for the mass-marketing machinery of evil multinational companies who will make you feel good about products that use words like "gentle" "calming" soothing" "natural" and "organic" so that you will pay twice as much

as necessary for the same old petroleum-based, preservative-laden, unnecessarily-fragranced items. Really.

Read the labels really really carefully. if you wouldn't eat any of the ingredients then don't buy them. Buy nothing. Use water. use olive oil. They don't need much more. If you want more, then look for a product that is certified organic to food grade standards. There will be a logo from an independent certifying body, such as the USDA. Look for a product that does not contain any essential oils, even if they are organic, most of them are not safe for little babies.

Look for a product that does not contain nut oils (they may be contributing to the increase in nut allergies). There is only one line of baby products that I know of that is certified organic, and has no essential oils or nut oils. That's miessence (which is why that's the only thing that I sell in my online shop). If you know of another line that meets those three essential criteria, then please leave a comment or email me, as I'd love to let people know about them.

xxx
Annie

do I really want a girl?

So I got bored with all the cervical mucus and basal body temperature stuff (I will go back and read it, after I finish reading the juicy bits) and skipped ahead to the "How to have a girl" chapter of How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby: Fully revised and updated. Basically, it's harder to make girls than boys, unless your husband is really toxic and your vagina is really acidic. The science behind this is real, but more than I feel like explaining right now, other than to say that the "girl sperm" are much hardier than the "boy sperm" so they survive better under hostile conditions, such as hot, cramped tighty whities, men who spend lots of time underwater (scuba divers) or in the air (pilots and astronauts) or men with toxic jobs, such as anesthesiologists apparently. So basically, if we want to have a girl, DH can try to kill off all the "boy sperm" by being rather hot and toxic, or I can try to kill them off by being acidic...

top 10 things I am doing differently this time around...

As many of you know, my husband and I did a four month detox before getting pregnant with our son, almost four years ago! Something must have worked because we got pregnant right away :-) It's time to start preparing for #2, so we are gearing up for another detox. This time it's going to be SIX LONG MONTHS of no caffeine, no alcohol, no dairy, no wheat, etc etc. Why the longer detox? The theory we used for the first one is that

it takes roughly four months for eggs and sperm to "mature" before conception,

so you want your body to be in peak condition during those four months.

The fatal flaw in our plan was that we STARTED the detox four months before conception, but that doesn't mean we were detoxed for four months... it takes a while... in fact, we can never be truly detoxed in modern society... even Indigenous Peoples living in the Arctic have a body burden of PCBs, VOCs, and other POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants - the wrong kind of organic), that are in our air and water and fish that no one can avoid unless we move to another planet, in which case we will receive a mega dose of cosmic radiation. (Another thing I am doing differently this time is that I am not going to fly while pregnant).

So the problem is that doing a four month detox is not enough, because you spend the first few weeks/months being MORE TOXIC than usual, as your body flushes everything from your system... so you need a buffer period to get out as many of the toxins as you can so that you can have four months of being as clean as possible.

So, off the top of my head (but with years of thought and research put into it), these are the things that we are doing differently in the lead up to making baby #2:

1. I will start detoxing six months before conception instead of four.
2. I will not fly on an airplane for six months before conception (or during pregnancy - I flew from Australia to America, across America four times and then back to Australia while I was pregnant with #1- that's a lot of cosmic radiation!)
3. I have had my mercury amalgam fillings removed well before starting the detox for #2 (I had two such toxic fillings during #1's conception and pregnancy).
4. I am not going to drive in a new car during my detox or pregnancy (we bought a new car just before #1 was born, so he spent his first few years inhaling a cocktail of VOCs and other nasty off-gassings).
5. I'm not working in a job that stresses me out, or with people that stress me out. Stress hormones are not good for babies (or mothers-to-be).
6. I'm getting bioresonance therapy with a Bicom2000 machine from the lovely Michele at Recharge Life in Melbourne. Bioresonance therapy is one of the few modalities that can help eliminate allergies and food intolerances.
7. I'm cutting way down on the naturally-occurring food chemicals in my diet, such as amines and salicylates, that I now know I am sensitive to.
8. I'm going to get a filter for my shower and bath so that I am not inhaling and absorbing so much chlorine when I bathe... if anyone can recommend some good filters then please leave a comment!
9. I'm not going to get any ultrasounds/sonograms during my pregnancy. I know I can have a healthy baby, I don't care if it's a boy or a girl (see previous post) and if it's twins the midwives will be able to tell soon enough.
10. I'm going to spend more time in the sun. Baby and me need our vitamin D!

is it possible to choose the sex of your baby?

According to Dr Landrum Shettles and David Rorvik, the authors of How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby: Fully revised and updated you can give yourself a 75-80% chance of having a girl, and a 80-90% chance of having a boy. We must have been unwittingly using the "boy method" when we first got pregnant. I don't actually know, since I've only read the first 12 pages of the book. I borrowed it from a friend (who was trying to have a boy... she tried for a year without getting pregnant, then gave up and got pregnant right away with another girl). I'm not really going to enter into the whole ethical debate about whether or not it's a good thing for people to be able to choose the sex of their babies. I think the short answer is that it's probably good/bad/indifferent depending on the situation. In our situation we're pretty sure we only want to have two kids. We already have a boy, we'd be thrilled to have another healthy baby no matter what the gender (I know everyone says that, but we really mean it ), but I'm kinda intrigued by the idea of trying out this method, and since we already know we can make boys, we're going to try to make a girl. The only comment I'll make on the ethics of sex selection is to quote from the first chapter of the book to say that the late, great anthropologist '

Dr Margaret Mead "strongly favored the use of sex selection because, she argued, 'for the first time in human history, girls would be as wanted as boys.'

What she meant was that if a girl was the product of sex selection she could grow up secure in the knowledge that she had truly been wanted and was not simply the child her parents had 'settled for' when they failed to have a son."

So we'll give it a go, but only because we'll be trying for a girl... apparently trying for a boy involves the man having two strong cups of coffee just before having sex, and that won't really go well with our preconception detox...

I have to post this to claim my blog on Technorati

All I wanted to do was leave a comment on my friend Rebecca's Blog. But she uses coComment, so I thought I'd better sign up for that. Then they asked if I have a twitter account, which I do, but barely use it, so I had to remember my password for that. Then coComment said I had to join Technorati to "claim my blog"... so I did that, but then they didn't recognize my blog, so I had to do this silly post linking to my Technorati Profile.

Sometimes the internet drives me mad. I'm already a little bit ADD, so I get distracted very very easily... I wasn't even coming online to check Rebecca's blog, or comment on it, I was supposed to my posting on my own blog, which I have in the end, but not on the topic I meant to (which was, by the way, going to be titled "I have to stop performing such scientifically useless experiments" or something like that... it had to do with having my mercury fillings removed and detoxing etc, but it will have to wait for another day!).

While I'm doing this ridiculous post, I might as well shamelessly plug my latest newsletter.

I've been wearing the same pants all week

My DH has this theory that when you get a new piece of clothing you can wear it many times before you have to wash it. I've been trying to disabuse him of this theory lately, since I think it is very important to wash new clothes multiple times before wearing them, to remove as many of the nasty chemicals as possible. Things like formaldehyde, that is embedded in clothes to preserve them (yuck!). Not to mention the residues from pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers if you are not buying certified organic cotton clothes. Not to mention the residues from inks and dyes if you are not using natural, plant-based colors.

My mission lately has been to only buy clothes that are either second hand (and therefore have had most of the nasty residues washed off), organic cotton, or bamboo. This brings me to the pants that I wore for 6 days in a row. They were new. I was going to wash them before wearing them, even though they are bamboo, and therefore have less nasty chemicals than most. But what happened was, I got them out of the box (I ordered them online from Sahara Bloom) to try them on, to make sure they fit before washing them, and they are so incredibly THE most comfortable pants I have ever worn that I just couldn't take them off. I kept meaning to wash them, but I kept putting them on instead... once I even wore them all day, then slept in them and wore them the next day too! I'm not wearing them today (that would just be gross!), but clearly, I can't stop thinking about them, so I thought I'd share them with you. I also bought some very cute bamboo kids t-shirts for my beautiful organic boy, and some of his friends. I'm so glad that the wonderful Melissa from Sahara Bloom listened to me and her other loyal customers and brought out toddler clothes. She also has a new line of bamboo baby clothes that are made in Australia!.

Bamboo is so amazingly soft, it is perfect for babies, but also for moms like me who work from home, and don't have to get suited up every day... it's comfy as the comfiest pjs, but still looks nice enough to wear out. A few months ago I went through my closet and took 10 bags of clothes to the Salvation Army. I think it is so important to support places like this that recycle clothes and household goods, allowing everyone to reduce their ecological footprints, while saving money and supporting charities. If you don't already do so, you should check out your local thrift stores, opp shops, whatever you call them, and support them by buying from them, donating unwanted goods, or even volunteering your time, as my wonderful mother-in-law does.

I had a few really nice, expensive, woolen suits from my past life as a corporate lawyer (environmental law, but still!). I never wear them anymore, but I had trouble getting rid of them because they were so expensive, and I couldn't be bothered putting them on ebay. Instead I donated them to a fantastic group called Fitted for Work. This Australian charity helps women wanting to get back into the work force with outfits to wear at interviews, and gives them basic training on interviewing skills etc as well. There are similar organizations all over the world, many of which are members of the Women's Alliance.

While I'm singing the praises of wonderful charities, I might as well mention one I saw on Facebook recently: The Girl Effect. Great little inspirational video. Now I'm going to go wash those pants!

don't you eat?

I'm supposed to be working today, not blogging, but something funny just happened to me so I thought I'd share...

I was walking home from the train station, and a woman was taking her grandson for a walk. She looked right at me and said: "don't you eat?". I stared blankly at her... so she said: "look at you, you are so skinny, don't you eat?". I must admit, I took some offense at this remark, because I do eat, and I told her so. But then I thought about what I eat, and how I don't ever have to worry about how much I eat, because the stuff I eat is never going to make me gain weight... trust me, I've tried!

So what do I eat? It's probably easier to explain what I don't eat. I never eat any dairy or wheat. I eat very little sugar, alcohol or caffeine, and I cook most of my food from scratch. Almost everything is organic, fresh, and local. I do eat meat, but it is all organic and free range. I eat fish as much as I can, but not too much, as I worry about mercury and persistent organic pollutants that hyper-accumulate up the food chain. I drink lots of water, and not much else.

I don't exercise very much... I think running around after a two year old is pretty good at keeping you fit, but I do do Pilates twice a week when I can, since I'm prone to a bad back. I also walk as much as I can, rather than driving.

Since I didn't have all day to explain this to the grandmother, I just said: "Yes, I do eat, I eat a lot, but I don't eat any dairy or wheat." And this is the advice that I would give anyone who is trying to lose weight. I stopped eating wheat 10 years ago, and I haven't been able to gain weight since then... even when I was pregnant, I gained only as much as I needed to have a healthy baby, but it all dropped back off as soon as he was born. I'm not saying this to brag, or make you jealous, but really just to say that there is a pretty simple way to lose weight, without worrying about diets or going to the gym... if you try cutting out all dairy and wheat I will be extraordinarily surprised if you don't lose weight... and you will probably have lots of other health benefits as well. I could explain all of these to you now, but sadly I haven't the time... but I will soon, I promise!

Happy eating!

and now for the good news....

DH suggested that I write something positive for a change... and luckily I have something positive to say! Since I discovered that I am sensitive to salicylates and amines, and have been off them for over a month, I have just made it through the first few days of my period without taking any drugs... this may not sound impressive, or it may be too much information, but for me it is huge. I have had painful periods for most of my life. They get better when I'm on the pill, but the pill has lots of problems (story for another day) so I've been off it for a few years, and this makes my periods worse. Drugs help (especially Ibuprofen) but they also have problems (another story for yet another day) so I have been keen to get off them too, as they don't really fit in with my super-healthy pre-conception plan. So this is a real breakthrough for me! I still needed a hot water bottle to get through the day, but I made it drug-free, which helps to make up for the fact that I haven't eaten any fruit except pears for a long time!

Why everything I thought I knew is being turned upside down...

Big apologies for not posting recenly... I know I promised a blow-by-blow of our pre-conception detox, but things got a bit de-railed, and we went off on a journey of discovery that has solved lifelong mysteries (mostly of the bumps on your skin, pains in your tummy type) and turned my world upside down and inside out.... I don't have time to go into the details now (I never do, which is why I never post, so I figured something was better than nothing)...

So, to give an idea of what I don't have time to post about (and may never, but you never know...), I have recently discovered, through the course of doing an elimination diet and subsequent research, that:

-Organic food can actually make me sicker (in the short term.... but conventional food will still kill you in the longer term) because it is naturally higher in salicylates, a naturally occuring chemical to which I, and my organic toddler are both very sensitive.

- Far from being healthy, fruit is one of the worst things I can eat, especially organic fruit, because of the aforementioned salicylates. The only fruit we can eat at the moment is peeled pears... (recipes for pear crumble, pear muffins, pear pancakes etc to come...)

- I have been diligently avoiding sun in the middle of the day for years, when actually that is the best, and safest time to get much needed sun exposure, as the beneficial UVB rays are highest and the harmful UVA rays are lowest in intensity... I had been doing the opposite, and exposing myself to more damage in the early morning and late afternoon when UVA is higher, and missing out on the important UVB rays that help make vitamin D!

- Microwave ovens are still evil, but using them to cook and defrost meat (which should still be organic, no matter what... if you can't afford it then eat less meat!) can help to control the breakdown of protein into amines, another one of those "naturally occurring" chemicals that makes me and my whole little organic family sick!

So, as if all this wasn't enough, I am now in the process of feeding my beautiful baby (who is of course no longer a baby) gluten every day for a week, so that he can have a blood test for coeliac disease, even though the gluten is clearly not reacting well with him. This is a very painful thing for a mother to do... to keep feeding something to your child that you know is not good for them, but if he doesn't have the gluten in his system then the blood test won't work...

I'll let you know how we go.

The big detox takes a detour...

I'm sorry I didn't write anything last week... it's not for lack of something to write, but rather an inability to chose from the myriad of topics that have been bubbling away since we started the big detox almost three weeks ago. I wanted to write about the amazing Michelle, who came and did an environmental check on our house, including testing our water (filtered and unfiltered tap water -- the Brita Maxtra filer actually works pretty well!), testing our urine for heavy metals (mine was good, the toddler's was not as good... need to work on that), and telling us to avoid using cordless phones, cell phones, and wireless internet access (all of which I knew, but hadn't implemented), and showing us where the electro-magnetic hotspots in the house were (like sitting near the fridge) and how to avoid them (move to the other side of the table).

I also wanted to write about how excited I was that I didn't have any pre-menstrual pimples this month!!! I'm pretty sure it's because I have been taking cod liver oil daily for the last month. My skin hasn't felt this good ever! Even the tiny little bumps that I sometimes get on my cheeks are almost all gone. I think if I could only take one supplement, it would have to be cod liver oil.

BUT.... this is not what I want to write about today. Today I am about to plunge into what will quiet possibly be the most monumentally life-changing culinary adventure ever.

We are about to go start an elimination diet devised by Sue Dengate of the
Food Intolerance Network who wrote the book Fed Up.
The program is designed to support for families using a low-chemical elimination diet free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers (FAILSAFE) for health, behaviour and learning problems. We know that our son is sensitive to salicylates (naturally occurring chemicals in most fruits and some vegetables). If he eats fruit (other than pears) he breaks out in hives and becomes hyperactive. And we know that DH is sensitive to amines (naturally occurring in foods such as chocolate, bananas, meat and fish as proteins break down) - if he has too much he gets migraines and throws up a lot. We know that I am allergic to dairy and gluten intolerant (and heaps of other foods). But what we don't know, is whether the toddler is sensitive to amines, whether DH is sensitive to salicylates, and whether I am sensitive to either or both. I'm pretty sure somethings going on, because after reading the list of symptoms in Sue's book Fed Up, I had a huge "Ah-Ha" moment. (Oprah should do a show about this book!).

I will write more on this soon, but for now I will leave you with the list of some of the many symptoms of food intolerance that can be helped by diet, according to the Food Intolerance Network: (I have put in bold the symptoms that I, or members of our families have had, either as children or adults. If you are related to me or my husband, and have symptoms (or your kids do) that I have not listed in bold, then email me and let me know so that I can update the list... it will be interesting to see how many of these symptoms disappear!)

Airways: Asthma, Stuffy blocked or runny nose/ nasal polyps, Frequent nose bleeds, Catarrh, chronic throat-clearing, Sinusitis, Frequent ear infections, Frequent tonsillitis, Frequent colds and flu, symptoms of Samter’s Triad

Skin: Eczema, Urticaria (hives), Cradlecap, Other skin rashes, Angioedema (swollen lips, eyes, tongue), Geographic tongue, Pruritis (itching), Allergic shiners (dark circles under eyes), Pallor (pale skin), Flushing, Excessive sweating, Body odour, Sore vagina in children

Digestive system: Recurrent mouth ulcers, Indigestion, Nausea, Bad breath, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Stomach ache, Bloating, Reflux in babies, adults, Constipation, Colic in babies, adults, Sluggish bowel syndrome (feeling of "more to come"), Soiling (sneaky poos)

Bladder: Bedwetting, Daytime incontinence, Urinary urgency, Recurrent inflammation (cystitis)

Skeletal: Growing pains, Arthritis

Eyes: Nystagmus (involuntary movement), Blurred vision

Muscles: Low muscle tone, Myalgia (muscle pain), Tics (involuntary movement), Tremor

Heart: Rapid heart beat, Heart palpitations, Cardiac arrhythmias, Pseudo heart attack (feeling of impending doom, chest pressure, pain down arm), Tachycardia (fast heart beat), Angina-type pain, HHT

Central nervous system: Headaches or migraines, unexplained tiredness, Chronic fatigue, Feeling 'hung-over', Confusion, Dizziness, Agitation, Tinnitus (noises in ear), Hyperacusis, Paraesthesia (pins and needles), Dysaesthesia (numbness), Hypoglycemia, Epileptic seizures, Sensory symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Symptoms of lupus

Anxiety: Panic attacks, Depression, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, actions

Impaired memory: Vague or forgetful, Unable to concentrate, Won't persevere, Unmotivated, Disorganised, Easily distracted, Difficulty reading and writing

Speech: Loud voice (no volume control), Speech hard to understand, Speech delay, Selective mutism, Stuttering, Repetitive noises, Talks too much (empty chatter)

Coordination: Poor handwriting, Poor coordination, Frequent accidents

Sleep: Difficulty falling asleep, Restless legs syndrome (RLS), Persistent night waking, Insomnia, Nightmares/night terrors/sleepwalking

Mood: Mood swings, Premenstrual tension, Grizzly or unhappy, Cries easily or often, Irritable, Uncooperative Oppositional defiance: ODD, Loses temper, Argumentative, Refuses requests, Defies rules, Deliberately annoys others, Blames others for own mistakes, Touchy, easily annoyed, Angry, resentful

Other behaviour: ADHD, ADD, Autism, Aspergers, Inattentive, easily bored, unmotivated, Restless, fidgety or overactive, Head banging, Fights with siblings, Difficulty making friends, Destructive, aggressive, Unreasonable, Demanding, never satisfied, Disruptive, Discipline is ineffective.

I feel like crap, so the detox must be working…

I don’t feel that bad, just a bit like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’m exhausted without doing anything. I’m not sick, nothing hurts, I just have very little energy, and as DH just discovered, I’m a bit sensitive and grumpy! I’m trying to make the most of the process, lazy hours reading in bed, or just lying in bed doing nothing. I’m not that sleepy, just wiped out. I just had a nice long hot bath with lots of baking soda (helps to draw out the toxins) while sipping a cup of dandelion tea (helps the liver detox) that DH kindly made for me. He is doing very well with his detox. His main issue is tea, which he loves, but he gets terrible headaches when he doesn’t have enough at the right time. When we did the first detox three and a half years ago he was pretty sick for a week while he went through the caffeine withdrawl. This time around he is doing it more gradually. Cutting out coffee first, then switching to a low-caffeine Ceylon tea, and then to white tea. While he has had mild headaches at times, it’s a lot more pleasant than the first time around! That is one of the advantages of starting the detox six months before we want to conceive… we’re not in a quite so much of a hurry, so we can take a gentler approach.

There are also lots of things that we have cut out completely since the first time around, such as toxic household and persona care products. While we are still not perfect in this arena, there are a lot toxins in our lives these days, so the detox is not as much hard work as it was the first time. The second time round I am focusing more on adding in nourishing, beneficial foods and supplements to our diet, than on cutting out bad ones. The main things I have to cut out (not that I have much of them to begin with) are sugar, alcohol and caffeine (in that order). I’m already non-dairy and gluten-free, so that makes things easier.

I really don’t have much sugar, since I’m allergic to most things that have sugar in them, but it sneaks into your diet in insidious ways…. ketchup, jam, toothpaste (not mine) peanut butter (which I don’t eat, but it’s in the sunflower substitute I like), etc. I already avoid corn syrup (one of THE most EVIL “foods” around) religiously. So for me it’s things like honey, fruit juices, dried fruit, and other things with naturally occurring sugars.

Alcohol is probably the worst thing I have regularly, but I only have a few glasses a week, usually of organic red wine. Red wine does have some health benefits, but it is also pretty hard on the liver, so I’m taking a break during the detox, and the pregnancy, and the breastfeeding, so I’m pretty much not going to be able to have wine for about the next 3 years. Now I’m going to cry. I must admit I did drink the occasional half glass of wine while breastfeeding the first time around. But I absolutely did not drink at all during pregnancy. I was also very very good during the four month detox before getting pregnant, however I did have one bad night at a friends wedding in Bali only a few weeks before getting pregnant. My son can blame any of his future health problems on that night. The good thing is that I was already so detoxed that by body would have been able to process the alcohol very quickly. Or so I keep telling myself.

The caffeine thing is pretty easy for me, since I don’t really like black tea, and I only have coffee once or twice a month, since it gives me the jitters. My main source of caffeine is dark chocolate, which is very hard to resist, and very good for you, if it’s not combined with too much sugar and other processed additives. My one deviation from the detox since last wrote was a piece of vegan, gluten-free chocolate cake. It’s so rare that I can find pastries that I’m not totally allergic to that I couldn’t resist… But if that’s the worst thing I had all week I think I’m doing pretty well… Now I’m off to apply my detox foot patches (more on these soon) and go to bed!

it all starts NOW!

So this is it. The BIG detox. It all starts now. Actually it was supposed to start on Friday, and I was pretty good on friday, no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar... but then it was saturday, and someone offered me a decaf rice milk cappuccino (yes I am a freak) and I couldn't say no, as it's not often you can have such an obscure beverage, and then someone else offered me a glass of wine on saturday night, and I felt that I really needed to have one last farewell drink, given that I am giving it it for probably the next three years or so... so I did. But now I'm done... no more toxins will be entering my body if I can help it. There are a lot of toxins I can't help.... such as living in a major city, but I'm going to take control of the more controllable ones, such as what goes into my mouth and onto my skin, and what comes into my house, and more importantly, what I'm kicking out!

Why am I doing this to myself you may ask?

Because I want to have another organic baby.

Not now. Not in nine months. But in 15 months. So I'm starting now. Last time we started detoxing four months before conceiving. That was the minimum time recommended based on the maturation of eggs and sperm. (More on this soon). But this time I'm starting a bit early, as I want the actual detox to be done four months before we start, so that we just have four months of optimal health as the eggs and sperm are preparing. And yes, that means DH is doing it too! He's currently weaning himself off his rather serious caffeine addiction, so I'm typing very quietly.... shhhhh.

I promise to update the blog at least once a week until we get pregnant (and beyond). And you, my dear blog readers will be the first to know. This will be the step-by-step guide to making an organic baby that I have been promising for so long.... here it is. Enjoy.

why I don't get to read as much as I used to

I have a problem with my bowels. They’re too efficient. For the last couple of years I have been taking a certified organic probiotic food supplement daily, and because of it I am incredibly regular. I have one or more BMs a day, and they happen effortlessly. This is a wonderful thing, as anyone who has ever been constipated would know. But it does have one small down-side. It has cut way back on my reading time.

Like most people, we keep a stash of reading material in the bathroom. My favorite is The Nation, which keeps me up to date on politics, environmental & social justice and the arts from my home country. The problem is that I never get to read it anymore, as I’m only ever in the bathroom for a few seconds. At the moment that has been just enough time to slowly make it through a book about potty training in one week which has taken me over a month to read (and it’s a very little book, as you can see).

While I am spending more time in the bathroom than usual at the moment, it is because we are in the midst of potty training (more on that soon!), not because I am sneaking in there for a bit of pleasure reading. So I’m having to find ways to fit more reading into my daily life, as it is one of my favorite activities… in my ideal life, I would have at least an hour a day for reading pleasure… and not just kids books!

I do love reading to my son, but I must admit, I’m getting tired of reading the same books over and over and over and over and over and over and over (if you have a toddler you know how it is…) which is why I am very grateful for the amazing moms over at my favorite blog at the moment, We Heart Books, which is full of wonderful suggestions for kids books.

Now I just have to decide if I’m ready to brave a trip to the library with a toddler in potty training?

pink for boys and blue for girls?

All that talk about saving money on kids clothes by buying them second hand went out the window last week when I drove across town (at least I carpooled with a fellow Mom) to visit the bi-annual PureBaby Warehouse sale. This is a Melbourne institution that sees posh Mums from all over town converging on a seedy alley-way in Collingwood and jostling with their designer prams for first place in line to grab up organic cotton baby clothes at target prices. It's the last day today, so if you live in Melbourne, and have a baby, or are planning a baby, or know anyone having a baby (they make great gifts) I'd head over to 135 Cromwell St, Collingwood before 5pm today (Sunday).

Even if you don't live in Melbourne, you can be sure to look out for ebay being flooded with reasonably priced purebaby goodies over the next few weeks and months. I don't have any financial interest in purebaby (I wish I did!), I'm just an addict. Half my son's wardrobe is from purebaby, (although I'm struggling now since they only make clothes up to size 2, but they do make pjs in bigger sizes), sourced only from the warehouse sales (I would never pay retail), and it's one of the main sources of my gifts for friends who have babies (along with the miessence certified organic baby care range). I stock up once or twice a year, with an adequate supply of pink, blue and gender neutral colors so that I'm prepared for the multitude of babies being born amongst my cohort.

Did you know that it wasn't until the 1950s that pink became associated with girls, and blue for boys?

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]

This time I even bought a few (gender neutral) newborn outfits for the baby we're planning for next year (more on that soon!).

my son is outgrowing all his clothes!

As usual I've been far too busy to blog for ages, and one of the things that has been keeping me busy is keeping my two year old clothed and fed (not to mention amused... and don't even get me started on nap time!)... Normal parents would probably just pop over to the local department store and stock up on the next size up in pants, shirts, sweaters etc (it's winter here in Australia!), but since I have made a commitment (to myself, and now to cyberspace) not to buy new clothes for anyone unless they are made from organic cotton, bamboo, modal, etc.... it makes replenishing wardrobes a bit trickier!

Since it would be pretty expensive to buy all organic-cotton wardrobes, a lot of our clothes are second hand... this is better for many reasons, including a reduced ecological footprint (it's not just about carbon!), a reduced price-tag (which means I can afford new organic clothes), and the main reason motivating my stance: safety. New clothes, especially those made in China (which is most of them these days) are sprayed with horrible chemicals, such as flame-retardants, fumigants, etc. This is on top of whatever chemical residues are already on the fabrics, such as pesticides, fertilizers, dies, and plastics (all those licensed cartoon characters on kids clothing are actually quiet toxic).

So yesterday I went to our local "opp shop" (short for Opportunity Shop, ie second hand store run by a charitable organization) and got 16 items for $69... now this is actually pretty expensive as far as opp shops go, but it was called the "Posh Opp Shop", and we got very nice stuff for my son (some of which won't fit him for a few years, but that will save me some trouble down the track), much of which were expensive brand name clothes in great condition. I still had to be careful to avoid shirts with toxic decorations (ie no Bob, Thomas, Dora, or Pooh), not just for environmental reasons, and because I don't like my child being free advertising for multi-national media conglomerates.

Another good thing about buying from shops run by the Salvation Army and other charities is that they are usually run by volunteers, and any profits are given to charity. I still feel a bit bad about buying second hand clothes though, because it means we're benefiting from the fact that some other family has been exposed to the nasty residues as they slowly get washed off and absorbed into the skin of young children, but hopefully as more people become aware of the dangers lurking in those sweet flannel pjs (I'm not just scare-mongering here, this is really really an issue of concern, if you don't believe me, google it), there will be fewer toxic clothes on the market.

I also make use of ebay, for second-hand and organic clothes, and I try to support local small-businesses that use sustainable fabrics to make fair-trade products. Yesterday we also received a big package from one of my favorite Australian companies, Blessed Earth, that included toddler pants, and for me: organic socks, tights, underwear, bra, towels and a pillow cover (it was all on sale!).

Now we're all set for clothes for the winter, and I'm feeling better about our wardrobe's footprint... my next challenge is naptime... I can't get the organic toddler down for a nap without driving him around the block for 20 minutes (the stroller works too, but as it's winter it's pretty cold and rainy most days)... so, as my husband says, our naptime has a huge carbon footprint! Any suggestions????

I'm so impossibly busy, I just have to blog!

Do you know that feeling? When you have so many things to do that no one thing takes precedence over the other and you become paralyzed and end up doing something else altogether that isn't even on your LIST OF URGENT THINGS TO DO!

That's where I'm at. We're heading overseas (to Hawaii!!!) in four days, and before we go I have to write two 2-hour Contract Law Lectures, organize everything for my organic business stall at the Going Green Expo in Melbourne June 5-8, clean the house (actually we've outsourced that to the fabulous folks at EASLI), and pack a number of items to keep the toddler entertained and organically fed on the way too long plane trip.

As far as entertainment goes, I've been collecting books that are small and light, but will keep him amused for a long time... Katie from We Heart Books (a fabulous blog about kids books) has been a great source of ideas for what books to bring. I've also bought some new Charlie & Lola books, including one filled with stickers, which will definitely provide hours (or at least half an hour) of amusement, but I'm a bit worried about the toxicological effects of being covered in stickers (him and me). Has anyone done any research into this?? If so, please leave a comment!

As for food, I'm sure Qantas hasn't added an Organic meal into their selection of special meals, at least not in economy. I have a hard enough time arranging a meal that is Gluten AND Dairy-free (some airlines will do it, others just laugh at you). For me I think I will just stock up on yummy, organic "health" bars with lots of chocolate in them to keep me going, but I can't give that to the BABY!

One of our staple "convenience" foods is banana muffins, which are not so convenient, as I have to bake them from scratch, but it's a great recipe for people with multiple allergies:

1 cup organic brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flower
1/2 cup amaranth or quinoa flour (high protein, gluten-free south american grains)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp sea salt
mix these dry ingredients and then separately mix:
4 ripe mashed organic bananas
1/3 cup of oil (I use rice bran oil, but olive oil works too)
1/4 cup honey (I use pear juice concentrate)
Add all ingredients together and add some liquid if necessary (I use rice milk or juice).

Bake for 15-20 min in a moderate oven (160C or 320F). Makes 12 yummy muffins. They go stale pretty quickly, so any that I'm not eating right away I freeze for later. I'm going to make a double batch right now... to get us through this week and the trip to Hawaii!

I'll also need to make sure we all consume lots of antioxidants to counteract the high radiation levels associated with air travel.

Personally, I have a drink made with Berry Radical most days, which is a yummy organic chocolate, berry concoction, that gives me lots of energy and a full day's worth of antioxidants.

But I can't give that to the BABY because he is very sensitive to salicylates, a naturally occurring chemical found in many fruits and vegetables, especially berries. More on that later...