pregnancy

Last minute preparations

by Ginny on May 17, 2011

I am finding it hard to think about much of anything other than the impending arrival of our new baby.  My body has a habit of spending quite a few days warming up and getting ready before the “real thing” and this time around all the warming up has started a bit earlier than usual, keeping me constantly wondering if today might be the day.  Honestly, it kind of makes me crazy.  As all of the major preparations have been made, I am keeping myself busy now taking care of a few last minute tasks.  After my last three births I really enjoyed soaking in healing herbal baths, and this time around I am planning more of the same.  There are lots of different recipes for postpartum herbal bath mixtures, and I typically create a combination of herbs based on several different recipes.  This time around I combined in a big bowl:  2 c. comfrey leaves, 2 c. calendula flowers, 1 c. each shepherd’s purse, rosemary leaves, and lavendar flowers, and 1/2 cup rose petals (I would have included uva ursi as well, but it was out of stock everywhere.)  I mixed the herbs by hand and then stuffed them by the heaping cupful into a pair of panty hose, tying a double set of knots between each cup of herbs.
   
Once I am sure I am really in labor, I will cut one of my herbal “sausages” and steep it in about a gallon of water to create a healing tea that we will store in the fridge to use in a peri bottle after the birth.  The other six (I made seven) will be prepared the same way, one each day after the birth, only the gallon of herbal tea will be added directly to my bath water along with a cup or two of epsom salts.

Last week, after seeing Amanda’s latest baby booties, I decided to knit a pair myself using the leftover yarn from Beatrix’s Boheme.  I have knit booties for friends, but never for my own baby, as I had only just begun to get serious about knitting when Beatrix was born.  These are sitting on my bedside table, a little reminder (as if I need one) of the little baby that I will soon give birth to.

On Sunday afternoon two of my closest friends took me out for lunch, a sort of final day out before I am once again attached to a little baby everywhere I go.
I do believe that I am ready to be carrying him in my arms. 
So now we just wait.

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Craving and obsession

by Ginny on April 29, 2011

While each of my pregnancies has accompanied the typical heightened sense of smell that many women experience, this one has been extreme.  My poor family, and especially my husband, have had to put up with so much from me.  During my second trimester I had this disgusting issue with gagging.  All sorts of smells gagged me and I couldn’t help but make these awful loud gagging noises, especially when changing diapers.  Jonny ended up taking on diaper duty for a couple of months because I just couldn’t handle it. 

My boys have been instructed more than usual to “go brush your teeth.”  And when I’ve been feeling really sensitive those orders include mouthwash (that’s good stuff by the way-so effective.)  It’s also possible that I have made requests that no one do any “open mouth breathing” near me.  Yes, it’s been really bad.  I have tried to be nice about the whole thing.
On the other hand, there are certain scents that I have totally craved.  These have all been strong non-food smells.  When it comes to food I haven’t dealt with major nausea or food aversions, I just haven’t been that interested in food–absolutely no food cravings.  On the other hand I love the smell of rubbing alcohol, the natural oil wood finish that Jonny’s uses (fancy non-toxic stuff,) and citronella.  At the top of my list are two things though:  the strong eucalyptus scent of Burt’s Bees Hand Salve, and Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh peppermint toothpaste.  I am so addicted to brushing my teeth with that toothpaste!  Sometimes I have to brush twice in a row it’s so great.  I know-this is really weird;  I am a little obsessed. 
Yesterday I decided to try to replicate Burt’s Bees Hand Salve by creating a recipe based on it’s ingredient list and the way it smells.  I gathered almond and olive oil, some herbs and essential oils, and of course some beeswax, and made my own hand salve. 
My version turned out pretty good, and I know it will get used up quickly by my husband who has super rough “man hands” as he calls them, but it isn’t exactly what I was aiming for.  Next time I make it I will make a couple of changes, mainly replacing most of the olive oil with almond oil, and maybe cutting back on the herbs I simmered in the oil so that the scents from the essential oils stand out even more.
Here’s the recipe I created, following the same basic steps that I did when we made chickweed salve.
1/2 c. almond oil
1/2 c. olive oil
dried herbs simmered in the oil:
4T lavender flowers
2T rosemary leaves
2T comfrey leaves
1T comfrey root
After simmering the herbs in the oil and straining them out I added:
10 drops rosemary oil
10 drops lavender oil
25 drops eucalyptus oil
finally I added two generous tablespoons of beeswax pastilles, waited for them to dissolve, and then poured my salve into a tin.
This is definitely a great hand salve, but again, not perfect in the scent department.  I am going to keep trying.

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