I’m so excited to tell you Suzette’s amazing name and birth story today. She is our precious sixth child, and we are thrilled that she had a safe delivery and is now here with us!

Suzette’s Name

Early in my pregnancy I saw the name “Suzette” and immediately loved it.

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When it comes to cleaning, I’ve noticed people tend to settle into two different camps. They love it or they hate it. They let it build up until they can’t stand it anymore (or they have guests over), OR they have a militant cleaning schedule and can’t do anything for the day until the cleaning is done. Learning how to clean your house with Norwex products brings a joy and simplicity to cleaning that I’ll talk about in this post.

Since we were both raised in a stricter cleaning environment, my husband and I tend to lean the other way- towards TIDY but “oh, there’s a pink mold ring in the toilet? Ok, I’ll get the toilet brush…” mentality.

We have always struggled with maintaining a cleaning schedule because with the little amount of downtime we have, we don’t want to spend it cleaning!

Until now. Cleaning is SO MUCH EASIER and FASTER and I love Norwex.

**GO STRAIGHT TO NORWEX CATALOG HERE**

Post updated November, 2022. Originally published March, 2017.

Toxic Cleaning Products and Cancer

It is well known that conventional cleaning products are horrible for both us and the environment. Like REALLY REALLY awful. Over 80,000 new chemicals have been introduced into our homes and environment in the last 50 years. That’s CRAZY. Even crazier is that the majority of them have never been tested for their long-term impact on human or environmental health.

When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008, my husband and I came upon study upon study linking lymphomas to chemical exposure. All of our household cleaning products had to GO, especially after we decided to purse non-toxic treatment.

Ineffective Natural Products

You can see in an older post I wrote, that for years I used basic, non-toxic ingredients to clean my home. The problem was that these products took a lot of WORK to become effective. Since a vinegar and water mixture was my main cleaning product, I couldn’t reuse kitchen cloths because they would leave my house constantly smelling like vinegar. This meant we went through A LOT of paper towels each day to wipe down counters.

Scrubbing with baking soda and Dr. Bronner’s soap was effective in the shower, but it took a LONG TIME and tons of scrubbing (which I avoided for way too long.)

Cleaning just wasn’t fun and took a lot of work and time to be semi-effective.

Why I Love Norwex Microfiber Products

Enter Norwex. A friend of mine bought me a simple Norwex Envirocloth and Window Cloth as a thank you and I haven’t turned back. I became obsessed with how much just these two cloths could clean!

They replaced both my glass cleaner (think: Windex) and my all-purpose cleaner (think: Fantastic, Clorox Clean-Up, or in my case vinegar/water mix) which during my pre-cancer days cleaned the majority of my house.

I also love because you only use WATER with them, they are completely non-toxic and you ONLY BUY THEM ONCE! No need to buy a bunch of cleaning products every few months.

How does it work you wonder?

Norwex microfiber is woven with microfiber 1/200th the width of a human hair. It clings and grabs EVERYTHING. Once wet with water, it works to pick up bacteria by actually GRABBING it and holding it in the cloth until you rinse the cloth under very warm water. It removes up to 99% of bacteria and contaminants.

Even more fascinating to me is that antibacterial silver is woven throughout the microfiber to create a self-purifying fabric. My microfiber usually lasts a week without stinking or washing! It’s. Just. Plain AWESOME.

Norwex microfiber can be used on all surfaces you currently use your all-purpose cleaners: kitchen, bath, shower, external toilet area, floors, cars, and outdoor furniture.

***Here are some AMAZING before and afters using Norwex microfiber.***

My Norwex Favorites!

1. Basic Package (Envirocloth + Window Polishing Cloth)
2. Safe Haven 5 Set with Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent (envirocloth, window cloth, dusting mitt, laundry detergent, cleaning paste)
3. Superior Mop Starter System w/Rubber Brush – Blue/Green
4. Tile Mop Pad- Large
5. Just Add Water Package w/Ultra Power Plus Laundry Detergent (Envirocloth, Window Cloth, Dusting Mitt, Detergent, Mop, dusting Mop, Dryer Balls, Mop Brush)
6. Fruit and Veggie Scrub Cloth
7. Bottle Brush and Envirosleeve
8. EnviroSponges (for washing dishes)
9. Counter Cloth Set + Kitchen Cloths
10. EnviroScrub (for bathroom and shower)
11. Body Cloth for Body or Face (Takes all of my makeup off and cleans my crusty-faced kids SO easily!)
12. Facial Makeup Remover Pads
13. Optic Scarf for Glasses Cleaning
14. Pet to Dry – Unicorn (comes in different designs)

Did you know Norwex Consultants earn 35% on all sales or personal purchases?

Interested in getting more involved with Norwex? As a consultant, you have the opportunity to earn the $200 starter kit for FREE and also earn 35% on personal purchases and sales you make. See more info on that HERE.

Clean Your House with Norwex Products

Which Norwex Products Should I Start With?

That is definitely up to you and your household’s individual needs, but here’s a run down of what I love and how I use it to make my cleaning routine simple, 100% non-toxic and QUICK.

For a more in-depth demonstration of the Norwex products I use in my home, check out this Facebook LIVE video where I talk about all of these products and see them in action with all the quirkiness that comes along with me. You can see quick individual demos in the descriptions of the products below.

My Must-Have/Replaces-All-Your-Cleaning-Products Favorites:

EnviroCloth + Window Cloth:

The Basic Package: This includes a Norwex Envirocloth and purple Window Cloth. This alone will reduce your household chemical use by 70%. (This is also the package I was gifted when I was first introduced to Norwex- I definitely had the “Where has this been all of my life!!?” reaction. See a video of me using the Envirocloth and Window Cloth HERE.

The Dusting Mitt:

The Dusting Mitt: Although you can use the Envirocloth wet or dry to dust, the Dusting Mitt is really nice and ergonomically molded to your hands subtle movements to get in the tiniest little areas to dust around picture frames, etc. I feel like a dusting MACHINE when I have the mitt on, lol. Gets the job done very quickly! See a video of how to use the dusting mitt HERE.

(You can also get the above Envirocloth + Window Cloth + Dusting Mitt in the Household Package.)

UPP Laundry Detergent:

Ultra Power Plus Detergent: All Norwex cloths maintain their integrity best when used with a laundry detergent with no fillers, dyes, fragrances, phosphates, or preservatives. I have found that the Norwex Ultra Power Plus detergent works the absolute best in keeping my Norwex products from deteriorating and holding onto kitchen smells. One of these bags will last you 100 loads in an HE machine and 66 loads in a top loading machine.

The Norwex Mop:

The Norwex Mop: Just when I thought my life was completely changed by the Envirocloth and Window cloth, I discovered that if you use your Envirocloth on your floors, MAGIC happens. I didn’t know it was possible to get my floors so clean WITH JUST WATER. The mop offers all of the brilliance of the Envirocloth but in mop form to save your back. And the included dry mop pad is BRILLIANT, using static electricity to draw dirt and dust into the mop. This has changed my life, cutting down sweeping and mopping time by 75% and allowing me to sweep my downstairs floors in 5 minutes and mop in 10. I am so GRATEFUL. See a video of how to use the mop HERE.

*****You can get the mop and the rest of the above items included in the Just Add Water Package which includes my top 4 favorite products above + the rubber brush for the mop and 3 wool dryer balls HERE. You won’t have to buy a cleaning product again for 5 years or more! This is my MUST HAVE bundle to begin to clean your house with Norwex. (See pic below.)**

You can also view some of the other Norwex Collections HERE.

You can also check out the entire Norwex catalog online HERE. It’s like Christmas morning year-round for crunchy folks like us.

-Cortney

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See more posts on anti-cancer lifestyle and diet and alternative cancer treatments HERE.

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Elderberry syrup is an essential I keep in my family’s natural remedy-based medicine cabinet, especially during the winter months. Unfortunately store-bought elderberry syrup can be incredibly expensive for how much you get and also mixed with some yucky ingredients and sugars. If you haven’t learned how to make homemade elderberry syrup yet, you are in the right place. This guide is quick, easy, and fool proof.

EASY Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Last year my entire family got the flu over Christmas and this recipe was by far a saving grace for us. Not only is it potent and we could feel the difference after taking it, but it was easy for my kids to take since it tasted so good! I hope you find it just as helpful.

Medicinal Benefits and Studies of Elderberry Syrup

Unlike getting a flu shot, elderberry syrup has potent antiviral and antibacterial compounds that work WITH your immune system naturally.

Elderberry syrup has been made for centuries and has been praised for its immune boosting and flu fighting abilities. It is high in Vitamin C and also contains excellent amounts of Vitamin A, and B6. The levels of anthocyanins in elderberry boost our production of cytokines which increase the effectiveness of our immune response.

Elderberries also contain antiviral components and their high potency of bioflavonoids are believed to deactivate viruses.

A 1995 study in Panama published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that elderberry extract cut the length and severity of Influenza B in HALF compared the placebo group.

A 2004 study published in The Journal of International Medical Research found that elderly influenza patients receiving elderberry syrup, were relieved of their symptoms 4 times earlier than patients receiving the placebo:

Sixty patients (aged 18-54 years) suffering from influenza-like symptoms for 48 h or less were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study during the influenza season of 1999-2000 in Norway. Patients received 15 ml of elderberry or placebo syrup four times a day for 5 days, and recorded their symptoms using a visual analogue scale. Symptoms were relieved on average 4 days earlier and use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with placebo. Elderberry extract seems to offer an efficient, safe and cost-effective treatment for influenza. These findings need to be confirmed in a larger study.”

EASY Homemade Elderberry Syrup (with Instant Pot option)

2/3 cup dried elderberries (find some HERE at Amazon)

3 1/4 cups water

3/4  cup honey (raw, local is best)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ground ginger powder

Stove Top Directions:

1. Bring water to boil in a saucepan, add in elderberries and reduce to simmer.
2. Simmer for 45-60 minutes or until liquid has reduced by about half.
3. Let cool to warm and then strain through a sieve, cheesecloth, or muslin.
4. Add in honey and stir.
5. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator.

Keeps in refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.

Instant Pot Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except for honey in your instant pot or electric pressure cooker.
2. Cook on normal high pressure for 10 minutes. Release pressure manually or allow to release naturally if time (I like to let my berries simmer a bit longer while the pressure releases.)
3. Remove pot insert and let cool to warm.
4. Strain through sieve, cheesecloth or muslin.
5. Add honey and stir.
6. Store in sealed jar in refrigerator.

Keeps in refrigerator for 4-6 weeks.

Dosage:

Preventative: 1 Tbsp/daily for adults, 1 tsp/daily for children over 1 year.

Illness Remedy: 1 Tbsp/2-3 hours for adults, 1-2 tsp/2-3 hours for children over 1 year.

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Welcome to my updated review of Truly Free (formerly “My Green Fills”) nontoxic laundry detergent.

I am updating this post after FIVE YEARS of using Truly Free, and I’m happy to say that with years now of baby and kid-stained shirts and smoothie and grease splashes of my own, I am even more grateful for a nontoxic, natural laundry detergent that works!

I remember the first time I switched to “natural” laundry detergent in 2008, shortly after my cancer diagnosis. It seemed pretty decent and not much different than my old Tide or Gain (except a lot less toxic!) Then I had kids and…YAH. This is where my “natural” laundry detergent was put to the test.

At first, I doubted myself at times- that perhaps I just forgot to put the detergent in the washing machine?? That’s how little of a difference the detergent made on my baby’s stains! It had nothing on diaper blowouts and dried, day old spit up. Onesie after onesie was ruined, even after pretreating it.

And over the years it had just gotten worse and more frustrating as my kids grew and stains became more fierce.

Thankfully, with Truly Free I’ve finally found a non-toxic laundry system that works, and I’m going to talk a little about that today.

Review of Truly Free Laundry Detergent: How I Started Using Truly Free

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Visit here for complete disclosure.)

We met Stephen Ezell, the CEO and co-founder of Truly Free: Natural, Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent, when my husband’s film company began some awesome work with the Hope 4 Cancer clinic in Mexico to produce a few small films telling the stories of several of their patients.

One day I walked into our bedroom (with a basket full of clean laundry to fold, funny enough) where Kevin was on a business call with Stephen. Kevin had me say a quick hello to Stephen, and the three of us ended up chatting for a while. Kevin mentioned to me that Stephen’s other company, Truly Free, produced small batch, non-toxic and eco-friendly laundry detergent. I could be embellishing this- but I swear I remember snarkily saying “and it works???!”

Stephen laughed and casually said to me that he would send me some samples, and two days later we got them and tried them out! Here’s what I thought about it and my extremely honest review- because after FIVE years, I still really, really love Truly Free and have my subscription box set to every three months.

Who Started Truly Free?

In 1982, Ruth Smith- formulator of the original My Green Fills product, started making her own natural, hypoallergenic laundry detergent to help her children who suffered from severe skin allergies and used it for over 30 years!

In 2012, Stephen Ezell joined the company as CEO and created the easy, subscription based, eco-friendly laundry supply system that Truly Free is today.

What Makes Truly Free Different?

You already know about Truly Free being completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly, but the main standout to me is that you only ever need ONE laundry detergent container. After that you buy biodegradable paper-based refill packets of the powder concentration and then mix it with warm water and shake to blend.

See my (semi-outdated) Youtube video here for a complete demo of how Truly Free (My Green Fills) works and my favorite tips and tricks!

Truly Free doesn’t even *technically* make a “laundry detergent” or “soap.” They prefer to say “laundry wash” as detergents are filled with toxic fillers, preservatives, perfumes, and dyes, and fillers that stay on your clothes. Their Laundry Wash simply does what it says- gently washes through your clothes without leaving anything behind.

Their Laundry Rinse functions similarly to a fabric softener without leaving chemicals behind on your clothes.

How Does Truly Free Laundry Wash Work?

To get started with Truly Free you need to set up your initial subscription. You then set up a frequency that you want to receive your order. (I get the Buy 5+ items option and set my frequency to every 3 months.) If you buy 5+ items at a time, you get each item at 40% off. This is how I am able to get all of my non-toxic laundry products for a family of 7 for under $15 monthly.

Also- it is super easy to change your subscription order in your account, and if you forget to pause an order or forget to change an order, customer service is extremely accommodating.

With your initial order you will receive your Truly Free containers (choose Laundry Wash only or Laundry Wash + Rinse.) After this purchase you won’t ever purchase another container again and will only receive packets of the powdered detergent that you will mix with warm water in the same container over and over again.

No more giant laundry detergent containers in the landfills or recycling bin. No more lugging giant containers of laundry detergent from Costco each month.

Note: For my family of seven, I purchase 3 Laundry Wash, 2 Laundry Rinse, and 1 Enzyme Stain Remover every three months. I also occasionally purchase the Stain Stick and Drier Angels + refills with my order.

Try Truly Free today and get free laundry wash for LIFE + FREE SHIPPING!

What is Truly Free Laundry Wash Made Of?

Sodium Citrate, Tetrasodium Salt, Sodium Carbonate, Polyacrylic Acid Sodium Salt, Signature Scent Blend of Essential Oils (including: ORANGE OIL, LIME OIL, FIR NEEDLE OIL, CLOVE LEAF OIL, LAVANDIN ABRAILI OIL, EUCALYPTUS OIL), Plant-Based Surfactants [Sodium Cocoate].

See the Products Page to read all of the ingredients for each product and check out the starter kits to choose from.

My Before and Afters: Does Truly Free Work As Well As Tide or Gain?

YES. Absolutely. I will say for stubborn stains it is important to use a pre-treatment of a small bit of detergent and the Truly Free Non-toxic Stain Stick along with the Enzyme Stain Remover and it has been amazing.

One major perk is that because it is a natural product, you don’t need to immediately wash your clothes after pretreating the stain. You can just throw it in the hamper after using the stain stick and wash the next time you do laundry!

Here are few before and afters of my kids’ most recent attempts to ruin their clothes. I used the Laundry Wash, Rinse, and the Enzyme Stain Remover along with the Stain Stick. Most of these stains have been on these clothes for hours or possibly even weeks!

A few of the pictures I forgot to take before pretreating them so they are wet.

Chocolate and tomato sauce…the ultimate test. Perfectly clean outcome.

Blueberries. Yikes.

Perfectly clean.

Blueberry smoothie discovered three days later in the hamper.

Practically gone. Ran through one more time with the Enzyme Stain Remover and it’s gone.

An old sticker. Perfect. The circle you see is the graphic on the other side of the shirt.

How Much Does Truly Free Laundry Products Cost?

Anywhere from $20-35 to get started. Shipping is ALWAYS FREE! Yeah!

If you have active messy children, I definitely recommend the adding the enzyme stain remover and stain to your first order, which will last for MONTHS (and years for the stain stick.)

After your initial subscription you may want to adjust your next order to only get the Laundry Wash, Rinse, and Enzyme Stain Remover every 3 months for an HE Washer.

One container of Laundry Wash has lasts me about a month for my family of 7 (make sure to only use 1/3 – 1/2 a cap depending on the load size.)

How Do the Products Smell?

I was a bit concerned about ANY scent on my clothes because I haven’t had scented laundry detergent since 2008! When I first got our Truly Free order five years ago, I thought that there was a pretty strong but pleasant smell. After washing, the scent is very subtle and I really love it. If you are sensitive to smell, go for the Unscented Laundry Wash as your scent choice when ordering, but like I said, I actually really like the scented.

How Do I Cancel or Change My Subscription?

Log in anytime to your Truly Free account to change or cancel your subscription. They also have phone and email options.

What Other Products Does Truly Free Offer?

Truly Free has some really fun and quality products for all cleaning purposes! Here are the ones I have tried:

Laundry Wash – serves as the laundry “detergent”. Comes in scented or unscented.

Laundry Rinse- serves as a fabric “softener.” Comes in scented or unscented.

Enzyme Stain Remover- works on stains without harming your clothes.

Non-Toxic Stain Stick– a MUST HAVE if you have kids! Works for pretreating stains.

Dryer Angel – handmade with love by women around the world. This serves to add extra scent (using essential oils) to your clothes and significantly reduces static cling.

Oxyboost Powder- super concentrated hydrogen peroxide, bleach free color brightener. Can also be used for cleaning tile, bathtubs, toilets, removes soil with power of oxygen.

Essential Oils- I have the set of 5 and I really love diffusing these blends. They are very affordable and have great scents.

(Truly Free also has Sunscreen and Bug Spray but I have yet to try it.)

Cleaning Caddy– I love this product! It includes a medley of all of their cleaning products. Right now you can get it for only $49 + free shipping. You will be set for a year with cleaning products. Refills can be added to your subscription box each month. It includes: 2-pack everyday cleaner + bottle, 2-pack heavy degreaser + bottle, 2-pack bathroom cleaner + bottle, 2-pack glass cleaner + bottle, 2-pack stain and odor remover + bottle, and space refresher + bottle. all come in the cutest little caddy, too. Check out what it all looks like HERE.

My Thoughts:

Starting with my initial impromptu chat with their CEO, Stephen Ezell to when I mixed my first container, the experience with Truly was fantastic. It actually has made doing laundry feel different and enjoyable.

Pros:

• I love Truly Free’s focus on the no-waste model and reducing plastics significantly.
• I love that they empower women in struggling communities around the world by working with them to produce Truly Free products.
• I love that my clothes smell fresh, are free of fillers and dyes and are thoroughly cleaned without leaving residue behind.
• I love that I can pretreat clothes easily without having to immediately launder.
• I love that because Truly Free is a subscription, and I never have to think about laundry detergent at the store or lug a heavy container home.

Cons:

I had to dig deep for cons, so here it goes:

• If you don’t like subscriptions or having credit cards on file in an online account, you may not like Truly Free.
• It might take you a few months to figure out how much laundry wash and rinse you need every month and you might order too little or too much. (You just adjust this in your account.)
• The scent might be too strong for some people. Order unscented to be safe if you are sensitive to smells.

I hope you all give Truly Free a try. It is definitely worth seeing if you like it! It may even make a great Christmas present for the right person.

Try Truly Free and get free refills for life + FREE SHIPPING!

-Cortney 

The post Review of Truly Free Non-Toxic Laundry Detergent (Five Year Update) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This week has been a busy one with a teething baby and revising the HealingStrong Group Leader’s Guide, but we did manage to knock out our family’s monthly grocery trip to Atlanta’s Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market. I thought my fridge looked worth sharing with you, thinking I would loved to have seen what other cancer thrivers were eating when I was newly diagnosed! So here it is in all of its overstuffed glory and a glimpse into our grocery routine as a family of 5.

My Grocery Shopping Routine and a Look Into My Anti-Cancer Fridge

First, off, if you’re in the Atlanta-metro area you MUST visit “Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market” in Decatur. There is nothing else like it in the world (to my knowledge!) Picture a Costco-sized warehouse with EVERYTHING straight from the farm to the market. And it’s CHEAP!!! Cheap as in affordable and way better quality than anywhere else, including Whole Foods. Bulk grains, spices, homemade breads using all organic ingredients, raw cheeses and organic dairy, fresh living fish and organic, grass-fed meats. There’s no middle man so your produce can last for weeks. I could go on and on about my love for YDFM, but if you’re in Atlanta and you’re a naturally, organically-minded person, skip the Coca Cola Museum and visit Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market instead.

Just a small section of the spices at Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market.

Our Grocery Routine:

We go to the Dekalb Farmer’s Market once a month and buy two week’s worth of produce and a month’s worth of any meat, dairy,  packaged foods such as dried fruit, nuts, and breads we eat. Yes, we average in between $500-600 each visit.

Since it’s a 45 minute drive for us (on a Sunday to avoid Atlanta traffic,) it’s just not possible to go once a week. For the rest of my monthly produce, I supplement with shopping trips to Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Kroger once a week.

Note: My diet still consists of 90% raw, organic vegetables and fruit and I drink a Budwig smoothie everyday. My kids and husband eat minimal dairy, meat 4-5 times a week, and we eat sprouted Ezekiel bread or homemade Farmer’s Market bread. It’s a busy season for us and this is just easier than trying to cook raw vegan for everyone (and fighting the fam to eat it joyfully.) I prepare all three meals each day unless it’s a day of going out for dinner or lunch, which we do 2-3 times a week (usually two dinners and a lunch on the weekends. We love Jason’s Deli for its organic options and Chipotle for its non-GMO options and both have salad and vegan options for me.)

Divide and Conquer

Since the farmer’s market we love is so far from our house, my husband and I go together as a team. He takes our 3 year old in his cart and buys all of the meat, fish, dairy (such as a case of cottage cheese for my Budwig Protocol ingredients each month!,) bread, nut butters, and loose teas. It takes a good while since each meat is fresh and packaged especially for the amount we want.

I take our 6 year old and 1 year old with me and buy all of the bulk items such as dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, maca, goji berries, raw nuts, quinoa, nutrition bars, etc. I then go over to the massive produce section where there is pretty much every food God ever made: yuca, taro, dragonfruit, jack melon, cored pineapple, watercress, broccoli sprouts, bok choy, Kombucha….on and on. There is also a massive wall of spices that are very affordable.

So, What’s in My Fridge?

Haha, and the next day after smoothies were made and half of a banana was eaten by my 3 year old…

Here’s a list of some of what I bought this week. Almost everything is organic.

• 24 apples
• 1/2 pound fresh almond butter
• asparagus
• 6 avocados
• 2 acorn squash
• 4 beets
• 6 bell peppers- various colors
• 1 bok choy
• 3 heads broccoli
• 1 bag brussels sprouts
• 1 red cabbage
• 10 pound bag of carrots
• 1  purple cauliflower
• 1 container chamomile tea
• 1 bunch chard
• 1 container goji berries
• 2 containers hempseeds
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 container maca powder
• 10 pears
• 1 pineapple, peeled and cored on site
• 8 plums
• 2 bags sweet potatoes
• 2-  5 pound bags of spinach (I freeze them for smoothies)
• 8 squashes
• 10 tomatoes
• 1 bunch watercress
• 1 giant watermelon
• 24 Kalona Organic Yogurts
• 14 containers of Kalona Organic 2% cottage cheese (I freeze 6 of these)
• 3 bars of raw, grass-fed cheese (I freeze two of them and use them through the month for my family.)
• 2 loaves of organic multi-grain sprouted bread (I freeze these.)
• 2 whole chickens
• 10 pounds of chicken breast
• 4- 1 pound containers of ground turkey
• 4 pounds of deli turkey in 1/2 pound bags
• (and other weeks we get ground bison and fresh sockeye salmon)

Note: It’s important to note we also go to Costco once a month where we get diapers, eggs, vanilla, almond milk, Dr. Praeger’s veggie burgers, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.

UPDATED: For a FREE printable Anti-Cancer grocery list…

DOWNLOAD HERE!  

DOWNLOAD HERE!  

Visit Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market Next Time You’re in Atlanta:

Some tips for visiting Atlanta’s Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market…

• Visit as soon as it opens for less crowd. Weekdays are best. On the weekends it is like Disney World. No joke. You can barely move around with your cart it gets so crowded.
• Guns are not allowed on the premises, nor photography. Their employees will ask you to put your camera or phone away if they see you (yep- it’s happened to me before!)
• Oversized bags are not allowed in the store either. There is a bag checking area at the front for reusable grocery bags.
• It’s really cold inside. Bring a sweater, especially if you’re a native Floridian like myself!
• Stock up on spices while you’re there! They are the best prices around and super fresh.
• If you’re driving from far, bring a cooler for your perishable foods or ask if they can put your meat on ice. (I know they do this for fish for sure.)
• Enjoy the people you’ll meet. Ask questions and try new foods! It’s a very friendly and welcoming place to talk with people from all over the world and learn about new foods and cultures.

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The post My Grocery Shopping Routine and A Look Into My Anti-Cancer Fridge appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This could also be titled “My Last Minute Christmas Gift Hustle- 2015 edition!”

It’s the minimalist in me- I like practical stuff that you can USE and has a PURPOSE. Gift buying has never been my love language. I more so like helping people with healthy advice or even helping to relieve their stress and worry over their health. Things like a Homemade Wellness Basket or Homemade Deodorant are more my thing…and writing this blog.

So here are a few fun ideas I have for my friends and family this year, many of which are healthy, helpful and practical.

(For complete disclosure- YES, these are my Amazon affiliate links- I make a very small commission if you click on them and make a purchase. Yeah!)

For My Kids:

Non-obnoxious Looking Play Kitchen:

Play Blender and Immersion Blender for Pretend Smoothie Making:

Wooden Play Tea Set for My 2 Year old:

Awesome Science Kit for My 6 Year old:

Sonicare Electric Toothbrushes for Both:

Magnatiles for creative building:

Little House on the Prairie Audiobooks:

Hohner Kids Glockensiel/ Xylophone for all my kids:

New smoothie cups for all kids:

My girls drink smoothies almost everyday for breakfast. They love choosing their cup each morning (one of the ways I try to make it fun for them….because green smoothies every. single. morning can get unpopular some days.) Each smoothie container in this gift guide are stainless steel inside to avoid plastic leaching. I’m not a fan of even BPA-free plastic since I can still taste the plastic taste in the water. Stainless steel is the best option for kids since glass is broken too easily even when covered with silicone (for my kids at least!)

Minnie: 

Star Wars: 

Batman: 

Rapunzel: 

Klean Kanteen Water Cup: (this is what my toddlers drink their daily water out of- great stocking stuffers!)

WeeSprout Reusable Food Pouches: (I use these for my 10 month old for drinking pureed EVERYTHING:)

“How to Draw” Books:

Montessori Math Bead Abacus:

Laugh Out Loud Jokes for Kids:

For the Men in My Life:

Stainless Steel 32 oz Smoothie Bottle for Adults: (excited to try this one instead of our typical 32 oz mason jar)

Slightly bigger, 16oz adult version of the kids Funtainers:

Coco Jack: No more busting your coconuts open on the driveway (ha!)….enter the Coco Jack! (we saw this on Shark Tank and also heard about it from Chris Wark….I linked to his site for this one since it’s not available on Amazon.)

Primal Pit Paste: 

Glass Pyrex Straws with Cleaning Brush: 

Stainless Steel Personalized Picture Mug: (We bought something similar for my parents last year and they loved it!)

Certified Reconditioned Vitamix: I would buy a reconditioned one starting at $299! Completely overhauled with new container, tamper, and blade. Model less than 2 years old. 5 year warranty and free shipping! Add additional 3 years for $75. DONE!

For the Ladies:

Stitch Fix Gift Card

I tried Stitch Fix a few months ago after I realized I hadn’t been shopping for new clothes for approximately 6 years. I LOVED IT and this is why (and also why it serves a purpose for a season.)

For several years now I had been wearing a rotation of three pairs of yoga pants and a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans I picked up at Costco and it was getting to be socially unacceptable. I was still wearing shirts I had ordered from a Delia’s catalog in college 12 years ago. I realized it was time to get rid of the ragged, ill-fitting pre-baby clothes. I wanted to figure out my style- clothes that made me feel ME and not just MOM. (Although mom is really great- I just let my version of mom get a bit too frumpy.)

How does it work?

Stitch Fix works by starting an online account and filling out a survey about what kind of clothes you like and don’t like. They give you sample outfit pictures to reply “Love it”, “It’s OK”, or “Hate it.” You also can write a note to your stylist with any requests from “I want organic clothing ONLY,” to “I want clothes made in the USA,” or “No animal prints, PLEASE!” I made special requests for tops only in green and purple hues and the neck had to be scoop or button-up for nursing access. Also- NO dry cleaning. I was amazed at how they nailed it. On one of my fixes I asked for pants that were cute but would cover my mom tummy. They sent me the most cozy and well-fitting pants that I loved but were adorable and trendy.

Each “Fix” you receive has 5 items in it. You can put in a request for what you want. For my fixes I asked for 4 blouses and 1 pair of pants- not jeans. It was perfect. They also send you a style card that gives you ideas of how to mix and match your items with each other and other basics like scarves, jeans, shoes, and skirts.

A huge perk is that they ask for your exact measurements when you create your account. This way they match your size perfectly to your measurements so you don’t have to worry about what size you are. It’s tailored to your exact physique.

Is Stitch Fix great for everyone? Probably not. If you have loads of time to get away and shop then you probably should stick to that. And if you just love shopping, then Stitch Fix is probably unnecessary for you.

Shopping makes me NUTS. I get totally overwhelmed at all of the choices and then end up leaving with nothing. I really need the Trader Joe’s of quality clothing to open nearby soon. Until then, I will stick with Stitch Fix every few months.

You do have to pay a $20 stylist fee when you schedule a Fix, but it goes towards your purchase if you decide to purchase even just one item. If you love all 5 items you get a 25% discount on your whole order and your stylist fee goes towards the purchase as well. My second purchase ended up being $153 after the stylist fee discount and 25% discount. That’s about $30 for each of the 5 items. Not bad and totally worth the experience.

Can I afford to do Stitch Fix all the time? Absolutely not. But did it help me get my after-cancer-and-babies-groove back a bit? Absolutely YES. I may have paid premium dollars (for my budget) for those clothes, but I’m taking care of the few I have really well. I’ve learned how to use the gentle cycle on my washer (lol) and am hanging dry clothes or drying on the low setting. I learned how to coordinate clothing with other things.

Try it for yourself once HERE (that’s my referral link for transparency.)

Buy a Stitch Fix Gift Card for friends and family. (Gift cards can be printed, emailed, or received in the mail in 2-5 business days! Perfect for us late shoppers.)

AnnMarie Gianni Sample Beauty Kit

I also love and plan on buying a few of these $10 AnnMarie Gianni skincare sample kits: Click here to try a sample of this award winning, organic skincare line. I have actually been trying this out recently and it’s really quite fun trying something so fresh and different. It comes with 8 different products to try. And who doesn’t love product!? They are all handmade and wild-crafted. My favorite so far are the herb-infused skin repair serum (for my eyes) and the dead sea facial scrub. And for $10 bucks? Awesome deal and not much to lose if you don’t like it. (Although I’m leaning towards LOVING it.)

A Pair of Tom’s Shoes

I still wear Tom’s. Pretty much daily and I love them so. And you buy a pair and they give a pair away to someone in need. Great stuff. Here are two of my absolute favorite pairs: HERE and HERE. Tip: buy Tom’s a half size smaller than you  normally wear because they stretch and run big in my experience.

Stainless Steel Cookware:

My research on non-stick Teflon led to me getting rid of all of my Teflon pots and pans, motivated by a cancer diagnosis. It’s taken me 7 years to replace almost everything and I started with these guys. Note that over the aluminum baking sheets I use silicone mats.

Also consider visiting my SHOP for other great items!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!!! xoxoxo

Cortney

The post Last Minute 2015 Healthy Holiday Gift Guide and Stitch Fix Review appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Here’s another beautiful story of why Samaritan Ministries rocks my socks.

A few weeks ago I shared the home birth story of our third daughter, but today I’m going to explain the details of how 100% of our costs were shared by members of Samaritan Ministries.

I’ll also go into detail about what it’s like to be a member, starting with the monthly SHARE (which is comparable to a “premium” in insurance terminology,) to submitting a NEED (similar to a “claim”,) and what it’s like to go through the maternity process with Samaritan Ministries.

What is a Christian Healthcare Sharing Ministry? If you’re still not sure what I’m talking about, you’ll definitely want to read THIS first before reading any further.

Before I give you a brief summary of how Samaritan works, I wanted to let you know that you may also want to check out my post on the Top 3 Christian Healthcare Sharing Ministries (scroll down to Samaritan Ministries and feel free to read about the other ministries as well.) You can also read about how we received “coverage” (through members’ shares) last year for a non-maternity claim with Samaritan Ministries HERE.

Some Quick Basics About Samaritan Ministries: 

I tell everyone I know about Samaritan Ministries, especially my more natural-minded friends since Samaritan will reimburse for alternative doctors and treatments along with conventional medical care. I treated my cancer naturally 7 years ago, so this need for non-conventional medical care coverage was what actually led me to begin research on Alternatives to Obamacare and led me down this path. I wanted health care coverage that would actually reimburse for the type of care I used! This kind of treatment (natural/ non-toxic) and home births aren’t covered by insurance (unless in rare occasions licensed by your state,) so when I came across Samaritan Ministries, I was skeptical and then pleasantly enlightened.

How to Become a Samaritan Ministries Member:

1. First off, at the heart of Samaritan Ministries is a strong faith in God and a commitment to prayer for others in the ministry. In order to become a member of Samaritan, you do have to sign a statement of Christian faith and they ask that you attend church regularly. You also have to get the signature of a pastor, priest or an accountable church leader in order to become a sharing member and for each NEED you submit. If you or your family are members of Samaritan Ministries or any other Christian sharing ministry, you are exempt from the Obamacare tax penalty (1st amendment rights- YEAH!)

2. Next, you will drop $200 for your new membership fee once when you first sign up. You will also send your first “SHARE” to Samaritan Ministries headquarters. Every year and with sign up, you will pay your first month’s share to Samaritan to pay for administrative costs. The next 11 months of the year you will send your share to an assigned member in need, along with a note or card or whatever you want to send to encourage them. Depending on the size and age of your family members, you will pay anywhere from $140 for a young single person to $405 for families of two adults plus 1 or more children. Check HERE for current share amounts. We pay the $405 amount.

Here’s a quick picture of what we get in the mail each month. The family we sent our share to this month had an infant daughter born prematurely.

Also included in the monthly Newsletter is a letter about the current state of the ministry and a small actual Newsletter with tips on natural health, money saving health care tips, and political reporting (which I admit I don’t always agree with 100% but still love the heart of the ministry.) A hugely important part of the monthly Newsletter packet is the prayer request list which I am not including a picture of since it includes a lot of personal info.

3. The only additional amount you may need to pay after that is if you want “coverage” over $250,000 annually per person, per medical event. This is an optional program called Save to Share and you will just put away a fixed amount each year just in case you are asked to share with someone else also enrolled in “Save to Share” whose medical expenses has gone over the standard limit of $250,000. You can see those amounts at the bottom of this link.

4. That’s it unless you have a medical need of course. Below I’ll walk you through the process of filing a need, specifically a home birth maternity need.

This is how the entire Needs Sharing process worked for our Home Birth…

Last summer I found out I was pregnant and began receiving prenatal care under a home birth midwife at 8 weeks along. I then notified Samaritan Ministries and they sent me a new NEED packet similar to this one….

During that same phone call the Samaritan employee prayed for me, the baby, and our family. And of course my pregnancy hormones got me all crying on the phone to a stranger.

My next step was to pay my midwife a down payment of $200 and asked for a detailed, itemized receipt. I added this to my NEED list of medical bills/payments.

At 8 weeks pregnant I received an ultrasound ($180) to confirm a healthy pregnancy. Not all women will do this, especially women preferring a completely hands-off, natural birth, but I had a missed miscarriage a few years ago and needed the confirmation of a viable pregnancy. I added this to my NEED medical bill list and made sure to get an itemized, detailed receipt from the ultrasound technician.

During this time, we continued to get our monthly Samaritan Ministries Newsletter and sent our assigned SHARE to the person we would be “paying” for and praying for that month.

I continued to see my midwife each month and then received another ultrasound and anatomy scan ($120) at 20 weeks to find out the gender of our baby (3rd girl- YEAH!) and added the amount and receipt to my NEED medical bill list.

At 24 weeks my midwife needed blood work drawn. Since she’s a home birth midwife  I had to go to a LabCorp and it was only $50 out of pocket. I added this receipt to my NEED medical bill list.

At 28 weeks my gestational diabetes test and a few others were run through my midwife’s office. I also owed another payment for my midwife’s services at this point ($500.) I also had to purchase my birthing supplies for a homebirth such as a pool liner, fresh garden hose, rubber gloves, syringes, stitching supplies, etc. ($170) Since this was part of the home birth experience, it would all be eligible for sharing with SM members, and therefore “covered.”

I also began to have horrible lower back discomfort during this time and found out the baby was breech. For both reasons I began to see a chiropractor who specialized in the Webster Technique, a gentle way to adjust women’s backs and position the pelvis optimally for natural childbirth. Each visit was $35 and I went 12 times until I delivered. All was approved for sharing with members and was fully reimbursed. (Chiropractic is shareable up to 20 visits when it is needed for pain management but not for maintenance or prevention-type care.)

I continued to see my midwife monthly until 36 weeks when I began seeing her weekly. At 36 weeks I also owed her the remaining balance for my home birth. After payment I got an itemized receipt for the remaining amount, $2,200 (I paid almost $3,000 total for my midwife’s complete services.) I added all of that to my NEED medical bill list and decided it was time to send my receipts and checklist in for sharing with other members (after I made copies of everything.)*

*It’s important to note that at any point in the maternity NEED process, you can go ahead and start sending your NEED packet and receipts in to Samaritan Ministries to begin to be shared with other members. We chose to wait until closer to the birth to submit all of our maternity receipts at once and then submitted the receipts for our newborn’s care after the birth, so we actually had checks coming for several months.

The Need Approval Process:

Our daughter was born February 28th, and just a few weeks after we sent our NEED packet in we received a list of what was approved for sharing and what fees weren’t along with WHEN they would be shared. The two ultrasounds were postponed for sharing at first because they needed additional proof from the ultrasound office since my receipts did not show enough detail. They were later approved and shared in May.

A few days after that we received an organized checklist with the names of the families and people whose SHARES were assigned to us for the next month. (Sorry, the big yellow post-its are my low tech way of maintaining member privacy.)

Now for the AMAZINGLY beautiful part….

We only had to wait about 5 weeks from her birth to begin to receive checks from other members sending their “SHARE” to us. A few days after the Newsletter was sent to members, we began getting mail from members. Their cards and kind words and prayers that accompanied their checks brought me to tears. I saved them and am laying them out just to take this picture (and I’m re-reading the sweet messages from everyone!)

Within just 6 weeks we received all of the checks needed to fund our home birth and newborn care 100%.

For any remaining expenses (mainly chiropractic,) I requested a “NEED Update” form online, printed it out, and filled out the list for the remaining NEED costs and included the receipts and sent it in after our daughter’s delivery. Samaritan Ministries also shared all of the newborn care, PKU, hearing test, etc, AND her tongue-tie frenectomy procedure without us having to pay a $300 personal responsibility (similar to a “deductible” in the insurance world.) They just included it in the maternity NEED which was of course so wonderful. <3

A few other details to note…

***Home Birth deliveries are “covered” (shareable) 100% without any personal responsibility amount while hospital births require you to pay a $300 personal responsibility before sharing begins. However, for those having hospital births- any “discounts” or “reductions” given by the hospital because you paid in advance and they didn’t have to file insurance are taken off of your personal responsibility! You could essentially end up not having to pay a personal responsibility if you can ask for reductions for paying in advance! It’s also important to note that if there is a month where proration occurs (as in there are more NEED amounts filed than SHARES available,) home births will not be subject to prorations (as in no matter what, they will pay 100% of your bills, where as any other NEEDS will be possibly prorated and you may not get the whole thing paid for THAT MONTH. The ministry tries to share the remaining prorated amount over the next few months however…)

***It’s also important to mention that many of these steps can be completed online with the Samaritan Ministries membership portal.

If you found this post helpful and choose to become a Samaritan Ministries member, feel free to let them know Cortney Campbell of AntiCancerMom.com let you know about her fantastic experience and referred you.

The post My Home Birth Experience with Samaritan Ministries and Review of Samaritan Ministries- Alternative to Health Insurance appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Whether I ever put much thought into it or not, I always knew I would try to have natural, unmedicated births. Growing up my mom talked openly and simply about her three natural births as my two sisters and I would probe her about what it was like. She would say something sweepingly underwhelming like:

“Sure, it hurts a lot, but then it’s over and you have a beautiful baby and you forget about the pain!”

So this is the mentality that was passed down to me when it came to pain, birth, and babies and I am incredibly grateful to my mom for raising me to see the big picture and to not fear a natural process.

When I became pregnant with my first daughter in 2009 (while I had cancer but that’s another story you should read about,) I began my search for a doctor who would be encouraging to my wishes to have an unmedicated birth with very little interventions. I didn’t know anything about midwives or midwifery at the time, but through some chance meetings with like-minded new friends, we actually found a midwife practice who would deliver our baby in a hospital setting.

My husband and I researched natural childbirth in a similar fashion to how we approached treating my cancer naturally: with serious intent. We learned the statistics of the cesarean section rates in our area. Most of our local Atlanta hospitals had c-section rates over 30% so we made sure to stay clear of those hospitals and learned that the hospital my midwife was affiliated with was friendlier towards mother-led birth decisions and birth plans.

Similarly to how we viewed the ability of the body to combat cancer when it is brought back to its optimal condition and health through nutrition, detox, and emotional healing, we believed that leaving the laboring mother’s body to move naturally and labor without intervention was the way we were designed to have children and best for mother and baby as long as there weren’t emergency complications.

To prepare for our daughter’s birth, we began taking a 12-week childbirth class called The Bradley Method around 26 weeks pregnant. The Bradley Method empowers moms and dads to gain total knowledge of the birthing process, the anatomy of birth, and coping methods to deal with the pain and discomfort of childbirth.

Documentaries such as The Business of Being Born and Orgasmic Birth (yes, we actually bought and watched it) taught us the difference between the medical/intervention heavy/ doctor-led approach to birth and the midwifery/ mother and baby-led approach to birth that boosted my confidence that I could handle the natural pain that came with having a baby.

Nothing like 48 hours of labor to give you that “glamour shot” look!

My First Time Mom Birth Story: Natural, Unmedicated Planned Water Birth in a Hospital Setting

So, when my due date came and went in November of 2009, I anxiously awaited what was about to happen to my body. Then a week went by and I still hadn’t given birth. After checking the baby at my week-overdue anniversary and learning she was doing great, I took my 5th grade class on a field trip on day 7…still overdue. Still no baby. I was huge, tired, and began to worry about whether the baby was ok and whether they would tell me soon I would need to be…INDUCED. It seemed that everyone I knew that was ever overdue with a baby was pressured by their doctors to be induced and several of them ended up with C-Sections. That was my last day at work and that night after waking at 1:00 am with losing my mucous plug, labor kicked in.

What I didn’t know is that sometimes with first-time moms, labor can last a LONG time. And something called “prelabor” can happen where you have contractions that are uncomfortable enough to get you excited and keep you awake, but they don’t do anything to help your labor along or dilate your cervix. So from 1:00 am on Day 8 overdue to 1:00 am on Day 9 I was awake with moderate contraction pain but no progress towards having a baby. My parents and sister came into town and I just felt like everyone was sitting around and staring at me to push a baby out. 30 hours later, early morning on Day 9 became more eventful after walking what seemed like 10 miles in the parking garage of our apartment complex we lived in and my labor pains began to increase to about 5 minutes apart. After packing up the entire house and even the Vitamix (I was still on my natural anti-cancer diet and couldn’t eat the hospital food,) we were off to the hospital. On the way in, my water decided to start leaking.

If you’re having a water birth (which I was planning,) you have to lay still in a hospital bed for 30 minutes with a heart rate monitor strapped on your belly to make sure the baby’s heartrate is strong and stable. This is NOT FUN while you’re having contractions, but it is the rule of many hospitals if you want to move freely through your natural birth- part of the process of coping with natural childbirth pain.

Finally around 1:00 pm on Day 9, I was 6 centimeters dilated. Little did I know I still had 12 hours to go until we would meet my daughter. It had already been 36 hours since my uncomfortable contractions started and since I last deeply slept. I wondered if this baby was ever going to come out! I labored and labored. In the hall, on the birthing ball, in the rocking chair (where everything seemed to start stinking including my husband’s hair which is normally delightful.) I labored in the shower for hours it seemed. My body was just sloooooooow to dilate. Any other hospital and I know I would have ended up with interventions, most likely pitocin and an epidural. But I wanted to keep going and my midwife honored that decision.

Around 11:00 pm on Day 9, 46 hours since I lost my mucous plug and began having contractions, it was time to push. My midwife broke the rest of my water bag and found out there was meconium (where the baby goes poop before they come out) and therefore we could not have a water birth (risk of inhalation/ infection.) There goes my “nature’s epidural!”

Two hours of pushing later, our first daughter, Ruby-Claire came into the world at a surprising 9 pounds even. It was the most physically tasking thing I had ever done and yes my mom was right- it HURT and then it was over and I had my beautiful, healthy daughter. This was the biggest reason I had wanted to avoid chemotherapy to treat my cancer- to have children.

I was absolutely exhausted, but I was so happy to have avoided unwanted interventions and drugs in her and my system. Who knows if I would have had pitocin and an epidural so I could sleep a little bit if things would have progressed faster? I trusted my body and the birth process and wanted to stay out of the way of that and increasing the chance of a C-section.

The next part is the part I’d really like to leave out, but it is a huge part of my daughter’s birth story. I’m not sure how much time had passed, maybe 15 minutes or so after my daughter was born, but I started to hemorrhage dramatically. This happened because my placenta did not completely detach from my uterus after my midwife had gently tugged on the umbilical cord to get it to detach (even though we specifically stated in my “birth plan” for the placenta to detach on its own.) My uterus began contracting blood by the cup. Within seconds my midwife had to go in and MANUALLY try to find the piece of placenta that was left behind while the nurses were jabbing me with needles in my legs to stop the bleeding with pitocin. I was in the most excruciating pain from this after just giving birth. I began to feel very weak and sleepy and my face began to go white. My lips lost their color. The nurses were telling me to “stay awake, stay awake!”

I hate even recapping this part of my story, but this is is how quickly childbirth can go from calm to really scary. When I tell the story of my home birth in a few days and how different it was, you will be able to see why I was a “higher risk” situation for my first delivery than my second or third. I felt confident with my third daughter to deliver at home, even with this prior birth experience being so dangerous, which I’ll also talk about in my home birth post.

My bleeding was eventually contained, but I was “on watch” for a possible blood transfusion as they wheeled me away to the recovery room.

We spent 48 hours in the hospital after my daughter was born. My husband was amazing. I couldn’t walk very well by myself after my traumatic post-delivery experience (for about a week!) due to the blood loss, so he had to do everything for both my daughter and me. It took me over a month to get back to my pre-delivery energy levels and restore my iron levels.

Three hours after we finally got settled into almost sleeping, the night interruptions started from the nursing staff. It seemed like it was every 10 minutes. Blood pressure checks, pain level checks, checks on the baby, etc. I also had one nurse that smelled like cigarettes!? Then my favorite- the one nurse who threatened to call the Department of Children and Families if we didn’t give our daughter formula. Breastfeeding took a slow start and I had difficulties, but to FORCE us to give formula? My daughter was also incredibly sleepy and didn’t want to wake up and latch well onto the breast leading to a shallow latch which is very painful for mom. I ended up pumping colostrum and syringe feeding her, but we did give into one bottle (or maybe two) of formula, mainly out of exhaustion from defending our wishes. (NOTE: bring a can of organic formula with you to the hospital in case you need or are forced to supplement. I like and recommend Baby’s Only brand.)

We found out later that our daughter was born with severe tongue-tie that made it very difficult for her to nurse correctly and consume milk efficiently. After 2 months of lactation consulting, getting her tongue-tie clipped twice (frenectomies- including one posterior) and then me getting thrush once and mastitis twice in 8 weeks, I ended up choosing to exclusively pump breast milk for my daughter. Why wasn’t her tongue-tie identified at the hospital as being the problem with my daughter’s nursing and why weren’t we given directions on how to correct it? Sigh.

Because I had a history of lymphoma, I was obsessed with making sure my daughter was given breast milk for at least her first year to develop her immune system and gut health. I hope to write a post one day about my experience exclusively pumping for almost a year (pumping 30-40 minutes at least 6 times a day each time for 11 months) but the benefits of breast milk was something I wasn’t willing to sacrifice.

In my next two posts I will be telling the stories of my next two births which were much less dramatic and shorter but also completely different.

Leaving the hospital in a wheelchair. The color in my lips was almost back.

TIPS for Unmedicated Natural Childbirth:

So, along the way I’ve gathered some advice for expecting moms wanting a natural birth. These are my best tips!

• Find a supportive midwifery practice whose birth culture reflects what you want for your birth. This way you know that you will not have to put up a fight with an intervention-pushing doctor or explain your choices to someone who doesn’t understand how important natural birth is to you.
• Go into your labor and birth with your mindset on not using pain relieving drugs. Too many of my friends went into their labors with a “I’m going to TRY to not use drugs” mindset and have always given into the epidural. You have to have your mind made up for what you want. I personally knew the likelihood that the epidural would slow down my labor leading to more drug intervention: pitocin to increase contractions. This in turn can create a stress reaction in the baby and a lower heart rate which will immediately get you whisked into the operating room for an emergency C-section.
• Take a multi-week birth class such as the Bradley Method or Hypnobirthing that will teach you about labor. Not knowing what to expect could freak you out. Labor is intense!
• Educate yourself with the statistics and risks of interventions and medical pain managements such as epidurals and pitocin. Knowing these statistics will help you stay the course to avoid drugs.
• Attend a breastfeeding class and watch videos to prepare for how to breastfeed. I was completely unprepared for the difficulties breastfeeding can present and struggled for months.
• During labor, remember every bit of discomfort or pain you feel is helping your baby down the birth canal. I would envision my cervix like an expanding ring that got bigger with every contraction.
• Drink water during labor and eat light foods if you feel like it (just nothing too heavy!)
• Stay firm but realistic in regards to the realities of childbirth. It is always important to remember that a HEALTHY BABY is the ultimate goal for both mother and practitioner. The vast majority of the time, this can be achieved through natural birth when the mother is allowed to labor in a natural way and a trained midwife can coach through changes of body position to move baby along with no medical interventions. But sometimes emergencies happen and if you need an emergency intervention, at least you know that you did your best and you have always done what is best for baby.

How about you? How was your your first baby’s delivery?

Also Read: MY HOME BIRTH STORY

The post Tips on Unmedicated Childbirth and my First Natural, 48 Hour Hospital Birth appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Our daughter is almost 6 weeks old and I have gotten what seems about 6 minutes of sleep since she was born. <smiles.> I have some hardcore Mommy Brain going on which of course is why (along with having two other children,) I haven’t blogged about my home birth experience yet. And oh yah, it was either write this blog post or shower, so let’s just say I’m thankful for my wonderful coconut oil deodorant.

I know all of the moms reading this will know where I’m coming from.

I’m excited to share how wonderful our home birth was and contrast it a bit with my previous two natural hospital births. I will also be blogging soon about our experience with our health insurance alternative, Samaritan Ministries and how they financially covered our home birth, maternal care, and newborn care 100%! (Update: Read that post HERE.)

Charlotte Kate’s Home Birth Story

I was two days past my due date when my parents, who had planned to come visit from Florida for a week to help us out after the baby was born, pulled into my driveway. I was discouraged because they did the same thing with my second daughter’s birth in 2013 and ended up waiting around my house while I was still pregnant for six more days until she was (finally) born. They were only able to stay two more days until they had to head home the day after I got home from the hospital. I desperately missed their help and presence!

This time around with two kids, ages 5 and almost 2 at home, I REALLY knew I would need their help, especially with a home birth situation where my most difficult postpartum days would not be spent with the help of hospital staff and with other two kids under our care at home.

It wasn’t even an hour after they arrived that I started having painful contractions that quickly progressed. My other two labors had started in the middle of the night, so I never would have expected labor to start at 4:30 in the afternoon. I was happy because just as with my other two daughters, my mom could be present at the birth of her third granddaughter.

Contractions + Labor

I had been having pre-labor contractions that were uncomfortable at times for about a week before this and also began losing part of my mucous plug on my due date two days prior, so I was pretty sure that this was indeed real labor. After my contractions progressed to the 4-5 minute apart range and were really uncomfortable, we called my midwife Brenda Parrish (of Traditional Birth Services here in Atlanta) and she headed on over along with her student midwife, Margaret.

Around 6:00pm, my contractions were at the point where I was moaning a little too much to be comfortable around my kids and wanted to spare my dad that experience, so I headed upstairs to our bedroom where the birth pool was set up and the floor was covered and prepared for having a home birth. My midwife checked me and I was already 6 centimeters dilated and almost completely effaced. I was so excited that the baby would be here soon.

There I walked up and down the hallway and labored for another few hours. I stopped to let each contraction pass and kept walking and walking. Another hour and a half passed and around 8:00 or so I was at 9 centimeters dilated. During this time, Margaret was checking the baby’s heart rate via doppler every 15 minutes or so. It stayed consistent at around 150 bpm.

Transition

At this point my contractions were incredibly painful and I decided to get in the water to help cope with them. If you’re wondering how we filled a 6 feet diameter pool up in my bedroom, we ran a hose from the hot water outlet in the laundry room. It emptied the hot water tank and then we allowed the cold water to flow until it was about 100 degrees in the pool. To keep it consistently warm, my mom boiled water on the stove to add in as the water cooled down.

My past two births were planned water births but because of two totally different reasons (meconium present with my first and the hospital’s hot water not working with my second,) I wasn’t able to labor or give birth in the water. I began to see why water birth’s are referred to as “nature’s epidural” because it took the edge off of the contractions. My husband had climbed in with me towards the end of labor to help push on my hips to reduce the pulling sensation in my back.

At some point around 9:30pm I hit the most painful part of labor- transition. I actually started whining and believing that I couldn’t do it anymore. I recognized this behavior in the middle of my pain because I had been there twice before and was in a way excited because I knew it was time to start pushing and I would meet my newest daughter soon.

Pushing Time + She’s Here!

Pushing is the most bizarre experience because you have the urge to do it to bring relief, but your logical brain tells you not to because you know it will bring you pain. So it sort of brings pain and relief at the same time. I pushed for about 20 or 30 minutes in the water as my midwife counted for me. I just wanted that baby out! On the last push I went through to count 8 and felt a huge gush of what I thought was my water breaking and heard my midwife say “there’s the baby, there’s the baby!” And like that, 5 1/2 hours of labor later, our sweet Charlotte was here, born in the water, all 9 pounds 4 ounces of her!

I couldn’t believe how quickly she came after a 48 hour labor with my first daughter and an 8 hour labor with my second (I will write about their births in later blog posts.) After she was born we held her warmly in a clean towel while still in the water. We waited to let the blood in the cord pulse until my placenta began to detach and then my husband cut the cord. Once the cord was cut, we attempted nursing but she was not very interested yet so my midwife took her and began her newborn check. She had APGARs of 9 both times and was a chubby, pink, perfect baby.

Placententa + Stitches + the Duggars?

During all of this, I needed a shot of pitocin in my leg to stop a little more bleeding than my midwife was comfortable with. (I have a tendency to hemorrhage during childbirth, something I will write about when I share my first birth story next week.) Home birth midwives are equipped with medication to stop excessive bleeding along with other emergency situations such as resuscitating the baby and stitching up a mother who tears during delivery.

After my midwife Brenda checked Charlotte, I was tended to by my midwife who came equipped with supplies to give stitches. I was thankful that while I had to go through those unpleasantries, Margaret had some excellent stories about growing up being friends with the Duggar family (from TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting) and her story about Jill and Jessa Duggar’s weddings and staying at the Duggar house. Thank you for the distraction, Margaret!

Once Brenda was finished, I showered off in my own shower and Brenda and Margaret cleaned up the room and bed. I climbed in bed with Charlotte in hand where she nursed successfully for the first time. My husband and I said goodbye to my midwife who reminded me she would be back the next day to check up on us and stayed up for another hour or so to excitedly reflect on our wonderful experience and stare at our sweet baby girl. We fell asleep that night in our own bed without any interruptions, nursed when the baby needed to nurse (not when the hospital staff told us to,) and rested in the comfort of our own home.

A little bit about Home Birth and prenatal care…

I wanted to take a moment to talk about choosing a home birth and the midwifery model of prenatal care. Here’s a little bit about what I loved and how it’s different than my experience with hospital births and medical-model prenatal care.

Home Birth is SAFE

• Home birth is considered a safe alternative to hospital births for LOW RISK mothers. I’m not sure if I would have been comfortable with a home birth as a first time mother, but knowing how my body behaves in labor from two prior births gave me the confidence to have our third baby at home.

Home Birth is Affordable

• Home Birth is MUCH cheaper than a hospital birth. We payed $2,900 for our midwife which included all prenatal care and the birth and 3 postnatal home visits. Add in the cost of our birth supplies, two ultrasounds and 10 visits to a chiropractor for a total of just under $3,500. With Samaritan Ministries, we were reimbursed for 100% of the $3,500. Contrast this with my other two hospital births that we paid over $2000 out-of-pocket for our coinsurance (and these were unmedicated, natural births.) The bills sent from the hospital to my insurance company at the time were both over $15,000…including a $300 bill for the water birth tub we never used during my second daughter’s birth and an 800 mg ibuprofen for afterbirth pains that cost $84! Check your hospital bills carefully!
• During my prenatal care, I was seen monthly at my midwife’s home office which had a cozy, warm setting with couches, throw blankets, and calming hymns and other music playing in the background.
• My midwife had a computer system in place where I could easily access all of my test results and prenatal notes to review after an appointment. She would also communicate action steps for what I needed to do to help along a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
• I loved that my midwife taught me exercises to encourage proper pelvic alignment and baby’s position in utero. I did a whole lot of pelvic tilts!

Midwives Have Skills

• To prevent hemorrhage after birth and to encourage a healthy delivery and uterus, my midwife had me drink a quart of NORA tea daily starting at 24 weeks. Click on this link to read about its benefits.
• To discourage the growth of Streptococcus B, a bacteria that can be harmful if the baby is exposed during birth, my midwife had me taking a specific probiotic daily from 28 weeks (but you can start earlier as well.) I never developed Strep B.
• To test for gestational diabetes most doctors’ have their patients drink a disgusting, chemical-laden bottle of sugary glucose water and then draw their blood for testing. My midwife had me eat a balanced meal (I chose 2 eggs, organic oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts, and a very small glass of orange juice,) and then come in for a finger prick a few hours later. I did not develop gestational diabetes.
• My midwife had an excellent professional relationship with my former OBGYN, Dr. Bootstaylor (the same doctor who supported me in choosing to miscarry naturally after a missed miscarriage several years ago.) He would have been my backup doctor for either supervising my midwife “catching” our baby in the hospital or performing an emergency C-section.
• Midwives tend not to pressure you to induce until you’re at least 2 weeks past your due date and encourage baby stress tests rather than immediate induction.
• Midwives know how to instruct you to position your body in labor to move baby down the birth canal and out of difficult presentation in utero. Many doctors do not learn this skill set in medical school and women who receive epidurals, which is often encouraged in a hospital setting, cannot move around to help the baby down the birth canal.

Midwives For Postpartum Care

• My midwife had knowledge of many natural ways (that worked!) to deal with pregnancy symptoms such as UTI’s, headaches, morning sickness, and vaginal varicosities. She was also an expert on essential oil use and used them many times to help me with various issues such as numb hands, pregnancy rhinitis (stuffy nose in pregnancy,) and swelling.
• I also loved that my midwife, Brenda was a text away anytime I needed her. I highly recommend her and her midwifery practice, Traditional Birth Services if you’re in the Atlanta area.

What about you? What has your birth experience been like?

Check back next week for my next few posts about pregnancy and new baby. If you’re visiting my blog for cancer-related reading and information, check out my HOW I BEAT CANCER page and visit the various links there.

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Non-Toxic Cleaning Routine Safe During Pregnancy

The post Our Home Birth Experience appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

When you’re treating your cancer naturally, it is essential that you detox not only your body, but also the chemicals you keep in your house and clean with. When I began treating my cancer naturally 6 years ago, I did this immediately knowing the strong ties that chemical exposure has to a lymphoma diagnosis. And although I started with buying “green” cleaning supplies from Whole Foods, I now make all of my cleaning supplies at home. Here’s a rundown of my non-toxic cleaning routine.

My Non-Toxic Cleaning Routine:

***Update 2017: I have since learned a MUCH EASIER way to get my home clean. Check out that post HERE.

My (former) cleaning ingredients:

water

white vinegar

Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Castile Soap

baking soda

a scrub brush (I like the ones that are normally for scrubbing dishes such as THIS ONE.)

cornstarch

alcohol

paper towels

hydrogen peroxide

And here’s how I use these ingredients…

***Before getting started, you will need to make a spray bottle mixture of 1/2 water, 1/2 white vinegar. I used an old All-Purpose Cleaner bottle. This is the basic mixture I use for ALL disinfecting in my house. If you hate vinegar smell like I did at first, give it a try. Now the smell of vinegar makes me think “aaah, so clean!”***

Toilets- Pour 1/2 cup vinegar in toilet and let soak for 5 minutes (I do this to all of my home’s toilets at the same time.) Then, I sprinkle baking soda onto the inside of the bowl just above the water line. Scrub with the toilet brush and it removes almost ANYTHING.

Sinks/ Counters- Using a spray bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar, I spray down all of my counters at the same time and let sit for a few minutes. Wipe clean with a paper towel. Use baking soda for scrubbing if you have stubborn stains.

Shower/ Tub- First, wet shower by turning on water for 5 seconds and wetting all areas, including walls. Spray down extremely well with 1/2 water/ 1/2 vinegar mixture. Then squirt Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap all over the floor and walls, probably using about an 1/8 of a cup of soap total. Then, sprinkle with as much baking soda as you need. I’m guessing I use about 1/4 cup each cleaning. Scrub like crazy with your favorite sponge or scrub brush. It’s a workout, but it gets your shower so clean!

For really stubborn black mold, I spray on 75% hydrogen peroxide mixed with 25% water and leave it on the shower walls for an hour or so. Then, I spray again to wet them and scrub with baking soda and a firm brush.

Dusting- I use a simple Swiffer, no polish to dust my home. But if you’re looking for a non-toxic polish, Crunchy Betty has you covered with her own homemade recipe.

Wood/ Tile Floors- I use warm water with about a cup of vinegar in a bucket to mop my wood floors. For a long time I just used my bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar and a towel to “mop” my floors by hand and that worked, too- although I find using warm water gets my floors cleaner.

Glass/ Mirrors- Make and use this fantastic recipe from CrunchyBetty.com. I’ve used it for years now. Wipe glass or mirror with a paper towel after spraying.

That’s it! Super simple, the way I like life to be.

Stay tuned to the Anti-Cancer Mom Facebook Page for updates on Baby #3!

The post My Non-Toxic Cleaning Routine appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.