Melaleuca

Melaleuca oil is simply tea tree oil. And a fantastic company and supplier of products (350 of them) which were made 'green' before it was the cool thing to do. Not only are the products great, they are also, as I'm discovering, less expensive than the store prices for similar, but inferior, products.

My favorite product right now is Sol-U-Mel, which is a suspension of alcohol, tea tree oil of the highest quality and concentration, and green soap. Green soap is a vegetable oil based soap that is gentle, and perfect for people with skin conditions, while being effective. Sol-U-Mel is a cleaner, but it's so much more. So far, we've used it as a cleaner, air freshener, addition to bath water for diaper rash, and a added boost to sanitize laundry. It's concentrated, and one 8oz bottle will easily last us 2 or more months- for under $10.

We're also using Melaleuca Herbal Shampoo, tooth polish, and acne treatment. Next month, we'll be trying various vitamins, body products, cleaners, mouth wash, dish detergent, tea, make up, salon quality hair care and skin care and so on. The plan is to replace every product in our home that we can with a Melaleuca alternative.

So, how did we discover these products? My mom used to sell and use the line, so I was familiar with them. But, a new friend is a marketing executive and I approached her about becoming a customer. For a single $29 enrollment fee, I was in. At first, I found the minimum purchase a little steep. It's about $50-60/month. But, as we began our first order, we realized we'll actually be saving more than that every month by getting our products from here. Best part? NO shopping! I place an order, and it comes to the door.

The best part? My involvement is up to me. I can just happily buy products and save a ton of money. If I want, I can turn this into a job, a real path, promoting this company and these products. I'm not in a pyramid scheme. I'm not a typical salesperson. I USE these products. I love these products. And even if I never make a dime, I'll still buy these products, every single month.

So, if you'd like to try a product before committing, have questions, or would like to start your path to a healthier home and possibly a great career opportunity (I'm talking to youuuu stay at home mamas!), send me an email! I've got the hookup, lol.

Quickie

Just a quick update. School is kicking my butt this term! I can guarantee I'll fail one course for usre. Sighhh. Liam is great, and we're starting potty training.

And oh, right... we're HAVING ANOTHER BOY!!!!

:-D

Missing..

A friend of mine from high school has gone missing, allegedly of his own accord, and leaving a wife and children missing him terribly and his family worried sick. Please pass this along if you're in the area.

So, we're 16 weeks along. And, my have I popped. I can't see my toes! I feel good. Not great, but good.

They're sending me back to Rochester for all my OB care, and delivery. For anyone not familiar with Western NY- that's a TWO HOUR drive- each way. And I'm due in December. Anyone else see an issue with me in labor trying to make it the two hour drive up there? The plan: When I go into labor, we're driving to my mother's to get Liam settled in with her (45 minutes), then going to the nearest hospital with a maternity ward. If they say I'm not that far into labor, we'll continue on to Rochester. If I'm ready to go, guess I'm having my baby there. If the weather is bad, the farthest we're going is our local hospital.

The exception to this: I have placenta previa. The placenta is completely covering my cervix. It might go away, it might not. If not, I have to deliver via-scheduled C-Section. Logistically, that would be the ideal scenario. Motherly, not an effin chance if I can avoid it. We're made to deliver vaginally, and only in the most extreme of cases should C-Sections be done.

They'll be putting me on medication for the diabetes. My only high numbers is my fasting, which is the overnight number.

Other than that, we're good. I'm so tired! The nausea is kicking my butt. I've lost about 7lbs. But we're great. Liam is growing like a weed. Seth seems to have hit his stride with work. We're still broke, but such is life. I don't know anyone who has kids and isn't strapped, not personally anyway. We'll get through. :-)

Thoughts

I had a thought while watching Liam try to open a water bottle with a toy.

We all come into this world as naked apes. Wanting only to sleep and nurse on our mothers. As we grow, we follow a path very similar to evolution. Egg yolk. Tadpole. Baby breathing water. Birth. Breathing air. As we grow, we learn to sit up on our own. Then crawl on all fours. Then take wobbly steps. Before you know it, we're running, learning that fire is hot but useful. We develop speech- often in the form of our own distinct language before we learn to speak the words of our parents. We learn to use tools, think critically, use common sense. We grow, and evolve, and learn.

We are not born with the immediate ability to love, hate, judge, accept, and so on. We're born completely innocent. Hatred is a learned emotion and behavior. Intolerance is a learned behavior. As a toddler, or even infant, we only know that the people who rock us to sleep, change our diapers, feed us, soothe us, and play with us are the most important person in our world. We don't recognize their age, gender, biological contribution to our genetic makeup, and so on. We don't care if it's our mother and father, daddy and second daddy, grandma and grandpa, adoptive parents, biological parents, what have you. It doesn't matter. Our love, at that point, is unconditional and knows no bounds.

We first, above all else, learn to love.

So, why is hate taught to our children? More importantly, WHO is teaching hatred and intolerance to our children? What happened to these people who vomit hatred for others based on sexual orientation, race, religious affiliation, and so on? At what point did their love of every single thing in the world turn to such a cold vicious hatred? More importantly, to me anyway, why, as a society, do we allow this behavior to continue?

I want my son to be raised knowing that we are all cut from the same cloth. Race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on, do not matter. What matters is the quality of a person and the positive impact they make on the people, and world, around them. I will not teach my son to hate, or to judge, and I will not allow that type of behavior or mindset to be a part of who he is.

I want him to feel as we feel as his parents: That we love all people, as they are. The only exception to that is people who do harm to others with malicious intent, or who live their lives full of hatred. Hateful and hurtful people deserve our pity, not our love. My son will be raised to stand up for those who cannot. Children, animals, the bullied, the oppressed. He will be taught to stand up for the equality of the human race. Because when it comes down to it, we are not defined by the color of our skin, or the people we love. We should be defined by WHO we are.... and my friends, who you are is under the surface.

Yet Another Horrific OB-GYN experience

I was referred by my OB-GYN to a physician an hour away from where we live for an ultrasound. Seth, my sister in law, son and I drove there this morning for the appointment. When the doctor came into the office, he greeted us and then started asking general questions about my health and so on.
He began to ask about my recent diabetes diagnosis. I explained that I was controlling my glucose levels with diet. When I mentioned my fasting numbers, which are admittedly higher than should be, he told me I needed to be on medication. I refused, and explained a condition I have that causes that, and that I was pretty sure what was happening. He snapped "No. It's not (name of the condition). I'll call your doctor and tell them to prescribe you (whatever the drug's name is)." Even though I had refused the drug. He then went on to berate me for not wanting to take a medication that I know causes severe nausea and vomiting for me from past experience. I finally 'agreed' to take the medication just so he would stop scaring me.

Then he asked me if I smoked. I said yes, that I had cut down to 1/3 of the amount prior to getting pregnant and was planning to quit completely. He said, ver batim "Yeah ok. If you smoke, you're going to miscarry and your baby is going to die, or you're going to give birth to a stillborn baby. You'll get lung cancer and die. Your children are going to grow up to be smokers, get lung cancer and die. How much did your first child weigh?" When I answered him, he said I was "lucky" my first son wasn't dead or born too small. I was tearing up and all choked up by that point.

I finally asked him just what the purpose of the visit was since I was scheduled for just an ultrasound. We were finally escorted into the ultrasound room. My son threw a huge tantrum, so my husband and sister in law took him for a walk. I was crying because of what the doctor said. When the doctor came in, he snapped "What is your problem?" at me really loudly. I told him nothing. While he was prepping for the ultrasound, still crying I said "I really am trying to quit smoking." And he responded "You won't quit."

During the ultrasound, he tried to get me to have testing done to check for down syndrome and other birth defects. I had already refused the testing with my regular OB-GYN and told him so. He kept repeating over and over that I NEEDED to do the test because I was not caring about my baby if I didn't do it. I tried to explain that if my child had a birth defect, it wouldn't change anything and I'd love the child just the same. He kind of sneered at me and said I HAD to get the testing done. He kept badgering me until I told him that IF I decided I wanted it, I would refer to my regular OB-GYN.


At a minimum, I've contacted an attorney and will be contacting the state medical board tomorrow. Everything he did is listed under professional misconduct. I just want him to be made aware, from the department that can strip his license, that he cannot intimidate, berate, humiliate, and scare patients.

So tomorrow I'll be letting my regular OB know that they can either refer me somewhere local for my ultrasounds and the like, or I'm finding a new provider.

Oh baby...

You know, it is impossible to be grumpy when a little boy wakes you up with a song filled with gibberish that ends with "e-i-e-i-e-i-oooo", then puts a can of soup in Daddy's back pack so he has lunch. :-) Liam has only been throwing away his own diapers, grabbing a diaper and wipes when it's changing time. He's kind of using the potty. And my god, the words! Daddy, Mommy, yes, yeah, yep, no, kitty, cars, cheese, bubby, baby (while pointing at my belly), bobbyboo (belly button), boobies (we've had to define 'boobies' because he likes to use mine as handholds to climb up on the couch with me. Ow!)... and so many others. And he knows what everything is. It's amazing. I can tell him we can have the cheese that's in the fridge, and he runs to the fridge door hollering "cheeeese!". He's helping get himself dressed, though he is far better at stripping himself naked. His favorite activity is playing outside, but hopping in the bath tub is absolutely a close second. I just love watching him grow.

But, boy, am I feeling the baby itch! I can't wait to nurse a newborn and buy a mountain of cloth diapers. We're going with the Flip system this time. For a few reasons. Yes, they're more expensive. But, they are one size, so baby can wear them until they are potty trained, and Liam can even use them if he's not potty trained by then. You can get disposable inserts for them, which will make Seth happy, and be convenient if we're out or one of the babies is with Grandma for a bit. And, my grocery store sells inserts- both cloth and disposable. So God forbid the washer has an issue, we know we can get inserts real fast. And I've found that the Flip and GDiaper stuff has the highest resale value. Oh! And the Flip accomodates regular old prefolds, which are crazy cheap. I'm also going to make fleece liners, because we had the easiest time with those with Liam since they wicked away moisture. He would freak if he was the slightest bit damp, so we'll get more use out of them if they have the liner.

We got into the CSA I was hoping for and our first pick up at the farm is this Friday. Since the hours are 1-5pm, we'll go do that, then pick Daddy up from work. I can't wait for fresh veg and freshly picked salad greens. YUM! Other CSAs in the area do pick ups at that farm, so we're looking into a dairy one as well as a bread and pork one. but we'll see. The veggie one is cheap, which was our deciding factor. If the others ones are too pricey, we'll pass. I can get just as good, local products right at our grocery store.

We should know on the 11th what we're having. It's early for a Level 2 ultrasound, but with the diabetes, they are doing it early. But you know what? I've been controlling my glucose just fine without medical intervention, and I'm refusing the insulin. I've got this. :-) My morning numbers are a little bit high, but I am willing to start taking a Metformin at night to stop that. So, all is well with Baby Jacobs and I'll reveal the gender once we know.

So. Baby Gear.

What are we buying for new baby? Not much. We bought soooo much crap last time that did not get used. Like the swing we paid $100 for in a moment of "omgwillthischildeverstopcrying" and then he hated.. and we waited too long to return.. and ended up giving it away. My sister got the exact same one... and her kid hates it too. Our list this time is so short.

We're going with this bassinet. It is awesome! It is a bassinet, bedside sleeper, in-house carrier, and changing station, all-in-one, and has storage. It also has vibration, sounds, and a built in nightlight. Our plan while I'm healing is for me to sleep in the recliner at night. Easier to nurse, easier to get up and out of, and it lets the guys sleep uninterrupted in the bedroom. And once baby and I are back in the family bedroom, I can just lift out the carrier and come out into the living room if baby is awake and/or fussy. I also like that if we stay over somewhere, we can just take the carrier part for baby to sleep in. Which, after the last hotel we stayed in unexpectedly, due to inclement weather, provided a dirty playpen as a 'crib', is effin important.

We won't need a crib. Liam got gifted a toddler bed, so new baby can have the crib eventually. We just need a mattress for it. Once Liam outgrows the toddler bed, little baby can have that, and then the crib converts into a full size bed for Liam, so we'll just need a mattress again. So our only bed purchases for these kids will be 1 crib mattress, 1 full mattress, and then a twin bed when little baby is big enough to need one. And we likely won't need to actually buy any of that. We have enough family that will at some point be getting rid of any of those things.

We're getting an infant carrier carseat. We only used Liam's for a couple of months and then went with a convertible style because we found the carrier one cumbersome and awkward. Putting him in a sling or whatever was much easier. With two kids, a sling may not always be an option. Bending over = baby hits the floor. Plus we're having this one in winter as well and who knows if this winter will be as mild as the last. We're planning on getting one of those fleece carseat cover things (Snuggle Me I think they're called) in lieu of a snow suit. Dealing with Liam in a snow suit was a disaster last year.We still have his, and we'll always keep it in the car with us, just in case, but with those fleece things, we won't really need it much. I'm pretty sure baby won't freeze on the 30 second walk into the store or grandma's house. I refuse to buy car seats pre-owned because you just never know the history of them. BTW, completely unrelated, our grocery store has 6 or 7 parking spots right up by the store doors specifically for "Parents with Children". How cool is that?

Clothes will all be yard sale and thrift store finds. We did pretty much the same thing with Liam. Most of the new stuff he got was either bought by other people or found on clearance if new. He completely skipped the 3-6month size, so we'll buy as we need as much as we can with this one. This summer I'll be doing probably $100/month for yard sale stuff. If I don't use all that, we'll just bank the extra.

Nursing pillow. I may buy this used, but I want to go to the store and try some out to see what I like best. I'm too fat to wear the Boppy one comfortably, but there are so many other options. So we'll see.

Things I'm going to be on the lookout for, and specifically want to buy used:
Double stroller
Portable high chair (we have one for Liam but I want one that can be used for an infant too)
Swing like the one we had for Liam. The seat was a detachable bouncer chair. Definitely a space saver. I got his used and the motor eventually died. But we certainly got our $40 out of it.
Swaddle Me blankets for swaddling. So much easier than the receiving blanket method.

So, maybe $300 worth of stuff? Less if I can find most of this stuff at yard sales and the like. If we have another boy, we won't even need clothes because I've been sending all Liam's outgrown stuff to my sister, and I can just get things back as her little guy outgrows them.

School. Classes are good. Easier than expected. Yay! I'm planning to do the fall term but prearrange extensions with my instructors since I'm due a week prior to courses ending and I'll likely not go full term.


Life as a whole is great right now. I'm still having some issues. Mostly with controlling anger. Not that I'm beating my kid or husband or anything. I just seethe sometimes and it's unhealthy. I'm looking into therapy. I have 3 free sessions through the EAP Seth gets at work, but I want to budget for weekly sessions and we're a little ways from being able to spend the $400/month on that since our insurance doesn't cover it. But, with the weather and noticing these cool things about Liam, and our finances getting better... the depression is lifting. Thankfully. There's been a few times I've considered being hospitalized. I'm not suicidal or anything. It's just not fair to bring my family on the depression trip with me. They don't deserve it.

Well, that's all from me. :-)