A teething baby

Today, I wanted to talk about teething! It's such an exciting time for us parents, but not so exciting for our babies. I always wonder how much cutting a tooth hurts? When I think about how much it hurts when I have tooth pain, I can't imagine being a baby, not being able to communicate while being in that kind of pain! The best we can do is try to figure out what works best to ease whatever pain our babies are in. These are the things that work for my baby.

Here is a pile of some of the things I use for Ocean's teething pains. In it, we have homemade teething oil, chamomilla homeopathic pills, teething necklace, organic teething toys, & ice cubes!

Teething Oil & Homeopathic Pills

I tend not to use homeopathic pills that have a combination of things in them, such as the Hyland's Teething Tablets (although I have heard from many people that they work great.) So far, I have had great success with straight up chamomilla pills. I only use these if she seems to be in a lot of pain, fussing and crying. The teething oil, on the other hand, can be used often and as needed for pain. I make mostly all my own "medicine", so I made Ocean's teething oil as well. I wanted it to be something that I was completely ok with the list of ingredients. (I would also like to add, that my daughter is exclusively breastfed, so this is fine for EBF babies.) The ingredients in this oil are completely safe if made correctly. (As always, with everything, first talk to your naturopath about anything you plan to give your baby and ALWAYS test on yourself first before giving anything to your baby). 

Teething Oil

*Note: In the above picture, I have Aura Cacia brand Clove oil. Do NOT use this oil in this recipe or on anything you plan to take internally. I just took a picture with this oil, because I was out of my doTERRA oil. Only use FOOD GRADE essential oils for internal use. The two brands I recommend are doTERRA & Young Living, because both sell food grade oils. You will need:

Unrefined, organic virgin coconut oil

Food grade clove oil

Food grade vegetable glycerin

To purchase my teething oil, visit my Facebook page Siren's Apothecary Shop.

Teething Toys

Under the Nile has a bunch of great organic toys to choose from! Ocean's two favorites were in the wash at the time of this picture which are the organic green bean and organic carrot. She loves those best because they fit best in her little hands and mouth. 

Teething Necklaces

My daughter has both the hazel wood teething necklace and the amber teething necklace. How these necklaces work is that they have to be in constant contact with your babies skin. They were not made to be chewed on! When in contact with the skin, the oils from the wood and amber tree resin can soak in. Amber necklaces have naturally occurring succinic acid which reduces inflammation in teething babies.  Hazel wood, on the other hand, is naturally alkaline. This works in neutralizing your child's acidity, thus relieving teething discomfort. I like to alternate these two necklaces. 

Breastfeeding 

Although difficult at first, breastfeeding usually helps soothe a teething baby. You just have to teach them from the beginning that biting hurts mommy. My daughter only bit me a handful of times before figuring out it wasn't ok. I simply said OW, which startled her, and stuck my pinky in her mouth to detach her from the breast. I don'y agree with hurting a child in any way, so I would not take the advice of those who say to flick the nose, pinch, etc. Baby is just trying to eat, be gentle :)

Ice & Ice Teethers

Most babies love ice while teething, but usually straight up ice is too cold. I sometimes wrap a piece of ice in Ocean's organic swaddling blanket while at restaurants or on long car rides and this seems to do the trick. One of her favorite toys that I found is the Natulo ice teether. The ring is maple wood and the cloth part is organic cotton that you can stuff ice cubes inside. She LOVES this thing. It's a little expensive, but I definitely recommend it. When I am at home, I use alkaline RO Ice cubes. Another thing, which would be even better, is giving your baby breast milk ice cubes. I've never used a pump yet, otherwise I would have tried this already.

I hope this post helped someone! Happy almost Autumn Equinox everyone!

A typical day, now days

Juicing for breakfast. This day it was apple/carrot juice.

We pack up for a walk to the "park"-a large tree with a decent patch of grass underneath :)

Load her up in her Ergo!

At the park with some green juice.

Playing with her Under the Nile carrot.

Lots of this.

Sometimes we paint.

She doesn't quite understand the concept yet.

I carry her around as I clean the house.

We take lots of naps together as well.

Here are some of her bedtime stories.

And then we sleep. Goodnight world!

New direction

Hey everyone! Some of my Facebook friends have been asking about why I have not blogged in a while. The answer is simply that I am enjoying my sweet daughter, Ocean. I just wanted to give all my friends a heads up and let you all know that my blog will be going in a little bit different direction now. I will still be posting vegetarian recipes, but will also be posting a lot of parenting type stuff. Thank you all for understanding! If you no longer wish to follow me, I am not offended :)

Ocean's Homebirth Story

At 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I started having contractions. My contractions were 5-20 minutes apart that whole day. I texted my doula, Jaymie, and she told be that I was in labor but not active yet, so I went on with my day and then went to sleep. That night, I woke up around 2:30 am. My contractions woke me up. They were a lot closer together. I waited about an hour, then woke my husband. He asked if he should call the midwife and I told him not to call yet. I wanted to make sure this was the real thing. I timed the contractions out on an app on my iphone. After two hours of contractions 2-3 minutes apart, I had him call the midwife and doula. She asked how I was doing, and I said I could still manage. She said she would be on her way in about an hour.

As the night went on, or should I say morning, the contractions got stronger. I told my husband he should probably fill up the birthing tub. I thought it was interesting how after each contraction, I would have a minute or two of painless peace. That's the awesome thing about labor. It's just a temporary uncomfortable sensation, not really the same feeling as pain. He filled it up with really hot water, and then he covered it with a shower curtain to keep it warm. The midwife arrived and checked to see how much I was dilated. She said 5-7 centimeters, it was hard to tell. She left the room for a little bit and so did my husband. I was kind of in my own zone. With each contraction, I alternated between sitting on my ball, kneeling against the bed on the floor, standing against the wall, and pacing.  Dr Lori, my midwife, said it was really good I was upright instead of lying in bed and that it would help make the labor progress quicker.

Right when I was getting pretty uncomfortable, my husband walked in and said I was allowed to get in the tub now. YES! So I stepped into the tub and it was still hot! I was fine with it, but called my doula over to make sure the temperature was safe for the baby. She felt it and gave me the green light. As I sunk into the water, it was an amazing feeling. It was so relaxing and relieved so much pressure. Jaymie checked the babies heart rate, and it was perfect. I relaxed in a sitting position with my back against the side in the warm water. It was so nice. After a while, I started to feel really warm so my husband turned our fan on and Jaymie got a cold wash cloth for my head. Jaymie was so helpful, and I feel so blessed to have had her there.

Once I was in transition, my midwife came in the room. She checked the babies heart rate, and everything was still great. At this point, I asked my husband to get in the pool with me. I did not know beforehand if I would want him in the the tub with me, but at that moment, I knew I wanted him in there. He sat behind me in the tub and I leaned my back against him. I told him where to massage when I had contractions. Dr Lori told me to start pushing whenever I felt the urge. At first, I felt no urges to push. Just contraction, contraction, contraction...and then I felt it. It was like my body just started pushing on its own. What it feels like basically, for those who haven't given birth yet, is like you reaaaaally need to poop plus cramping like period cramps. It's really not that bad.

 

My body pushed on its own for a few contractions, and then I started helping my body. That's when I started making progress. I was chanting Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, in a low tone with every contraction. That is what they told me to do. They said they could see the head, but it was still pretty far in there. This is when it got more uncomfortable. I pushed in the same sitting position for a while, and then changed to a kneeling position facing my husband. With every contraction I would grab on to him, chant, and push. I remember asking at one point, "Is her head out yet??" And they said no, but it's getting closer with every push! I didn't talk a whole lot during my labor. The only thing I really said was "Water", when I needed water. They asked if I wanted to change positions and I said no. My husband told me, "Babe, her head is stuck." Dr Lori and Jaymie immediately said, "No, no. It's not stuck, but maybe you could try a different position?" I guess in the position I was in, my baby was hitting my tailbone basically, which was making it harder for her to descend.

So I changed positions, back to a sort of sitting position against my husband, but this time I had my legs up on the edges of the tub so that there was more space for her to come out. They told me that her head was really close now. With the next few pushes, my Aaaaaaaaa's were more like AAAAAAAAAHHHH's! With my next push I felt a strong burning sensation, they said, "It's her head! Do you want to see it?" I told them no and just kept pushing hard because I just wanted her to be out! With one more hard push, I felt her body jello its way out. She was here, and she was perfect. Ocean Siren Maluhia Fajardo was born at 10:15 am on March 21st.

 

They handed her to me, and I just held her close. She wanted to breast feed right away. My husband reached around me and she grabbed his finger. I could hear him crying in back of me. Her eyes were wide open, looking around and she didn't cry until later. I was so happy to be able to give her a peaceful birth. We waited a few minutes for the cord to stop pulsing, and then my husband cut the cord. We stayed in the pool to deliver my placenta, while I breast fed Ocean. Once the placenta was out, it was such a relieving feeling. I didn't want anyone else to hold Ocean yet, but I had to give her up so I could get out of the tub. My husband finally got to hold her. Jaymie and Lori had to help me get out of the tub and walk over to the bed because I was so weak.

 

They lay me in bed and handed Ocean back to me and covered us with lots of blankets. Ocean pooped right away, so that was good. She was measured and weighed at 22 inches and 7.12 lb. Jaymie brought me some cinnamon tea. The showed me the healthy placenta, and also that I had a pretty large blood clot in it, so I had to stay in bed for three days and not do anything. I had them put my placenta in the refrigerator. Lori said that I needed a few stitches, so she stitched me up right there. It was a wonderful experience with wonderful people. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Thank you Dr Lori, Jaymie and babe so much for everything. I love all you guys, and I love you my Ocean girl. You are the queen of my heart now.

This is why I have been MIA...I HAD A BABY!!!

This is me in labor!

Ocean Siren Maluhia Fajardo was born on March 21st at 10:10 am.

I am so in love with this girl!

Isn't she a sweetie?

Smile!

Goodnight everyone!