Grown Up Decisions

Last week was a bit of a babypalooza.

Monday was childbirth class.

Wednesday we interviewed our first pediatrician.

Thursday we had a group prenatal appt.

Baby, baby, baby, all the time baby.

I suppose this is what happens as you come to the end.  Your focus goes from all things pregnancy to all things baby.

Suddenly we've had to become parents without actually having the baby yet.

We made decisions AS PARENTS last week.

First thing we decided?

Everyone who comes near baby for the first 2 months has to have a whooping cough vaccine.  This is entirely because of the area of the world that we live in.  Marin County, just over the bay, is both one of the most under vaccinated counties in the country AND had a whooping cough outbreak a few years ago that killed some babies.

So, better safe than sorry, we're all getting vaccinated.

Second decision?

We picked our kid's first pediatrician.

We are big crunchy hippies apparently (seriously San Francisco, you could at least make me WORK to be the big fat crunchy hippie that I apparently am)  as we've chosen an "integrative medicine" practice ie. holistic and western medicine "integrated", that believes FOOD IS MEDICINE.

Music to my ears.

I believe wholeheartedly in the power of food to heal chronic ailments.  And I always strive to fix any imbalance naturally before resorting to western medicine for things like bladder infections, yeast infections, etc etc.

Did you know garlic and olive oil can heal ear infections?  Yeah...it totally works.  I've done it.

If I would have ended up with a pediatrician who tried to tell me that a colicky baby wouldn't benefit from me changing my diet I would have gone apeshit.  Fussy breastfeeding baby?  First things first, CHANGE YOUR DIET.

Seriously, music to my ears.

And another added benefit?  The pediatrician is 3 blocks away.  And another benefit?  They do baby's first checkup in-home.  That's right, Dr. comes to us!  And another benefit?  They believe in homebirth.  And they believe in the parents right to choose what vaccines to give their babies. 

I've been prepared to have to fight my pediatrician on a lot of things, homebirth, delayed vaccinations, mama's diet when breastfeeding, SO MANY THINGS...and it turns out I probably won't have to.

Anyone else trying to find pediatricians and fall in love with the first one?

And anyone else finding it bizarre that you're making decisions for a child that doesn't actually exist outside the womb yet???  I had to fill out forms and instead of putting my name under "patient name" it went under "parent name"!!!

Shit's getting real.

Goodbye Vitex

Many of you have probably heard of Vitex.

In the world of infertility it is not an unknown herb.

For those of you unawares, it is an herb that helps regulate hormonal functions, specifically progesterone and estrogen.

I've been taking Vitex on and off for years now.  When we began this journey and I discovered I wasn't ovulating it was one of the first homeopathic remedies I tried in an effort to try to regulate my hormones naturally.  Unfortunately it takes months to build up in your system and work properly and when you get into this TTC business an unknown number of months is usually longer than you're willing to dedicate to any one treatment just to SEE if it will work.

Ultimately the Vitex did not work for me, at least not in any measurable capacity, i.e. it did not help me ovulate.   So, when we made the leap to Clomid, the Vitex got left by the wayside as you're not allowed to take the two together.

Throughout the first pregnancy Vitex never entered my mind.  I was pregnant what did I need any of my TTC herbs for?  Western medicine had won the day!

But almost immediately after the miscarriage I did a complete 180 and started popping Vitex again in hopes of regulating my hormones and get my period sooner rather than later.  I got back on the homeopathic bandwagon, herbs and acupuncture all the way.

And wouldn't you know it?  Just 8 weeks later I actually ovulated.

I can't say with any certainty that the Vitex helped me ovulate because more than likely it was just the pregnancy/miscarriage...or the acupuncture...or who the hell knows?!

BUT because I was on Vitex for the last few months leading up to the 2nd pregnancy everyone, midwives, naturopaths, acupuncturists, etc. told me to keep taking it through the first trimester EVEN THOUGH it is normally not recommended during pregnancy.  

In fact it says right on it DO NOT TAKE WHILE PREGNANT.

So, I took everyone's advice after doing a little bit of my own research and continued taking the Vitex through the first trimester.

And 2 days ago I finished my bottle, the first trimester is over and I'M OFF THE VITEX.

It's kind of exhilarating and liberating, one less pill to take everyday, one more milestone, all sorts of awesome.

Anyone else try Vitex?  Anyone else have promising results from it?