Welcome back to the Raising Healthy Families series - a fun and informative series designed to help you and your family thrive! Join us each Friday as we take a look at different ways to keep your family healthy and vibrant in a not-so-healthy world! This week's post from Justyn at Creative Christian Mama is perfect for expecting mamas! This Week: Natural Sources of Folic Acid Written by Justyn Lang of Creative Christian Mama When a woman is pregnant or is trying to conceive, she is … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding: The Greenest Way to Feed Your Baby {Green in 365: Baby & Child Care}
This is Day 81 of the Green in 365 series! Breast milk is nature's perfect food for your newborn baby, and breastfeeding is the greenest and most eco-friendly way to feed your baby for their first months of life. Once you get the hang of it, breastfeeding is easy for you an your baby - no bottles and nipples to wash and sterilize, no formula to buy, measure and mix, and make sure you have enough with you everywhere you go, no bottles to warm up in the middle of the night. If … [Read more...]
5 Standard Newborn Procedures You Choose to Avoid {Green in 365: Baby & Child Care}
This is Day 78 of the Green in 365 series! This is a long post, but bear with me because I think it's a really important topic to cover as we begin talking about green and natural baby and child care! No better place to start then when our sweet babies are first born! Last week I got to be with my younger sister at the hospital as she gave birth to her first baby, a healthy baby boy! She labored and birthed without medication and I was so proud of her! It was amazing to get to be a part … [Read more...]
8 Natural Remedies for Postpartum Baby Blues
Baby Blair is two months old now and the time is just flying by! I love this newborn stage so, so much - the sweet smelling baby that sleeps all the time, curls up in a little ball, makes such cute and funny faces and noises, and is most happy and content when they are in your arms. But, the newborn stage can be a difficult stage too - adjusting to life with a new baby, nursing around the clock, dealing with behavior issues of older children, feeling sleep deprived and dealing with the ups … [Read more...]
Why We Chose to Have a Homebirth
Laboring in our bedroom It’s kind of hard for me to believe that when I gave birth to Blair at home that I entered a very small minority of women who have had a home birth. I don't feel like some radical, crazy, or super-woman. I also don’t feel like we made some totally unconventional decision, and having a home birth really felt so natural to me. But the reality is that even though home births are on the rise in the US, still only around one percent of women choose to give birth at home. … [Read more...]
Guest Post: 8 Tips for a Healthy Postpartum Recovery
I'm thankful to have Amee from Inspired-Houswife guest posting today about natural postpartum recovery. I feel like my recovery was much quicker with this birth because I followed many of these tips! Hello, Live Renewed readers. My name is Amee from Inspired-Housewife, and it is my pleasure to be with you today. Congratulations to Emily on the birth of her baby girl Blair, and way to go mama on having the baby at home too! Now that baby Blair is here, Emily should focus on her new … [Read more...]
Blair’s Homebirth Story
Blair Grace was born at home on June 8. She is named after her Papa, David Blair Sutton, who called her 'Sweet Pea' and loved her so much, even though he never got to meet her. I know that he is smiling down on her from Heaven. Here is her birth story: Thursday evening, June 7th, I was having some fairly regular contractions. I’d been having them on and off since Sunday afternoon, and was feeling really ready for them to turn into the real thing. I thought that Friday would be a great day to … [Read more...]
Heathy Green Pregnancy Giveaway — Two Healthy Eating Ebooks!
Today, I have a great giveaway to go along with the Healthy Green Pregnancy Series! We've already talked about healthy eating during the first trimester, and we know how important it is to nourish both our bodies and our babies when we are pregnant. Kate at Modern Alternative Mama has a great book Healthy Pregnancy Superfoods that helps expecting mamas to eat the best they possibly can with great information and tips about eating for two, along with lots of delicious, and super-healthy, … [Read more...]
Healthy Green Pregnancy – The 2nd Trimester
I’m 28 weeks along now with this pregnancy, so I'm officially into my third trimester! And have to say that, thankfully, my second trimester was so much better than the first. While I know this is not true for all women, when most pregnant mamas reach that 12 week mark, the change seems almost instantaneous. I remember saying to my husband that I finally felt like myself again. The second trimester of pregnancy is usually a sweet respite period between the exhausted and nauseous first … [Read more...]
Healthy Green Pregnancy – Pregnancy Reading List
Whether this is your first pregnancy, your third (like me!), or your sixth, I really believe that it is important to read books about pregnancy, birth, nursing, and babies to help prepare your mind, your body, and your heart for your new little bundle of joy. Of course, I had much more time to read during my first pregnancy then I do now, and in some ways I kind of feel like: Been there, done that, and that there is not much new that I can learn about being pregnant. But, the truth is that … [Read more...]