BirthUprising on LTK

In January I had my 1st (and hopefully only) gallbladder attack. I’ve since been playing detective with the help of @holistichealthbysheila to trace back where my problems started, because it wasn’t in my gallbladder. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile made in the liver, so problems in the liver (and constant toxic burden on the liver) can lead to both liver and gallbladder issues. I’m doing LOTS to heal myself, but 4 of my top strategies for detoxing and supporting my body are: 1. Exercising 2. Mineral balancing & liver support 3. Filtering my water 4. Filtering my air The water and air filters I use are on sale (they only do two sales per year!) until April 8th. Comment CLEAN AIR or CLEAN WATER and I’ll send you the link so you can start decreasing your family’s toxic burden, too.

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BodySport Cast Iron Kettlebell Weight, Strength Training Equipment for Home Gym, 35 lb., Black | Target

Vivobarefoot Women's Primus Trail III All Weather FG Trail-Running Shoes Black 38 EU | REI

Don’t miss this! I know it’s early to think about Christmas, but if you’re planning to grab your family matching pjs, this sale is HUGE!

Save up to 60% on these organic Christmas pajamas for everyone (even your dog!).

#LTKFamily #LTKHoliday #LTKKids

I was in desperate need of new nursing bras, so I snagged these (and two tanks and a hoodie!).

If you’re in need of good quality nursing gear, this is it!

#LTKBaby #LTKFamily #LTKBump

Nursing while trick-or-treating made possible by my Lillebaby carrier 🙌

Being able to do this allowed me to stay out for hours with my bigger kiddos and not have to stop back at home to feed Gage. Highly recommend if you like to be out and about with your babe.

#LTKBaby #LTKBump #LTKKids

We finally upgraded to a king-sized bed after 9 years of co-sleeping in a queen 🤪

I was super picky about everything we chose because I know a bed is a big investment, and that we’ll spend a third of every day on it. That means I want everything to be as non-toxic as possible for myself & my family.

I cannot WAIT to get into our new bed at the end of the day - you’re going to love it!

#LTKBaby #LTKFamily #LTKHome

Baby wearing is the answer to everything!

It allows you to get sooooo much more done, and your baby is nice & snug with you, right where they want to be.

When I’m not using my Solly Baby wrap I’m using my Lille Baby carrier. They’re different, and both game changers!

#LTKBaby #LTKBump #LTKKids

An obstetrician from the 1800’s decided your due date.

And VERY often babies are forced out of the womb before they’re ready based on his calculations.

The obsession with a gestation of 40 weeks leads to an increase in inductions, interventions, and surgical birth - all of which have physical and emotional/mental consequences for mother and baby.

But where did this guess date even come from?

The due date calculation we use today comes from an obstetrician named Franz Karl Naegele, who invented “Naegele’s Rule”. This calculation starts with the first day of your last menstrual period, goes back three months, then adds one year and 7 days. The result is a gestation of 280 days (40 weeks).

The 40 week date is an average, meaning that about 1/2 of women will give birth before that date, & 1/2 after. It probably wasn’t seen as a hard eviction date in the 1800’s.

But today we live in a fast-paced world that runs on schedules and money. And with the ability to “control” birth via induction and surgery, this 40 week average date often turns into the day when your baby will be forced from your body.

Here are my top 3 reasons why using this calculation as a hard eviction date is wrong...

1. Naegele’s Rule is based on a 28 day menstrual cycle. If you, like me, don’t ovulate at exactly day 14 of your cycle, this calculation won’t work for you. Most women don’t know when they ovulate, and this important fact is almost never taken into account when calculating a due date.

2. Our bodies are all different - we didn’t all get our periods at exactly age 11 years 6 months and 13 days, so why would our bodies all grow babies at exactly the same rate? To use a due date as an estimate of when a baby will arrive is one thing - to use it as an eviction notice is a completely different story.

3. Many factors determine whether you are likely to have a longer or shorter gestation - if you are between the ages of 19 and 34, having your first baby, or are white, you are statistically more likely to have a longer pregnancy.

How was your due date calculated? Was it accurate?

#duedate #inductiondate #39weekspregnant #40weekspregnant #41weekspregnant

I’m debating on which of these two Old Navy outfits to get our 3 month old for our Christmas photos. They’re both on sale, and will be so cute at the Christmas tree farm 🌲

#LTKBaby #LTKHoliday #LTKSeasonal

Please don’t let an unnecessarily traumatic birth experience keep you from having more children and the family you planned.

This is one of the saddest (& most frequent) stories I encounter.

The story of someone who had a traumatic birth now questioning whether they want more children.

These people had a plan - a vision of their future family - and what they were put through just erased it. Their experience of pregnancy and birth was so scary and they felt so out of control that they now question whether going through it again is worth it.

The thing that makes me the most angry?

Most birth trauma is avoidable, and therefore totally preventable in the future.

What happened was DONE TO THEM. It didn’t have to happen. It’s almost never an unavoidable fluke.

Sure, there are true emergencies that could not have been prevented. And for those situations we are all thankful for emergency medicine.

But for the most part, that’s not why birth trauma happens.

It happens because we don’t trust women and don’t trust birth.

We intervene unnecessarily. We weigh and measure and critique every inch. We scan and test and monitor.

We introduce doubt - make you second guess your instincts - and then you let us take the wheel.

So when we tell you that your baby is too big, you let us induce you or schedule a c-section. And that’s where it begins.

If you have had a traumatic birth and are questioning whether you want more children, please don’t let a bad experience take your future from you. The next time doesn’t have to be that way - you just need to choose your providers and birth location very carefully.

The more control you have, the better.

Don’t let anyone take your family’s future from you. They’ve taken too much already.

#birthtrauma #birthtraumahealing

#LTKBaby #LTKBump #LTKFamily

These shoes are amazing for walking & getting back into running postpartum. So cozy & cute - and some colors are on sale!

#LTKActive #LTKKids #LTKPetite

For mamas with babies who just want to be with them allllll the time, this wrap and cozy slippers are an absolute must.

The slippers are sturdy and super soft inside - I’ll never wear anything else!

#LTKBaby #LTKPetite #LTKFamily

As a cosleeping mama, it’s important to me to do things safely.

That means no blankets near baby, but I also don’t want him to get cold. These organic wearable blankets are perfect for little ones at night - they stay toasty and you don’t have to worry whether their face got covered by their blanket 😮

They’re super cozy and come in lots of styles and sizes 🙌

#LTKKids #LTKFamily #LTKBaby

My unnecessary c-section cost over $30,000.

Had I stayed home, my birth, plus all of my prenatal and postpartum care would have totalled around $4,500.

No one is talking about how much hospital maternity care costs, how much money is wasted, and who pays the bill - but you know you can always count on me to bring that sort of thing up.

In the US, most women give birth in hospitals, and most hospital care is covered by health insurance. Everyone’s insurance plan is different, but usually the majority of your bill will be covered - you may be left with a copay or to pay your deductible.

But the rest of that bill - the part the insurance “covered” - who actually paid for it? Where did that money come from?

From you.

You didn’t pay the bill right then, but you paid it with your monthly premiums (& other subscribers of that insurance). And the higher the cost of each bill sent to the insurance company, the higher the premiums grow to cover it.

In countries like England who have socialized healthcare it’s similar - you don’t usually get a bill after having a baby - it’s covered by the NHS (National Health Service). But where did THAT money come from?

Your taxes. You paid for it.

The more births cost, the more money insurance companies have to shell out, the higher insurance premiums will become (or your taxes). Birth is a multi billion dollar business in the US, but for every 1% shift from hospital birth to home, we would save an estimated $321,000,000. And that’s just 1%.

Did health insurance or your National Health Service cover your birth? Were you aware of where that money came from?

SHARE this post with a friend who didn’t know this!

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8507766/#!po=3.33333
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#thebusinessofbirth #thebusinessofbeingborn #maternitycare #healthinsurance #healthinsurancepremiums #healthinsurance #nhs

I’m a sucker for a matching fam jam set 🤪

And these organic ones (and so much other great stuff) is up to 40% off right now!

I grabbed this set for all my boys. If you order now you still have time to snag them before Halloween!

#famjams #matchingpjs #hallloween

#LTKFamily #LTKHalloween #LTKBaby

The softest matching fam jams for Halloween are 40% off! And they’re organic 🌱

Just bought them for all 4 boys!

#LTKFamily #LTKBaby #LTKHalloween

Gage is loving his new organic taco jammies 😍

#LTKBaby #LTKFamily #LTKBump

Do you love any of the things I do? Let’s be friends 👯‍♀️

#noratea #sober #momsover40

Your doctor might not tell you that there are options, but there are LOADS.

This is why it’s important to know your stuff BEFORE your appointments. This way you won’t feel blind-sided and will be confident in what you choose.

Did you take the traditional Glucose drink to test for gestational diabetes? Or did you use an alternative? Tell us in the comments 👇

Do you really need that induction?

Probably not - especially if you’re giving birth around the holidays.

Were you told you needed to be induced? What reason did your provider give?

#inductionoflabor #birthtrauma #csection

Why age 35? Do we drop off some mystical health cliff on that birthday?

The age of 35 was chosen to define “geriatric pregnancy” (now called “advanced maternal age”) because, back when amniocentesis first became common, the math tipped. At 35, a woman’s chance of having a baby with a chromosomal condition like Down syndrome (which amnio tests for) was higher than the risk of losing the pregnancy from the amnio procedure itself.

It was never about some age where everything suddenly changes — it was just a numbers game based on the technology available in the 1970’s when the term “geriatric pregnancy” was defined. Even though procedures are a lot safer now and we have way better screening options, the “advanced maternal age” label stuck — mostly because insurance and medical coding needed a line to draw.

Did you know this about the term “geriatric pregnancy”?

I’ve been having some issues balancing my blood sugar since my gallbladder attack last year, so I knew when I got pregnant it was something I had to keep an eye on.

Blood sugar regulation is SO important, especially during pregnancy. When your blood sugar gets out of control it can lead to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. When you’re pregnant your ability to maintain your blood sugar can affect how large your baby gets, how they regulate their own blood sugar (at birth and later in life) and so much more.

So what can you do to keep your blood sugar stable?

My top 3 blood sugar balancing hacks:

1. Don’t eat naked carbs

Crackers by themselves will lead to a blood sugar spike, but pair them with some cheese or a meat stick & berries and you’ve got the fat, protein and fiber you need to keep your blood sugar from spiking.

2. Track your glucose

Even if it’s just for a little while, tracking your glucose (either with a glucometer/finger stick or a continuous glucose monitor) can give you amazing insight into how different foods are affecting you. This helps you to make smarter choices about the foods you eat, when you eat them, and in what order.

And my favorite…

3. Take walks after meals

Even 10 minutes of walking after a meal can do wonders for blunting a glucose spike. Since your muscles need the sugar during activity they’ll begin to remove it from your blood for fuel, thereby decreasing your blood glucose level.

Since it can be tough for me to get outside quickly after meals while super pregnant in the summer heat with 3 little boys, I’ve been using my WalkingPad a lot instead. It allows me to get in some quick movement without having to pack everyone up and wrangle them while I sweat profusely in the sun. It’s been a game changer for getting in my post meal walks, and is helping me to keep my blood sugar balanced during pregnancy.

WalkingPad is currently running a big sale 👀 Comment WALKINGPAD and I’ll send you the link!

@walkingpad #kingsmith #walkingpad #foldingfitness

It’s just like a mocha, but with 30 grams of protein, and no whey or stevia!

Simply add one scoop of Equip Prime Protein to your espresso, mix well, and add to your favorite milk over ice 😋

#LTKHome #LTKFamily #LTKBaby

When you’re 44 years old and have lost 5 babies, it’s hard to imagine that you’ll ever see one of your children this small again.

But today my 4th babe turns 2 months 🙌 His pregnancy was a doozy, and his birth was the complete opposite of what I had planned, but it’s what we needed to get him here.

If you’re over 35 and being told you’ll never conceive on your own, you may be being lied to. There is a LOT you (and your partner) can do to improve your reproductive and overall health to increase your chances of conceiving a healthy baby naturally, you just won’t hear it from your run-of-the-mill OBGYN (honestly they probably don’t even know).

Were you ever told your age would make it hard for you to have children?

#momsover30 #momsover40 #firsttimemom #ftm #geriatricpregnancy #advancedmaternalage #pregnancyafter35 #pregnancyafterloss #pregnancyafter40

Thrifted this cute basket and filled it with some yummy muffins for a friend who just bought a house!

#LTKKids #LTKSeasonal #LTKFamily