Moving to a small town...

After 18 months of planning, we finally moved to a small town in Kansas just a couple of months ago. It is a HUGE difference from our bustling town of Snellville, not far from Atlanta, GA. The thing I'm most surprised about here in Kansas is the wind. It is CRAZY! When I'm lying in bed in the morning, not wanting to get up, it sounds like the ocean waves crashing on the beach. It's quite relaxing, even with the thought that it could possibly blow the house over. Not THIS house! It was built in 1919 and I'm thinking it's probably pretty sturdy!

I've been doing lots of research on different things lately, which I will share soon. Two of the topics are oral health and natural progesterone cream. These are things we are dealing with right now, and I'll share when the results are in...

Until then, have a great week!

Ways to Conserve Gas this Winter

We are all bracing for a tough winter, with the knowledge that oil prices will be at an all-time high for us here in the US. Experts are estimating that it will cost twice as much this year to heat our homes, so it is time to get serious about conserving gas now, and preparing to survive this winter! Here in GA it is barely getting chilly in the middle of October, but I know other places are already getting snow! So use these tips as they apply to your climate, and I wish you all the best as you do what you can to make it through.

1. Get a computerized thermostat. You can set it to stay colder at night, and then come on a little bit before everyone is due to get up. And during the day if you aren't at home, you can set it to be cooler than you would if you were home. Again, set it to warm up about 30 minutes before you are due home.
2. Keep your house cooler overall. A few degrees change in temperature may be the difference in another layer of clothing, but could mean a LOT of difference in your gas bill. Be prepared to dress warmly. This is healthier anyway. Dress babies in layers.
3. Cover older windows with drapes. This is HUGE. Last winter it got down to 20 degrees F and my daughter's room was COLD. I noticed a breeze coming in through the windows. So I whipped up some drapes and the room probably went up at least 5-7 degrees with that alone. Drapes should be made from thick fabric and cover the windows completely. Close them at night, or anytime it gets especially chilly outside.
4. If you use your oven, leave it open when you are finished cooking. (Don't do this if it is a low oven and you have children in the house).
5. Try not to drive during rush hour and take public transit or carpool.
6. Combine errands and plan your day so that you are not backtracking.
7. Evaluate the cost of driving to work. It may be time for a job change, or it may be time for Mom to stay home. If it is tipping you into the "it's not worth it anymore" side, then see if there is something closer to home. Here in Atlanta, people are notorious for living on the opposite side of the city from where they work. It is madness!
8. Work from home. There are lots of creative ways for businesses to save money by helping you save money. See if you can work four 10-hour days, change your start/finish time, or work some days at home. Don't be surprised if your employer asks you to work 4 days rather than 5 so that they can close the office and safe some money themselves. We will all need to be flexible this winter.

I'm sure there are tons of other ways to save gas! It all comes down to planning ahead and being conscious of how much you use. If you have any more suggestions, please send them on! They might help someone else, too!

Prevent SIDS!

In my effort to increase public knowledge of the toxic gas theory and SIDS/crib death prevention, I developed a new web site that contains ALL the information relevant to the toxic gas theory and how to prevent SIDS. I have already seen sales take off from this effort and I can't believe the result. It is amazing! I am so glad that more parents are finding out about this and realize they DO have a part in SIDS prevention.

I've also learned during the past few months that there are parents- mostly moms, I guess, who read about the toxic gas theory in forums and parenting boards, and immediately write it off as rubbish. I can just see them stick their noses up in the air to say how "stupid" we could be to believe such junk. They are also defensive. Probably because they are JUST learning something that some have known for 10 years. Other parents who have lost babies to crib death are adament that SIDS has a medical cause, since admitting that SIDS is preventable acknowledges that perhaps they DIDN'T do everything they could have to prevent it. Continuing to believe that there was something wrong with their babies seems to be some sort of comfort to many parents who cling to the ideal that any baby is at risk and you don't know if your baby is one who will die from it or not.

Sadly, all of these parents for one reason or another won't even go read the evidence for themselves! They are offended by information that they haven't even examined! There's not really much I can do for these people. I remember when my son was born I searched for SIDS prevention information because he would not sleep on his back. I WISH I could have found the information then, and it aggravates me that parents have it right before them; the link is there, the blurb is there, it's all right there and they don't want to look at it. I don't understand that!

For people who don't believe in toxic gases or even environmental dangers, I have a few analogies. The toxic gas released from mattresses is invisible, and has no scent. It is undetectable to humans. So for that reason it is hard to believe it is there. How many times have you turned on the news to hear about families devastated by carbon monoxide poisoning in their homes? They couldn't smell it, they couldn't see it...but they are dead. Perhaps that is more easily believed because it's not coming from a baby's mattress. I mean, how can gases come from a mattress?

Gases come off of just about everything, especially new building material. (I will never live in a new home for this reason!) Have you ever painted in a poorly ventilated room? Even in a ventilated room, paint fumes make me dizzy and give me a big headache. What do you think that is doing to my brain? How good do you think that is for babies?

Let's look at something completely different. Yesterday I noticed an ant infestation in our mudroom where someone had spilled some orange juice. Can you believe that ants can pick up the scent of a teeny bit of sugar all the way inside a house? Any time I see this it amazes me. Many years ago I had ants in my kitchen cabinets because there was a box of Krispy Kreme in it. How do they DO that? Silly stuff like that makes me realize that things that seem impossible really aren't.

The toxic gas theory is basically this: It is common knowledge that fungus grows in every mattress. The fungus feeds on elements in the mattress, and this process releases the toxic gases. The elements phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony are the elements in question, which are put into the mattresses by government regulation to provide flame retardancy. Countries that do not require flame retardancy or use different elements have virtually no crib deaths, and countries that are beginning to adapt US practices are seeing crib death rates go up.

You can read about the discovery of the toxic gas theory in Dr. TJ Sprott's book The Cot Death Cover-up? The more you read about it, the easier it is to understand, especially when you see the proof: NO BABIES HAVE DIED OF CRIB DEATH SLEEPING ON BABESAFE MATTRESSES OR MATTRESSES WRAPPED WITH A BABESAFE MATTRESS COVER.

Whether you want to believe the theory or not, you can't dismiss the proof. Scientists and doctors are raising eyebrows as each passing year only substantiates the validity of the toxic gas theory. An estimated 200,000 babies have slept on protected mattresses, with ZERO crib deaths. That adds up to 100-200 babies that statistically should have died.

How Did I Get Here?

I'm a freak. I admit it. A bonified freak. How did I get here? Why am I so weird? It seems like every month I'm on this planet I come across new information that just blows me away. This month was no different. And of course, this new information makes me fear for everything that goes into my children's mouths or everything they breathe in or bathe in. In looking back, I see the path clearly of how I got where I am...

It all started with a Yahoo group. I'm not even sure which one. But I remember "diapering" coming up and one young mother who basically told all of us we were awful parents for using disposables. At the time I had a 21 month old and a 2 month old in diapers- both disposables. The thought of cloth just weirded me out, but as I searched on-line for what this girl was raving about- "Fuzzi Bunz" -I found a slew of diapers out there. You mean people don't have to use those burp-cloth thingies with the pins?

So I tried cloth diapering and loved it. No big deal...just a couple of extra loads of laundry every week, and less trash leaving the house. I didn't start out with Fuzzi Bunz, but once I tried them I just "knew" that I had to sell them. While I was setting up my business, I somehow stumbled upon the BabeSafe Mattress Cover. I still don't know how I came across it. I wasn't even looking for it really.

I immediately ordered the mattress cover from New Zealand for my then six month old. I also decided to add this product to my business. In conversing with Dr. TJ Sprott about the product, and asking him a million questions about what I had just learned about the toxic gas explanation for crib death, I will never forget the comment..."watch out for vaccines that contain thimerosal..." Hmmm. I will have to look into that.

Well, it was then that I did research on vaccines. Nice, considering my daughter was 6 months and had just gone through 3 series of shots. You would think that something as serious as a needle going into your baby would warrant a little investigation, but like most parents I did whatever the doctor wanted me to do. I initialed the consent form, barely reading the possible adverse reactions information.

Shortly after this time, my period was returning for the first time. From the cloth diapering community, I had heard about "The Keeper" and thought, "gross!" But after months of cloth diapering, the term "gross" takes on new meaning. I used to think cloth diapering would be gross, but after I got over that, I guess The Keeper didn't seem so gross anymore either!

I stumbled upon the DivaCup menstrual cup and wanted to try it since it was made from silicone rather than latex. So I decided to carry the product and bought a case. It was a little weird at first, but a few cycles later, it was as easy to use as tampons had been. And way less gross! Now that I think about tampons I shiver. I had heard that using a menstrual cup could shorten your period, but didn't believe it myself until it happened. The theory is that the absorption of tampons and the abrasiveness of the fibers cause bleeding to be prolonged. Whatever...all I know is that my cycle is almost a full day shorter!

Life went on pretty smoothly for a while. Nothing major happened, nothing shocked me... probably until my daughter was almost 18 months old. I went to a health presentation by Dr. Ladd McNamara at my friend's house and learned LOTS of things about nutrition, food, and nutritional supplements. Dr. McNamara is an ob/gyn, and had extensive knowledge on health problems, drugs, and supplements that can be used to combat most of the health problems we know about today!

A couple of weeks later, it was the worst allergy season we have ever experienced in Georgia. I was wiped out for a full two weeks, lying around, barely able to take care of my children. My son, now three, was also showing allergy signs and before it was over, developing asthma. So I called my friend and told her I needed to do *something* and wanted to order some of the supplements Dr. McNamara talked about. Maybe they could help us? I didn't know if we had the money; we had planned to sit down and look at our budget, but never did. But we had a charge card and I could worry about that later. We needed something BADLY.

A few days later, my order arrived and I took my first dose. Two hours later...NO MORE ALLERGIES. None. They were gone. I could not believe it. Not only did it work...it worked so fast! Knowing that we couldn't afford to order the supplements every month (we were still trying to recover from my husband's job loss the year before) we decided to take a look at the business. After seeing the awesome business plan, we decided to become what we like to call "educators" about nutritional supplements. Our goal was to pay for what we were taking, but we could see that this business could also pay some bills.

Working our Usana business has helped us learn about so many health problems, solutions, environmental dangers, the pharmaceutical industry, doctors, what supplements can do for ANYONE...speaking of which... my son's asthma? Completely gone. No more allergies. The kids barely get sick anymore. Usana has possibly saved our lives, and our children's as well, because they are getting the best possible nutrients available on our planet. Dr. Myron Wentz KNOWS his stuff. Read about him on the internet, and learn about Sanoviv as well. He also has a book just released...Mouth Full of Poison.

One of the things we learned about just recently, is water. More specifically, what's IN water. My daughter drinks a LOT of it, with a little juice for flavoring. I felt good about this; it is filtered so I was doing good.... Then I learned about fluoride. I had been careful not to buy fluoridated toothpaste, but forgot about the drinking water...yikes! There are other things that filters don't get out...but fluoride is what scared me the most. It was time to get a water distiller. Since I knew from my upline that Usana used to distribute the WaterWise distiller, I knew that it was the one to get. We haven't yet, as I'm waiting for approval to distribute the distillers. (Why buy retail when you can get wholesale?!) We are also planning to get a Showerwise filter to filter out the chlorine in our shower and bath water as well. This information will soon be added to my website, hopefully during the month of March.

Recently a friend overheard me talking to another "freak" about water distillers and said, "It's JUST water!" Well if it was *just* water, there would be no discussion, but it's all the things that come along with the water that we have to watch out for. There are so many people sick today, so many dying long, slow deaths, or just tired, or worn out... why is this? Maybe we freaks have something here.

I'm glad I am the way I am. I've always been mindful of heavy scents and cleaning products, since they irritate ME. My children have benefitted from that. And doing everything we can to help our children grow up in a chemical-free, toxin-free household is very important to us. So is what they eat and drink. Though I have to admit that ignorance was bliss, and a whole lot cheaper... knowing that I am doing everything I can to make our world as natural as possible certainly helps me feel like we are doing everything we can to give our children the best possible future health. Shouldn't you?

Tsunami and the Human Spirit

I remember almost a week after the Tsunami, I was talking with some friends about how I just couldn't seem to turn off the news. Video clips and pictures flooded every channel of total devastation, death, and destruction. And we all watched. Of course I was amazed at the idea of a quiet, peaceful beach, which slowly and seemingly quietly became a hell for the children, moms, dads, and grandparents that were visiting beaches all over Southeast Asia. And the people that lived there...there was no plane coming to take them "home." Many of their homes were flooded and ruined, or became the boards that littered the beaches when the water pulled back out into the sea. And the people that remained alive, try even today to make sense of what has happened and why their family is gone- why their children were taken from them by this horrid, evil event.

So why do we watch? I think I kept watching, not only in disbelief, but also because I just knew somehow that it would get better. The initial death toll was estimated at 20,000 I believe. The last figure has been estimated close to 150,000. So as I watched, the number got higher and higher. What in the world was going to get better?! I don't know...I just hoped.

It was about two weeks after the tsunami when I realized that my hope was becoming reality. Relief was arriving constantly in the forms of food, medicine, water, doctors...good was happening in the midst of horrible circumstances that those of us here in the US probably still can't grasp. Some of the people interviewed by the journalists asked, "where is America?...we need help!" Little did they know that Americans and people from around the world were on their way; aid was on the way; supplies were on the way. People were scrambling all over the world to help these people who had already lost so much, and were on the verge of another wave of destruction that everyone feared- disease and starvation.

There were many days that I had to turn off the news programs, crying for a people who would never be the same. Trying to explain the tsunami to my three year old, it occurred to me that he will likely never see this happen again in his lifetime. And when he is older I will explain to him how the tsunami of 2004 showed how people from all over the world came together- no matter their religion, sexual orientation, color, or nationality- and exhibited the greatest demonstration of the human spirit that will ever be felt on the face of this planet. As we lay our heads upon our pillows at night, may we pray to God and give thanks that our children are sleeping soundly, with no knowledge of the suffering of the children on December 26, 2004. And let us never forget, so that we can share it with them when they are able to understand.

BabeSafe Information- Getting it out

As a new year is approaching, I'm brainstorming ideas of how to promote the BabeSafe mattress cover. I don't feel like I'm doing enough to get the word out, and there are lots of options, but I don't know which one to go with! There is writing an article, which is free. Then there are banner exchanges, ad exchanges, paid advertisement, vendor shows and of course, word of mouth. I could probably really use a PR rep at this point, but I guess I will go with writing an article since that is the thing that, if published, will get the biggest audience.

I came across a website today for the GA SIDS Project and it is so sad that there are organizations out there that still have no clue that the toxic gas explanation for crib death even exists. Our government is turning a deaf ear to it, so why shouldn't we all?! Some people may wonder how I know that *I* am right about the mattress wrapping campaign and how it has prevented crib death. If it was believing a theory alone, it would be one thing. But after all the reading I've done and the evidence I've found that supports the theory, not to mention that babies are not dying on wrapped mattresses...coincidence? I don't know...all the proof tied with a bow of mother's intuition is pretty solid for me. I guess the more time that goes by, the more people will have heard of mattress wrapping, the more word of mouth will do its thing, the less I have to worry that babies are dying each day. If only I could get to each parent and tell them what I know...

For now I will just have to take it one day at a time, and do what I can with the time that I have and the resources available. And I will hope and pray that the right people find the information before it is too late.
Til next time,
Evie
http://www.thediaperlady.com

Have a UTI? Remedy here!

I didn't plan on blogging again this soon, especially one week before Christmas when I have NOTHING done yet. But this is important and may help someone else out there some day!

I have had a cold/flu for over a week and have been pretty miserable. I've tried increasing my supplements, especially vitamin C, but not quite enough and not frequently enough, it turns out. Because of my immune system being down, last night I developed a urinary tract infection (UTI)! As if things weren't bad enough....

I've had one other UTI about 8 months ago, and what we *think* were kidney stones about 4 months ago. So from symptom 1, I knew what was happening. But it kicked in fast. It was awful!

Because I am never sick (joke's on me, I know), I don't really have a regular doctor. So I got on-line to search for home remedies. Boy, did I hit the jack pot! If you are suffering from a UTI, go here quickly: http://www.utireport.com/. You can cure your UTI within 12 hours using common grocery items, as well as prevent them from occuring again. One thing I can suggest to prevent them is to always drink LOTS of water. I had cut back on fluid intake for a number or reasons (none of them good) and that opened the door for the UTI, as well as did the cold/flu I was already battling.

Another thing I want to address here about UTI's are the use of The DivaCup. It is not a coincidence that both times I got a UTI, it was just after my period and using the DivaCup. It is NOT the cup causing the problem, but other factors in handling the cup during removal and insertion. After the first UTI, I did become extra cautious, but since I was sick this time I probably got a little slack. It is very important to wash your hands thoroughly before you remove the cup. Wash your hands again while you are washing your cup with soap and the hottest water you can stand. Rinse well. I would even go another step and take a wet washcloth and wipe from front to back to remove any bacteria that may be hanging out around any area you may touch while inserting the DivaCup. I always try to urinate after I've inserted the cup, but sometimes that doesn't happen.

Again, I want to reiterate it is NOT the DivaCup causing the UTI. UTI's are also problems with diaphragm use. It is about hygiene, not the product. And if I have to scrub down every time I use the DivaCup, it is still well worth it!

Evie aka The Diaper Lady