Some days you just have to put on a smile and go through the motions. I decided to keep busy, I feel better when I keep busy. 

 

Elimination Communication (EC) also known as infant pottying or natural infant hygiene is the one topic I am asked about most. This is a really loaded topic, and because of that, I'll be making a few posts about it. This first post will be talking about our personal journey and why we chose EC. The next post will be dedicated to your questions, so feel free to leave any you have after reading in the comment section. 

Years ago, I had seen an episode of Pregnant In Heels that featured a very "hippie" couple. She wanted a natural birth, and they had brought up wanting to do Elimination Communication. This is the first I had ever heard of that. Rosie Pope (the "consultant" for pregnant couples) went on and on about how unrealistic EC was. She brought the couple to a coffee shop with a fake baby and proceeded to have the baby "poop" and "pee" all over the place. This was my first exposure to EC, and I just assumed everything she was saying about the technique was true. I watched her portrayal of EC and thought it was ridiculous, messy, unrealistic and gross. Why would anyone not put a diaper on a baby? A baby using a potty like a toddler would? How crazy. 

Over the years, I have seen EC brought up. I failed to really educate myself on it and just had flash backs to that episode I had watched. I could not believe people actually do that. Do they just sit and watch their baby all day? What if they have other kids? I do not have time to stare at my baby all day waiting for her to go potty. I made fun of EC just weeks before I decided to try it. 

Thanks to a Facebook group I run, I finally was educated on EC. I started doing my own research, and   the more I looked into it the more I was intrigued. At this point, I still didn't feel it was for me. 

Indie was around six weeks when I noticed how much she hated diapers and soiling herself. I'm sure no baby enjoys the feeling of soiling themselves or sitting in a soiled diaper. It took awhile to notice because I thought she was just "fussy". I realized that right after she got fussy I would feel her diaper get warm. All the info I had read about EC popped in my head. I grabbed the little potty we had purchased for Beckett, and when she got fussy again, I simply put her on it. She immediately smiled and peed and pooped on the potty. All sorts of emotions came rushing over me. I felt so happy that she went potty on the potty, but I also felt guilty that I had been ignoring her cues. I knew she had been trying to communicate with me, and I was ignoring her needs. I decided right then that we would be doing Elimination Communication. 

I'm not going to lie, the beginning of our journey was frustrating, time consuming, and messy. So messy! It is definitely a learning curve. It does take some patience the first few days, but I promise you it is so very worth it for you and most importantly your baby! 

I started by putting her on the potty or holding her over the sink at certain designated times daily: after she woke up in the morning, a few minutes after she nursed, after a diaper change, and after naps. I still had her in a diaper about half the day because at that point she was still sleeping a lot. When I took her potty and she went, I paid attention to her face, any sounds she made and her body language. She makes a very specific whine/noise when she has to go potty. She also starts kicking her legs a lot when she has to pee, and she will pull her knees to her stomach if she needs to poop. I knew the easiest way for her to get used to going on the potty was to not have a diaper on, I didn't want her to get used to the feeling of going in a diaper, so I only put them on during naps. This resulted in getting peed and pooped on several times a day. Like I said, messy. It really only took one or two short weeks to learn her cues and body language, and from the point on we had a lot less misses. Every catch I made was so exciting for me, and I felt even more connected to her. I felt our bond growing. Indie was a much happier baby once she knew her needs were being met, and I understood what she was communicating. It feels so amazing to be so in tune with your baby and her needs. 

 

Indie is now five months old, and we are doing amazing with EC. We still have some misses, and I still get peed and pooped on from time to time, but overall, we have more catches then misses. (And what mom doesn't get peed or pooped on a time or two anyway right?) She is using her potty about %80 of the time. We have now had the opportunity to do EC in public, in the car, and on vacation. We don't do EC at night (I'll explain that in the next post), but during the day we practice the uncommon potting technique no matter where we are, and so far, I have nothing but great things to say about our journey with EC!

Something I'm super passionate about, as most mothers are, are the products I use in my home. It's amazing the chemicals that are hiding in our products, and one that shocked me the most was toys! You'd think that something meant for our kiddos was safe. Unfortunately some companies definition of "safe" isn't nearly as safe as they should be. As most of us already knew. 

The next post I will go more into detail about WHY you need to be careful when purchasing a new toy for your child, but for today I'm going to do a review on one of our favorite toy companies!

Green Toys!

Their toys and other items are manufactured in the US and are made entirely out of post consumer plastic. Products made from recycled milk jugs!! How cool is that?! 

These days it's pretty rare to find a company not only committed to helping the environment but also one that cares about our children's health and safety. 

Our Green Toys are played with every single day. I've been so impressed with their quality and durability. 

They are also pretty cute to look at! 

A bonus, these toys can be cleaned in the dishwasher! 

*This post is not sponsored and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from Green Toys* 

What you'll need 

A bowl

2 tbsp Coconut oil

2 cups Flour 

1/2 cup Salt 

2 tbsp Cream of tarter 

1/2 cup Blueberries 

1 1/2 cup Water

(Takes about 10 minutes to make) 

Directins

1)place 1 1/2 cup water in a pot and put on high to boil. 

2)grab a bowl and put the flour, salt, and  cream of tartar in. Mix all together 

3)add coconut oil and mix. 

4)add in water once it is boiling, mix all together. 

5)put the blueberries in the microwave for 30 seconds, with a fork mash the blueberries up. Then strain out the juice into the mixture, mix it al together. 

6)let cool for 10-15 minutes. 

Ok guys, I made my own list. 

You may be a hippie if....

2)Your kids rock Amber necklaces.

3)Cloth diapers are an addiction.

4)You use cloth diaper and cloth wipes. 

5)you baby wear.

6)you use essential oils. 

7)you collect healing crystals 

8)you use mama cloth and menstraul cup

9)you have Himalayan salt lamps. 

10) you have an oil diffuser. 

11)you make your own face masks, scubs, wash and moisturizer. 

12)you have several house plants.

13)you have had or want a home birth. 

14)you are against genital mutilation(for both genders)

15)your daughter won't have her ears pierced until she's old enough to ask and take care of them herself. 

16)going on walks is one of your favorite activities. 

17)your kids rarely wear pants. Or shoes. 

18)you use natural toothpaste and natural deodorant. 

19)you love tea. 

20)you have, or want chickens in your back yard. 

21)you do yoga 

22)you meditate

23)you try not to buy your kids plastic toys. 

24)you don't drink cows milk. 

25)you believe in extended breast feeding. 

26)you have at least 1 child in your bed at night.

27)you read the labels on everything. 

28)you believe in extended rear-facing.

29)you don't vaccinate.

30)you love farmers markets and whole foods.

31)you try and eat as heathy as possible (we are currently transistioning to being vegan) 

32)you make sure any products you use are cruelty free. 

33)you make your own cleaning products or use eco-friendly ones.

34)you would be completely happy to live off the grid.

35)you use glass bottles and glass cups.  

36)you recycle 

37)you want to have a compost pile 

38) you have or want your own garden. 

39)you genuinely want world peace.

40)you don't believe in sexist labels. If my son wants a doll he can have a doll, if my daughter want to play football, she can play football. 

41)you don't believe colors are gender specific. Since when did colors have genitals??

42)you research the shit out of everything 43)you're pregnant friends and new mamas come to you for advise,which is extremely flattering! 

44)you have said "do you KNOW how many chemicals are in that??)

45)you slather lavender EO oil on your kids at bed time and diffuse it.

46)you have no problem with breast feeding in public, and give mamas the smile of approval when you see them doing it! 

47)you believe everyone should have the same rights! 

48)you believe marijuana should be legalized in all states (even if you don't personally use it)

49)you don't spank. 

50)you practice gentle discipline. 

51)you could talk about cloth diapering, babywearing, circumcision and vaccines for hours. 

52)you have a folder in your phone full of anti-vaxx and anti-circ memes. 

53)you have, or plan to encapsulate your placenta. 

54)you don't give your kids Tylenol for a fever. 

55)you love going to thrift stores.

Peace and Love my Fellow Hippies ☮

Lets just jump right into it. This post is gonna be a long one.

I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors:)

At my normal OB appointment on Tuesday the 18th I found out that they wanted to induce me at 36 weeks. I had known being induced at that point was a possibility for awhile but I had figured they would wait a little longer. Since Beckett had been taking awhile to pass his stress tests and having decreased movement they wanted to go ahead and get him delivered!

 I was scheduled for an amnio Monday morning at 9 am to check to make sure his lungs were ready. I was already scheduled for an induction at 7:30 that night but we didn't know for sure that it would be happening that day, we actually didn't even know for sure until about an hour before we had to leave for the induction. After leaving the amnio apt we had to wait around 6-8 hours to hear the results. That was the longest 6 hours! We got the call at 5:53pm letting us know that his lungs were fully developed and to go ahead and come in for my scheduled induction. It was a crazy feeling. Knowing that in just an hour and a half we would be headed to the hospital to have our baby. We got to the hospital at 7:30 and signed in, but we had to go out in the waiting room for a little bit because there was a tour going on and they were in our room. We headed to the room and after getting the run down of the induction plan at 8:45 they placed the cervidal. Since I was only 1-2 cm dilated they used this to prep my cervix for labor. I had to leave that in 12 hours.

 That night I was able to sleep pretty good cause the cervidal didn't cause much pain, just slight cramping. They said since it doesnt cause labor it shouldn't hurt. The next morning they checked my progress and I was at a 3. I was happy there was some progress. At 8:45 they started the pitocin. I had had this before with my daughter so I knew what I was in for. The contractions weren’t that bad for the first hour, but more intense then the ones I was having before and closer together. 

At 10:00 The doctor on call came in to break my water and to check my process. I was only at a 4. I was very discouraged. Even though it had only been around 2 hours since I was checked last I was hoping for a little more progress since I was definitely starting to hurt. 

Around 10:30 my OB Dr. Tyre showed up to check on me. She tried checking my cervix but said she couldn’t even reach it, I was hurting so bad I wasn’t cooperating very well for her. Vaginal checks were my least favorite part of labor. They hurt. 

I started getting really upset that I still hadn’t made any progress because at this point my pain was at an 8. I didn’t know how long I would have left. 

Around 11:30 The hard contractions hit. I was shaking uncontrollably and in the most pain I have ever been in in my life. My pain level was at a 10 now. No, it was at a 20. That’s on the pain chart right? 

Around 11:50 my husband pointed out that with each contraction Beckett’s heart rate would go down to the 90’s. That freaked us out, so we called in the nurse. She waited for a contraction to pass and then checked me. She said I was a 6-7 and could stretch me to an 8, whatever that means. She asked if I felt the urge to push at all and I said no, not yet. She told us that around this time it is normal for the heart rate to drop a little and to not worry. As she walked out of the room I felt like I needed to push. It came out of no where. Nate ran out to the hall to get her. 

She came running in to check and said that I was at a 10 and she could see his head. 

I was still on my side as I started pushing. There was no stopping it. The feeling was so overwhelming there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. They kept trying to get me to move to my back but I couldn’t. Somehow, with the help of the nurse I got on my back and after about a minute of pushing Beckett Asher Gossard was born, at 12:16. Weighing 6 pounds 1 ounce and 19 inches long.

The last 2 hours had gone by so fast I still have trouble remembering it. It went by way faster then I expected. I went from a 4 to a 10 in about an hour.

My doctor came running in after he was already born. She had been on the phone with the nurse when Nate ran out to tell her I had to push. She came running in all sweaty about 10 minutes too late. 

Because of the position I was in while pushing I tore pretty bad. So as the doctor stitched me up Nate watched them get the baby ready. 

Shortly after he was born Nates mom brought Paislee to the hospital to meet him! It was love at first sight:)

After about an hour, after giving me some time to nurse him, they did his first blood sugar test. It was so low it wasn’t even registering on the machine. They let me know what was going on and said they would give him a little more time then they would test him again. About 30 minutes later they tested it again and it was in the 30s. They told me he needed to go to the NICU until he could regulate his blood sugar. He couldn’t be with me in the room until he could. They said it could take anywhere from a few hours, to a few days. I was devastated. 

We were told that he needed to have a level of at least 60, 4 times before they would let him come back to the room with us. So every 2 hours we waited to see the results. He passed the first 2, but then would fail one(being lower then 60). We went back and fourth from our room to the NICU checking on him, and trying to get a little rest. It was very hard to try and sleep knowing your baby was in the NICU getting poked every hour. 

After 12 hours in the NICU he finally passed 4 in a row and was able to come back to the room with us. 

While he was in the NICU one of the nurses said to us that she didn’t even know why he was in there because even the tests he “failed” were in the 50’s, which is normal.

This frustrated me. I knew he was healthy and didn’t need to be in there. 

We finally got him back to our room and we were able to cuddle him and love on him. And we were finally able to get some rest. 

We got admitted 24 hours after he was born! I was so ready to go home and sleep in my own bed! 

Fun Facts and After Thoughts

Nate and I watched Legally Blonde before bed the first night. 

Around 10 Nate had been texting his mom and she said that they were in the area running errands so she could just stop by after,around 12 to see the baby. Nate told me this and I said "there is no way we will have a baby by 12."  This of course makes me laugh because he was born at 12:16! I had never expected to have him so fast.

I was only in active labor for about 2 hours and only pushed about 4 times. I am very happy with how everything turned out. Except the fact that I tore, but there is nothing I can do about that. 

I did not have an epidural! I had wanted an all natural, pain med free birth and I got it! I am so happy I got to experience it all. Yes, even the pain. I would do it all over again, the exact same way 100 times. 

I drank about 6 gallons of orange juice while in the hospital. I didn't actually keep track but I'm pretty sure that is an appropriate estimate. Not joking. haha

Beckett's middle name was meant to be Ash, but once he was born we decided to go with Asher. 

I was not %100 sure of the name Beckett until I saw him, I wanted to name him River. I am so happy we chose Beckett, he looks like a Beckett:)

Nate was extremely supportive during my labor(besides trying to get me to get an epidural) He ran and got me anything I needed!

One of our nurses(our favorite nurse) was named Delainy. Which was a name we had on our list for Paislee! 

We had bought 2 preemie outfits for Beckett for the hospital cause we knew he would be small. Neither of them fit because his legs were to long!

His head meausred the size of a full term baby! 13 1/4 inches!!