Sabbatical from Agave

How long have I loved thee - agaveee?

I suppose it was too good to be true - a sweetener that has no strong taste or aftertaste - that dissolves immediately in liquid. I've heard rumors, caught a little article here and there saying that agave is more processed than we first expected. But I chose to ignore. This stuff is great - there are always nay-sayers.

Alas - two sources whom I trust - Dr. Mercola and the Weston Price Foundation (article by Dr. Ben Kim) both came out recently about the delicious liquid. Unfortunately not only regarding it's degree of "natural" but unfortunately its danger as well. I need to read more carefully and get all the facts straight. (I have been distracted by the other things happening in my life right now).

After I do some more research, I'll share a more put together blog about it. But to be cautious - we are taking a sabbatical from agave. We're now all about maple syrup and honey. I made honey chocolate cake and some honey brownies that were quite good. The cake is from another site, but the brownies are my own adaptation. Here's the recipe:

Brownies Sweetened with Honey
* Between 1.5 & 2 cups honey (depending how sweet you like it)
* 1 cup oil (usually I use 1/2 sunflower, 1/2 olive - all olive is a bit too much of the taste)
* 4 eggs
* 1.5 tsp vanilla
Mix all this together and then grab another bowl for the dry ingredients.
* 1.5 cups flour (it can handle all whole wheat, but for lighter brownies, try half naturally white flour)
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup of cocoa

Mix this well especially the cocoa chucks. If you are inclined you can sift it and it turns out better. I should, but I usually don't. Kitchen confessions ;-) Mix everything together and bake in a greased 13 x 9 pan in a 350 degree oven (if your oven runs hot - turn down to 325 or they won't taste as moist or sweet). Bake for about 20 minutes. Take out when the middle is firm, but not 100% completely done on top. This takes a little experimenting to see how to get them cooked just right. Happy Honey Cooking!

Birth Stories, Part Three - A loss

I hoped to fill this blog with lots of natural baby and pregnancy posts over the next few months. I was waiting for that 12 week milestone to share our news that we were expecting a baby in January. Now I have a different story...

I've had two natural (unmedicated) childbirths and now I've have a natural miscarriage. Last week Thursday I began spotting. I contacted Debbie, my midwife and I texted my friends from accountability group, called family and asked for prayer. Debbie advised bedrest, calcium/magnesium and some herbs for calming the uterus.

After a fitful sleep, praying through the night, I awoke to see that miscarriage was truly setting in. The entire experience lasted almost a full day (to the hour). The worst was about a five hour span of intense "discomfort" and intense bleeding. I was grateful for my natural childbirth experiences since those gave me tools to handle the "discomfort." Pete reminded me to get on top of the pain and breath deeply through some of the harder contractions. Around 8:00 p.m., my body released the fist-sized placenta. I was grateful that I could not see the baby.

Even though we were 1600 miles from home, Debbie monitored my progress, answered questions and gave us the advice we needed to make wise decisions. It was a physically exhausting. and Debbie had me doubling up on my green juice (Ben Kim's Greens) and Floradix Herbs + Iron to help strengthen me and rebuild my iron from the blood loss.

It has been a process for me to come to the realization of the loss. We did name the baby. We're not sure the sex, but I felt it was a girl so we named her Mercy. I want to share a couple of paragraphs from my journal the day after the miscarriage:

I don't want to think about this baby in a medical way - blighted ovum, threatened miscarriage, chromosomal abnormalities. I was pregnant, now I'm not. It comforts me to know that there is almost nothing I could have done to stop it - it could be the baby died 4 weeks before my body began this process...

All I knew and needed to know was this - God is good. He knew all the days of this child's life before it was even conceived. He could peer into the "deep" where my child was forming. He and He alone chose that this child would not be born. I love Him, I trust Him. I know He is sovereign. The death of this baby did not shock Him - He allowed it to happen by His mercy. I am at peace. Gently He placed this baby into my womb, mercifully He took it out.

Birth Stories, Part Two - Faith

My big plan for the birth of my second child was “birthing center.” I figured there would be the chance to have my unmedicated birth without the potential of Petocin! When I discovered that the only two options in Greensboro was hospital or home – I honestly was initially scared – of both options!

Homebirth / waterbirth was never in our initial plans, but once we prayed, researched and committed – it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. So instead of packing my bag to prepare for the birth, I gathered birth supplies. I had complete prenatal care with Sarah, my midwife about the same frequency as my OB (only spent more time talking with her). She loaned me her birthing pool which we kept at the house until “time.” (see the side of the tub in the pic)

At 37 weeks I was very excited – perhaps too much so! I went into labor early – unfortunately at one point my husband is across the International Date Line! Sarah suggested some supplements and to try to calm down! Labor didn’t continue and once his conference over, Pete flew home. At 39 weeks I’m a “watched pot.” Family came to visit for Gracie’s birthday with the hopes for a birth. Nope.

Over the next ten days, contractions would begin and quit. Three days over the due date and Sarah suggested that I send everyone home (except my sister to watch Gracie). Our family left and that very evening contractions began. I looked at Pete and said, “Is this it?” We’ve had so many false starts - I didn’t even want to call our midwife. So we went to bed. God’s graciousness toward me – the contractions stalled and I had a great sleep. The next morning – my water broke! So we called Sarah. We called family (and said please don’t come yet). I labored mainly in the living room – talking and eating and watching TV. I sat on a towel so I wouldn’t mess up the couch. Early afternoon I began to really feel “uncomfortable.” Sarah asked if I wanted to go upstairs and get in the tub. I said I didn’t want to move. She said then it was definitely time for the tub.

Pete went upstairs to operate his very coolly engineered shower / hose system so that the baby could be born into filtered water. The water was cool (about 10 degrees below body temperature) and felt good! I was uncomfortable so I wiggled a lot. Sarah reminded me to get on top of the pain, take some deep breaths and grunt if I needed to. Oh I grunted. I guess it was more of a deep chest gurgle. It felt good (albeit loud). As the contractions intensified, I asked Pete in the tub too. He did a “superman quick change” into his swim trunks and got in there with me.

I held the handles of the tub pulling up – simultaneously pressing down on Pete’s knees (poor Pete’s knees). Sometime in the late afternoon / early evening the labor changed. I said I wanted to push. Sarah asked if I wanted her to check my dilatation. I said yes, but was so fidgety and uncomfortable that she couldn’t reach. She suggested I push just a little and tell her how it felt. I gave a little push and it felt really good! So I was given the okay to proceed. One very big difference from the hospital was the concern for my perineum. Sarah gave some counter pressure as I pushed to lessen the likelihood of tearing. She also told me to back off if I felt any stinging. With Gracie I was encouraged to push full on as hard as possible and through the pain.

It took longer than I expected from the point of “seeing the head” to getting the baby all the way out. I was much more connected to what was happening and could reach down and feel the head between contractions. With Gracie I pushed laying on my back without any clue what was really happening down there. Once the shoulder wiggled out, Sarah told me to sit back (I didn’t realize she was setting me and Pete up to catch). One more push and up pops a baby. This kid was buoyant! When I held the baby up, the umbilical cord was between its legs. I was so sure I was going to have a boy – I figured the cord was just hiding the package. Nope, no package – a baby girl! I was honestly shocked on three levels – she’s a girl, she’s huge (8 lbs 9 oz compared to Gracie’s 7lbs 8 oz), and she has long black hair and a lot of it.

We both got out of the tub, dried off and Faith and I lay on the bed. I was shivering so they wrapped us up in a quilt. Faith laid on my stomach and chest for a good while and nursed well. After a while, Sarah weighed her and did her apgar (which was high). Family arrived a few hours later. Gracie was able to see her sister and hold her all here at home. It was a peaceful transition for our whole family. After Sarah checked us – she said good night and went home to her own family. She came back the next day to see how we were and then again a few days later. Home – water – birth – would love to have more babies and have them all this way!