Rooted in Motherhood
I have always wanted to be a Mom. I grew up always taking care of my cousins. I started babysitting at 11. I loved everything about it. The independence, money and the relationships I formed over the years. I think that is why I loved doing daycare all these years. There’s something about having a child rely on you for all their needs that motivates me to be the best version of myself to be an example.
When I found out I was pregnant with our daughter Lillian my mindset changed a lot when it came to health. I remember clear as day going into Walgreens pharmacy to pick up my prescription pre natal vitamins.
I was going into work as a hairstylist at my aunts hair salon, and sat down in the chair just baffled. I was reading all of the side effects. I could not believe the list! I didn’t understand how something with so many side effects was going to help me grow a healthy human. Judy, a coworker of mine sold Shaklee products and She showed me what vitamins I would need to take that would have zero side effects.
I signed up immediately and ordered everything she said I needed. I got rid of all of my toxic cleaning products as well. I really started to look at what I was eating. My one and only focus was growing a healthy baby, and I was willing to do anything I needed to ensure that would happen.
Overall, I had a really good pregnancy. Baby was growing as she needed to. I did have an obsession with ice cream and I thought I was eating for two. I ate healthier foods, but still felt like I did my fair share of eating out and overdoing the ice cream towards the end of my pregnancy. I gained 61lbs!
I had gone in for my check up at 39 weeks and my Dr. said my blood pressure was high. She wanted me to go in to have an induction. That was not part of my birth plan so I had asked if there was anyway I could go home and come back in the morning. Maybe my blood pressure would go down. My doctor agreed and said she would allow me to do that if I was going to be on strict bedrest. I went home put my feet up and we ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken. Definitely not the right meal to have when you’re sent home with high blood pressure and put on bedrest, but at the time I really didn’t know any better. If I had only known then, what I know now.
The next morning I went in to have my blood pressure checked and it was still high. My doctor said she wanted me to go in. I went home, packed my bag and headed to the hospital. They gave me something to start thinning my cervix. They hooked me up to pitocin at 6:30am the next morning. I was given one dose and my body went into labor. Im not going to lie, labor was painful and intense due to the pitocin, but I was focused on the reward at the end.
At 2:21 my daughter Lillian was brought into the world. She was a healthy baby girl. The doctors kept commenting about how strong and thick her umbilical cord was, and how healthy it all looked! They said they hadn’t seen such a healthy umbilical cord and placenta in a while. In that moment, I was very proud of what I did for my health and my daughters health I had an all natural birth with no pain medication. I was able to get up out of bed and shower. I was able to eat. I felt great. I chose to breastfeed and she latched on immediately. It’s the hardest feeling to describe but if you’re a mom, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Pure bliss!
After Lilly was born, I became even more into health. I wanted to make sure I was eating all the right things to continue making milk as I wanted to breast-feed her until her first birthday. As she got older and started to eat solid foods. I made sure to make baby food using organic ingredients as much as i could. This time in our lives we only could afford to do some things organic, especially being a new mom and working less hours.
My mother-in-law had a garden so she would give me green beans and carrots from their garden and I would grind them up and make them into baby food.
I began to research health more and more. I wanted to make sure her snacks were healthier and didn’t have chemicals. I didn’t let her have much sugar either as I knew it was essential for her to grow.
I devoted a very large portion of my time to all things health. I became a Shaklee distributor and would share all the info I could on healthier cleaning products and vitamins. I was just getting started!
