Toxic Info Explosion

Wow. Amazing what a powerful media outlet like CNN can do. We'll see if the program lives up to the hype. But I'm thrilled that even before airing, the media is FULL of articles, interviews and more on the topic. The program couldn't be more timely given the public's heightened awareness of chemical exposure due to the BP incident in the Gulf. Here's the short list:
CNN Toxic America
Brian Lehrer on WNYC (last segment listed "Toxic America")
The Plastic Panic  The New Yorker
There's No Place Like Home...  USA Today
Domestic Detox  NY Times
CNN Reveals Toxic America  Huffington Post

I will post my thoughts after viewing. I can only hope this will prompt more people to become more aware.

Seasonal allergies during pregnancy

I’m on vacation and can’t leave the house. That’s right. We finally got away for more than two days to relax and I can’t go outside without feeling awful. We came north, which means the blooming season is just a hair behind where I live. My husband must be thrilled to have a sneezy, wheezy wife with him to enjoy our time off.

I am having the worst allergy year ever. At home, I finally have access to a private patio that offers the sounds of birds, a place to sit in the sun to write and the possibility of grilling our dinner. But, maybe enjoying all of that will have to wait until the spring bloom has completed, which of course means missing the best weather of the year.

After an hour on the deck nursing some grass fed beef burgers on the grill, I had a heavy chest, couldn’t really laugh without sounding like a tobacco aficionado, and a nose running like a faucet again. That night in bed, when I’m trying to relax and let myself breathe normally, I rolled over to ask my husband what happens if it’s the same next year and I’m 6 months pregnant. I don’t take allergy medicine. I have been using an herbal/vitamin antihistamine which if I catch it before a major attack, works very well for me. But once I’ve been out in the thick of it, the game is pretty much over. (Sadly, I went through my last dose and so I’m searching for a practitioner up here who carries it.)

It reminds me of the challenge of dealing with illness, allergies or chronic health problems while pregnant. Maybe I haven’t posted enough yet for you to perceive this, but I rarely if ever take any kind of pharmaceutical, over the counter or not. You would have to drag me kicking and screaming to a pharmacist if I was pregnant. I am adamant about not putting chemicals, labeled as medicine or not, in my system even now while I’m not the literal life blood of the immune system of my precious offspring. In case that wasn’t clear before, I am committed to using every possible natural remedy before even considering complicating things by ingesting drugs.

It is frightening to read of a study linking a significant increase in autism risk to babies born of mother’s diagnosed with allergies and asthma in the second trimester. While it does not discuss what treatment those pregnant women underwent once diagnosed with allergies and asthma, one wonders if it was the diagnosis and subsequent genetic influence on the baby or the treatment which prompted the increase risk.

So how will I get through my seasonal allergies next year if I’m pregnant? I suppose I will forego planting any flowers or taking walks in the park and going on vacation... I’ll fire up every air filter I can find and request that my loving husband not send me flowers. I’ll irrigate my sinuses (how sexy does that sound?) with my trusty netti pot and use hot showers to help move things through. I’ll continue with as much energy as I can, my exercise routine. And, I’ll be good to myself: resting when I need to and remembering to breathe (clean, filtered air…)

In the meantime, I’m heading to the health food store to see what I can find.

What's it going to gestate in?

Choosing to become parents has been a long process for us. In our tenth year of marriage, we have decided individually and as a couple that we are now eager to embark on what could be, quite possibly, the riskiest, most harrowing journey of our lives – and potentially the most indescribably fulfilling. Coming to the sudden realization that I was what it would gestate in, my health, which had only been of moderate and selfish concern up to now, had become a moral imperative.

My first responsibility as a parent is to protect the very fragile beginnings of our future child. Everyday we are learning more and more about the massive impact a mother’s health and environment have on the health of her child. For me, this means much more than what most accept as sufficient (quitting smoking, alcohol and taking folic acid.) It goes far beyond what information is available through mainstream sources.

Sifting through corporate media, glossy magazines and government sponsored web sites, the information seems trite. What am I looking for? The real deal. I want the details of how to grow a healthy baby despite the chemicals and pollution that surround me everyday. I want to know how to balance my family's needs with my own and my environmental ideals. I want to be solid in my knowledge, habits and routine so that our child grows up within healthy, eco-awareness.

I don’t pretend to have the answers. For some of my questions, there may not be answers. But the questions are important. It is crucial to me that thinking women start the conversation so that our future generations are protected from our poorest choices and enriched by our highest. Getting practical information on the internet can be time consuming and cumbersome. I hope to centralize that information so it is easier to integrate eco-friendly practices into a busy lifestyle. More than anything, I hope to learn from women who are on parallel journeys or are already eco-moms themselves.

I want to give every possible advantage to my family, which requires some lifestyle changes way before conception. Born Green will be my place to explore all the possibilities and challenges of a creating my healthy family.