The Key to Happy Parenting.....

IS TO SURRENDER TO IT!! 

Ok...we may not know the *key* to happy parenting but Makoto and I have definitely learned that we are much more relaxed since we have completely surrendered to our *new* life as parents!  It's really very odd....we still see our friends, eat the same food, visit the same places, etc but it's on a completely different time schedule.  For instance, we much prefer to have lunch get together with our friends now instead of dinner get togethers as Aria is in the bathtub by 7...7:30pm maximum in order to get ready for bed.  We are also up at 6-7am every morning now (it feels SO weird to actually be the first inside cafes in the morning..or sometimes even having to wait at their locked front doors hoping they will open soon!) so we get a lot of our errands done 1st thing in the morning instead of after work.  Instead of trying to force an ideal schedule with the baby, we've become very realistic about what can be done with having a bouncing baby in our lives.

One morning, we were up at 5am.....Aria was smiling and cooing away and Makoto and I were just staring at her with bleary eyes.  This is when we did our 1st morning "count" (note:  parents are obsessed with counting....how many poops did she have today?  how many oz of milk did she drink?  how many dirty diapers? etc)...."how much sleep do you think we got last night?'  The answer is always the same....."I lost count after the first 2 feedings".  We decided that we would no longer compare our new sleep schedule to our pre-baby sleep schedule because it was...well...just too depressing!  I can't even remember the last time I slept for more than 3hrs straight!  now Makoto and I high five each other if she "sleeps in" until 8am.  Instead of asking how many hours of sleep we got, we've decided to just ask each other if we feel well rested enough to get through the day.

That's the craziest part of parenting.....it's honestly the hardest thing we've ever done but we love doing it.  Some days are better than others...but no matter how hard things get, there are these sweet moments where I look at Aria and just know that everything will be okay.  Don't get me wrong....I'm that crazy anxious first time parent that will probably follow her to school every day....but somehow we'll manage to get through it......I can't believe it's already been 6 months!  Yay!

Here are some tips on what has helped us get through the first 6 months:

1.  Take the never ending free parenting advice that is *graciously* thrown your way with a grain of salt - you know your baby best and no two babies are alike!  (yes...i realize this tip is being followed by a list of more advice :P  Please take what you need from it :))

2.  Make sure to control your blood sugars with adequate protein intake and not overdoing the carbs....even if you're convinced that 10 chocolate chip cookies will miraculously turn you into superwoman....it never does :(  The last thing your baby needs is a freaky sleep deprived hypoglycemic parent :P

3.  Don't panic about sleep.  A lot of people told us to sleep when the baby sleeps...umm...sorry...I'm not a robot that can just fall asleep when told.  In fact, I found that when Aria has a nap, that's when we are the most energetic because I finally have some time to just relax.  Also, a lot of people find that if you do sleep when your baby naps, you wake up even more groggy when your baby wakes from their nap so it isn't even worth it.  If you can have a power nap, GREAT!  If not, just use this time to rest.....have a cup of tea, catch up on your favorite blogs or just watch some tv :) 

4.  Network with other parents.  I am SO grateful for our group of mommy/daddy friends.  We appreciate and love all of our friends but I know that when Aria is having a system meltdown and I have to stop in the middle of the park to breastfeed, my friends with kids won't even bat an eyelash and will instead offer to watch my stroller for me while I nurse.  It is SO helpful gabbing with other parents about the day to day stuff.  As a naturopath, I can be objective about introducing solids, how to treat a diaper rash, etc but no one taught me about the "in-between stuff"....there seriously should be a prep course on what to do with your baby between the diaper change-feeding-napping times.

5.  Hang in there!  It does get easier!  Remember....if you were thrown in to any job full force, there would be a learning curve so be patient with yourself!
 
:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Easy Gluten Free and Dairy Free Cake....I Promise!

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all doing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  I've been busy with our little sumo empress (Aria is already a whopping 17.5lbs at 4.5mos!  Breastmilk is aweeeeeeeesome!) but we are happy, healthy and enjoying this sunny Spring weather.

We've been hosting a lot of playdates with Aria's little bff's :)  I try to cater to my friends' special dietary needs which usually includes being gluten and dairy free.  Gone are the days where it was just us naturopathic hippies that would bring our own gluten/dairy free desserts to gatherings....I'm finding that when I present a g/d-free treat to our "normal" friends, it's greeted with ohhhhhhhs and ahhhhs instead of groans.

It's quite trendy right now to be gluten free so I find that many people are trying it to see what all the buzz is about.  You may find no change at all but a percentage of folks that are sensitive to gluten will find themselves feeling fab....that lingering headache, never ending bloating, foggy thinking and chronic skin rash may finally disappear once you choose to eliminate gluten out of your diet.  (note:  if you really want to see if you are allergic to gluten, our clinic offers allergy testing). 

I've also been dairy free as the lactose in dairy can travel into your breastmilk and cause your little one's tummy to become upset.

I make this cake often and recommend it to my friends and patients who are looking for a RIDICULOUSLY YUMMY g/d-free dessert.  It's also super economical to make unlike most g/d-free desserts that you buy at the store....and best of all...it's embarrassingly easy to make.

First of all.....go to Food Basics and buy yourself one of these gluten free cake mixes....it should be around $3.  If you don't have a Food Basics near you, you can use another gluten free cake mix....the key is to use more dairy free milk than the box instructions usually call for....you want the batter to have a nice smooth consistency):

If you follow the directions on the box, the cake will turn out dry, gross and crumbly.  So instead, please follow my modifications:

Other ingredients needed:
1/2 cup Earth Balance (soy free) butter
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (you don't have to put this in but i love putting a shot of this healthy medium chain fatty acid into the dessert!)
2 large eggs (I haven't tried this recipe yet with egg replacer....if you do, please let me know how it turns out!)
1 cup + 2Tbsp Dairy free milk (you choose.....I use flax/coconut/hemp/whatever is in the fridge)
1tsp vanilla extract

Now you can follow the preparation instructions on the box as well as the baking times.  If you have used another cake mix, just cream the butter and coconut oil first until fluffy then add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.  Before you pour your batter into the prepared pans, it should look like this in consistency:

Voila (see pic at the top of this post)!!!  I wanted to take a pic of the whole cake but Makoto already got into it!

Oh....I topped it with my fave frosting:
2 cups  Demerara brown sugar
Dairy free milk
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter

-  Put the demerara brown sugar into a sauce pan and just moisten with some milk (around 1/4c).  Bring to a boil and stir carefully for 3min making sure it doesn't boil over.  Take off heat and stir in the butter.  Use an electric beater and beat until it thickens and becomes this delicious frosting (around 7min).  I usually put the sauce pan in a shallow cold water bath in the sink while beating to cool it faster.

You can also heat some Chocolate Coconut milk to make a deelish dairy free hot chocolate for your guests too and serve it with your new favorite cake! :):):)

Have cake...and eat it too!!  Enjoy!
:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Sweets From the Earth



We were happy when Sweets From the Earth asked us to guest blog for them because we looOOoooOOve their desserts!  Their vegan (read:  egg/dairy free and not to mention gluten, wheat and nut free) Chocolate Cheescake and Flourless Cashew cookies are our two top faves and have been there for us through several happy celebrations!

Check out our blog entry at http://www.sweetsfromtheearth.com/blog/!

Happy Spring!
:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Preggy Time: Third Trimester, Labour and Delivery...and Now :)



I didn't have time to finish my third trimester blog before the baby came so I thought I'd write about everything up to now all in one entry :)  Mostly because at this point, the 3rd trimester is just a distant memory since time with the baby has thankfully been a blissful experience for me....and....the labour part...or mostly the pain of it...trumped any of the peaceful memories of the 3rd trimester! :P

The third trimester was smooth sailing for me except that the baby grew and grew and became heavier and heavier to carry around.  I also should have just lived in the bathroom as all the pressure on my bladder made me visit the little girl's room every 45min-1hr!  Our little girl was breech until the 35th week and then she remarkably turned!  We went to Miami for one last quick getaway and I did a lot of swimming which, I swear, did the trick.  I also had Makoto give me frequent acupuncture treatments to help turn the baby and I spent as much time as I could walking on my hands and knees up and down our living room.

Labour and Delivery -  We had a quick and completely natural birth.  But.....Oh.  My.  Gawwwwwwwwd.  Ok....I don't want to scare any of my patients or my friends that are soon to give birth...and please keep in mind that every birth experience is different...but HOLY SCHMOLY was it ever painful!  People keep asking me to describe it...and the closest way I can describe it...which is still a very distant comparison....is going in for a root canal without proper anesthesia!  The entire process was a fast one for us.....8hrs from start to finish.  I...of course, being the first time mom and naturopath that I am, decided that I would try for a natural labour.  This meant that I was not prepped for an epidural....so of course, half way into it, when the contractions really started kicking in (oh...and I was that *lucky* girl that quickly progressed from contractions 20min apart to 1min apart within an hour...and...to top it off...they came in PAIRS) I begged my nurse (who was aweeeeeeeeeeeeesome!!) for an epidural.  Buuuuut....apparently the hospital was TOO BUSY and there were no anesthesiologists available to give me an epidural!!!  I seriously wanted Makoto to find a blunt object and knock me out with it!!  It's amazing how the availability of the anesthesiologists can dictate how many natural births may take place!

So basically....I was lying on the bathroom floor in the delivery room like a crazy wild woman....in so much pain that I could barely move.  Makoto was super supportive but there is honestly so much your partner can do for you at this stage.  He tried everything to make me feel better....held me in the different position that we practiced that was *suppose* to help decrease the pain, massage my lower back, telling me loving words, bringing me nanaimo bars (which usually makes me so incredibly happy)....but really, I just had to close my eyes and focus through the pain.  When I seriously thought I was going to pass out, our nurse (who was VERY pro natural birth) asked me to get in the bath tub.  She had placed an exercise ball in there and wanted me to sit on it.  I re-iterate....I COULD NOT MOVE.....but her and Makoto somehow convinced me to get in the tub and sit on the exercise ball.  She then placed a stream of warm water on my lower back and had me lightly bounce on the ball.....whatever the mechanism is, it totally worked!  The pain went from super @#$%(@ craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy ouchie to just craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy ouchie...enough to get me through another hour of contractions...and enough to get me to fully dilated!! 

I have heard that the pushing stage is suppose to "feel refreshing"....uhhhhhh.....this was not my experience.  Pushing is like having to have a crazy workout when all you want to do is pass out from exhaustion.  My team of medical doctors (there were 3 interns in the room with us that doubled as our cheering squad :):):))  and nurse kept telling me to "push through my bum and not my legs"...what the heck does that mean?!?!?  Oh...did I mention that they make you hold your own legs up while pushing!!!  Your knees literally need to be at your ears.  Ladies who are about to give birth...seriously practice this at home before going in!!  At one point, they asked if I wanted a mirror to see the top of the baby's head....in my delirium, I said "sure".  That lasted about 2sec......you think that you would be motivated by seeing your babies head but instead, all I saw was craziness down there....and I certainly didn't want to keep watching unrecognizable things happening to my body!!!! :P

After about 45min of pushing, our sweet little angel came into this world....it was early afternoon and the sun was streaming into the room.....I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live :)

At this point, you still have to deliver the placenta and this is when you get stitched from any tearing but because the baby was now peacefully laying on my chest, I don't even remember if that part was painful or not.  Since there were no complications during the delivery, they actually let Makoto have the last pull of the baby and place her on my chest!!  That was VERY AWESOME :) 

Here are some things we learned:
1.  Makoto and I laughed as we unpacked our hospital bag when we came home....we packed a head massager, massage lotion, all my hypnobirthing materials, a wide selection of music, reading material, snacks, essential oils, natural bubble bath........we didn't even have a chance to touch this stuff.  What we did use and were so incredibly thankful that we did pack was a HEATING PAD.  Makoto would place this over my back, chest, tummy....whatever I needed during the delivery and it really helped to soothe me in between contractions.  We also gave our nurses the natural diapers and diaper balm that we packed so that they could use them right from birth.

2.  Even if you want to try for a natural birth, be open to asking your medical team to prep you for an epidural...juuuuuuuuuuuust in case you change your mind. 

3.  Don't be too attached to your birth plan.  I had been practicing hypnobirthing techniques all throughout my pregnancy....ummm....I listened to my hypnobirthing track on my IPod for about 15sec....it did not work for me.  What did work was listening to relaxing music for the early stages of my contractions.  We also wanted to try for a squatting birth to help decrease perineal tears....but in the end, I was on my back.  Be open to trying all different types of techniques.....you don't know what will work for you and what does work may change hourly so keep switching it up!

4.  Our nurse pulled out a bottle of olive oil and gave me a perineum massage in between contractions while in the pushing stage to help stretch things out and decrease tearing.  Apparently all nurses are trained to do this and most hospitals have olive oil in the delivery rooms just for this purpose!!

5.  No matter how crazy the pain is, you do honestly forget about it once the baby arrives :)  Ok.....it may take a week or two to forget about it but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to meet my little baby.

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  Baby Aria is doing great!  She is a good little feeder and sleeper...thank heavens!  I highly recommend spending the first month hibernating (I seriously lived in pajamas for a month) so that you can bond with your baby and take your time learning how to breastfeed, survive the night waking and teaching yourself how to function on interrupted sleep.  It's amazing how tired I am in the middle of the night yet I still get excited to wake up and see her and can't believe how much time Makoto and I can spend just watching her sleep :) 

I highly recommend motherhood
 :)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

We are especially blessed this year with the best Christmas present ever....the arrival of our daughter, Aria!!!

It's been a wonderful time and we are happily sleep deprived and completely in love with our baby girl.  We're also lucky to have my entire family here to help us out with the baby and to celebrate the holidays.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and wonderful parenting and baby advice :)

From our family to yours, wishing you strength, health and happiness this holiday season and a very joyous 2012!!!

In health,
Aileen, Makoto, Aria and Rambo

How to Feed your Kids a Healthy Lunch...that they'll actually like!

Yes, we are still a few years away from having to decide what our daughter will get for her school lunch.

Even though Aileen and I are both practising Naturopaths, we still have differences in our own tastebuds and our own likes and dislikes, and what we will potentially feed our kid(s) when they get to school age. We are major plan-aheaders, so discussions have already started about what we are each going to contribute to our childrens' packed school lunches.

We have fun times reminiscing about our own good/bad/ugly experiences with our lunches as kids...although living in this decade in downtown Toronto has a completely different set of rules from growing up in the 1980s.

My hippy lunches were packed full of nutrition, but were very low on the cool scale (I actually loved my lunches until a lunch-lady made fun of my lunch in grade 3 "What are you eating? Maggots?", after which I became very self-conscious of what I was eating compared to other kids). Here was my typical lunch:

• 1 hardboiled egg
• 1-2 rice balls, wrapped in nori (seaweed), stuffed with umeboshi (fermented plum)
• an apple or orange
• small fruit yogurt
• on a rare occasion, a treat of natural fruit leather

Aileen's lunches were extremely high on the cool lunch scale, but nutritionally lacking. She loved her lunches, and I'm sure the other kids often tried to trade her for her bounty of delectables. (note that Aileen's mom is an amazing cook, with her specialty being very healthy Korean cuisine, but tried to integrate Aileen's lunches to the North American standard, not realizing how unhealthy the norms are here)

• wagon wheel
• bag of chips
• nutella sandwich
• juice box
• on a rare occasion, a surprise mom-delivered Happy Meal 

This being said, Aileen tells me about her frequent childhood ear infections, allergies, nasal congestion and her "cute, but robust" physique. I was a scrawny kid, but, sadly (from my childhood perspective), never got to miss a day of school thanks to my overly healthy lunches.

High-maintenance gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, food-dye-free, sugar-free kids seems to be somewhat the norm these days....which is great news for us soon-to-be overbearing naturopathic parents! However, being a kid is still being a kid so the key is trying to find a balance between our nutritional ideals, their tastes and not being social outcasts. I think a healthy balance between our childhood lunches would be a perfect compromise.

Here are some ideas for healthy, kid-tastebud-friendly, and not too uncool lunches:

Main:

• dinner leftovers (who doesn't love leftovers?)
• Brown rice pasta with peas/carrots
• Dimpflmeier or Stonemill bread sandwich with nitrite-free meats, avocado, sprouts, 365 Brand Ketchup/mustard
• Wraps (rice paper, tortilla) with salmon/turkey/chicken and vegetables 
• Brown rice balls with nori (these have come full circle and may actually be cool to have in Toronto)

The all-important Snack:

• Larabars (who needs fruit roll-ups when you have these?)
• Sweets from the Earth gluten-free Cashew Cookies
• Celery sticks stuffed with almond butter (hummus, if nut-free) and raisins
• Oskri coconut bars
• Sheep yogurt
• Cut up veggies (red peppers, carrots, cucumbers)
• Trail mix (seeds instead of nuts)
• Apple, berries, orange, pear, banana, etc..

Drinks:

• Water bottle
• Boxed unsweetened brown rice/almond milk
• Coconut water
• as a treat, Blue Sky natural rootbeer

Disclaimer: Of course, these are all in the very early planning stages and have not been tested first-hand...we'll keep you posted on what we actually settle on a few years down the road. :)

Preggy Time - 2nd Trimester

So far....so good!  :)  The second trimester has definitely been a great one......you definitely don't realize how differently you have been feeling for the past several months until things start to get back to normal for you.  Most women enjoy their 2nd trimester the most during pregnancy as this is when your morning sickness starts to subside, you regain your energy, you reach your halfway point in the pregnancy and best of all, you feel your baby kick for the first time!!!!  I was lucky to be able to enjoy the summer months (and prime ice cream season) that coincided with my 2nd trimester.


We've been going for our monthly check ups with our OBGYN which are exciting as we get to hear our baby's heartbeat :)  Another huge milestone is reached at 20 weeks when you go in for your anatomy ultrasound.  This is the one that takes a good 45min-60min and they go through every little part of your growing baby to make sure everything is developing properly.  So really, we already know that our baby has ten little fingers and ten little toes! :)  The results of our two part IPS blood tests also come back and you go through these results plus the anatomy ultrasound together with your OBGYN at your next appointment post anatomy ultrasound.


Although I didn't start showing much in the 2nd trimester, feeling our baby kick for the first time was the most exciting and amazing part of the pregnancy.  Unfortunately, this is something only I could feel (no matter how much Makoto tried his best to poke and palpate my tummy) as the baby is too small still for any movements to be felt from the outside of the tummy.  Makoto does his share in connecting with the baby by having his nightly "chats" with my tummy and reading bedtime stories to the baby.  We've definitely done some damage to our credit cards at the bookstore......it's amazing how nostalgic it is to go to the children's section of Indigo and see all your favorite childhood storybooks.  We both went berserk when we re-discovered "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein :) 

 One thing I started experiencing was low back pain which I wanted to nip in the bud as I was sure it was only going to worsen with my progressively growing tummy so there were 3 things that were integral in improving the pain:


1.  Regular adjustments with my chiropractor (Dr. Brian Dower - http://www.drdower.ca/)  -  WOW!  Did it ever make a difference after my spine was realigned.  I had a few imbalances in both my thoracic and lower spine so re-aligning it made almost an instant....and more importantly....sustained difference in my low back pain.


2.  Regular massages with Chris and Luis - both AMAZING registered massage therapists at our clinic.  They are also experienced at pre-natal massage.....I've never had a side-lying massage before but find it even more relaxing than a face-down massage!  I seriously want to bring them to the hospital with me on the day we give birth!


3.  Yoga/Stretching/Rest - I learned pretty quickly that running around all day long and not allowing myself to rest was not helping the low back pain situation at all.  Even just taking a 15min rest (as in lie down somewhere and FULLY commit to resting) every few hours helped so much.  I do yoga moves and stretches before bedtime as well which has helped.


We ended our 2nd trimester and entered our 3rd trimester with the most wonderful baby party thrown for us by two of our best friends.  We were blessed to be joined by 60 of our friends and 150 pink and white balloons.........IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!! :):):):):):):)