How we avoided sickness this winter

I hate winter time because everyone gets sick so much.  Its not too bad to be sick when your an adult but when your a mom and have little kids its terrible.  I was determined this winter that we weren't going to get sick.  I had done my research and had ways of prevention.   It did work for the most part.   Here are some of the things we did.

First thing is I diffused on-guard or breathe every night in the kids rooms.  I also did this in our room.  My sister said she did this last winter and her daughter that gets frequent ear infections didn't get any that year.  So I thought that makes sense so we will adopt that practice in our winter home.   It was easy to remember to do.


We also did daily vitamins.  I made the gummy vitamins that they took every day.  I make a probiotic one and also a vitamin C.  They take them every morning with breakfast and when they had a runny nose start or a symptom they would double up on the vit C.  I would even have them take them at night and morning when we were getting symptoms.  They are super easy to make and well worth the money to not be sick. Plus the kids love them.

They have the gelatin in them and that is so beneficial I am learning.  I knew it would help with hair and I have been trying to get my daughters hair to grow better and be healthier so I was excited she takes these vitamins with all this gelatin in them.  Apparently its also very good for the gut.  That will be so helpful for my kids.  They are picky eaters and I have been trying to be better to have healthy foods available for them to grab and eat.  So this was an added bonus I discovered.

When we did start to have a little cough or runny nose I started dosing them up with elderberry syrup.  They would take it 3 times a day if I could remember to do it.  This helped so much.  They love how it taste too.  I tried to make my own a few years ago and it did not taste good at all.  I found some on amazon that taste great and I feel like It works great.  I bought some capsules for me because they are cheaper than the syrup but I love the syrup taste as well.   This helped shorten and get those runny noses and coughs healed quick.

I also took my youngest son and I to the chiropractor.  He tends to get ear infections so I took him and and had him adjusted to help prevent that.  Also I have been listening to a lot of good podcasts that talk about the benefits to being adjusted frequently.  I am amazed at what it can do.  It makes sense since our nerves affect everything in the body.  I wish I could afford to get everyone adjusted once a week or more but that is just too pricey.  I am going to check with my chiropractor to see if they do a frequent flier discount.  I would seriously take the whole family in once a week if it was affordable.
I didn't do this as much as I wanted this winter I think I went in three times and my son was just twice.  I also have an appointment this week to go in after my recent delivery to make sure everything is back in place after being pregnant and delivering.

I think something else that helped us not get sick this winter was that we were able to be outside more.  It was an abnormally warm winter and we were outside playing so much more than we normally are.  I know that getting out in fresh air really helps keep us healthy.  We get stuck in our houses all winter and we don't get fresh air enough.  Even though its freezing cold other times its still better to get a few minutes of fresh air.

I am so grateful that we didn't catch anything bad this winter.  We did have a few quick colds but they were rapidly gone because we had the things to fight them off and I am so glad I have learned about these things.

Looking at the differences....

Here I am..... Yes our baby did eventually come.  She was born March 9th.   She is adorable and an amazingly good baby.   We have enjoyed these few weeks of just hanging out and not having to go anywhere or do much.  But I can't just sit and stare at her all day long unfortunately.  I started back at work this week and it has been interesting to try to find a time of the day that works best.  That will be a work in progress for a while.

I just wanted to write about how different this delivery was from the past ones.  More specifically my previous hypnobabies delivery.  I practiced my hypnobabies this pregnancy as well as my previous one and it was different even in my practice.   Last time I felt like I fell asleep everytime I did them.  Maybe I was more exhausted last time...  or I just always did my practices at night so I was always tired by then....who knows.  This time I felt like I drifted off but not completely out.  I felt like I did it in the day time more when I wasn't quite so tired or exhausted yet.
This time I also had my experiences from last time to remember things or which tracks I liked most.  I used deepening the most last time, I listened to that one all the time.  This time I mixed it up more and rarely listened to deepening because I just didn't feel like I connected with that one or wanted that one.  There are probably 10-12 tracks to choose from.  I also purchased a few extra ones to help flip my baby from breech to head down, and the come out baby.  I thought they were well worth the money.  My baby did flip after a few times of listening to that track, and my baby was born a few days after listening to that come out baby track a few times. 

My last delivery I relaxed and sat down a lot.  I woke up at night when the waves started and I sat on the couch and relaxed through them.  This time I tried to sit down in mulitple positions and it just wasn't happening.  It was not comfortable for me.  My body was wanting to move.  I swayed a lot through the waves and it felt great.
Last time I remember once I got admitted to the hospital and they let me get in the tub it was amazing.  It felt so good.  I have always loved a warm relaxing bath. It really helped me progress and dilate.   This time I wanted to stay home as long as possible for multiple reasons. One being the hospital just had a normal sized tub this time and we have a rather large tub in our house so I figured I would use it.  I did and I was only in about 30 min and then I was done I wanted to be moving and it just wasn't working for some reason. 
This delivery was all about movement and I felt like I really was connected mind to body.  I tried different things and some worked and some didn't.  My doula brought a rebozo wrap and that was amazing it was kind of like the lift and tuck from last delivery.  It would tighten up around my belly to help lift and tighten during the waves.  We walked and did that for about 2 hours I think.  The waves weren't that bad.  I wasn't even being vocal about them.  I wasn't talking through them because I was relaxing and focusing on them.
Something else that was different this time is that I was listening to my tracks almost the whole time I was in actual labor.   Last time I stopped once I got to the hospital.  This made a big difference too.   Also this time Jared was also saying my que words.  We were more on the same page which helped a lot. 
 I had really wanted to feel my water break this time because with my previous 3 they had all broke my water.  I got what I wished for and it was nothing like I imagined.  I was standing there and just felt a little leak down my leg and it kept going like that but only during the during the waves.  I was exited that I got to finally experience that.
I just felt like I was able and willing to listen to my body more this time and that helped a ton.  It was a pretty fast and easy delivery for me.  I felt like it went by fast and it was awesome.  I was so proud that it went so well.  I didn't have to get the saline lock like my midwife had said I would have to do.  I stayed at home so long  that I was a 7 when I got to the hospital.  It was only about 90 min in the hospital before she was born.  It turned out better than I could have imagined.  She was born in the shower and I loved every minute of it.   I have written up a very detailed birth story so I can remember it all.  If you want to read more about it let me know.  Some people don't like reading and seeing crazy pictures but I love them.

Anyway  that is what has been going on here at our house.  We love having her here and her sibling love her so much.  Its crazy how fast you forget things about newborns and every stage I guess.