And Three Become Six

Becoming a mother is nothing short of receiving the most precious gift to have ever been given.  From the first moment of questioning if you are actually pregnant, to the light exhilarating energy of the first moment you feel your child moving inside your whom.  Words cannot express the ever growing, loving bond that begins to form between a mother and her unborn child. Once born, your infant inspires and motivates you to strive to be the best possible mommy to them that you know they deserve.  Along the way there are undoubtedly bumps, stumbles, and barriers you must cross on your quest to mommy greatness.  Ultimately all that matters is the love that is shared between you and your child. 

As I struggle through my own quest as a mother, I find myself dwelling on the 'what ifs' and the 'why not mes'. I have forgotten to cherish the feeling and love that aunts are blessed with from their precious gifts given from siblings.  A mother of one, but an aunt to many.  I have received the second best gift that could be given.  To my siblings: thank you for allowing me to love and cherish your children and congratulations on our gifts to come! xoxo

Today's Scare as a Mother

Little feet scurry vigorously across the tile floor, heading from one room to the next. My attention is grabbed by the sound of a small child forcing up mucus from his throat. "Run to the bathroom quick honey!" I exhale after him. Merely focused on my child I return myself back to my phone conversation in the kitchen. A small wall is built in my mind from knowing that my son likes to make himself vomit when he doesn't like something. But what was he eating?

This wall began crashing down within a single breath...

Racing back out of the kitchen, my child holds his hand to his mouth catching a fistful of clear slimy mucus. Alarms start ringing as I ease my son towards me. I hear myself telling him to spit it out, and that it is going to be alright. I urge him to stand still, now in the middle of the dinning room. Small gurgling noises escape his tiny throat, with this, falsely assuring myself he is fine. Within an instant his knees hit the cold smooth tile floor; his hands instantly grasping his throat. Now kneeling with him our eyes meet. Large fear filled brown eyes plead back at me as his tiny hands fall from his throat. I calmly beckon for him to spit it out, afraid to do anything. My mind races as I try to remember my CPR training....If they are making noises you do nothing right? Right!

His tiny back is arched forward one hand on his throat, the other cupping mucus as it flows from his mouth. I grab his left biceps, kneeling slightly to his side. My nails dig into my palm as I create a fist. Pushing the heal of my hand out I bring my hand quickly down on his back directly behind his sternum. Nothing, only the sound of a fluid filled gasp of air fills the now shrinking house. What seemed like a life time later his first deep breath of air was achieved followed by a strong deep cough. The clang of a small shiny coin echoes through the 11 room home as it collides with the cold green tile floor. My child and I reach for each other simultaneously, collapsing into each others' arms. As I clean his face gently with a clothe he looks up. His large brown eyes frozen in fear pleads for forgiveness. He begins softly crying, "Sorry to do that mom." Kissing him on the head telling him I wasn't mad; trying to explain my own fear to him. Kissing his head we begin talking about putting things in our mouths and the dangers of choking...

A large lesson was learned by both of us today......

Still uneasy about the way I handled the situation I decided to do some research and am signing up for the first available CPR course!

Rejuvenating.  Amidst a circle of women and one man, we share stories about our journeys.  We celebrate the energies that exist in each of our bodies and we drummed.  My time at the open house of the South Shore Holistic Moms Group was beautiful, refreshing and so welcoming.  It reminds me to be true to my instincts and passions.  I am so grateful to all of you that shared that experience tonight.

Mother's Day

There's a little bit of mother in all of us. 

Maybe it’s just a piece of your mother. 

You feel her, radiating love, tenderness and strength.  Part of her runs through your veins and perhaps brings tears to your eyes. 

Mother is a place of peace, a place to heal, a place to just be you. 

I find that being a mother has opened my eyes. 

I have learned to share in my selfish moments. 

I have learned to have patience at my wits end. 

I have learned to be more open to change and difference. 

Motherhood has made me a better woman. 

Thank you for that child. 

Thank you to all mothers’ who are making differences in their communities. 

Thank you for all the moms walking the road alone. 

Thank you for the opening your whole being to your child. 

I celebrate you all today!

A Moment for Me & Baby by Tracy Newton

As a serving “mother to be” I thought I would share with all of you the wonderful experience I had, after Kelly’s excellent referral, at Breathe and Flow Yoga.  Breathe and Flow is a fairly new, family run, Yoga studio in Freeport. They have an abundance of classes offered each week in two beautifully tranquil Yoga studios. I am a Yoga newbie and therefore, was a little apprehensive that my first Yoga class would be when I am 14 weeks pregnant. I arrived last night for the 7:15 class and was greeted with students from the previous class exiting the studio expressing how much they enjoyed their class, a great sign. 

Lea, the owner of the studio made me feel extremely comfortable right away, they showed me around the studio where the prenatal class was held, pointed out the props I would need for the class and let me get settled. Lea entered the studio and advised me that even if I was the only person to show up she would give me a private lesson. This is something Kelly had pre-warned me about, she knew Lea was someone who catered to anyone who came out to take a class even if you were the only one. Of course, I might not always get a private lesson, but it sure was nice especially for my first class. Lea was amazing, she is kind, and was an extremely knowledgeable Yoga instructor. She is reassuring and supportive; two things I really needed as I ventured out into this new Yoga world. She taught me so many of the positions that can be modified when pregnant and made adjustments to my positions when necessary. It is evident that Lea is dedicated to establishing her Yoga studio as a place that grows with the families of her patrons.

I really needed this experience…first for nourishment of my body, but most importantly for the nourishment of my soul and peace of mind. It was nice to just have something for me and my baby to share alone…for in a few months I know there will be rare opportunities like these.  During our session Lea gave me so many opportunities to connect with my baby; it was a wonderful experience. I can not wait for my class on Saturday morning.

Breathe N Flow Yoga -

361 Atlantic Avenue

- Freeport, NY -  t: 516.632.9626

http://www.breathenflowyoga.com/

JUST S.T.O.P. IT!

Dumping chemicals into our environment I mean.
As my family is a big proponent for using safe cleaning products, we do a lot of encouraging our community to dispose of those “questionable” cleaners in a safe way.  The thought of these hazardous ingredients leaking into our ground and water from landfills just disgusts me! 

I am pleased to share that the city of Long Beach, NY is offering to dispose of such things properly at their local drive; S.T.O.P., Stop Throwing Out Pollutants, will be in Long Beach on Sunday, April 10 from 8am to 3pm in the parking lot behind City Hall.  They accept propane tanks under 20 lbs. too!

Just take a look around the house and garden, collect the hazardous materials and dispose of them on April 10. Click here to view the S.T.O.P. flier to see what items you can drop off.

20 Ways to Be Green                             
Live Healthier, Save the Planet

20.  Call your power company and ask them if they use Green energy?

19.  Use energy efficient light bulbs.  Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 lbs. of carbon dioxide a year.

18.  Check your tires.  If you can afford one, buy a hybrid car.  Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%.

17.  Use energy efficient appliances, or if you can’t afford to change them, can you do without any of them.  Turn them off whenever possible.  Simply turning off your T.V., DVD player, stereo and computer when you are not using them will save thousands of lbs. of carbon dioxide a year.

16.  Walk, Bike or use mass transit whenever possible.  Carpool.  You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive.

15.  If you can afford it, use solar or water power to heat your home.

14.  Speak up in your community about the benefits of making a difference for the environment of today and tomorrow.

13.  Unplug cell phone charges.  They zap energy even if you phone is not plugged in and increase your electric bill!

12.  Encourage others and members of congress to reduce our dependence on oil.  You can write a letter to your state representative.

11.  Recycle everything you can.  You can save 2400 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

10.  Buy recycled and recyclable products.  Avoid products with a lot of packaging.  Safe for you, your family, and the environment.  www.searcy.myshaklee.com

9.  Watch an “Inconvenient Truth”  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/

8.  Visit www.climatecrisis.net

7.  Learn as much as you can about our increasingly changing environment.  www.globalwarming101.org

6.  Don’t take for granted the resources that we have today, they might not be there for our children tomorrow. Conserve.

5.  Use less hot water.  It takes a lot of energy to heat water.

4.  Plant Trees.  A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

3.  Adjust your thermostat.  Moving your thermostat just 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer, you could save 2000 lbs. of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.

2.  You can even buy low- VOC Paints (low Volatile organic compounds)!

1.  Spread the word!!  We can make a difference.