Surviving Early Pregnancy with Oil Pulling

Well, I know I haven't been pregnant for very long, but I've already been confined to the couch. My first pregnancy was a breeze. I had no morning sickness, and I don't remember anything making me sick to my stomach.
Second pregnancy, how hard could it be? It wasn't that bad, but I got sick more. Certain smells set me off. I couldn't do dishes or even sneeze without gagging. All I ate for the first month was boxed mac & cheese {yuck, I know!} and bagels with cream cheese. The worst was changing my toddler's diaper. That's the only thing that made me actually throw up.
This third pregnancy, well.... yeah. I start out the day feeling sick, and lay on the couch because doing anything else is dangerously sickening to me. Well, I felt like that for about a week until I felt like I couldn't live like that anymore. I searched online, and found oil pulling. I'm on my fifth day. I have more energy than I've had in weeks!
Oil pulling is known for its oral health benefits. Pregnant women are prone to tooth problems already, so this is a double win for me!

{Don't worry, this picture is from a previous pregnancy. I'm not this big yet!}

How to oil pull:
 First of all, I am not an expert. This is just my own experience.
Use between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon of the oil of your choice {coconut, olive, sunflower, sesame, ect.} I uses coconut oil for Trader Joe's. It's organic virgin coconut oil. I just put it in my mouth as a solid, and it usually melts within a minute. Swish it around for 15-20 minutes, then spit out. It's really that easy. The hardest part is that it's supposed to be done before eating or brushing your teeth. {Otherwise you eat the yucky bacteria you're trying to rid your body of.}
To me, it's worth getting up earlier and before my boys to feel better the rest of the day. I still have to be careful of triggers {smells, things that gross me out, like solid milk}. Also, I found that I can't let myself get too hungry. I just try to keep a small snack with me.
The first day I started feeling better I made chocolate chip cookies. I haven't made them in like a year! That's how great I felt. I also cleaned and cut 35 carrots! Yes, 35. I did that on top of normal household chores that I had fallen behind on. It was nice to get things done again.

You don't have to be combatting morning sickness to try this. Actually, most people who do it aren't pregnant. It's just really great for your teeth.

And don't feel bad if you can't do the whole twenty minutes. I haven't made it that long yet. The first day, my boys were up while I tried it, and they got into a 50 lb. bag of birdseed when I was about 15 minutes into it. The next day I had to sneeze at the 17 minute mark. Go as long as you can.

Homemade Garlic Oil

Garlic is a very strong herb for immunity. I'm pretty sure I read you could go years without getting sick if you ate enough garlic every day. You might stink, but you'd be healthy.

When my son was sick last week I was desperate. He was so miserable, coughed like a smoker every few seconds, and had a serious booger nose/faucet. Some "crunchy" friends of mine suggested "goot." {huh? What's that???} Yeah, that's what I said. Goot is Garlic Oil OintmenT.

Homemade Garlic Oil:
3 Tbsp. Organic Coconut Oil
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
3 Tbsp. Pressed Garlic (I only used about one Tbsp. It still worked great.)

Heat up your coconut oil so it's not in a solid form. I put mine in a bowl, then put that bowl in another bowl of really hot water. Add your olive oil (extra virgin is best) and your pressed garlic. Stir. Let it solidify in the fridge for a few hours. Store it in a sealed container. It's not recommended for use after two weeks. Don't throw it away, though! It's all edible, so brush it on some grilled chicken or something! Mmmm..

Seroiusly though, coconut oil can heal just about anything, and garlic has incredible healing properties, itself. This stuff is awesome! My husband can't stand the smell, but it makes me hungry. It reminds me of alfredo. Guess what I'm having for dinner tonight... Alfredo!

Homemade Vapor Rub

When you or your kids get sick, please, oh please, do not use the nasty stuff in the blue jar. Please just don't.

When my little R got sick last week, he needed something to help with his cough.
After a little research I decided to make my own vapor rub.
{drum roll, please}

It is so easy! As long as you have all the ingredients, there's no reason not to use this instead.

Homemade Vapor Rub:
1 Tbsp. Organic Coconut Oil
4 drops Peppermint oil
4 drops Lemon oil
4 drops Eucalyptus oil

Heat up the oil so it's not solid. (Preferably not microwaved) Combine all ingredients in a sealable container.

See? Easy Peasy!

Tips to Keep your Family Healthy

I really don't like when my boys are sick. Who does, right? I find that when I listen and adhere to the following advice, they don't get sick as often.

1. Eat real food. This one is hard, but true. As much as I don't want to admit it, Taco Bell is my weakness. I can't help it. And my husband knows it. He knows if he mentions it, I'll always give in. Always. To avoid him bringing it up, I try to always have a meal planned that he'll enjoy.
     More so than eating out, because really, we only eat out like 2-3 times a month, is doing your grocery shopping wisely. Unfortunately, like many others, our budget won't allow for 100% of our food to be real, and unprocessed. I just pick and choose my battles. Our spaghetti sauce doesn't need to be organic, but we do need to buy gluten free spaghetti. Stay away from refined sugar, bleached flours, and artificial sweeteners. The obvious stuff.

2. Use/diffuse essential oils. Thieves from Young Living is a good one. I (when I remember) rub some on my boys' feet before I put them in the church nursery, go out to a public place, or take them outside when it's cold out. Even just smelling it straight from the bottle is known to be beneficial.

3. Know you won't get sick. I know it sounds silly, but this really works for me. Proverbs 23:7 says,  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: I only applied this verse after a few years of knowing this tip. I whole-heartedly believe in this. My husband, on the other hand, knows he will get anything that goes around. I told him about the bad flu going around, and he said, "Great. I'm going to get that, too." Also, a few weeks ago my husband came home telling me how he had thrown up his lunch. I asked, "Who did you find out was sick?" He was shocked, because that's exactly what had happened. A co-worker had told him he was up all night with the flu. (My husband showed no other signs of the flu.)
     Around the same time I detected a slight discomfort in my throat, but I kept attributing it to a dry throat. I would not let myself believe I was getting sick, because as soon as I did, I would get worse. Do you know what happened? It was the shortest sore throat ever. (For me, anyways.)
     Just don't get it in your mind that you'll get sick. It will help. Try it! Of course, it won't always work, but there's no point being down all the time about catching everything.

4. Eat a lot of garlic. You might stink, but garlic is really good for your immune system. I personally like garlic. A lot. That also might be why I don't get as sick.  Garlic is more powerful than you might think.


What if you or your children do get sick? Good question, seeing as my youngest was just sick with a really bad cold. I didn't feel he was sick enough to merit a doctor visit, because I wasn't going to give him antibiotics anyways, so I asked for advice from a few "crunchy" friends. I was already applying thieves to his feet, homemade vapor rub to his chest, and standing in the steamy bathroom with him.
     I found that lavender is an antihistamine and helps dry up mucus. The next three days, every hour, on the hour, I'd apply lavender to this chest, vapor rub on top of that, and homemade garlic oil to his feet. Literally within the day his nose was so much better. We also diffused oils at night in his room. (I believe eucalyptus and peppermint? My husband picked out the oils.) After those three days he was so much better! I saw improvement after one day, but three days later all he had left was a left over cough and an occasional booger. I also made him a smoothie. We only had vanilla almond milk in the house, so we blended milk, a frozen banana, some honey (for his cough), raspberry flavored emergen-c, and some vitamin d drops. He loved it! It was really sweet due to the honey. My older son found it after half was gone, and he finished it all at once!
     He also had a fever, but a fever is the body's natural response to something in the body. A low-grade fever is good, so I never did anything, because I wanted his body to do what it needed to do.
     My in-laws, and my husband and I also fervently prayed the first night he was sick. That was a big help, because the Great Physician is the greatest healer.

I am not a doctor, nor have I had any medical training. These are just a few tips that has helped our family.