The Truth About Tetanus

What is tetanus? 
Also known as lockjaw, it is the prolonged contraction or spasms of the skeletal muscles. According to Wikipedia, "The generalized form usually presents with a descending pattern. The first sign is trismus, or lockjaw, and the facial spasms called risus sardonicus, followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty in swallowing, and rigidity of pectoral and calf muscles. Other symptoms include elevated temperature, sweating, elevated blood pressure, and episodic rapid heart rate. Spasms may occur frequently and last for several minutes with the body shaped into a characteristic form called opisthotonos. Spasms continue for up to 4 weeks, and complete recovery may take months. Death can occur within four days."
According to the CDC, tetanus is uncommon in the US and only affects 29 cases on average per year. 

How do you get tetanus?
Tetanus is caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. Generally, it is associated with rusty nails. Normal thought is that if you are cut in any way by a rusty nail you are at risk for coming down with tetanus. In reality, the bacterium that causes tetanus is most often found in the feces of animals. C. Tetani is an anaerobic bacteria, which means it can only thrive in a low or oxygen free environment. So, everything would have to be just right in order for you to actually contract the disease itself. Because we live in such a developed country, the risk of contracting the disease is very scarce. 

What are the stats?
According to the, Vaccine Safety Manual written by Neil Z. Miller, in the U.S. from 1995-2005 there were just 386 total cases of tetanus. That would be an average of 35 cases a year. Of those 386 cases, only 43 people died. That brings the total deaths from tetanus to a whopping 4 a year. Where did this info come from? The CDC's own Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports.  (According to the notes in the Vaccine Safety Manual) 

What is used to prevent tetanus?
For children age 6 weeks to 7 years the DTap vaccine is recommended. There are 3 vaccines out there right now: Tripedia, Infanrix, and Daptacel. I highly encourage you to read up on each vaccine before giving these to your children. This is info that the companies say you ought to read before administering, but most doctors do not advocate it. 
For adults there is the Td or the Tdap vaccine or just the tetanus toxoid. One thing to keep in mind, they say not to receive this booster vaccine more than once every 10 years. I know this vaccine is being administered much more often than that. Read up on these vaccines. This is important information, if you choose to receive them, to know the risks involved and to know what is going into your body. 
Some interesting facts about the tetanus booster vaccine (since that is what we are discussing in this blog post primarily) that I would like to point out after reading the information on the link above:
 - The vaccine itself is detoxified with formaldehyde. According to Wikipedia, the National Toxicology Program has described formaldehyde as a human carcinogen. What is its purpose in vaccines? To kill most bacteria and fungi. If a human ingests 1 ounce of fluid that contains only 37% of formaldehyde it will kill them (imagine how much formaldehyde goes into our bodies at .02% per vaccine! Especially these little children's bodies that are still developing!).  Studies have also found a correlation between formaldehyde and leukemia. Read about it and research it in more detail for yourself. 
 - It states that this vaccine is not to be used for the treatment of tetanus (then why do they encourage us to get one every time we go to the hospital for a cut? It will not even help if the cut we just got gives us tetanus!)
 - If you experience a fever greater than 103 degrees following the vaccine, you are having an adverse reaction!
 - This vaccine should NOT be given more than every 10 years, even in an emergency situation!
 - Deaths have been reported with the administration of this vaccine.
 - The risk to an unborn baby is unknown.
 - Animal reproduction studies have NOT been done. They do not know if it effects the baby. 

Is there an alternative way? 
YES! 
Scenario number 1: You have received a cut from a clean metallic object. You are bleeding (this means the wound has oxygen! Tetanus cannot live in an oxygenated environment!). You go to the hospital because you definitely require a few stitches. They ask you when your last tetanus shot was. You don't remember, but it doesn't matter. Your wound is bleeding! The chance of the metallic object being contaminated by feces is slim to none. It really is ok to reject the vaccine. You will probably be just fine. Keep the wound clean and keep an eye on it for infection. (FYI: apply some Young Living lavender essential oil to the wound after it is stitched up! This will help the healing process and will help with pain!)
Scenario number 2: You were working out in the garden. Digging in the dirt. While digging you hit something sharp and slice your hand. You run inside the house without inspecting what cut you and realize it is a major issue. You need stitches. You head to the hospital. They are really going to be pushing you for the tetanus booster! You can either reject it or you can ask for the TIG shot! What is that? It is Tetanus Immune Globulin. It directly neutralizes C. Tetani. In other words, it is the anti-toxin!

Think of it this way, if you get bit by a poisonous snake while hiking in the woods, you rush to the hospital to receive the anti-venom.
If you are unsure or even if you begin to experience symptoms of tetanus, you want the anti-toxin. It is stated that the tetanus vaccine is not to be used to treat tetanus. If you already have the cut, the vaccine is of no use to you. What is of use to you is the anti-toxin, TIG. 

Interesting factoid: You are more likely to be bit by a poisonous snake than you are to contract tetanus. About 12 people per year die from snake bites verses approximately 4 people from tetanus (see note above on the stats!). 

Conclusion:
Why are we receiving a tetanus vaccine so many times over the course of our lives? Why is it even necessary? I would argue that it is not. Just like you would not receive a vaccine to prevent dying from a poisonous snake bite, it seems even more ridiculous to receive a vaccine against an even more un-likely chance of contracting tetanus. Tetanus is NOT a contagious disease. 
Be smart. If you get a wound, keep it clean, and keep an eye on it. Watch for any signs of infection. When we are informed, we can make better decisions for ourselves and for our families. 

Why we chose a Home Birth with a Midwife.

The Birth Story of our Daughter Emma:

My story begins on Monday, March 25th. I was beginning to wonder when I was going to go into labor with Miss Emma. My due date had been the previous Monday March 18th and still no sign of Emma. Sure, I had had lots of early labor signs and knew it would be soon. But that had been going on for nearly two weeks! Drew took the day off of work to be with me because I was weary and he was helping me with our 19 month old son, Aaron. We just had a relaxing day, my midwife had come by that morning and confirmed I was walking around at 4 cm dilated, and then that night we decided to grab a bite to eat out as a last hurrah as a family of three. I had been having stronger Braxton hicks contractions, but nothing more. On the way home from dinner I realized the contractions had changed. And I had had at least 2 for real contractions in the 15 minute drive home! Finally! It seemed that things were happening! So, we got home and began to time the contractions. They weren't super consistent, but they were getting stronger! So, we called my midwife, and decided to wait another couple of hours timing contractions and see what happened. We also called Drew's family to let them know they could come our way! They were going to stay at our house with Aaron while we went to have Emma! Contractions continued to get stronger and we got more and more excited! By 1am, Drew's family got to our house and Drew and I hit the road! We got to my midwife's a little before 2am and I was about 5cm! We were thinking we would get to meet our little girl in just a few hours! Little did we know! I continued to labor and then things slowed down....so, we decided to get some sleep because I knew I had a big job ahead of me! In the morning, Linda (my midwife) made breakfast and I was still contracting....sometimes some really strong contractions and sometimes not. This was definitely much different than with Aaron. I began to wonder if something might be wrong or if maybe she was just turned wrong. And that is how I continued all through the day, sometimes strong contractions and then sometimes not so strong. Drew was my hero during labor! He held me up through each contraction as my position of choice was standing up. That evening they really picked up and we thought for sure that this was it! My water broke and we could see her head! It was really cool! Except then my contractions slowed considerably and she was no longer progressing downward, but had gone back up. In the back of my mind I knew something was not right. Yes, I remember being scared, but I was so focused on birthing this special little girl that I could hardly think of anything else. We decided to allow me to rest and wait for things to pick up again. It was now after midnight and into Wednesday morning! Everyone went to catch a few winks and so did I. This was not a normal labor at all! A couple of hours later I woke up with stronger contractions again and I had this determination that I needed to birth this little girl! Everyone woke up and we began discussing options. This was the hard part. I was thankful for my husband at this point because he made the tough decisions for me. I was so determined I did not care what we did. I just knew we had to do something and birth this little girl. For the first time in my life I acquired a one track mind! It was decided that Emma was not turned right and that as a last ditch effort (because the next option was transport for a c-section) my midwife would go in and manually turn her. My husband came over to me and my midwife with him and we all just prayed and asked God to use my midwife to bring our little girl here without any problems. This was the hardest moment of my life! So, I was told to just relax as much as possible and when she said to bear down and push to bear down and push for all I was worth! Any discomfort I felt before was nothing compared to what I experienced, but I didn't care at that point! I was that focused! Three contractions later, at 7am on March 27th, my beautiful little girl was born with the cord wrapped around her neck twice! My midwife got her unwrapped quickly and she began to cry! It was the most beautiful sound all of us had ever heard! There were tears all around! Come to find out she was not turned correctly at all. My midwife literally turned her 180 degrees! Every time I contracted and pushed it was pushing her into my pelvis incorrectly. This caused her to be bruised and her forehead was a bit misshapen. But she was healthy and beautiful and it was over! For almost an hour me and Emma just rested! We did not cut the cord until it stopped pulsing nearly 45 minutes later. My 10lb 3oz, 22 inch long baby girl was my little miracle! Amazingly, I did not tear at all and hardly even bled (I hemorrhaged with my son, so we were prepared this time). It was truly a special labor and delivery! I am so thankful that I had decided to go with my midwife over a hospital birth because I would have had to have endured an emergency c-section for sure! Total hours in labor were 37! 

So, why did we decide to go this route? Because our rights as parents are being taken away in the hospital. Procedure has taken precedence to what is best for mom and baby and doctors and nurses rely on procedure and on machines than on solutions when things do not go according to "normal." In the hospital they believe labor and delivery should follow a set standard. The thing that is wrong with this way of thinking is that every woman labors differently. Some women's bodies (like mine) require more time, whereas others only require a couple of hours. Women come in all different shapes and sizes, but all women are made to birth babies! Our bodies were specially designed by God for this very thing! 

Unfortunately, the hardest part is not fighting to have a natural, unmedicated birth in a hospital. It is after your precious baby is born. Immediately, they want to apply medications onto and into this newborn body. Most, if not all of these are not necessary. It is this reason that caused us to desire the home birth route with a Certified Professional Midwife. 

When my son was born back in 2011 we specifically stated in our birth plan that we did not want the eye salve antibiotic that they put on all children. We had done our research and found out that it was to prevent an infection in eyes in the event the mother was being dishonest and actually had an STD like gonorrhea. If the mother had an STD it could lead to infection in the newborn and could cause blindness. So, because of the lack of trust in the mother, they apply this to every baby. We refused it because we knew there was no risk of infection. My doctor had signed off on this on our birth plan so it was not a huge issue. 

What did have us a bit upset was concerning our wishes about the vitamin k shot. I was taking a liquid chlorophyl supplement knowing that was the better alternative to the vitamin k for my son. He would receive what he needed through my milk. Both of the doctors had signed off on this on our birth plan. Apparently, that does not matter though, because the nurse, against our wishes, with my husband standing there opposing the decision, gave it to my son. Well, he got jaundice so bad that we had to stay longer in the hospital and we were charged a lot more money. When I got home I looked up the vitamin K shot and sure enough jaundice is one of the side effects.  

This time around we did not have to deal with any of those issues after Emma was born. Yes, she had a difficult time getting here, but instead of going ahead and cutting me open, the decision was made to try to turn her and see what happened. I was ok, and Emma was fine. We monitored her heart tones through it all and she was never in a state of distress. To me it was the difference of my midwife being an active part of my entire labor and delivery and making the best decision possible based on me and my baby verses a doctor just running in last minute to catch the baby or perform an emergency c-section. For me, going the route of a midwife was one of the best I could have made for the health of me and my daughter. 

Why Essential Oils?

First of all, I am still new to the world of essential oils. I am still learning, but what I have learned has really amazed me! I think the biggest thing for me is how well they really do work.
How did I first learn about essential oils? From my dad. Him and my step mom have mentioned them before and then I had a couple friends of mine begin to post about them as well as my midwife. It all seemed like a bunch of voodoo magic at first. How could a drop of lavender actually help heal a cut or a burn? Could you really kill the flu with a specific oil blend?
Well, I was pregnant with our second baby and I got sick. The whole yucky sinus crud thing. And my friend brought me over some different oils to use. They actually relieved my sinus head cold and I was able to function! I did not need to use over the counter meds and I could even sleep at night using one of the oil blends! Then I bought my first oil from my midwife during cold season. It too was an oil blend used to decongest. And it worked! It worked on me and my husband and my son! And it was all natural!
So, then my husband and I began talking. Every single time we end up sick it costs us a lot of money. We are not ones to go to the doctor right away for everything and we try to treat simple stuff at home but we had been just going down to the local drug store and purchasing what we needed for the symptoms we were experiencing at that time. Still not a cheap endeavor. We got to thinking...if we could begin a collection of oils and have our own "home pharmacy" then we would not need to run to the drug store or the doctor as much. Yes, it would cost money to build our little "home pharmacy" but in the long run if we can prevent even getting to the point where we need to go to the doctor then it will save us money. Also, with the price of pharmaceuticals just getting higher and higher with Obamacare this was going to be the way to go! So, as a family we decided this was the right decision for us. So, we added it to our budget.
Then the question was, what company should we become members with? My father (who is very much in this whole health food/healthy living world) recommended a company called Young Living. They are very well known for having the top of the line best oils. These oils are not diluted, or added to in any way. They are 100% Therapeutic Grade essential oils and most all are safe to take orally. What I love is God created these materials to be used this way! The herbs and plants used in these oils have been used medicinally in this same way for centuries! This is how illness and simple things were treated before modern medicine.
The benefit of becoming a member for me was both the discount and the accumulating of product credit every month when I placed my order.
So, what can you use the oils for? You name it! From cleaning your house to helping you sleep! Here are just a few uses for the oils that I have in my "home pharmacy."

Lavender - heals burns and cuts. Stopped the bleeding immediately after my husband cut himself shaving. Soothes a crying baby. Clears baby acne. Reduces eye irritation (applied around the eye, not in it). Applied after shaving to prevent razor burn.

Peppermint - calms an upset stomach. Helps relieve infant colic. Relieves a headache. Reduces a fever without effecting the immune system.

Basil - menstrual cramp relief. Muscle pain.

Frankincense - can be used to treat strep, immune system booster

Idaho Balsam Fir - fever reducer, relieves symptoms of respiratory and sinus infections, pain reliever

Lemon - can be used as a disinfectant cleaner. I add it to my water. Natural diuretic.

Aroma Siez - literally have not needed to take OTC pain relievers thanks to this oil!

RC - stands for Respiratory Congestion. helps with bronchitis. This oil takes away a cough quicker than any cough syrup I have used.

Peace and Calming - probably my absolute most favorite oil. I have used it on my son when he needed to settle down for a nap. I used this while I was pregnant to help me sleep when I was most uncomfortable. I still use it periodically to get a good nights sleep!

Thieves - Kills cold and flu! Relieves a sore throat.

And these are only a few of the ones that I have and use and love! So, how do you use them? Some I have taken internally, others I apply topically, and all I diffuse when needed! If you want more info or have any questions about essential oils just ask. If I don't know the answer, I can find it for you!

Behold the Mighty Peanut!

This morning my husband and I were discussing peanuts. Why? Because he remembered me saying something about roasted peanuts being a carcinogen. So, I looked it up. I researched what would have made me say that at one point in time. This was all while my husband was eating some peanut butter, of course! So, what did I find? Yes, peanuts can contain a carcinogen called aflatoxins. They have been known to cause liver cancer in lab rats. The lab rats were given ridiculous amounts of aflatoxins at one time, but still liver cancer happened in those poor little white, ugly, creepy critters. Life stinks if you're a lab rat, nuff said. Anyway, back to the peanuts. Peanuts aren't even nuts. They are legumes. More closely related to the bean than the nut. The question is, what causes peanuts to contain aflatoxins? Aflatoxins are formed in certain strains of mold. They effect peanuts when conditions are favorable for this mold to grow.....think warm, damp, dark locations of storage. Before the peanuts are even roasted they could have this mold on them. But what I found most interesting in what I read is that your big name store brands are the ones with the lowest amounts of this carcinogen and the largest amounts being found in the peanut butter ground fresh in health food stores. 

So, what is the conclusion? Should you skip out on your peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch? That is up to you. There are other alternatives to peanut butter. You can try almond butter. Or go with an organic brand choice. Truth be told, even the store brands most likely use GMO peanuts and there are other ingredients besides salt and peanuts (try sugars and hydrogenated oils). Whatever you choose for your peanut butter craving, it is a good idea to make the best choice for you and your family. There are better alternatives out there for the health conscious. But also limiting your peanut butter intake is probably wise too! Do your own research and decide for yourself. Leave a thought or two in the comments section too! 

Sources:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA115491

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002429.htm

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aflatoxin.php

No longer use Aleve for Menstrual cramps!

I was your typical sufferer of intense pain once a month. It would put me in bed popping Aleve all day long one whole day each month. Then for the next couple of days I would pop more Aleve but was able to function a little more normally. I would have to admit that I probably took between 10-12 Aleve pills in a 72 hour period of time every single month. Yeah....so not cool! Aleve consists of the drug naproxen. Did you know that if taken long term it can mess with your heart and circulation? Not cool. I don't even want to know how many years I took Aleve every single month! (To read more on naproxen you can check out this link: http://www.drugs.com/naproxen.html ) So, if I am not taking naproxen anymore, then what am I taking instead? I have discovered essential oils through a company called Young Living. 

I have found that their Aroma Siez oil blend works really well when applied to my tummy! Why does it work so well? It contains basil and peppermint. Both are a natural anti-inflammatory! So, does it really work? Yes! I am able to function with minimal discomfort and I apply it 3 times a day to keep those cramps at bay! So, whats in the oil blend? Is it really all natural? Yes! The only thing in this blend is basil, marjoram, lavender, peppermint, and cypress oil! 100% pure therapeutic grade! And no, it will not cause any type of heart or circulation issues later in life! If you would like more info on Essential oils, just let me know!