Keep your strength up during Labour - Labourade

Mix the following well in a blender:

1/3 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice

1/3 Cup Honey (sweetness to taste)

1/4 tsp salt

2 Calcium/Magnesium tablets, crushed

Add water to make 4 cups. You can add up to 8 cups for a milder flavor. You can also freeze these as ice cubs and put in a cup with water to help them last longer for use in a hospital birth.

Midnight Treats:

These are the perfect snack for nursing mama's when they wake to nurse at midnight or in the early hours, 2, 4, or 6am. I used to eat one for each nurse in the early weeks. They gave me the energy I needed to make it through the night, and lots of protein to support milk production.

1/2 Cup of Almond or Cashew Butter or mixture (available at Costco too)

1/2 Cup Honey or Rice Syrup,  handful of sunflower seeds, handful of sesame seeds, handful flax seeds or flax meal, handful of chopped Nuts of your choice.  3Table spoons of carob Powder, small scoop of protein flower, several handfuls of Whole Grain Rice Krispies

Melt the Almond or Cashew Butter with honey together in saucepan until liquidy. Pour into bowl and add dry ingredients. Add additional dry ingredients until dough is sticky enough to form balls, but not tooo sticky, and not so dry that it won't stick together. This is a highly improvisational recipe, just throw things in until they feel good. Form balls and put in the Fridge. I like to store them in an ice cube tray in the fridge, that way they won't stick together and somehow it keeps me from eating too many at one time!

Good for those early months when morning sickness sneaks up on us, as this gives some proteins from a non-meat source.

Peanuts and Pregnancy:

Some ND's and MD's too, are starting to recommend mom's just refraine from eating peanuts and peanut products while pregnant and during the first months of baby's life, while nursing. They don't have conclusive studies to show the consumption of peanuts can cause baby allergies, however,  peanut allergies are so common in kids today, they are recommending avoiding the food during pregnancy and during breast feeding.

We all know this crop is one that is raised in the ground following the Cotton crops. Cotton is the highest sprayed crop in the world, and as it's not a consumed product, they are not restricted to the types of sprays. Peanuts are the rotational crop for Cotton, and they are grown in the very ground that the highly sprayed Cotton is grown in.

Essentially when we ate peanuts 50 years ago, the sprays and toxins that went onto the cotton was not as toxic now, however, with no restriction on what they can spray on the cotton, it could be anything.

And the peanuts, leach it up in their fruit - the Peanut.  

It's probably a great thing that kids are allergic to peanuts and don't eat them, however, as mothers we want to think about the foods we eat and what they can do to our forming infant.

Wash all your foods carefully, eat as much organic food as possible. Drink pure spring water and pay extra attention to what your body says "it doesn't want". 

Trust your body, it's good for your baby!