Teenage Years and Starting a Family

At age 16 I discovered Juice Plus+ at my brother's boyscout fundraising auction. This product dehydrates 17 fruits and vegetables into a powder form which is then placed in a capsule or gummy. I won that auction and took Juice Plus pretty religiously for years, even becoming a rep at one point. I loved the idea that I didn't have to eat those awful veggies, and who could afford or want to eat that kind of variety on a daily basis? Not me. I saw am immediate change in my bowl movements (sorry to be gross but it's important because later on I would learn the impact of food on our digestive track) and even some impressive changes in the family members I got on the product. Still, besides my gummies, my diet was very poor in nutrition.

It's important to note that many would describe me as a hypochondriac. And it's probably a fair description. When I first learned about the AIDS virus in high school, I truly believed I had it - my immune system was weak, I felt tired, and always had a cough or runny nose - the fact that I didn't know anyone who had AIDS, was a virgin, who'd never tried smoking let alone shared needles, meant little to me. I had the airborne version, I was certain.

I also loved drugs - legal ones that is. If I had a little sniffle I was taking Clariton, Allegra, Benedril. A scratchy throat, get me some Sudafed or NyQuil. I got sick often, or had allergies and remember getting strep throat 3 or 4 times in a single year. I took lots and lots of antibiotics. I worked in a preschool while earning my masters degree at UNCC and took a round of antibiotics every other month - for possible ear infections, stomach viruses, strep, fever, head cold, you name it.

Around this time my loving husband and I decided to try and have a baby. I had been on the birth control pill for several years. I actually tried to conceive the first month I got off the pill (if I could do it over again I would have been off the pill for at least 6 months before trying). I was so excited to have a baby and conceived on the 3rd month after getting off the pill. Birth control pills not only trick the body into thinking it's pregnant, which messes with our hormones, but it also affects our gut flora (the good bacteria in our gut). I continued to take my Juice Plus+ throughout the pregnancy but didn't really eat that well. I never had morning sickness but I did crave milk...lots and lots of milk. FYI, Pasteurized milk (unless organic and from a raw organic source) contains antibiotics which are given to the producing cows, and has been completely modified during the heating process, as well as many other issues that effect a person's gut flora. As we all know, antibiotics kill bacteria - what we don't always think about is that it kills the good and the bad bacteria, and we need those good, probiotic beneficial bacteria in order to digest food properly, maintain a healthy immune system, etc. Anyway, I drank milk almost more than water during my pregnancy. Literally, a half a gallon a day towards the end.

I was surprised and relieved to learn during the multiple tests during pregnancy that I was overall pretty healthy. No STD's (thank God!), no gestational diabetes (you'd think 3 dozen publix chocolate chip cookies the week before the glucose test would have shown up somehow?) my iron was always a little low, but everything was normal. Side note - most recently I have read that ultrasounds, specifically the 4D kinds may have a negative impact on baby's developing brain, and this may contribute to developmental delays later on. For the record, we had a 4D ultrasound at my doctor's office during my pregnancy with Ben and even got a DVD of baby Ben moving around inside me. The baby's heart rate, positioning, weight, and growth were all perfect.

You can read about Ben's birth over at my sister blog, "TheVeryBreastThing.blogspot.com" if you are interested. Basically, it was long, painful and just plain horrible birth, to sum it up. I had him vaginally and have since learned that the first introduction a baby gets to the bacteria in our world is from the bacteria in the mother's vagina. Gross, disturbing, even frightening, I know. Apparently our babies digestive tracks are sterile until birth. Keep in mind that once they breathe that first breath they inhale bacteria and any other toxins in the air, like from perfumes, cleaning agents, second hand smoke on clothes, dander from animals etc. This is when they start building up the make-up for their gut flora. This is why it is so crucial that babies receive their mother's colostrum in those first few days of life. That golden liquid colostrum seals and protects the walls of the entire digestive track, creating a protective barrier against germs, bacteria and virus. Nature created and designed this special first milk to help prepare the baby and his / her body for everything that's about to enter it. Fortunately for Ben, he was able to get this first measure of protection and I'm so glad he did.