I'm feeling overwhelmed...

I had a bit of a breakdown the other night. You know when something little starts you off crying and you can't figure it out because it's not really such a big deal, so you know there must be something deeper going on? Well that happened and when I scratched the surface (while blubbering away to my DH) I realized that I was feeling overwhelmed by all of the decisions that I need to make about purchases for our family and how to make the safest possible choices...

Just to give you an example, since we have a 4 year old boy and a baby due in three months we need:

-new shoes and socks for the 4 year old who's feet just keep growing and growing - the problem is, I can't seem to find organic cotton socks in the 4-6 sizes... they all seem to be for babies and toddlers or bigger kids and adults... any suggestions??? Also, my osteopath just told me that you have to be careful with kids shoes because the leather often has excess chromium in it that gets released when kids sweat and then gets absorbed through their feet... Ack!

- A booster seat for the four year old and a baby capsule - I want to make sure they are safe crash-wise but also chemical-wise, ie not filled with flame retardants, formaldehyde, off-gassing foams, heavy metals etc... we would like to get a newer (ie safer, more efficient) car too, but that's a whole 'nother topic!

- I'd like to use more cloth nappies (Australian for diaper) this time around, but there are so many to choose from!

- I'm thinking about replacing all of our mattresses with organic cotton ones.

- you get the idea... each of these decisions requires careful research, to make sure that they are safe and affordable. In the US there are lots of great websites that do a lot of the background work for you, but sadly most of the recommended brands aren't available in Australia ... which leaves me with basically a full time job evaluating the safest options.

Soooo... please fill out the poll I've added in the top right corner of the blog and let me know what you want to hear about most, and please leave any suggestions for brands/websites/ideas that you love/trust.

Thanks :-)
Annie

I'm curious...

I recently came across this article from Reuters which states that the average UK woman wears 515 chemicals a day. Whilst this is scary, it does not surprise me at all. What did surprise me however, was the bit where it says that:

"More than 70 percent of the women polled said they were not concerned about the number of chemicals they put on their skin and only one in 10 opted for chemical-free toiletries when shopping."

I'm curious... if you're one of the 70% who is not concerned about the chemicals you put on your skin, and you happen to be reading my blog, can you please leave a comment and let me know why you're not concerned? Is it because you've never really thought about it? Because you've always assumed that the government wouldn't let the products be sold if they weren't safe? Because you're not eating the products the chemicals won't be absorbed into your body? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And if you are in the sub-category of people who are concerned about the chemicals you are putting on your skin, but you are still not opting for natural or organic toiletries then I'd also love to hear from you... is it too hard? Too expensive? Don't know where to find safe products? Don't know which products are safe?

I spend so much time preaching to the converted, I'd love to engage with people who aren't necessarily looking for the certified organic logo on everything they buy. What do you care about? What's important to you? What would you like to know more about?

More stuff to watch...

I've just figured out how easy it is to embed videos in my blog... can you tell?

Anyway, this one really touched me. I knew that workers in the beauty industry, especially nail salons and hairdressers had higher rates of cancer, but I hadn't really put names and faces and stories to the statistics. When they talk about a woman who lost her baby while she was pregnant and working in a nail salon I totally lost it. This video made me cry, but also made me extraordinarily angry.

Please watch, and then if you are American please sign the petition to Congress asking them to support nail salon worker health by passing safe cosmetics legislation!

Watch This!

And then tell me what you think... what products will you stop buying so that THEY will stop making them?

Top 10 signs you are pregnant with your second child...

This pregnancy has been so different from my first - I've been much sicker, more tired and I feel like my belly popped out straight away and I couldn't wear any of my regular pants after only a few weeks. I'm not sure how much of this is because I'm also looking after a 4 year old, or because I'm almost 5 years older, or because I've actually just blocked out most of the unpleasantness from my memory, but it certainly feels different. I've also wondered whether I might be feeling different because it's a girl this time (don't know, won't find out) or because it's twins (also don't know, but haven't had a scan yet - more on that later). Anyway, I'm having such a classic "blame it on the pregnancy" day I thought I'd share some of my foibles with you.

Top 10 signs you are pregnant (and also trying to keep amused (and fed and safe) an under-5 year old):

1. You pull out your maternity clothes from 5 years ago and gag over the pink velour maternity track suit that somehow seemed like a good idea at the time, but you still wear it, and although you consider changing out of it before leaving the house you decide that it's actually pretty comfy and you don't really care who you run into at the supermarket. [Please note, this is not a picture of me, but it is a close approximation of what I am wearing right now.]

2. You go to the supermarket to buy (rice) milk and end up with a jar of dill pickles, a jar of mayonnaise and some granola bars.

3. You're craving all the comfort foods from your childhood (most of which your mother rarely let you eat) such as: tuna salad (which you shouldn't eat because of the mercury), kraft macaroni & cheese (which you shouldn't eat for so many reasons it would take a Phd thesis to cover them all), cinnamon toast crunch (which they don't sell in Australia, but you find something close enough made by Uncle Toby's until you discover it is owned by Nestle - another Phd topic) and Nature Valley Granola Bars which thankfully are pretty healthy (although not organic) and available in Australia, and they still taste exactly the same as they did 25 years ago!!

4. You forget the pin number on not one, but two of your credit cards.

5. You forget to pay not one, but three of your credit cards on time and get embarrassing phone calls while you are on the train.

6. You actually buy the crappy celebrity gossip magazine that you would not normally buy (but will always happily read at a friend's house).

7. You have a craving for Phở (vietnamese noodle soup) and decide you want it not only for lunch, but for breakfast and dinner as well.

8. You don't bother reading any pregnancy books or even looking stuff up online, you just ask a friend who is pregnant for the first time whether those shooting pains in your groin are normal.

9. You think that maybe it would be a good time to start doing those pelvic floor exercises, but then think, what's the point, I'm just going to have to do them all over again after giving birth.

10. You are so behind in your laundry that you decide that wearing mismatched socks, or even socks with big holes in the soles is ok. And certainly easier than actually doing laundry or buying new organic socks.

Help! Any suggestions?

I'm really suffered here with the 24-hour morning sickness... have tried everything, but am hoping that there's something you can suggest? Am 11 weeks now so hopefully it will get better soon...

I still feel like I'm going to throw up...

Many apologies for not posting an update sooner... I have a good excuse: I feel dreadful! I am pregnant though, so that's good :-)