Hi all!

We’ve been out of the picture for a while, having our third baby. Luckily, we had a healthy, strong, 7LB 11OZ little boy. Here is a pic of when the 2 older boys came to meet their little brother.

This time around, I decided to have a natural delivery without intervention or medication. I found a midwife that delivers at Baptist hospital, which I liked because it was very close to my home and I still had the security blanket that I was in the hospital in the event of an unforeseen emergency. In any event, it was a successful birth on my terms in almost every aspect…except one…FOOD!

I’ve read that the process of delivering a child is a process of detoxification. This process of detoxification also occurs during a woman’s menstrual cycle. I read this in a book and cannot say for sure if this is true or not. But the concept makes sense in my head. Having a baby involves a loss of blood, water, placenta, and baby and in that process, it makes sense to me that you can eliminate toxins and cleanse out your body.

REGARDLESS, THE POINT IS that because I believed that I was going through a process of elimination, I wanted good whole foods to replenish my system. Post-delivery the nurse asked me if I wanted juice and crackers. The juice they offered was generic, with high fructose corn syrup…and really not what I wanted as the first thing to introduce to my body after this process. So I asked if I could order a bowl of fruit. They gave me a menu and as I glanced through it, I realized that there were barely any healthy options. They did have fruit but mostly fruit cups – that have added sugar. So I opted for a bowl of strawberries and water.

And then I realized that my illusions of “replenishing” my body with good stuff was not looking too good during my hospital stay. BUT SOMETHING MAGICAL HAPPENED! I voiced my desire to have good food and all of a sudden, my support system fell into place.

• My 21 year old niece had made a Sweet potato/carrot soup at home and had her lunch packed with her. She had the nurses heat up the soup for me and gave me her lunch.
• My cousin makes smoothies at home all the time. She has a huge yard with tons of different fruit trees. She called me and asked me if she could bring me anything. I asked for a smoothie. She brought me a smoothie with spinach, celery, lettuce, papaya, mango, apples. WOW! Delicious and exactly what I needed. Not only did she make me one the evening I gave birth but the following morning also.
• My father asked me if he could pick anything up for me and I asked him to bring me a bottle of vitamin c with bioflavanoids and 4-5 lemons. Random right! Well, right before I delivered I felt a slight cold coming on and my boys had stuffy noses. I didn’t want to risk getting the baby sick and I sure didn’t want to be sick with a newborn. So I called my doctor and he suggested those things as well as warm soups with lots of garlic. Needless to say my father came to the rescue and I drank lots of water with lemon and drank my vitamin c.
• My husband wanted sushi for dinner the first night we were at the hospital and ordered me a roll of sushi…but also ordered me a bowl of miso soup with a lot of added garlic!
• One of my girlfriend’s brought me some pistaccio/nut snacks and a banana.
• And my husband’s grandmother made me chicken and beans for lunch the second day I was at the hospital.

I was only in the hospital for a little more than 24 hours. I came in Tuesday morning and was home by Wednesday afternoon. But needless to say during my stay I never had to eat hospital food and my troops came in to my aid.

This was so very meaningful to me. We are not islands and we really can’t do much without support of a community around us. It is important to ask for things you need so that people know truly how to help you. And it is a blessing when you have people who are willing to cater to you in a time of need. The support I received was not only good for my body but good for my soul.

During my first week at home my other cousin brought me chocolate chip cookies (which are my weakness!) and one of my very best friends brought me the most delicious home-made banana-chocolate chip muffins. I ate 4 of them for breakfast that morning!!!!!! I really had never tasted muffins so delicious before…They were truly worth the cheat!

Balance is important and it is nice to treat yourself to something you love. But it is also important to give your body what it needs not only what it wants. Because of the loving family I have (and I consider my friends my family also) I got to have what I wanted and what I needed, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful support system in my life. And this is not even mentioning everything other than food that my friends have brought to show support and love. It is amazing and beautiful.

So keep it in mind folks…if a loved one is in a hospital post-delivery or surgery…maybe you can keep the community support rolling and make sure they have what they need. Until hospitals and restaurants start offering real healthy alternatives, all we have is each other.