A Natural Deodorant Review

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer my senior year of high school. She had it pre-menopause, which is NOT good. One of the things they told her back then (back before extensive testing was done to determine what type of cancer you had) was to ditch any deodorant with aluminum in it. Both of us have been using a store bought deodorant without aluminum, but it still wasn't as "healthy" as I was hoping for. Given that the ingredients we put on our skin absorb into our bodies, I really wanted something better. So, over the past several months, I researched natural deodorants and tried three. I plan on trying more, in my quest for the perfect one, but these are my reviews of the first three. 

Young Living AromaGuard Deodorant

This was an easy one for me to order, as I already use their oils, so decided to try it. It literally did not work at all for me. I stunk like an onion in the winter within a couple hours. After trying it for a few days, I gave up. I even tried revisiting it later, after I "detoxed" by using another natural deodorant for a month or so. And, it still did NOT work at all for me. I honestly think it is because it doesn't contain any arrowroot powder or baking soda in it. Because of this, I wanted my next deodorant I tried to have both. 

Korina Natural Deodorant 

I picked up this deodorant at a market I went to in San Francisco. They had a few vendors selling deodorants and this is what I went with. I chose it specifically because it had both arrowroot powder and baking soda in it, as I mentioned above, I was specifically looking for a deodorant with both. I know baking soda is an irritant for some, but it isn't for me. I found this deodorant worked well. I have to reapply it in the middle of the day during hot days. My one complaint is it makes little balls in my armpits that I have to wipe away if I am wearing a tank top. I am actually interested in trying out her charcoal deodorant as well as another scent. Her scents are also very mild, if you aren't a big fan of scents. 

Crunchy Mama Bear Deodorant

I've tried several of Crunchy Mama Bear's products, so it only felt natural for me to try out her deodorant too. She uses kaolin clay in her deodorant instead of baking soda. When it's hot out, it gets pretty mushy, so you have to be careful how much your smear on. Her's is heavily scented, especially compared to the other two. It appears clear on my armpits when looking at it, yet somehow coats the armpits of the clothes I am wearing and looks quite unsightly on my tank tops. Just like with Korina, I have to reapply it once during hot days. I plan on trying another one of her scents. 

Both sticks of deodorant laster close to two months for me, making the price of $12 and $10 worth it for me to not be putting toxins on my body. I would be interested in making my own deodorant at some point in the future, but I am nervous about melting down the ingredients and getting it into the container without making a mess. In the mean time, I plan on ordering Korina's activated charcol deodorant as well as one from Native. 

Has anyone else out there tried any natural deodorants they liked? I totally remember using crystal in high school when it was popular, but that's about it until now. 

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What a Day

 I am pretty sure my belly is ten times bigger in person than it seems in pictures.

Yesterday started out like any other day. I woke up to the sound of my little man. Got up. Fed us breakfast. Played. Got in the shower.

That is when everything started to change.

As I was getting out of the shower, I thought I was going to pass out. So I immediately laid down. I thought the feeling would pass. Unfortunately it didn't. So I beckoned Ian home from work. When he got home, he took my blood pressure and we discovered it was low. Very freaking low. 72/52 if you care to know. So, Connor got sent off to my MIL's house, I went to take a nap and Ian worked from home to make sure I stayed alive. Don't worry, I stayed alive.

All afternoon and evening my blood pressure stayed low. Now as low as it was, but still impressively low. So, after some urging from a friend and my husband, I decided to call our 24 hour nurse line. After talking with her for a while and following her instructions, she decided I needed to stay hydrated (who knew dehydration causes low blood pressure) and not get hot (apparently heat causes blood vessels to get bigger, thus lowering your blood pressure).

So I will now have to do without my coveted hot showers. The nurse actually told me not to shower at home alone anymore. Technically I wasn't home alone this morning...Connor was there too. And also, I am supposed to be drinking water like nobody's business.

In my opinion, all of this could be solved if some cool, fall weather would roll in. I mean, it is the end of September and still 99 freaking degrees outside. This almost-no-longer pregnant* gal wants a break in the heat!


* I thought being almost-no-longer pregnant sounded better than being HUGELY pregnant. 

Late-Onset Colic

Honestly, I think health care professionals make up half the diagnosis' they give! Okay, not really...BUT, I am finding "late onset colic" a bit of a stretch. So, now for the back story...

The last couple weeks Connor just hasn't been himself. Think of hours a day spent screaming and almost nothing will stop it. It really gets exhausting. So, at the doctor's office on Friday, I decided to mention it. Their diagnosis...late onset colic. We have another appointment on Monday with a doctor to check Connor's meds and make sure it isn't anything else. When I asked what exactly colic was, I was told it was crying due to really bad gas. The gas part would certainly make sense. Anyone who has been around this boy for any length of time knows he has some incredible gas...they even commented about the amount of gas he has when they did an ultrasound on his abdomen back in December. They were surprised to hear he was breast-fed, given the gas bubbles inside his belly.

So, here's the thing. With a little googling under my belt, I found that all colic is, is the name for unexplained crying. I also found that when found in older children, generally it isn't colic. So, my question is...does Connor just have late-onset crazy crying or is something bothering him so much that he feels the need to cry?

Maybe he just realized that he is stuck with me for the rest of my life!

My Sick Little Bug

Yesterday, Connor went to the doctor for a weight checkup only to discover that he hadn't gained any weight in a week. Given that this had been a problem that they had been monitoring, plus it being so close to the holidays, the doctor decided to refer us up to the hospital. Initially, Ian and I thought we were only going to be at the hospital for a couple hours with Connor. A couple hours turned into more than 24 hours. The doctors weren't sure if they felt something in his stomach, so they decided to keep him in overnight to observe him and ultrasound his belly in the morning.

In the mean time, they started him on new (and more intense) meds for reflux. They put him on the adult version of the reflux medicine he was already taking after each feed and added another medicine that he takes three times a day. After a few hours, we already noticed a difference. The doctors were unable to get a clear picture of his stomach during the ultrasound, but felt that nothing was there and decided to send him home...which Ian and I were happy about.

The little guy seems to be doing well and I look forward to him chunking up in the days to come!

Snug as a bug in a rug...all wrapped up in his hospital bed

My Hospital Stay

This is some of the monitor tape of the baby's heartbeat...I thought it was cool

I was going to write the entire story about my hospital stay, but there were so many strange things that went on that the blog was becoming ginormious, so I decided to just give the highlights:

First, I was in the hospital because of a kidney infection. I couldn't keep any fluids or medicines down (i.e. I kept vomiting) so I needed to be admitted.

During the process of being admitted (which took a total of 6 hours) I had to explain to about 100 different people what was wrong with me, even though they had my chart right in front of them. This was highly agitating.

I was in a four bed room. During my stay, I got to watch two women experience labor. This did NOTHING to alleviate my fears about giving birth! I am just trying to remind myself that women have been doing it since the beginning of time, so I can do it too.

The tea trolley came around twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. And, none of the mugs on the trolley matched. It kind of reminded me of the NCO (where I used to work, for you non-NCOers out there). I also thought, I bet they don't have tea trolleys in hospitals in the US!

I actually had a visitor in the hospital. My friend Meabh has an odd love for hospitals, so jumped at the chance to come see me.

Both sets of sheets on my bed had holes in them. Honestly, is the NHS hurting for money that bad?!?

I had to beg my way out of the hospital. After two nights, I was beyond bored and ready to go home. Plus, sitting in a bed all day isn't that comfortable. Well, the doctor actually wanted to keep me for another night because the bacteria in my culture wasn't done growing and they wanted to make sure I was on the right medicine. Honestly, is that really a reason to keep someone in the hospital?!? I was insistent enough that they finally let me go home.

Oh, and the best part...even though the food wasn't fabulous (well, actually I think Riley the dog eats better than I did while I was in there) and there were holes in the sheets, the entire stay was ABSOLUTELY FREE! Come on people...you gotta love socialized medicine for no bills at the end!

When Sickness Strikes

Yesterday I was working, minding my own business and I got sick. It started out me just not feeling well. Before I knew it, it was full blown pain, with me in a ball on the floor at work (which I am pretty sure freaked my coworker out). And me, being the person that I am, finished the day out. In my defense, I had like an hour left and it would have taken that long to find someone to cover for me. Then, after work, I decided to take the bus home, since it was right there. I spent the entire bus ride hunched up in a ball. I did use my brain enough to call and meet me at the bus stop by our house. When I got up to get off the bus, I could barely walk. Seriously, everyone was staring...I am pretty sure they all thought I was drunk. But, I made it off the bus and into Ian's arms, before deciding that I needed to lay on the sidewalk.

After making it home, I thought I could battle out the pain on my own. This turned out to not be true. So, Ian called NHS (National Health Insurance) to get their advice. They were able to book me an appointment with a doctor at the hospital. I didn't even know this option existed! So, we phoned a taxi (I wasn't going to do the bus thing again!) and went to the hospital. At the hospital, I was able to see a doctor within five minutes. I didn't even have to fill out any paperwork, show ID, or anything! The doctor was nice, though she probably thought I was a crazy person, given the fact that I was rocking myself on the floor and throwing up (or perhaps just a semi-crazy person in pain!). Anyway, after a couple quick tests, two shots and two prescriptions later, I was sent on my way. At this point in the story, I would like to point out that I didn't have to pay anything for the hospital visit, shots or the prescription. I did have to pay for the round trip taxi fare (28 GBP), but I am pretty sure that is less than most people's copay in the states!

After my hospital visit, I thought I would wake up this morning, symptom free. That did not happen. After an agonizing day in bed, Ian called our doctor and she got me in within 45 minutes! Ian walked me over to the doctor, which is about a block away. She determined that I had a kidney infection that got out of control. How it got out of control, I don't know? It's not like I spent days in pain, just hours. Anyway, she added another drug to the mix and said I should be feeling better within 48 hours. Here's to hoping!

I would like to point out that all together I spent 28 pounds on a taxi and 5 pounds on a prescription, bringing my grand total to 33 pounds! AND, never will I see a bill in the mail for the portion that my insurance company didn't pay! Even though I don't always see eye to eye with the NHS, I would have to say it was a winner in this situation.