Fair Hills Farm » pregnancy

A Midsummer’s Cool Spell

Christine Read — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:12:40 +0000

We have been fortunate to experience a significant cooling of the weather these past few days. It has been so refreshing. I am thankful to the Lord for His sweet kindness. We have also had more rain this summer than in the past few summers, and that is another thing I thank the Lord for. This evening as I was walking around our property, I realized anew how wonderful it is to live in the country. It is sheer bliss to be able to walk around surrounded by trees and hills and meadows and the sound of birds chirping, crickets and frogs singing, and little fish jumping in the pond. When I got back to the house, I found Mary had caught a tiny baby lizard. I have never seen one so small. She made a little habitat for it and put it in there. She is quite the lizard expert around here. She has caught several this summer, and takes excellent care of them until she decides to let them go back into the wild.

As you may have realized, the Fair Hills Farm website has undergone quite a change. We were having considerable problems with our yahoo site, and so we changed over a few weeks ago. In the process, we have super simplified everything, and at this point, this particular page is mostly a blog. We have plans to expand gradually, but it will take a bit of time because my web person (daughter Amanda) has a lot going on. A lot of information we had on the other site is no longer here, including some earlier blogposts. I will try to retrieve them or re-write some of them, such as the one with the horseradish recipe. I am currently working on my e-book, Nurturing The Generations, and making it into a study guide with recipes, and worksheets, etc. This is going on while I am tending the garden, cleaning out and organizing the house (which is really a perpetual job, isn’t it?) and carrying our 9th baby, which is due around December 5th, the Lord willing! We are all excited and delighted, and I keep thinking of things to add to the e-book. I hope to add a section on the joys of being an older mom (since I am 46). I really am enjoying being pregnant, which I have not always done in the past. I think as you get older, the surge in hormones is such a delight to your body that you really feel better than when you did as a younger person. It seems that way for me, at least. I marvel at how the Lord God in His awesome plans can do the most wonderful things in allowing women the privilege of bringing forth life, by His hand and with His help. He is so worthy of praise!

We have been enjoying some wonderful dishes from our garden. Last night we had a meal that consisted of a grass-fed beef roast, mashed potatoes and cauliflower, fresh zucchini and onion gently simmered on the stove and seasoned with butter and sea salt, fresh tomato relish, and homemade bread. I think the tomato relish is my favorite way to eat tomatoes, and it goes so wonderfully with practically everything. If you have never heard of this dish, I will share with you how we make it. I was telling my husband that I never had any such thing until I ate it at his grandparent’s house, perhaps 24-25 years ago. He told me he thought it was just a family recipe, but I am certainly going to include it in Nurturing The Generations. Very simply, you cut up 4-5 fresh tomatoes, 1 onion, 1-2 cayenne peppers (sliced open, with seeds removed, then chopped). Add to this some sea salt to taste and a dash of raw apple cider vinegar (or plain white vinegar if that is all you have on hand). Mix well and let sit for a few minutes so the flavors blend. This is a spicy recipe, but not too hot. Even my four year old daughter likes this! I will have Abigail down load some pictures (she is my photo person!) so you can see what it looks like.

Another simple recipe for a delicious raw, fresh garden food, is cucumbers in sour cream with dill. We just wash our cucumbers and then slice them up (3 or 4 of them), add a little raw onion chopped as well, and then toss with a few tablespoons of sour cream. To this add some dill weed and sea salt, and voila, another dish that I think my children could eat forever. One interesting thing to note is that cucumbers, watermelons and cantalope contain a wonderful amino acid, citrulline, which is a precursor to human growth hormone that the body makes naturally. These have anti-aging and rejuvinating properties. Citrulline is also found in walnut seedlings, flaxseed, and in the milk protein casein. Flaxseed is another thing we consume in our house – I put it freshly ground in our bread dough, and sometimes we eat it freshly ground mixed into some fruit juice. It is very nourishing.

If anyone has questions for me, please e-mail me at info@fairhillsfarm.com ~ I hope everyone is having a good summer and may the Lord bless and keep each one of you!

Christine

Tomato Relish

Cucumbers in Dill Sauce

Beth with the chickens in our backyard

4 year old Beth in the Bradford pear tree in our front yard

3 year old Benjamin with Rex in our front yard

New Flower Garden

Other side of the Flower Garden

Flower Garden

Path in the Flower Garden

Especially For Moms and Moms-To-Be

Christine Read — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:55:49 +0000

A subject dear to my heart is the topic of motherhood and
health. You see, the health of the generations begins with
the health of the mother. The father’s health is important
also, but because mom carries the baby in the womb, she
is the one whose body nourishes that little one’s. And,
because she is the one who gives birth, and then can
sustain and nourish the baby with her milk, she is the
one who continues to give of herself – almost emptying
herself- for the good of her child. For a first-time mom,
this is a new, sometimes overwhelming and exciting
time. For a mom with several children or perhaps many
already, it is a familiar sweetness in addition to
managing a bustling household.

I want to mention here a very important book I have read
and re-read. It is called A Natural Guide to Pregnancy
and Postpartum Health by Dr. Dean Raffelock and Robert
Rountree, M.D. This is “the first book by doctors that
really addresses pregnancy recovery.” If you have ever
had a baby, you will want to read this book. Even if you
had your last baby 10 years ago, you might be surprised
to learn that perhaps you have never recovered
completely. There are many physical, mental, and
emotional complaints that can be traced back to
hormonal imbalance, nutrient deficiencies or adrenal
exhaustion that stem from not fully recovering from
giving birth and nourishing a baby.

In this day and age, we deal with constant bombardments
of stress in many different forms that did not exist even
100 years ago. Moms are expected to run households on
a shoestring, teach multiple children, bring in an
income, host various functions, keep a neat and orderly
home, prepare delicious meals, keep a happy
countenance and still set aside time to exercise and get
enough sleep. In short, many of us expect that we are to
be everything to everyone simply because that is our job
description. Of course, no one can be wonder woman
and we should not put stress on ourselves that ought not
be there. But that is easier said than done, right?

I mention all of this really to bring into focus how
important it is that we get the nutrients our bodies need
in order to function properly as God intended. The more
stress we deal with, the more important it is that we are
properly nourished and properly rested. My definition of
stress is “more demands than you have resources.” I
firmly believe that God’s grace is sufficient, don’t get me
wrong. But just like the plaque I used to see in a friend’s
kitchen that said, “God blesses this kitchen but He doesn’
t clean it,” there are practical realities in this life that
lend itself to being particularly stressful at times, even
when we are bountifully blessed!

In this section I will include some articles by Dr.
Raffelock so you can see and understand the tremendous
importance of replenishing your body after having a baby,
and also the importance of establishing good nutritional
habits before you have a baby, as well as while you are
raising up the next generation of child-bearers. In times
past, I believe there was generally more wisdom passed
on from grandmother to mother to daughter about things
such as traditional food preparation. Also, I think there
was more support for the new mother and more
household help, allowing her longer periods of time to
rest and recuperate after giving birth. It seems that was a
luxury of yester-year that I would like to bring back!

In addition to Dr. Raffelock’s articles, I want to mention
the supplements that he created called After Baby
Boost and Before Baby Boost. After Baby Boost is the
only supplement I know of that has nutrients in it that
specifically target deficiencies women are known to have
after giving birth. There are plenty of examples of women
who had not had a baby in years that were suffering from
ailments that cleared up when the nutrient deficiencies
were addressed. I personally take these vitamins and
have found them to help me, and I highly recommend
them.

After Baby Boost is safe and good for nursing mothers
and is even recommended to take for 2 years postpartum,
though many women continue taking it beyond that.
Before Baby Boost is a new pre-natal vitamin that will
also help to build up nutrient reserves in preparation for
birth, so that the new mom is better prepared for the rigors
of childbirth and the postpartum period, and to make sure
the developing baby has plenty of nutrients to grow
strong and healthy.

Another common problem postpartum women face many
times is a hormonal imbalance, and usually it is
predominantly a progesterone deficiency. The pregnant
woman’s body makes a huge amount of progesterone to
sustain a developing baby. After birth, that amount
plummets down to zero. In the succeeding months
afterward, the levels may remain way down, leaving the
woman vulnerable to a variety of complaints, not the least
of which is postpartum depression or emotional
problems. When a woman’s hormones are imbalanced,
stress or illness will magnify that and the resulting effect
will either be turned inward (self) or outward (towards
others).

Many women have found relief using progesterone
cream. The absolute best progesterone cream I know of is
Oasis Serene Progesterone Cream. It is an all-natural
bio identical 100% USP Progesterone and does not
contain any dangerous chemicals or preservatives or any
herbs that might cause disruption in a nursing mother
such as Black Cohosh. This is another product that I use
personally and highly recommend to anyone needing a
good, clean, effective progesterone cream that is
reasonably priced.

Progesterone cream, I might add, has been shown to help
women who were susceptible to miscarriage, and also
actually prevent postpartum depression, when used
throughout pregnancy and then started again several
days after birth.

To purchase After Baby Boost,
Before Baby Boost, or an
autographed copy of A Natural
Guide To Pregnancy and
Postpartum Health, go to
www.pregancyrecovery.com.