Honouring & trusting your body!

I believe there is no better time to honour your bodies needs than in pregnancy & motherhood!
This one is a hard one for me, but I am slowly learning & I am constantly working on this...

My first pregnancy I didn't feel much "pressure" from others to birth or "to do/ not do things". I attribute this to it being my first pregnancy, so our life was a little more "private". My second pregnancy I let a lot more people in, which can be good, but can also be problematic, depending on the nature of those people.

Towards the end of my pregnancy my doctor had suggested it was in the best interest of my baby (due to her small size) that I be induced at 40wks, so there was a lot of pressure for me to "birth" prior to this! I felt overwhelmed with well meaning people calling constantly asking if I had gone into labour or if there were any signs & telling me to just ask the doctor to "induce you early"...
So I began trying to do all the "natural" methods to get labour happening; using evening primrose oil, eating a s**t load of dates & pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, acupuncture, herbs, long walks & I even reached the point where I got on my treadmill & went for a run at 38 wks!!! Crazy I know!

Now all these natural methods to induce labour are all perfectly safe (apart from running) & work well if the body is ready & if your mind is in the right head space- which mine clearly wasn't! I was overwhelmed & frightened of being medically induced & worried about the complications that may result, if my body wasn't ready.
Then it hit me, I realised that I had anxiety! (You think being a health practitioner I would have picked this up earlier).
So I took a step back, stopped everything (apart from acupuncture & herbs) & my husband & I decided that we would wait till 41wks before a medical induction.. & guess what a day or 2 later my baby girl arrived! She was early!

I honoured & trusted my body that it knew the right time to birth my baby!

Honouring your mind & bodies needs is so important, especially in pregnancy, postpartum care and in times of extra or ordinary stress!!!
We need to know that it s ok to say "back off" or NO to people, that its ok to do what you need to do to get yourself by.... and YES you will piss some people off and YES others will try to make it about themselves & make you feel bad, but if you are saying NO due to self preservation & your heart is in the right place then that is OK!!! This lesson is so hard for me, as I am a people pleaser- I dont like to upset people- and as a result I regret a few things in the later part of my pregnancy and postpartum care, because I didn't honour what my body & mind needed at certain times and I paid the price... I was a mess... Dealing with the normal pregnancy/ postpartum hormone fluctuations, so many specialists appointments for our baby Lilah to organise, a looming diagnosis of TS, plus these silly pressures from others & worrying about who I was going to upset... What I eventually realised was that at the end of the day if I dont honour MY mind & body and if I keep saying YES to people I will fall in a crumbling heap (AGAIN) and it will be ME, my husband & girls that will pay the price- and for what? So I look back at such a precious time in my life and see myself as a crumbling mess, because I put others needs before my own?... And you know what, those putting the pressure on you WONT be there to pick up the pieces. So do what you need to do to honour your body & mind, put you & your little family first before everything & anyone else!

So I will learn from my life lessons and try to remember to honour my mind & my body in motherhood & in life!!!

The Earth Mamma Hub (registration opening soon) is a Hub for Mamma's to learn holistic ways to raise their family & holistic ways to look after themselves emotionally & physically. I will be incorporating a lot of what I have been through in my pregnancies and life, such as that above, and the lessons and tools I have learnt along the way. My aim is to share my life stories, lessons, tips and knowledge from many years of dealing with Mamma's in clinic, to empower other likeminded Mamma's to lead happy & healthy lives!

Sign up for notification, for when registration opens, via the link below...
http://eepurl.com/drmRLT


Learning every day... One day at a time.... Life Lessons...

Opening up your soul & not getting the response you hoped for?

Something I experienced last week...

As most of you know, who are following & reading my blog, my beautiful Lilah was born with a chromosomal condition, Monosomy X (Turners Syndrome). This was (& still is) a very difficult thing for me to process & as a result I couldn't open up about this to many people, including most my family.
And in actual fact my social media followers knew before some very close relatives even knew! Social media has been a blessing for me and has helped me open up about my feelings around this diagnosis and motherhood.

But as I was telling the world about my experiences, on social media, I decided to open up to a family member, because I didn't want her finding out through someone else. And because I thought about the reasons WHY I hadn't opened up to her yet, these included; feeling like I would be judged because I was feeling guilty, blaming & judging myself  (because I believed that I had done something to cause Lilah's condition- & if Im really honest I still somewhat believe this), & another reason holding me back was I didn't want my baby girl to be "the topic of the month" with her & her friends.
So I thought to myself, this is silly, firstly I shouldn't care what others think (a big problem of mine) & secondly I shouldn't be feeling guilty (another big problem of mine).

So I opened up... & despite my best attempts not to cry whilst doing this, I was bawling my eyes out...

Now, I don't know what reaction I expected from her, but a blank face & a "non-responsive" reaction was not what I had anticipated... So I kinda stumbled around trying to explain Lilah's condition to her, whilst being prompted by my husband, & then eventually said, "its ok she'll be ok... " & that was the end of the conversation.

So I didn't feel the "relief' like I thought I would after opening up, I felt no different actually. But thinking about this situation got me soul searching, "why is it so damn important to me, what others think or how others react to me?" I wish I could be one of those people who just don't give a f**k & live there lives!

Reflecting on this, this is what I came up with:

It's not the the fault of person involved in this situation, she obviously has learned to shield and guard her emotions due to some reason that I am not aware of. And this has nothing to do with me, so I shouldn't feel like her reaction (or lack of reaction) is any reflection of me and my situation.
This lady DOES care and love me and my girls, she just shows it differently and since this conversation, has proved this also.

I spend too much time and waste too much energy on trying to gain approval of others, when in actual fact its the approval from myself that I need to gain. I need to love myself unconditionally, I need to give myself the much wanted approval that I seek, I need to acknowledge that I am doing my best, I need to know that I am being the best Mamma, wife, friend, Naturopath, heart centred business owner that I know how to be!
Then and only then will I not care about what others think of me and not care about how others react to me.

Easier said than done, I know the theory but Im not very good at the practical application of this.
So this post is my reality check in, to put it out there so I will always have this to read back on to remind myself that "I A ENOUGH"and I don't need the approval of others if my heart is in the right place!

My next step in working on this will to be to check in on myself each time Im struggling with anxiety, to check in to see if the anxiety that I feel about the situation is due to "what others may think" or "how others will view me", and if I am getting anxiety for these reasons I will catch myself out and call it out, whether it be with the person involved, with my husband, sister or trusted friend- to help me realise that "I AM ENOUGH "& that he only approval I need is that of myself!

Precious moments... First feed!

Its moments like these that stay with you forever!

I remember both my girls first feeds!
Amelia's isn't as clear in my mind as Lilah's, due to the circumstances around her birth, but I do remember being wheeled around in the hospital bed with her on my chest trying to latch, the little noises she made trying to get a good latch and with the help of the midwives we eventually got it!

And Lilah's first feed I remember as clear as day! She latched on perfectly straight away (probably helps Mamma knew what to do second time round)! And I remember thinking how amazing it was that SHE instinctively knew what to do! I also remember thinking "she's here, she's finally here and she's so perfect"!

Do you remember your first feed? Whether it be breastfeed or bottle feed, both are so special or is there another precious moment that you treasure....

I'd love to hear it! Feel free to share below!

The Earth Mamma Hub Registration Opens Soon!

Motherhood is an exciting & also daunting experience, you are filled with questions & concerns if your "doing things right", & I have found many Mamma clients are wanting support on how to best raise their children NATURALLY. So I have created a beautiful cyberspace to fufill these needs & questions.

The Earth Mamma hub is our “MEMBERS ONLY” section of Earth Bubz. It is a month by month HOLISTIC parenting guide filled with loads of amazing tools, tips, how to guides & videos to help raise your children naturally & we are building a unique community of like minded Mamma’s who all have the desire to raise their children holistically!

Included in your premium membership is access to monthly webinars & accompanying downloadable workbooks & monthly personal coaching (where you can take advantage of a one on one 20min Skype sessions each month, to get your private questions answered, on the topic of the month).

I will be hosting The Earth Mamma Hub- a fellow Mamma of two beautiful girls & Naturopath.

Each month we will be discussing in detail a different topic relating to raising your kids holistically & how to be an Earth Mamma; aka take the natural approach to supporting YOUR body & YOUR health, as well as your children's. It is critical to look after YOU  too, not just your bub!

The Earth Mamma Hub is also a supportive REAL community, where I am open and honest about my Motherhood and the challenges I faced and lessons I learnt from these. I will be sharing with you these lessons and tools that I learnt, to help you enjoy motherhood and raise your children holistically!

If this membership is calling your name or you feel a Mamma friend would benefit from, be sure to sign up to receive notifications of when membership enrolments are open!

Click the link below & sign up to get notifications of when registration opens!

eepurl.com/drmRLT

I look forward to seeing you in “The Earth Mamma Hub”!

Being a Mother is about discovering strengths you never knew you had and dealing with fears you never knew existed!

Such a true and RAW quote!

This quote for me runs deep...

As those of you following our page know, after my second daughter was conceived, we not long after were hit with some news that shattered us. We were told that there was a 60% chance of our baby girl having a chromosomal condition, Monosomy X (Turners Syndrome). And not long after her amazing entry into this world this diagnosis was confirmed. .

I knew nothing about Monosomy X & so I did my "research".... everything that I read bought me to tears, to think of all the "possible" health hurdles & extra emotional stuff associated with this syndrome, she may face. .

As time has gone on it HASN'T gotten easier, but I have found my STRENGTH & learnt more ways to shift my attitude to gratitude and shift my thought patterns around this diagnosis. .

When I read this quote it digs so deep... every day I have to pull on STRENGTHS that I never knew I had to deal with this and I most definitely have to deal with FEARS I never knew existed! FEARS of failing her, fears of not being enough or doing enough to be the best Mamma that my girls (Lilah in particular) need me to be... then these FEARS caused me to fall apart ; when nobody is around, because of course I don't want to be seen as the "crumbling mum" that cant hold it together. And also because that’s how I best process things.

But you know what its ok and I'm ok, because I am discovering my STRENGTHS! And realising we are emotive humans and we are allowed to get sad and feel that its not fair, BUT we cant get STUCK there, because thats when it destroys our life! .

We must find a way to reach to any glimmer of hope (as a wise friend once said) and for me I know that if this girl is anything like her Mamma she won't let any diagnosis or obstacle stop her from achieving her dreams, but instead it will be fuel for her dreams!

Today discover your STRENGTH!
Much love Ange x

Meet my precious Lilah Ruby!

This girl literally flew into this world in a matter of minuets, there was no stopping her, she didn't want to wait for the birthing bath or even our midwife, lucky we had a back up midwife! She was so eager to be here! I should have known that, after all only 1% of babies with her condition survive first trimester...

She is the true picture of yin yang! She is peaceful & calm most of the time (YIN), but other times fierce and loud (Yang)! She has the loudest voice I have ever heard come out of any human, despite the fact she is only 3mths old! And she can swing from one to the other in the blink of an eye! She sure lets you know when she needs something! .
I can see already she's going to be a girl that knows how to get places, already practicing using her YIN & YANG energy, I am in awe of her everyday and how she already knows when to draw upon these energies to let Mumma know what she wants!

PS. It did take me a couple of months to work this out (and I'm still not 100% there), at times I was so distressed with her loudness, as this was not something I had experienced with Amelia (my first born), but now I see the beauty in it, and I maintain my calm and we work out her needs together!

Our Story!

My Name is Angela Baldovin, I am a mum of 2 beautiful girls, Naturopath & the Founder of Earth Bubz. 

My Journey into natural & eco living began over 15 years ago, when I began studies in Naturopathy. I always knew it was important to be healthy, but my studies reinforced to me how our lifestyle impacts our genes & destiny! 

From the moment I conceived my first child, Amelia, I knew that with all my knowledge as a Naturopath & through many years of "self work" it was my duty to ensure that I gave her (& all my children to come) the best head start to a happy & healthy life! 

When my second daughter, Lilah, was conceived we soon found out there was a high likelihood of her having a chromosomal condition- (this was confirmed at birth) which predisposed her to many health complications. This crushed me, but also reinforced to me the importance of living as naturally as possible, to help protect her from the array of “possible” health challenges she may face. 

So with my knowledge of how environmental factors trigger disease expressions, I knew that If I kept our environment as clean as possible both physically and emotionally we could reduce the likelihood of these health complications! We are not the destiny of our genes! 

So to the best of my capability, I reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals, I fuel our bodies with a clean nutrient dense diet & I make sure I am looking after ME both physically & emotionally! 

But this got me thinking, not all mums have this past experience that I have, so wouldn’t it be great if there was a place for mums to purchase their natural baby items and get the professional & emotional support that is truly needed when raising your baby naturally & healthily! 

And so Earth Bubz & The Earth Mamma Hub was born!

Welcome to The Earth Mamma Blog!

Welcome lovely Mamma's!!!

I am so glad you are here to share my motherhood journey! I hope to inspire and guide you, to help raise your children holistically & to be apart of your tribe!

I never intended to create a blog for Earth Bubz, but since it’s conception, Earth Bubz has evolved into so much more than just a baby shop, it has evolved into something so dear to my heart, something so personally revealing and therapeutic to me! And as I have began to create posts and topics of discussion for Insta, my stories were getting too lengthy! So I decided to create The Earth Mamma blog!

The Earth Mamma Blog is MY real life experiences of Mamma Life... where I open up about the peaks and dips of my motherhood journey with no filters! My aim is to get Mammas out there to be real and honest about motherhood, to talk about motherhood in reality and not to feel they have to "put on a front" to keep up appearances, so as to look like the "perfect mother"- whatever that is!

My aim also for this blog is to uplift and inspire other Mammas and to remind them, what they are going through “is normal” & that in life there are ups and downs- and it is those beautiful "up" moments that we need to hold onto & remember will always follow the “down" moments. I am also here to remind you that each and every experience you have is in someway shaping and moulding your life for the better, it is an opportunity for personal inspiration and an opportunity for personal growth!

The Earth Mamma Blog is also where you will find Earth Bubz product reviews, all the items that we stock at Earth Bubz have been used by our family and so I have many useful tips and tricks such as; multi purpose uses for many of our products, how to guides, value for money options and much more!

So let the blogging begin!!!

Much love Mamma Bear, Naturopath & Founder of Earth Bubz
Angela Baldovin xoxox