So I had mastitis more than once, and if you’ve had it, you know it is not fun. I treated it naturally all the times I had it, but by the 4th time I was really over it…not to mention my husband was working on the other coast and I was alone caring for my 8 week old. Since he had to fly home early he mentioned to one of the women on his job what was ailing me, and what she suggested really made a difference. She said, “I know it might sound weird, but I had mastitis all the time until I bought the Elle Macpherson nursing bra.” When my husband told me this, I quickly flashed back to the time I tried on an Elle Macpherson nursing bra at the Upper Breast Side (an amazing full service store for nursing mothers- check it out if you live in the New York City Area!). I didn’t buy it at the time because it looked and felt like a piece of sexy lingerie and I thought I needed soft stretchy boring cotton. Anyway, I quickly ran back out and bought that Elle Macpherson nursing bra, and what do you know- I never had mastitis again! It’s neither organic, nor green in any way, but it’s black and lacy and beautiful and that’s part of being integrative- we incorporate what works best for us to create happy, holistic, healthy lives.

We recently moved from our LEED gold certified “green building” to another green building, but we discovered there are different interpretations of what makes a building green.  There’s always a bright side to everything and in this case I know there are many great things that can make your home a healthier place to live.  One of the most important is removing the chlorine from your family’s bathwater.  Excessive chlorine exposure is linked to asthma, eczema, dry skin, premature aging, and more serious diseases such as cancer.  Considering the fact that you absorb about 8 ounces of water during a 15 minute shower, and even more while soaking in the bathtub, it’s important to dechlorinate your bathwater. In my experience, I couldn’t believe the difference in my skin after living in a building with double filtered water, to one that was heavily chlorinated.  Talk about dry skin!  and I definitely don’t want to be bathing my baby in this water.  I was so relieved to find bath salts to add to bath water that inactivate the chlorine at Green Nest:
Mediterranean Blue – Dechlorinating Bath Salts

At my baby shower I opened a gift from my sister and inside was a little white bottle of Hyland’s Teething Tablets.  She then announced- “They really work.  It’s amazing.  Your baby can be screaming his head off, and you put one of those in his mouth and he will instantly stop.  It’s the weirdest thing.”  Since I was pregnant, I thought I was a long way off from needing relief from a teething baby- but I was wrong.  And my sister was so right!  They are a homeopathic rememdy- completely safe, natural and ok to use as early as 4 months (they dissolve immediately), and they really work.  Just now, my 15 month old woke up from his slumber screaming and rubbing his mouth.  My husband grabbed the teething tablets, I popped one in his mouth, and he instantly stopped and went back to sleep.  It’s the craziest thing- how fast and how well they work- but I’m definitely not going to question them.  Little did I know that little white bottle of pills would be the BEST gift ever!  Thank you Heidi!!!