My journey into Holistic Health

When I had my first son my wheels were turning. I just wanted to do everything “just right” and be the “perfect Mom”. You know that Mom that tries not to follow others mistakes, and do better than your parents did. I was pretty careful in taking my time deciding things when it came to the best interest of my child. But of course, mistakes were made and we used them as a learning experience. My motto is "know better do better".

My first son was born in 2011. I was only 17 years old. To add, young and naive. A little background information would be, my husband and I got married when I was 17 years old. We tried for a baby when I was 16, successfully got pregnant after about 2 months trying. We got engaged after 5 months and married after 10 months. Yes, I know non traditional. But truly having my son saved my life, I can add on to this in another blog. Here we are 12 years later with 5 kids happily married!

Anyhow, I knew some things, like I was going to breastfeed 100%. My Mom and sister did it, so in my mind there was no other option. I wasn't going to co-sleep. I wasn't going to vaccinate. Although I had some things set in my mind I made some mistakes I wish I could have taken back. Mom guilt is so real. But just always reminding myself that "you don't just arrive on this earth knowing it all".

A few mistakes I made (in my opinion) are:

Mistake #1 at his birth I allowed them to give him the vitamin k shot, and circumcise him. Routine things that I did not question AT ALL at the time, that as I am more educated I have regrets. I can go further in detail on this upon request.

Mistake #2, I listened to my sister when she said, “feed him formula also so that if you are at work and don’t have milk then you can feed him formula instead” so I did just that. HOWEVER, I realise formula is NOT for us. (Nothing against other Moms of course) Just not something I wanted for my baby that I didn’t know till I learned more. I can extend more on reasons why I choose not to formula feed in a later blog.

Mistake #3 My next biggest mistake was allowing doctors to “get in my head”. When you are a new Mom you are VERY susceptical to being manipulated, especially when it comes to protecting your child. I had went in for my child’s check up and heard “He is due for his vaccines”. I replied with “we are not vaccinating until he is five”. This was an agreement I made with my very pro vax husband (at the time). In my head I thought that vaccine reactions are more rare as they get older. That was actually not true at all. The doctor knew I had never had a vaccine in my life and asked me if I wanted to get the vaccines to “protect” my child. In my head as a young 17 year old naive Mom, I agreed, this made sense. The antibodies would “pass through my breastmilk” to create antibodies for my unvaxxed child. Right? Seems simple enough. Little did I know what I chose to do could affect me negatively my entire life. Along with my child. I did not only pass on antibodies. I also passed on toxins to my baby. Some how I was convinced to get “caught up” on my vaccines and get 18 injections (30 immunisations) from 5/8/11 to 6/27/12 (27 of them in 13 months) + my last 3 immunisations in 2015. Oh boy! This was a life changer. Blog to follow about what happened next.

Mistake #4 I fed my baby jarred baby food and gave him cows milk after he turned 1. Oh boy! I'll have to blog on this. So much to learn.

Mistake #5 I caved and gave my baby ONE vaccine! ughhhhhh

These are things I wish I could take back, I have regrets and beat myself up over it for a long time BUT eventually I just had to chalk it up to, I just didn't know. So if you can relate, WELCOME, its okay Momma! You will overcome this guilt and you can still make wise decisions moving forward.

After all of my Mom fails I was introduced to NORWEX, it is a natural cleaning company focusing on using microfibre cloths and water to clean your house. I learned SO MUCH! I learned about all the toxic chemicals in my home that we have all been breathing in. The toxic chemicals in our environment, and how we can make a change. Immediately I knew what to do. Again, "know better do better".

I ditched and switched all of my cleaning chemicals, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, room sprays, wax melts, candles, soaps, shampoo/conditioners, toothpaste, body sprays and more! It took me a bit of time to switch each thing but I did it all. I can also do a blog on what I switched to, so that you can get recommendations.

I want to note that my sweet husband had his entire life flipped upside down cold turkey and he just went with the flow. I love him dearly for it!

By my 2nd child I was educated enough not to use formula. By my 3rd child I was educated enough not to give cows milk and extended breastfed till 26 months and 16 weeks pregnant, till I just could not handle the pain of sensitive boobs and a child biting me. By my 4th child I was educated enough to deny the vitamin K shot and switched to a natural form of Vitamin K drops.

Things were changing slowly but surely as I became wiser. Check out my blog on vaccines and our journey because its a huge part of my story.

In December 2022, I graduated Trinity of Natural Health as a Holistic Health Practitioner. I decided that I have hit the point where I wanted to learn exactly how you heal the body as a whole and needed more structured learning. This was the best decision for our family and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve others in my community and make a difference in so many lives.