Mood Boost: What Kim Kardashian & I are popping to beat the baby blues.

There aren’t too many things Kim K and I have in common, but I just learned that the new mom and I are both popping a pretty odd pill to avoid the baby blues.

I didn’t realize I was “on trend” when I decided to save and encapsulate my placenta this go around. Yes, as crazy as it sounds, but Kimmy K and I are actually eating our placentas. At first, I was a bit taken a back by the idea, but after a bunch of research, I realized there were some pretty intense benefits to it, including shortening healing time, restoring balance back to the body and warding off postpartum depression .

While I didn’t necessarily get depressed the first go-around, I definitely got a few “baby blues” for a couple weeks (and a whole lot of “what the heck have we done!” thoughts the first sleep deprived month). I’m pretty open minded , when it comes to alternative remedies, and thought anything that might help me get back to my best was worth a shot.

So, how are they working? These days, I’m handling the sleep deprivation much better (relatively), and reveling my days with Brayden. There may be a variety of reasons for this, but perhaps the placenta pills are playing a part. However, unike Kourtney Kardashian, who raved about her placenta pills and lamented when they were finished, I can’t say I feel a huge difference– at least not one that I can directly contribute to the placenta. However, I am a bit more energized, and definitely enjoying this go around more, so whatever the reason, I’ll take it.

When considering placenta encapsulation, I did a bunch of research and eventually ended up going with Hudson Valley Placenta Service because of the wealth of info I found on their site, and the professionalism and good vibes I got when I talked to the owner. In follow up meetings, I also felt extra confident in my decision to go with them as Courtney (the owner) was super, answering all my questions, hand delivering my pills and even sending me pics of my placenta with her own comments (seems I had an extremely healthy/good one– take that doctors who worried it was deficient because I carried 42 weeks!)

The idea of eating our placenta may be unorthodox, but if you’re interested, I’d look into it. Placenta has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries, as well as other many other cultures, and even a plethora of other species are doing it (natural instinct speaks loudly to me!) Who knows, it just might be worth a shot (or in this case, a pill).

 

 

Lessons From The Yoga Mat: To Everything- turn, turn, turn….

Laying in savasana (final resting pose) today I started to hear a far away tune start rolling through my head. Why the Pete Seeger and The Byrds had suddenly entered my yoga practice was a bit humorous at first, but, of course, the gentle chorus repeating within held deeper meaning.

“To everything ( turn, turn turn) there is a season (turn turn turn)””

It wasn’t the fact that autumn was mentioned at the start of class, nor that this time of change was referenced in the sequence that was heavy laden with twisting that brought on the tune. Yes, we are in a literal season of change, but the directive was bigger, yet more personal, than that.

Aside from the catchy melody, the message of being still and enjoying this season (of life) was pressing loudly. Quite often in the quiet of savasana, after I’ve disconnected from all the busy-ness and noise in my head, I hear the clearest. From within, I was reminded to really enjoy this season, and to stop worrying about the things to come or times of past.

I’ve been pondering my place as of late, and the ever-neurotic part of me  wondering if I should be doing more. I am blessed to now have motherhood as my full time job, but the driven little being inside me always seems to nag, that I should be doing more– producing more, working on more projects and pushing towards more “success”.

Just pre-class I had even found myself scanning TV jobs wondering if it was time to make my way back in that direction. Often, I’m also “nagged” to be doing more with my “first child,” HealthyStyleNY.com. “Why haven’t you gotten to this point yet? Why haven’t you done more with that?”, that annoying little side of me (aka Ego) taunts.

But then when all is quiet, I hear the Byrds singing and of reminded of my truth. That I don’t need to  worry and indulge all the useless noise. That I’m not going to miss anything, except if I don’t enjoy this season. For everything there is a season. And a purpose.  I know what my purpose is for this time. It’s confirmed every time I look into her big blue eyes. Why part of me tries to steal or diminish that joy (and importance) is infuriating. But then again that’s why I do yoga. To be reminded and hear truths, in whatever form they come.

 

Modern Women: Can We Ever Really Have It All?

I was flipping through the channels this morning and caught a tease on GMA about an upcoming story on Bethenny Frankel and new details on her “brutal divorce.”  The segment that followed had Bethenny sharing a couple new details of her bitter divorce and custody battle for her 3 year old daughter Bryn, but focused mainly on her entrepreneurial success. [As an aside I passed Bethenny’s ex Jason Hoppy pushing a stroller on the street in Tribeca a few months back and he’s obviously a real hands on dad (no nanny in site!)]

As I watched the segment I heard all about Bethenny’s new ventures, and, yes, she is a powerhouse. About to launch another book and debut her TV talk show this fall, she seems to be at the height of her career. Not to mention she was recently on the cover of Forbes, and titled as one of “The New Celebrity Money Makers”.

Intrigued by the the former Real Housewife’s current status,  I looked up the full interview online. In it,  ABC News Reporter, Deborah Roberts said something that got me thinking. “Despite the lowpoint, or maybe because of it, Bethenny’s career is reaching new heights.”

Reconciling work and family is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It seems like we very few modern women can in fact “have it all” — at least not at once.  For women like me who have set career aside for the moment to raise a family, it’s a somewhat strange place to be.  After all, for many years my career was my baby– the thing I poured all my time and energy into, sacrificed for and nurtured into what I wanted it to be.

During my first year as mom I was so focused on baby (and truthfully quite happy to not be working) that I didn’t give my former TV career too much thought. Yet, perhaps it is because motherhood is trying at times and society really doesn’t recognize or credit the hard work that comes with the job; or maybe it’s the fact that I had a coveted job that doesn’t come around often; or perhaps ultimately it’s just my flawed nature of never being fully satisfied and always driving for more and better, but this conversation and question of being a modern woman/mom, and what that’s all about, still happens in my mind.

So, can we really every have it all?

I like the answer Maria Shriver (a woman I admire greatly) gives in this video. She relays that her very wise mother told her that women can have it all… over a lifetime, not necessarily all at once.