Breaking the Silence

Hello readers!!

I left off with a series on essential oils and a promise of more good things...and then there was radio silence.

You know how bad/trying/life-changing things happen in threes? Yeah, I've had one of those kind of months in April. As the Fresh Prince so eloquently put it, "my life got flip-turned upside-down."

One of the exciting things I can share with you from the past month, which many of you will already know, is that we are expecting another little one at the end of this year!

You can't really make much out, but there's a strong little heartbeat there!

So that's pretty fantastic. I read a lot about essential oils and pregnancy. Many sources warn against using them at all in the first trimester, and there are definitely a few you should avoid altogether, as they cause uterine contractions or what-have-you. We wouldn't want that until right at the very end! However, since I have pretty much forsworn any OTC medications, I have been using my oils a bit, diluting them appropriately for pregnancy, especially for a lot of the tummy upset and nausea that comes along with first trimester.

Suffice to say, DigestZen has been my VERY best friend. A few of the other oils I haven't been able to use simply because I've all the sudden become horribly sensitive to smells (thanks little fetus!). Hopefully one day that will subside and I won't associate those smells with feeling ill! 

Besides fostering new life, there have been many, many changes with work and family. Adjusting to them all while nauseous and exhausted has been no picnic, honestly. I don't remember being this tired the first time around...then again, I didn't have a toddler to care for then, either! However, as long as everyone is healthy and relatively happy, I'm a happy camper. And they are! 

And another thing, today is my 30th birthday! That's a hard one to believe. But a good note to end on. I think my husband and I will go have a classic mini golf/arcade date tonight while our little one is looked after by my awesome family. 

Here's hoping I'll be able to shake this first trimester nausea cloud soon and get back to writing more here!

Trust Your Gut - Essential Oils for the Tummy and more...

Thanks for continuing to join me on this journey! Writing this Health Series has been quite fun for me, and I hope y'all are learning as much as I am!

Today we're moving on to the tummy and reproductive regions (didn't want to put that in the title! ha!)- this one has been really important for me! It's actually one of the biggest ways I wanted to "test" the efficacy of essential oils, and I must admit, I have NOT been disappointed! 

Can't believe I could find a photo of a normal person's tummy! 
Photo Credit: ~*Leah*~ via Compfight cc

Since I was a teenager, I've struggled with stomach issues from food. After nearly every meal, I'd have some sort of stomach upset or even (ugh) gassiness...the painful kind. This was horrifying on first dates, but just sort of terrible in general. I'd learned to live with it because I didn't think there was much I could do, as I refused to avoid "gassy" foods. (I'm sorry but life without beans and garlic is not worth living, so forget it!)

So, as I said, this was my big test for oils. I knew that Peppermint is supposed to soothe the tummy (I'd previously tried mint tea, to some success), and dōTERRA has a proprietary blend called DigestZen that I was particularly eager to try!

My method of application was two drops in about 24 ounces of water (shake it up!) and I sipped on that during and after meals. If I forgot to do that and was faced with an already-upset stomach, I would dilute a few drops in fractionated coconut oil (you can use any pure vegetable oil) and rub it on my sad tum-tum. I was pretty shocked with how effective both of these were. I have done DigestZen and Peppermint in my drinking water, but mostly DigestZen topically, since I didn't need the cooling power of peppermint on my skin!

And now, let's move on to the lady problems. 

Cute, cuddly uterus. For more fun stuffed toys, go to iheartguts.com

Thankfully, I've outgrown the very painful period cramps. They used to be so bad as a teenager that I would literally pass out in the bathroom. You can imagine my mother's horror in finding me like that! 

However, with advanced age has come a new fun challenge: a fun little thing the Germans call "mittelschmertz". It's translated "middle pain" and it's basically ovulation pain. It's helpful for knowing approximately when I'm ovulating, but other than that, it pretty much is horrible. So much so that I've just been taking OTC pain meds when I feel the ol' ovaries start tingling. 

But once I got my oils, I wanted to see if there was a natural solution to my natural problem! Indeed, there is. Although it seems like it wouldn't work for this purpose, DigestZen comes to the rescue again! A few drops diluted with a carrier oil, I put it right on the site of the pain, and YES - in a few minutes it was gone! GONE! It's hard for me to type this because I hate these too good to be true stories. But gals...would I lie to you about ovaries? I don't need to take synthetic meds for this problem now! Huzzah!!

Happy Guts!!

Did you know that you can get Peppermint and DigestZen in the Family Physician Kit from dōTERRA? And did you also know that you can get every single thing you ever buy from dōTERRA at 20% off? For a $10 lifetime fee (one time, never again) you can become a Preferred Member! No minimums, no hidden fees. Go to my site and find the "Join" link in the top right hand corner. Click "Preferred Member" and you can look through the application before you finalize anything or pay any money. 

My friend Holly is doing a very honest review of her adventures with dōTERRA on her blog. Stop by and say hi, especially if you're a VERY HARD SKEPTIC like she is. ;)

PS One more thing: I found this super-helpful blog post from StockpilingMoms via Pinterest that tells you the "price per drop" of each oil that dōTERRA sells. When you break it down and understand that you're using one or two drops (usually) per application, the oils seem much less expensive than perhaps they do initially. You might follow my "Healthy Living" Pinterest board while you're checking it out. 

I'll be back soon as we move on down the body!

This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!