What's in *your* sunscreen?

When Melinda was about 9 months old, I took her to the pool for the first time. This momentous occasion was also the first time I ever put sunscreen on my child. I used my standard for the time - Coppertone WaterBabies brand. It's probably what I used most of my life, too. But what happened with Melinda made me look more closely into what exactly I was slathering onto her (our?) skin. See all that red splotchy area around her eye and temple, and also her forehead? That was from the sunscreen on her face. It actually made the white of her eye red, too. I thought it might be the pool water, until I used the sunscreen a second time and she ended up looking exactly the same, no pool water involved.

After some reading around, I ended up purchasing a new brand of sunscreen, California Baby. It's not exactly cheap, but I feel so much better using it. And no more scary skin reactions!

I'm sharing this story with you because of another blog post I read today. It linked to an Environmental Working Group article, which I'd like to quote just a bit:

A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveals that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. A companion study published just one day earlier revealed that this chemical is linked to low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy. Oxybenzone is also a penetration enhancer, a chemical that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.
.....
The Food and Drug Administration has failed miserably in its duty to protect the public from toxic chemicals like oxybenzone in personal care products. At the request of industry lobbyists, including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who represented the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association, the agency has delayed final sunscreen safety standards for nearly 30 years.
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Among common sunscreen chemicals, oxybenzone is most likely to be associated with allergic reactions triggered by sun exposure. In a study of 82 patients with photoallergic contact dermatitis, over one quarter showed photoallergic reactions to oxybenzone
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Sunlight also causes oxybenzone to form free radical chemicals that may be linked to cell damage, according to 2 of 3 studies.

I strongly recommend that you read the full EWG article, as well as this fantastic and informative blog post at Skimbaco: Is your sunscreen safe? 86% in the market are not! I'm happy to say that my pick of California Baby is on the "Best" list as given at this blog. As Skimbaco notes,

"And interestingly, as sunscreen sales have risen, so has the rate of skin cancers."
What? Shouldn't sunscreen protect us from skin cancer?

I definitely think it should. So read up, and protect your family this summer!

6 weeks

Yesterday was technically 6 weeks postpartum. But today was my 6 week postpartum visit with my midwife. Enter big sigh - I got the go-ahead to resume normal activity and exercise. On the one hand, I'm a little eager to get working on losing some of this extra weight. On the other hand, I've always hated exercising, so I'm a bit skeptical about my eagerness, thinking it will probably wear off pretty soon.

And if I'm going to work towards losing weight, I need to be more accountable for what I eat.

Like... I shouldn't go ahead and finish off the rest of my baby shower cake that was sent home with me just because I can. Or, I really shouldn't have two bowls of super chocolate fudge brownie ice cream in one day just because the kids have driven me crazy and it's a nice source of comfort. And I definitely shouldn't let Jesse come home with a dozen of my favorite "colossal" donuts and then not think twice about eating 4 or 5 in one day.

Now, I suppose since I'm nursing, and extra helping of veggie-filled pasta won't hurt me too much, but I really need to find something that will cure my HUGE sweet tooth cravings without packing on a million calories in one sitting. And I may need to work on some emotional issues... It recently dawned on me that I'm somewhat of an emotional eater. For instance, if the kids are extra tough to handle, I'll crave chocolate that much more. Not crave it, but need it. There's not a physical reason I can think of to actually need chocolate just because you're having a hard day. Or often, if I'm feeling bored, I'll start rummaging through the kitchen to find something to snack on. And this often happens in the 10-11pm range, which is not good for losing weight. So I need to work on how I treat food, I guess. Please allow me to be pouty and sulk about it, though, because I just enjoy treats so much. I guess I just need to moderate how much treats I consume.

But yeah, the postpartum weight has me feeling pretty down. With both of my previous pregnancies, I was back to my postpartum weight by my 6-week checkup. Not so this time, not by a long shot. I was somewhere in the 165-170 range when I discovered this surprise pregnancy. And I was a solid 187 still at my a checkup today. That's a pretty big chunk of weight that I still need to lose....and I wasn't terribly happy with my pre-pregnancy weight, anyway. I'd love to get down to about 150-155. My ideal would be to hit my marriage weight of 140, but considering the changes my body has been through, I've gone ahead and put that weight into the "impossible dream" category for now. But yeah... 20 pounds to pre-pregnancy, 30+ to my ideal. I'd better start doing something. I guess I can't count on just nursing to take care of it for me, this time. Especially not with the crappy eating habits I have.

Otherwise, all is well, aside from a possible plugged duct my midwife felt during my breast exam. The same spot was tender about a week ago, but it had gone away after I worked on it in the shower. Guess I haven't cleared it totally yet.

And we weighed Alex really quickly before we left. Fully dressed and with a bit of a wet diaper, he was at 14lbs 6oz!! What a little chunker. (Come on, can't he count as some sort of exercise, carrying him all day?? Oh yeah, it's not my arms that need help... it's the tummy and butt and thighs...)

Oh, I was also happy to find out this week that our insurance did in fact cover our homebirth like they finally said they would. It took talking to 4 different people... my midwife's receptionist finally got in touch with someone over the phone that said they would. We had gotten a confirmation number sort of thing from that conversation, but in all honesty, I was half expecting a fight, and an oh-so-fun appeal process, thinking they would go ahead and try to not cover it. I'm glad they did. I'd rather not stress about it all! So I happily wrote the check for my responsible amount this afternoon.

I'm also very grateful that Jesse left work early and came with me to the appointment today. Jacob was tired and crazy, and we were there for an hour, and Alex ended up tired and cranky, too. He had his hands full in the office foyer...and I'm so glad I could focus on talking with my midwife instead of keeping the kids' hands off of all the office equipment, or hanging my head in embarrassment at their usual habit of running up and down the office hall as loudly as possible. My husband is wonderful.

What's for dinner... and a snack

Here's a quick and tasty dinner, made with ingredients you may already have on hand!

Quick Lemon and Pasta with Chicken

8oz linguini
3T butter
1T lemon juice
1½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1 lb chicken, cooked
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a separate saucepan, combine next 5 ingredients and simmer till butter is melted. Add cooked chicken and stir till coated. Add drained pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, serve immediately.

And here's a fun (and good for you!) snack you can make. This recipe is from Jesse's aunt Sandy. I had never tried it before, but Jesse's mom Nedra made a whole bunch for us while she stayed after Alex was born. This recipe makes a LOT, so either half it, refrigerate the dough and cook over a few days per the directions, or cook it all and freeze the muffins. They counter-thaw quickly.

Bran Muffins

2 cubes butter (or margarine, if you must)
3 cups sugar
4 cups All-Bran cereal (pellets)
2 cups Nabisco Bran cereal (bran flakes)
2½ tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp salt
5 cups flour
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk

Mix butter, sugar and Bran cereals with 2 cups boiling water, and let cool. Add buttermilk, eggs, and dry ingredients. Add raisins, nuts, or spices if desired. Store in the refrigerator and bake as needed at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Keeps for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.

We've been making these muffins with raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg (I eyeball the measurements, sprinkling them right into the dough), and they turn out surprisingly tasty. They're not a very sweet snack at all, but enough to keep you going back for more. We use a mini muffin pan (the kind that makes 24 mini muffins at a time), and half the recipe, and usually get around 50-60 muffins. The kids *love* snacking on these, and so do I. And I promise that if you eat more than a couple, everyone will be plenty regular... hehe. Nedra also says it would be great to use half a cup less sugar, and substitute half a cup of molasses. Mmmm.

Melinda wants me to make them with chocolate next. We'll see....