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NEWBORN JAUNDICE

Brace yourselves, this one is cool! (to a young mother at least! *grin*)

I had one of those “now no one can tell me that Essential Oils don’t work” experiences, and just had to share.

One of my college roommates had a baby (her fifth) the Friday of convention. (that makes her two weeks old tomorrow, kind of important to know that.)

On Friday of last week, she came into town (she lives in a small town an hour away from here,) to have her “well baby” visit.

*Note* This is not a natural woman. She and I are really like oil and water when it comes to…well almost everything. We are, amazingly, the best of friends despite our vast differences, so she patiently puts up with my ‘radical ramblings.’ We share religions and both are very spiritual. (I was supposed to act as doula for her at the birth, but she allowed the Dr. to induce her under the contrived thought that she has fast labors and she lives an hour away from the hospital…*sigh*)

The baby was horribly jaundiced at this one-week visit. Her billirubin level was 21.6.

The Dr. told Shirley that brain damage occurs at 25 and that she would have to leave her baby at the hospital. They then told her that while they had room for the baby, that there was not room for her to stay, and that she would have to leave her baby. She adamantly refused, reminding them that she was breastfeeding, and told them that there must be another way.

The hospital staff finally relented and agreed that if she would stay in town, that they would loan her a billirubin light and blanket. She took it and went immediately to her sister’s house a few miles from the hospital and plugged it in to see if it would help.

She called me in a panic. I went over with my Peace & Calming and my White Angelica. I am out of Trauma Life, or would have taken that too. I got there and listened while she cried and stressed over her new angel. (I put Peace & Calming on before I walked in, under the thought that she might not let me put any of the oils ON her, so at least she could smell it. I was right.) She refused all offers of oils because they might make the baby not want to nurse. I didn’t argue.

She asked me for advice, and I said that what I would do would be to pray and ask Heavenly Father to tell her what to do to help the baby, and reminded her that as a mother, she is ENTITLED to divine guidance, because they are HIS children too.

She thanked me and said that just talking had made her much calmer, and that she felt better (Peace & Calming, anyone? *grin*).

The next morning, the baby’s billirubin count had climbed to 22, despite staying in the blanket except while nursing. Shirley commented that she was looking sicker.

I asked if she had prayed and she said ‘yes, but nothing is coming.’ I told her to listen, and accept the answer, even if it was confusing to her.

(She had felt for a few days that the baby needed a chiropractic adjustment, but her Dr REFUSED to allow it, so now she was desperate.)

My phone rang at 10:30 that night. Shirley said: “I have an embarrassing question to ask.” I said, “Shoot!”

After hemming and hawing for a minute and me assuring her that we had gone thru enough together that I would not be offended at whatever it was…*smile* she finally asked:

“Do you know what an enema is?”

I about died laughing! I said. “Of course I know what an enema is, my whole family uses them when we are sick!”

“Oh, then you know how to give one?”

“Of course!”

“To a baby?”

“Of course!” I said.

Quiet on the line…”Well, that is my answer and I have no idea what to do.”

I then told her how to give a baby an enema with a nasal aspiration bulb and she asked if I would come over after church the next day and help her if she didn’t have the courage to do it that night. I said, “Of course!”

After church, (I broke the Sabbath, but it was a case of “ox in a mire” in my opinion) I went to a drug store and got the best enema bag I could find and headed over (with every oil I have and my Essential Oil Desk Reference in hand…and a prayer in my heart that she would let me use them).

I got there and she started gushing…”I did it, and she felt better, I could tell! She was so patient, and felt such relief, I am so glad I did it!”

I asked her what the baby’s poop had looked like and she told me it was still meconium (sp?). AT TEN DAYS OLD!!!

My babies are pooping mustard like, breast milk poop at 48 hours old at the most! We talked about it and she agreed that her others had cleared their meconium a lot sooner, and that this might be ‘part of the problem’.

I asked if she wanted me to help her do another enema and she agreed. I then asked if she cared if I used some Essential Oils on the baby, and she (much to my surprise) said “Sure, if you think it will help.”

I was so happy! I suggested that we start with a prayer so that we would have guidance and know what to do to help she and the baby get home sooner. We did.

I rubbed Peace & Calming all over both of us moms first. *grin*

I put Valor on the baby’s feet and then opened my Lavender. I rubbed Lavender on her head and down the bridge of her nose (I had no idea why, it just felt right.) By the time I could get the cap back on my Lavender, the baby’s eyes were FLOWING yellow goop. (I mean flowing, like tears!)

Shirley said, “Wait, this is making her sick, it is bothering her eyes.” I said “NO!!! That is the billirubin! Look!”

And sure enough, it was…just yellow gunk, pouring out the closest outlet it could. It ran for a few minutes (while the baby laid there totally content and cooing, by the way) then slowed down. I suggested we do another enema to see if that would help.

We got our distilled water warm and I put a few drops of Endo Flex (I was out of Juva Flex, and EF was recommended in the EODR) in the water. We sucked up the oil and did another baby enema. She was still passing almost straight meconium. While she worked the water out, I rubbed a few drops of Frankincense down her spine then added some Cedarwood. I then did a raindrop technique-like motion with the feathering and pulling away from the spine. (Super gently, no one attack me!)

We then put Release on her liver and Lavender all over her belly (two or three drops of each).

We put Endo Flex on her feet and Rosemary on her back.

When we took that diaper off, she had urinated so much that the whole diaper was almost orange! The billirubin was just FLOWING out of this tiny body!

We did one more enema and that one almost looked green instead of like black tar.

I asked her what oils she wanted to keep, and she chose Rosemary and Endo Flex and Lavender. She rubbed them on the baby all evening and whenever she woke to nurse.

Okay, really long story…but the next morning, Shirley took the baby to the Dr. to check her levels and they were down to 15! He told her that if she stabilized there, that she could go home the next day.

On Tuesday morning, her levels were DOWN again, (to 14) and she got to go home on Tuesday!

Used with permission. Names have been changed. For more information about essential oils, contact me or visit http://www.buyessentialoils.org.

HALTING EARLY LABOR

Used with permission – names have been changed.

Sandy and her husband realized they were coming to a crossroad in life. Although Mark earned a comfortable income, he was rarely home. When Sandy learned she was pregnant with their third child, they realized that they simply didn’t have enough “family time.” They began praying for a home-based business that would take care of them financially and allow them to devote more of themselves to raising heir children.

Seven-and-a-half months into Sandy’s pregnancy, she went into labor after an airplane flight. “Because we had used herbs for several years, they were the first place I turned for help,” says Sandy, “but none of them worked. I called my midwife, and when I described to her what I was going through, she said I needed to get to a hospital right away. My midwife got into her car and started speeding toward my house, but we lived so far from a medical facility that she also wanted to call a helicopter service to come pick me up. I told her to wait for one minute before calling the helicopter. During that minute I prayed, asking the Lord to guide me to something in my home that would be powerful enough to stop my labor. The answer that came to me was ‘essential oil of Lavender,’ so my husband grabbed the YLEO bottle of Lavender and rubbed it all over my stomach, legs, and feet. Sixty seconds later, as my midwife was driving into our driveway, my labor stopped. Completely. My midwife was so shocked her mouth fell open.

“For the next five weeks I stayed in bed with 24-hour care. Every time I got up, my heavy labor started again. We kept using lavender until my baby’s due date. On that day, I put the oil away and delivered a big, beautiful, healthy baby boy after a 30-minute labor.”

At that point, Sandy knew that there had to be some serious science behind the oils. She began researching then and discovered that there is a tremendous difference between most of the oils on the market and the therapeutic-grade oils offered by YLEO. “Typical oils would not have been powerful enough to help me during my pregnancy,” she says.

Sandy started sharing the oils with friends and family members. She says she just could not keep quiet about the “wonderful treasures that had been provided to use for healing.” One day she went to the post office and discovered a “huge check. The was when I realized that if I could become a leader and treat my business as a business, I had a chance to help other mothers like myself who wanted to stay at home with their children but needed extra income.”

*For more information about essential oils, visit http://www.buyessentialoils.org. I am also happy to share my own personal experiences with essential oil use during pregnancy and birthing.

Halting Early Labor in Mid-Flight

By Cherie Ross

Tuesday, May 28th – Northwest Flight #676

10:22 am Leave Minneapolis to Baltimore; settle in to take a nap for some much needed rest.

10:55 am Flight attendant comes on P.A. system, “Do we have a medical professional on board? We have a woman in labor!”

10:56 am I go inside prayerfully & ask “Is this mine to do”? I heard back, “…and you needed to ask?!”

10:57 am – I push the call button, tell the flight attendant: “I am not a medical professional; however, I am trained in the proper use of Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, and they’ve been proven to stop early labor.”

She stated that there was a Nurse Practitioner with the woman and they’d come and get me if I was needed.

11:00 am I got reawakened with an abrupt tapping on my shoulder. It was the Head Flight Attendant: “We need you now!”

I gathered my oils & headed to the back of the plane, where I found a wonderful Nurse Practitioner doing her best. Not only was this woman in labor, she was vomiting & in extreme anxiety attack. The more the NP tried to talk to her & ask medical questions, the more escalated her anxiety became. I was in the seat behind them. The flight attendant whispered in my ear, “Can you do something?” I responded, “I believe I can.” Then the most peculiar thing happened. The flight attendant told the NP: “You’re out, she’s in” (meaning me, to take over). I quickly moved up to her seat, tried to talk to the pregnant woman, but no response. She was completely overwhelmed with anxiety, pain & terror. I grabbed Lavender, put a puddle in my hand, and rubbed it all over her low tummy. She was 7 months pregnant and often air pressure changes can induce labor. I held my hand on her low tummy and silently prayed. In less than 5 minutes, the woman opened her eyes very wide, looked at me and said, “It stopped.” I said: “What stopped?” She said “The pains and cramping. They stopped!” Then she asked, “Who are you and where did you come from?” I said, “I’m Cherie. I’m here to help you.”

Next was to get the nausea & vomiting to stop. I grabbed DiGize — another puddle in my hand, this time on the upper tummy. In less than 5 minutes again, the nausea and vomiting completely stopped. Now, on the anxiety attack: I brought out Peace & Calming, started at the solar plexus and moved upward. The closer I got to her nose, the more she resisted. So I just held the bottle between her rib area and allowed her to smell from there. In less than 7 minutes, she calmed down to the point of falling asleep. It was a very turbulent flight, which did not help at all. So I applied Lavender one more time in the remaining 90 minutes. I sat with her, softly talked to her words of comfort and reassurance.

When we landed in Baltimore, the EMTs boarded the plane and I moved so they could take over. They requested I stay close to her if she needed more oils. They safely removed her from the plane. I was the last passenger off the plane, (all my things had been moved to the rear). Upon leaving, the captain came out, took hold of my hand and said, “Thank you.” I said, “You’re welcome,” and started to leave. He would not let go of my hand, and said thank you again. My response “I was just doing my job, sir; Anyone would have done the same thing.”

Again, I tried to leave, but he still would not let go of my hand. I looked at him questioningly. His response, “You don’t have any idea what was going on before and during your intervention, do you?” “No,” I replied. He then proceeded to tell me, he was on the phone with a medical team on land. They determined to do an emergency landing with the plane and were in the process of looking for an airport that could take us. When I intervened, the flight attendant asked me in detail what I was doing/using. I thought she was just curious. I had no idea she was on the rear phone reporting to the captain, who in turn was reporting to the ground medical team. When we got results in less than 5 minutes with the oils, the medical team told the captain to wait,…continue on course, and see what happens. Because in less than 20 minutes the crisis situation completely turned around, the ground medical team instructed the captain to continue on to Baltimore. The captain said, “Do you have any idea how many lives were positively affected today by what you did?” If we would have had to emergency land this plane, people would have missed connecting flights, business meetings, appointments.” “And not only that,” the flight attendant spoke up, “the other passengers were getting visibly quite disturbed and upset. When you pulled out your oils and got to work, a sense of calmness was reestablished among all the passengers.”

I signed the necessary reports, got off the plane, and went to pick up my luggage. At the baggage claim area, many passengers came up and thanked me for handling the situation. Every day, without exception, I thank God for these Young Living Oils.

*For more information about essential oils, go to http://www.buyessentialoils.org or talk to me about my own personal experiences in using them during pregnancy and birthing.

Here is the program that Dr.Gary Young, founder of Young Living Essential Oils created for his wife Mary Young  (told by Gary Young himself during a talk in July, 2000 at The Farm, Mona, Utah):

YL Essential Oils:
Valor 2 times a day – tummy, back, hips – AM and PM.
Gentle Baby AM & PM for 30 days; then 1-2 times a week
By using Valor on the tummy, at 7 months she has no stretch marks or blemishes.  The doctors are amazed.
Brain Power on tummy, ears, neck once a day.  Baby knows Morse Code.
Her mind is much more clear.
Gary massages her legs at night with Valor and Cypress, sometimes Aroma Siez.
Frankincense each day protects baby.
He tests her weekly.
 
Supplements:
Multigreen – 8-12 a day.
Be Fit – 4 a day
Power Meal – 2 scoops in AM
Super Cal – 4 a day
Master Formula Hers – 6 a day
Body Balance – 1 scoop a day
Comfortone – 2 a day
Sulfurzyme – 2 tbs. a day
ICP – 2-3 times a week
Boswella Crème – 1 time a day on top of oils

*Note from Brenda – I personally use and recommend Young Living Essential Oils. The above recommendations are not intended for use with other types of oils, because essential oils are made very differently. Click here to visit my essential oils website and learn much more, or contact me if you have specific questions about my own experiences with essential oils, pregnancy, and birth.

Aromatherapy In Labor And Delivery

The time has come. After nine months of anticipation you are standing at the door, suitcase at the ready, stopwatch in hand. You’ve timed the contractions at every two to five minutes on the dot, and as the drama of birth opens its curtains before your very eyes, you wonder if all your preparations will have been enough.

Childbirth is definitely one of, if not the most difficult labors a woman faces in her lifetime. Today, much is written about gentle, natural birthing options, which are healthier for mother and child. By providing a proper state of mind and natural analgesic, aromatherapy can be used to create a memorable, magical birthing atmosphere. This article will explain some of the best ways to prepare for childbirth using essential oils.

One of women’s greatest fears when approaching childbirth is that of damaging the delicate perineal tissue. Doctors and midwives ask whether you would prefer to have an episiotomy or risk a tear. Why not prepare the perineum beforehand with soothing massage? Studies have shown that women who perform daily perineal massages in preparation for childbirth are 30% more likely to deliver over an intact perineum. Besides making the tissue soft and supple, the massage can mentally prepare the woman to relax these muscles and open outward in response to pressure, a skill that will no doubt come in handy when the baby is making his way into the world.

Ideally, you should begin daily 5-10 minute massages at six to eight weeks prior to term. First, empty your bladder. Soaking for 5-15 minutes in warm water and lavender oil can relax the vaginal wall, making the perineal massage more comfortable. If you are doing the massage yourself, place one foot on the seat of a chair or the side of the bathtub; otherwise, a partner can perform the massage while you sit back comfortably with your back resting against pillows.

Mix 1 ounce wheat germ oil with 3 drops lavender and 1 drop geranium. (Sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, and cold-pressed olive oil are good substitutes for wheat germ oil. You can also use a blend of the oils.) After dipping into the massage oil, insert your thumb or middle fingers into the vagina just enough to stretch the perineal tissue, approximately two to three inches. Press the vaginal wall back toward the rectum, massaging in a U-shaped motion. Gently stretch the vagina open for 20-60 seconds, or until you feel a tingling or slight burning sensation. Stretch both the inner portions as well as the outer rim of the perineum. Make sure to wash hands thoroughly before and after perineal massage, and discard any unused oil.

Wherever you are planning to give birth, aromatherapy can be utilized. For use during labor and delivery, add to your suitcase your favorite essential oils and oil blends, an aromatic diffuser (electric models are the best for use in birthing centers and hospitals), flannels and bowls for compresses, and a plastic tub for sitz baths. Make sure to practice with your partner so that he or she is ready to serve you in your hour of need. Discussing your wishes with your health care provider is also a good idea, so that you don’t end up in a battle of wills just at the time you planned to create your ideal birth environment.

The following essential oils are ideal for labor and delivery. Due to the heightened sensitivity to smell during labor, it is best to use only a couple oils at a time.

Neroli, bergamot, rose, or frankincense help relieve fear and anxiety, and promote relaxation between contractions. These are good oils to use in your diffuser.

Lavender is good for aches, and helps in balancing and calming the laboring woman. After your cervix has dilated to at least 2 cm, you may consider taking a 30 minute lavender bath. Studies show that this can improve progress in labor and significantly reduces the need for drugs.

Between contractions, a foot or lower back massage can soothe and stimulate pain relief. Add 20 drops lavender and 8 drops clary sage in 4 ounces of olive oil.

Jasmine, lavender, or clary sage compresses can stimulate or strengthen contractions, and cool compresses to the forehead keep you feeling refreshed. To prepare a compress simply add 3-4 drops essential oil to a bowl of warm or cool water. Drape a flannel over the surface of the water to absorb the film of the oil. Ring out cloth and apply to area.

1 drop peppermint oil offered on a handkerchief can ward off nausea, or can be used as a pick-me-up during the transitional phase, when fatigue may settle in.

If tension is preventing you from opening the cervix during contractions, an abdominal massage or a compress of 8 drops Spikenard, 7 drops Jasmine, and 3 drops lemon verbena in 4 ounces olive oil can help. Evening primrose oil massaged directly on the cervix can also assist in relaxing the tissues.

Whatever turn your birthing takes, allow the effects of aromatherapy to penetrate your mind and relax your body.

By: Francesca Black

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Francesca Black works in marketing at Organic Items www.organic-items.com and Aromatherapy Blends www.aromatherapy-blends.net leading portals for organic products and essential oils.