Essentially Pregnant!

Yes it's true! We are expecting baby number 8 in December! We are very excited to welcome this new life into our family and I am particularly excited to welcome this baby as my first essential oil baby! 

An essential oil baby? Yes, an essential oil baby! 

But what exactly are essential oils?
Glad you asked!
Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts that are naturally found and distilled from different parts of a plant, including leaves, flowers, twigs, bark, peel, and roots. A plant has oil sacks in these various parts which help to protect it from disease--and we can receive the same benefits!!

But wait? You read somewhere on the internet that essential oils are not safe for pregnant women?  I am here to share that CPTG Essential Oils ARE safe for use during pregnancy.

Hop on over to my Essential Oil Blog to learn why I trust and use them while I am pregnant. See what plans I have to use them before and after the delivery too! CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE...

Using Essential Oils on C-Section Scars

I was first introduced to essential oils after the birth of my seventh baby last Christmas.

My cousin had begun using them in her own family to support them through environmental and seasonal issues. She gave me a sample of Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, and Digestzen (and a cute little pair of baby shoes too!).

 I fell in love with the Lemon right away and began using it in my water. I liked the Lavender too!

I attended one of my cousin's classes on making over your family bathroom cabinet and thought it would be wonderful to use all natural products!

 I eventually signed up with my own wholesale account to save money on my oils and I began to do more research on my own and learned about so many more health benefits from using essential oils. It seemed endless the possibilities and the uses of these amazing oils and what they can do for a body, especially one like mine that has been through seven, (UPDATE now EIGHT, yes EIGHT C-sections) and an appendectomy AND a tubal reversal!

We began applying  the ten oils and learned how to use them! We put the On Guard to the bottoms of our feet, Digestzen on upset tummies, Lavender on cuts and scrapes, inhaled Peppermint for occasional nausea on car rides, Lemon in my water, Oregano and Melaleuca in the diffuser for environmental threats, and the Deep Blue! Now that stuff is AMAZING! It really sold me after I applied it to a hurting wrist and it took the pain away in less than 5 MINUTES!

SING OVER ME ESSENTIAL OILS WAS BORN!

I started my own Facebook Page to save all my research and invited everyone I knew to join along with me! I never intended to build a thriving team with  doTERRA, but I couldn't help sharing! 

Why should I keep this to myself?!

I got a FREE bottle of Immortelle for purchasing 200 PV (product value) on my LRP (Loyalty Rewards Program, super way to save on oils!) back in early September of 2014. I thought, "well, I'm 40 now, I'm going to need help with wrinkles! I'll jump on the deal of the FREE bottle!)

Then I read somewhere on one of the Facebook groups I follow that someone uses this for their c-section scar. I thought, "I'll have to try it!" So I did!

 

"A proprietary blend of powerfully renewing, rare essential oils used throughout history for their beautifying benefits, Immortelle Anti-Aging Blend is formulated to protect and nourish skin while helping to reduce contributing factors to the appearance of aging skin. These powerful essential oils help sustain smoother, more radiant, and youthful-looking skin. Immortelle easily absorbs into the skin and can be used on the face, neck, and décolletage to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and aging skin."-doTERRA blog.

After less than two weeks, I noticed much of the redness had disappeared in my top c-section scar.

 (I have two c-section scars from 9 surgeries). My lower scar had become less lumpy and less sensitive and in general, after 10 years, looked less "angry". This stuff is incredible and a true gift from God in my opinion!

 (I am not a medical professional and I make NO claims that this WILL work for you, but it has worked for me. If you have been wondering how you'll ever get back to normal after your c-section, you might want to give this amazing essential oil blend a try! After placing your order, it will come straight to your home and arrive in only 2-5 business days! )

With less sensitivity I may even begin doing this massage technique, although the video below is kind of hard to watch the whole thing!

http://www.pregnancy.org/article/massage-your-c-section-scar

How to Properly Massage a Scar.

If you would like to know where to purchase this amazing essential oil and help your c-section scar, go to my website to order. There are two ways to order Imortelle, Retail or wholesale.   I am not a medical professional and I make NO claims that this WILL work for you, but it has really diminished my redness and supported my body in its recovery process. Your order will come straight to your home and arrive in only 2-5 business days! If you have been wondering how you'll move on after your c-section, you might want to give this amazing essential oil blend a try!

If you are here on my page and read this far, you might be interested in the emotional piece that comes from recovering from delivering by cesarean. DoTERRA is working on the scientific research on the significance of how essential oils work through our olfactory senses to help our bodies recover and support our emotional health as well as our physical health. I will be writing and sharing about this more soon! But I am excited to announce that doTERRA has just released an entire roller bottle "Touch" kit with all of their emotional oils!

This kit is simply splendid and contains six unique essential oil blends combined with Fractionated Coconut Oil in 10 mL Roll-Ons. They are super convenient and have are meant for a gentle topical application. "These proprietary blends provide targeted emotional health benefits for the entire family and can be applied every day to specific points on the body to help balance and brighten your changing moods."-doTERRA blog-***COMING OCTOBER 3, 2016*** (Because I went to convention we got to purchase these products before they are available for purchase, and they are wonderful! More details to come)

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

You can also see my latest posts on other oils and supplements at Everything Essential For Me 

Hospital Nursing Gown with Matching Little Girls' Dresses and Review

I have just under three weeks left until I deliver my precious little girl via c-section. She will be our third daughter, fourth tubal-reversal baby, and my seventh child!

(Here I am with my six amazing kids who treated me to ice cream on Mother's Day this year. I am about 3 months along here.)

I can hardly believe the baby will be here and that this is all even real some days! I wanted to share my latest project I finished, my very own hospital nursing gown, I made myself!

I was looking on Pinterest and found this great post about making your own hospital nursing gown from The Crafty Cupboard.

I was really excited to attempt to make this hospital nursing gown as I wanted something to look forward  to as I never look forward to having c-sections. After all  this will be my seventh c-section and also my ninth major abdominal surgery.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually sewed anything in YEARS, (except for minor clothing repairs). I haven't tackled a major sewing project like this since before I had kids about 17 years ago.


I pre-washed and dried all my fabric before beginning. I then printed out the hospital gown pattern pieces on my printer.

 I followed the suggestions of a 36 inch length as I am not very tall and that turned out to be a nice length for me. I tapered my cutting to a nice A-line shape as suggested to accommodate my large tummy.

I followed the rest of the blog instructions fairly easily, creating a lovely nursing gown that doesn't fall off my shoulders thanks to snaps in the front and at each side. You can see a better a view of the front here.

I had a little trouble learning how to use the lightweight interfacing around the neckline, but it was definitely worth the effort as it makes for such a nice crisp neckline to attach snaps to. I accidentally ended up sewing my neckline completely together instead of just ironing it out as directed. The directions said to top stitch and I thought it meant to stitch it closed. This made it more difficult to sew the neckline onto the dress so I added an extra step and  sewed purple binding ribbon to the inside of my dress in order to attach the dress to the neckline. It ended up coming out just as nice. I added purple binding ribbon to the sleeves that match the ribbon around my tummy. I think it came out rather nice! Overall, I think the tutorial from The Crafty Cupboard was very thorough and I would definitely attempt to make this dress again.

The total dress cost probably less than $30 including 3 yards of material, purple thread, purple binding ribbon, and velcro, and snaps.

Now for the matching little girls' dresses!

My mother bought me a Simplicity New Look pattern at Wal-mart to make the girls' dresses in size 4 and 6, (along with all the material, it was a very nice birthday present for sure)! Thanks again, MOM!

I just followed the instructions and they were fairly easy to put together. The gathering at the waist was a little tricky but by the time I got to the second dress I got the hang of it. Since I took this picture above I have sewed some little purple bows onto the necklines and added purple ribbons at the waistline to match my gown.

For the infant gown I was inspired by another Pinterest post by Sweet Haute. Lazy Girl Designs has another hospital nursing gown but it didn't have the detachable nursing neckline like I wanted so I ended up going with The Crafty Cupboard's design. But what I DID like about this post was the cute matching infant gown. I basically made a small dress and sewed an elastic into the bottom of it and then sewed it to an infant onesie. I already had a pretty sweater and hat saved from my daughter so I thought it matched perfectly the purple fabric I chose for my dress!

I have two more dresses to make for the girls but I am already looking around at what I can sew next! Well, maybe after the baby comes I hopefully can pick up my sewing again soon. It is such a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! What sewing projects are you working on?