A little bit of everything today

I get migraines, bad ones. I have done since my first migraine following my epidural after my daughter was born and then every period since. It’s debilitating and renders me virtually unable to parent my children 3 days out of every month.

I usually take panadol or nurofen or a combination of both. A cold pack on the back of my neck and my forehead while lying in a dark room also helps.

Sleep is best, undisturbed sleep in a cool dark room.

I have two toddlers and a partner who works inflexible hours, I can’t just spend 3 days in bed so I’ve been suffering through.

I read in Prescription for Natural Cures by James Balch, Mark Stengler and Robin Balch that there are some things that can help.

Avoiding caffeine is one, I’m slowly cutting that out. I had a cup of coffee yesterday afternoon and couldn’t fall asleep until about 10pm.

Taking calcium, magnesium, and omega 3 is another suggestion, so I’m now doing that.

I’m on the look out for a practitioner of TCM in Townsville, preferably someone who practices acupuncture.

I’ve seen GPs who have told me that there is nothing physically wrong with me so just take panadol and nurofen and rest. That would be fine it the headaches were a one off but they’re not. I’m over living my life like this 3 days a month, it’s time to take charge of my own healthcare.

Someone said of me lately that naturopathy isn’t a profession and that it’s a load of quackery. Well, I think that’s a bit much. Perhaps doctors don’t want to believe that natural therapies have merit because it goes at odds with what they believe while naturopaths believe that all medical systems have a place and a purpose.

I write my blog posts on an iPhone, generally I do so while breastfeeding my son. Typos happen and to the grammarphiles I apologize if I offend with my spelling mistakes and awkward autocorrections.

As for my education, well I finished high school with good marks and was accepted to university to do a Bachelor of Education (Special Education) which I enjoyed and did for a year. But being behind a desk was not for me, so I deferred and eventually quit and joined the workforce.

I worked at Hungry Jacks. Then at Storm Financial as a receptionist before joining the Navy in 2007. I joined as an officer and completed the New Entry Officer Course all the way up to the field phase, but being an officer was not for me and I changed over to be a sailor. From there I went on to complete my Certificate II in Kitchen Operations through the Australian Defence Force School of Catering.

I posted to HMAS Kuttabul and did a little time at sea. Then I got married. Then I had a baby. Left the Navy. Had another baby. Moved to Townsville and survived having 2 under 2. Now I’m studying via distance education through the Australian Institute of Applied Sciences. I’m studying an Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, at the moment I’m studying Nutrition 1 and Naturopathic Philosophy.

I have 2×1,000 word essays, 2x nutritional assessments and 2×2 hour short answer exams. It’s not an easy course but I am enjoying the challenge.

This blog is not something I get paid to do, it’s not a scientific debate of statistics and data, and it’s not ever a replacement for quality advice from trained medical professionals. I do not pretend to be a midwife or a doctor. I’m just a woman, wife and mother who believes that we all deserve choices. We should all have the right to decide what advice we follow and what advice we go against, no matter who that advice comes from.

I believe in a woman’s right to have an abortion, not because it’s something I would do but because the decision to carry and birth a baby is one that can only be made by that woman and no one should ever be forced to birth a baby they don’t want or can’t care for. No woman should endure the trauma of gestating their rapists baby.

I believe Homebirth should remain legal. Not because I believe hospital births are ‘bad’ but because I believe that the decisions regarding where and how a mother births are hers to make alone. Doctors and midwives can give advice and should give women all the facts but the decision should be make by the mother. Even if the medical professional believes it is the wrong decision it is not theirs to make. And don’t screw with the statistics, if we believe that condoms working 99.8% of the time is a good success rate and that this makes them an acceptable form contraception and a reliable one at that. Then considering that in 2007 99.7% of babies born at home in Australia (I’m Australian, I use Australian statistics ) were live born, wouldn’t that indicate that it’s a pretty reliable way to give birth?

I believe in attachment parenting, not because I think it’s the only way but because it is what works best for me and my family. I believe just like with medicine there are alternatives to the sometimes harsh methods we’re otherwise told to use. Call it a holistic way of parenting. Spanking for example looks only at fixing the problem at hand without worry of possible negative problems, gentle guidance looks at the child as a whole and works with them through each temper tantrum and episode of misbehavior, it works on them as a person not just on single behaviors.

Anyway, that’s my bit for the day. I get migraines, doing some ‘hippy stuff’ to try and make them easier to live with, I’ve got a pretty good education and working on getting a better one, I believe in abortion and homebirth and attachment parenting.