{Hello all, Alyssa here. My husband Justin wrote a post for me, and here it is! If I write anything or have any input, it will be in bold and written like this. Enjoy!}
It’s official. The
Crunchy Mama blog page has been invaded by the husband!
That’s right. This
week’s blog will be done by the man that my wife, Alyssa, has talked about on
many different occasions.
Now you would
think that Alyssa would have asked me to do this, but actually, I was the one
who asked her if it would be ok to take over for a change. Usually, my wife writes about different kinds
of topics which range anywhere from light topics such as eating organic foods,
the wonders of coconut oil, or even her latest posting about “no-pooing”, to
more controversial topics such as vaccinations, breastfeeding in public, or
circumcision. The reason why I wanted to
write this week was because I wanted to share my perspective from being married
to a “crunchy mom”. And honestly, this post is more directed to the men who are married to crunchy moms who might not
be fully comfortable with the crunchy beliefs that their wives have. This is a message to you from a man who used
to feel the exact same way.
Of course, today, my wife and I are on the same page as to
how we want to raise our children, but that wasn’t always the case. Originally, I believed the most mainstream
opinions that the world today has conditioned everyone to believe, such as you
are supposed to give birth in the hospital, you are supposed to get your kid
vaccinated, and that you stop breastfeeding after 6-8 months and then give them regular milk. My wife had
to do a lot of research to get me to see a different perspective.
For starters, when Alyssa and I found out we were pregnant
with our daughter, the topic of whether to have the baby at home or in the
hospital arose. At first, I definitely
wanted to have the baby at the hospital, but she wanted to have the baby at
home. She set up a meeting between us
and a few midwives that she knew so that they could explain to me the
differences. At first, I thought it was
just going to be a couple of old broads giving me their old-school opinion, but
it was actually well-trained women who have done research and gone to
school for this that were sharing with me real-life experiences that they have
had. But it wasn't until one of them
asked me a simple question that I really got on board with the idea.
One of the midwives asked me, “how long have humans have been
around?” I said that they have been
around for thousands of years. She then
asked me, “Did you know that hospital births have only been around for the past
hundred years?” At this point, I saw
where she was going with this and I understood.
If women have been giving birth at home without hospitals for thousands
of years, then why couldn't my wife?
Childbirth is a natural bodily experience. A woman’s body is conditioned for it, but
somehow, the world has conditioned us to believe that it is more of a surgical
procedure that requires a doctor’s assistance.
Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t instances where a doctor isn’t
needed because there are sometimes complications with childbirth, but for the
most part, childbirth is a natural process that should be able to be done
anywhere.
Throughout the course of the 9-10 months that my wife was
pregnant, she did more research about different topics such as
vaccinations. Again, I thought that
vaccinations were just another thing that you are supposed to do. Nope.
I found out that actually, widespread vaccinations in the U.S. have only
been around since about 1812. Before
that, not a lot of people were getting vaccinated. Nowadays, there are vaccinations for almost
everything, but what a lot of people don’t know is that they are not necessary. In fact, many vaccinations today can be more
dangerous than the actual sickness or disease that they are meant to prevent
because of the ingredients in them. Most
vaccinations are composed of mercury, heavy metals, and in some cases, aborted
fetal cells. Don’t believe me? Do some research. You will be shocked at all the crap in
vaccines. I wouldn’t want that crap in
my body, so why the jack would I want to pump my new-born baby full of that
garbage. Honestly, the only real vaccine
that a baby needs is breast milk, which brings me to my next topic. {Ultimately, the vaccine debate is something you need to research for your family and decide what you feel is best for your children. Our choice to not vaccinate has been a long time in the making, after a lot of research, praying and soul searching. You can read more about my research and perspective on vaccines HERE.}
When my wife told me that she would breastfeed as long as
she could, I thought she meant around 6-8 months, but she literally meant “as
long as she can”. When I asked why she
wouldn’t switch to regular milk, once again, I would get schooled by her
extensive research. A women’s breast
milk is constantly changing depending on the baby’s needs. It is full of natural proteins, nutrients,
fats and sugars that a baby needs in order to develop and grow. Not only that, but a woman’s breast milk
contains all of the antibodies that a baby needs in order to fight off
infections and other sicknesses and ultimately, naturally strengthens the
baby’s immune system, whereas vaccines will most likely weaken it.
When I asked about regular milk, I found out
that milk actually doesn't have much of a nutritional benefit to our bodies. Apparently, there are good and bad types of
calcium. Because of all of the processes
that milk goes through in order for us to drink it, our bodies aren’t actually
able to absorb the calcium that is in milk.
Also, because of the hormones that are injected into the cows and the
milk itself, more and more children, especially girls, are going through
puberty earlier than usual. So giving
our daughter milk was out of the question.
But what about formula? Again, I
learned that formula is not an adequate replacement for breast milk. In fact, formula contains fats that are not
easily digestible and if given too much, can result in childhood obesity. I never really fought with my wife on this
matter, because to me, if my kid is healthy, happy, and is growing, I don’t
care how long they breastfeed. Our
daughter is over a year old and is still breastfeeding. Yes, she eats regular foods like chicken,
eggs, and puree baby foods, but she still gets her daily fix of milk from the
tap. {I would like to add that this is not a hate on formula or moms who use formula. We realize there are instances where some moms cannot physically breastfeed. Our belief is that in general, for the average mom and child, breastmilk is the ultimate nutrition and food we can give our child, and shouldn't be a "will I" or "won't I." Not only to save money but because the benefits are innumerable and there really is no comparison. Also, there is such a thing as "toddler formula." If there is toddler formula, I don't understand the controversy over me breastfeeding past one haha.}
Probably one of the biggest crunchy debates that my wife and
I ever really did have when we found out we were having a baby was the topic of
circumcision. And again, I thought that
it was just something that happened to all boys when they are born. But this was the one topic that really got my
wife going on her research. If we had a
boy, she did NOT want him circumcised.
Doctors in America (emphasis on "in America" as we are the only country to routinely practice circumcision on infants) say that there are health benefits to circumcision. The most notable belief is the decreased risk of a
sexually transmitted disease.
Really? If cutting off the end of
my penis reduces the risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease, then
chopping off my ear reduces the risk of me getting an inner-ear infection. When
I heard that that was the most notable benefit to circumcision, I couldn’t
freaking believe it. How about this? Don’t have unprotected sex unless you want to have a kid, I’m sure that
reduces the risk of an STD better than circumcision. Besides the fact that America routinely practices infant circumcision and has one of the highest STD rates in the industrialized world. Europe doesn't routinely circumcise and their rates are a lot lower. Just saying. {to read more about circumcision, the lack of benefits, and other info, click HERE.}
After reading about the “benefits” of
circumcision, I also read about the risks, and as it turns out, if the doctor
botches the procedure, the baby may end up having to have its penis fully amputated and in some cases, the baby can actually die.
Don’t believe me? Again, do some
research. Babies die of circumcision related blood loss more than a 100 times a year here. You will be shocked to see how
common it actually is that a baby dies from a botched circumcision. I knew that circumcision was the removal of
the foreskin of the penis. What I didn’t
know was that when a baby is born, the foreskin is actually fused to the penis
and that, over time, it retracts naturally.
So when a newborn baby boy is being circumcised, the doctor is actually
peeling flesh away from flesh. How would
you like to feel that? I’m sure you
wouldn’t. Try taking a scalpel to your finger and taking off your attached nail, for an example.
What really convinced me
against circumcision was after hearing all of this, Alyssa asked me to watch a
medical video of a circumcision being performed, and the way that the doctor
was so brutally handling the child and the amount of pain I could see on the
baby’s face and hear in its cries made me realize that I would NEVER want my
kid to go through that kind of pain. So,
if God ever decides to bless Alyssa and me with a son or sons, they will be
staying intact.
I know that most of the men sitting here reading this might
be thinking that I’m totally nuts, but seriously, I was the same as you and
have had same reservations that you might have against your wife or girlfriend's viewpoints. But seriously, if you take
the time to do the research, you will learn that your crunchy wife might not be
as crazy as you think she is. I thought
mine was, and look at me. I’m almost as
crunchy as my wife!
If you want proof for
anything that I have talked about, let me tell you this. My daughter is now over a year old and since
the day she was born, she has never been sick.
She hasn’t had so much as a cough or a runny nose. Why? My wife and I believe it's because we don't vaccinate her and she's been breastfed so long, she has quite the immune system. Another kid that I know who is around the
same age as our daughter has had all of their vaccinations and they have been
sick on several different occasions with things that there vaccinations should
have prevented you would think.
I’m very blessed that my wife is as crunchy as she is,
because if she wasn’t I couldn’t even imagine how our daughter would have
turned out. Without her doing her
research, we probably would have gone to the hospital to deliver our daughter where all sorts of interventions could have changed the outcome,
gotten her vaccinated, and given her formula instead of breast milk. All in all, things could have turned out very
differently than they are now.
Today, I am about as crunchy as my wife when, before, I was
pretty “creamy," I guess that would be
the opposite of crunchy if we are going based off of peanut butter types. I hope that I was able to give you guys a
little insight to what its like being a guy who is married to a crunchy mama
and hopefully you have learned a few things and will do your own research so
that you are prepared to be the best father you can be to your kids.
Best
wishes,
Justin
