For me, being a mother has been the most rewarding, demanding, exhilarating, and beautiful experience of my life. Of all that I have accomplished, I am most proud of my three children. And like any good mother, I am fiercely protective of my brood, which has included doing whatever I can to make sure their environment is as toxic free as possible - including preparing my body for pregnancy.
So when Greenopia's General Manager and my Life Manager Charli and her husband decided they were ready to start trying to get pregnant, and she asked me for guidance, I was eager to share with her what I had learned from my own experience.
Charli has worked for me more than eight years now, and I consider her more than an employee. We regularly have conversations about the safest beauty and household products, plant-based eating and exercise. A huge advocate for environmental healthful living, she has always taken note how I navigate living a healthful life. But her curiosity peaked around these topics once she decided at age twenty-seven that she wanted to begin her journey into motherhood.
Charli wanted to make sure she was taking the right steps to create a nourishing toxin free vessel for her baby to gestate. She also knew that required her to prepare her body before she got pregnant and she would need to do that a year in advance.
When she asked for my advice, the first thing I told her she needed to do was stop taking any medication. This included birth control, which would require her and her husband to be extra careful. I also introduced her to my long-time doctor who specializes in naturopathic, homeopathic, and Chinese medicine, Dr. Murray C. Clarke, D. Hom., M. Hom., L.Ac.
Murray has been mentoring me since I was a young mom and has helped me to raise my kids with his holistic approach to health. Murray gave Charli a test to check for the heavy metals in her body that are harmful to everyone, particularly pregnant women. These can include, mercury, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, lead and nickel and can seep into our bodies through food, cosmetics, soaps, vaccinations, and household cleaning products.
Charli's results were much better than the average. The ones Murray wanted to address were arsenic, mercury, and natural uranium. Uranium interestingly shows up in 90% of Californians due to the groundwater, crops, and aqueducts.
Murray's prescription was a custom set of proprietary blends with ingredients such as glutamic acid, glycine, N-Acetyl-Cysteine, Glutathione, Chlorella, Phytoplankton, Lipoic Acid, Brown seaweed, Irish moss, and aloe that are sprayed under the tongue to be absorbed by the body efficiently.
Once Charli's body was detoxed of the harmful metals it was time to add the good stuff back in, so he continued her on a specially curated plan of supplements, which included prenatal vitamins, DHA, mineral drinks and probiotics.
After ten months of preparing, Charli happily announced she was pregnant! Of course, I had more guidelines that included:
- Avoiding manicures, pedicures and any environment that used products that contain toxins.
- Getting in lots of walking, light exercise and prenatal yoga
- Drinking lots of water - close to 100 ounces per day
- Eating a healthful diet that included an abundance of leafy greens, nuts, seeds, omega 3-fatty acids, whole grains, probiotics, and lean protein
- Eliminating alcohol and smoking which was easy as she is neither a big drinker or smoker
- Avoiding caffeine
Charli was particularly stringent during her first and second trimester, but like most mothers was not as conscientious in the last one when you get so uncomfortable that you often feel like a beached whale!
This past year, on November 5, which coincidentally is the same birthday as my son Colin, Charli gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl.
Now the challenge has been to keep that little girl as free from toxins as possible which is no easy endeavor in a world that has grown more toxic since I gave birth to my three. But Charli is committed, and I must say that now the student teaches the teacher! Every day she shares with me new eco-friendly baby products and helpful websites that she has discovered in her never ending research to give Vivien the best chance at life she can.
Some of her finds include Holle Goats Milk Formula which is a great supplement and substitution to breast milk and is much easier than making it yourself like I did. The Baby Bullet which offers a simple and easy way to make your own baby food. NurturMe Squeeze Reusable Eco-Pouches for mom's on the go, and companies like Noble Carriage, that offers all sorts of wonderful baby toys and clothes that meet at least three of five sustainability standards (100% Certified Organic, Fair Trade, Made in the U.S.A., Locally Made or Handmade) per product. She also loves to re-use and shop consignment whatever she can.
The bad news is that we have more instead of less environmental worries today than we did when I was a new mom. The good news is there are more resources than ever to control your personal environment health and that of your children. It just requires being a conscious consumer as my dear Charli is. 
Charli and Baby Vivien - Photo: Kelsey Abbott Photography