Sleep Deprivation

Anyone who’s getting ready to have a baby has heard nearly everyone who has had a kid offer the same warning: “Get your sleep in while you can!” That statement is always followed by a tauntingly evil laugh. Honestly, it’s like they are actually going to enjoy watching you unravel at the seams like a goodwill sweater after months of sleepless nights. You would think that these folks would have a bit more empathy for your situation. I assure you this is no joke and no matter how much sleep you get prior to the introduction of baby into your lives, alas, sleep is one thing you cannot bank. You just need to know that your sleep is going to be pretty jacked up for a while and you should tighten up on everything else as much as possible.  The following are some of the steps I’ve taken to try and deal.

While I don’t usually take a lot of supplements myself (I believe we can pretty much get all we need from our food) this is one instance where I think some smart supplementation is helpful. For one, your adrenals are about to get whipped like never before so taking some good adrenal support would be a good idea in my opinion. This is what I’ve been taking but of course, your mileage may vary:
UltraLife Adrenal #1, an adrenal concentrate as well as an herbal blend.
Super Quercetin Vitamin C complex: Vitamin C has is a powerful anti-oxident, anti-inflammatory and helps balance cortisol levels. I prefer a good complex like this over straight Vitamin C which is only Ascorbic Acid.
Licorice root extract or tea: Helps extend the half-life of cortisol for situations when cortisol production is low. I recommend working with a practitioner when using an extract as you can potentially overdo it. It's also contraindicated for high blood pressure. Start with a licorice tea in the AM and see how you do.
B Vitamin complex: Be sure to find a good blend that has folate, not folic acid.
As baby's sleep starts to improve, hopefully in a couple of month, you can add in some Phosphorylated Serine at night. This will help get your own sleep back on track. 
I’ve also taken some thyroid support from time to time as stressed adrenals often means suppressed thyroid function. For this I used Iodine and Selenium but again, this is one where I would consult a practitioner for if you feel you need it.
At night I take Vitamin D and Magnesium (and the occasional hit of Tequila but I think that’s more of a super food than a supplement).
I’ve also been taking some good digestive enzymes. There are lots of good quality digestive enzymes out there (and some not so good ones) but I’ve been pretty happy with the UltraLife brand and well as Bluebonnet Power-Zymes. Ginger tea is also a great thing to drink shortly after a meal. I like the idea of taking some digestive support because as your body shifts to your sympathetic nervous (stress response) system (and it will) things like digestion will be compromised.

Get Ready For Sugar Cravings

One thing I’ve known about for a while is the effect of sleep loss and sugar/carb cravings. When we sleep we produce a hormone called Prolactin. If we get enough sleep, Prolactin is used up and there isn’t a whole lot left during our waking hours. However, in a sleep deprived state, we will have Prolactin leftover the following day.  Unfortunately, this triggers something in our brains called Neuropeptide Y. As it turns out, Neuropeptide Y triggers some serious carb cravings. You can read more about this in the book Lights Out. Again, as much as I was familiar with this mechanism, I wasn’t fully prepared to deal with it. After a week or so of extremely poor sleep I noticed I was absolutely destroying all manner of carbs and sugar. Even when I realized what was happening, I had a hard time controlling it. My recommendation would be to make sure your diet is really dialed in a couple of weeks prior to the little one’s due date. Add in super nutrient dense foods like bone broth, coconut oil, grass-fed beef and butter and organ meats. Have a high protein, high fat breakfast to help deal with cravings throughout the day. Any refined sugar or carbs are going to be your kryptonite. You need to squeeze out every last but of nutrition from your meals during this crazy time so don’t waste calories on nutrient devoid foods.

No matter how many times you hear about sleep deprivation prior to having a baby, there’s nothing that can fully prepare you for sleep deprivation once you have actually had said baby. If you’re one of those folks that are expecting a new addition sometime soon and you think you’re ready... you’re not. You can never be ready. There are moments, under the darkness of night, at say, 12:35 AM or 1:30 AM or 2:45 AM or 3:15AM or... you get the picture... you will seriously consider sleeping in your car... in the middle of winter (or outside... in the middle of winter). In fact the thought of an ice cold, yet quiet car, seems like an oasis if it means getting a few minutes of decent shut-eye. It’s times like this that it’s okay to be honest about your feelings. This whole baby raising thing is not always bunny rabbits and giggle fits. Sometimes it’s a whole lot of suck. In fact, at 3:50AM or 4:10AM or 4:12AM or 4:F&*&ing18AM!! (Ahem... sorry) you might even think it’s all pretty much a big ball of suck. But trust me, the sun does come up tomorrow... probably in a few minutes actually... and when it does, you’ll have an amazingly bright eyed, beautiful and perfect little person looking at you and all the frustration from the night before will melt away. Then he'll cry with the terror of ten-thousand thunderstorms... but, I promise, it will still be okay and it does actually get easier. Enjoy. Every. Second. Change “I have to” to “I get to.”As in: "I GET to wake up at 3AM and change my baby." "I GET to wake up at 4AM and help my wife feed my baby."

Tips to Help Mama: So this baby raising thing is hard. The hardest thing you’ve ever done but trust me on this... as hard as this is on you, it’s nothing compared to how hard it is on Mom. Sure, you’ve gone a few nights, or even weeks, without decent sleep. Well, consider that mom had a bowling ball attached to her gut for a few months before having to upload your bundle of joy into the world. How well could you sleep like that? The days and weeks after birthing your bundle of joy she feels like she was hit by a train. Do everything in your power to make sure she doesn’t feel the need to do shit around the house. And trust me, she will want to do shit around the house. The laundry and dishes will be piling up. I’m not saying you need to be the housekeeper... well, yes, actually you might need to be the house keeper for a while. If you’re extraordinarily lucky (like us) you’ve got some family and friends around you that will offer help. They will say things like, “if there’s anything you need, let me know.” That’s your cue to be extremely clear here. “YES! You NEED help!” Mama may not want to let people help but you both need all the support you can get, so get it while it’s offered! Especially from folks that have gone through this because they understand like no one else. Let them help. Hell, give them jobs! Let them do the dishes, laundry and vacuuming. Let your mother-in-law fold you underwear. Seriously, this is no time to worry about who will see the holes in your boxer-briefs. Whatever it takes, make sure Mom sleeps when baby sleeps. And get some damn sleep yourself. Whenever, where ever. Do whatever you can to relieve stress from Mom especially if she’s breastfeeding. Nothing disrupts the production of breast milk like stress. I’ll be writing a post soon on how YOU can help support Mama and her breast feeding endeavor.

How to Deal with Jaundice or... "My Baby is all Yellow and Stuff!"

If you're reading this then chances are you've just had a new addition to your family. First and foremost, congratulations! You may also be feeling a little anxious so let's get on with the nitty gritty already.

What is Jaundice Anyway?

Jaundice is actually normal in most newborns and usually requires no treatment other than breastfeeding. Lots of breastfeeding. This is known as Physiological Jaundice and is caused by the normal breakdown of red blood cells which produces a product called bilirubin. In healthy adults most bilirubin is metabolized by the liver, becomes bile and is ultimately excreted in the urine and stool. In fact, it is bilirubin that gives urine it’s yellow color, and stool it’s brown color (I know you were just dying to know that). However, since a newborn’s liver isn’t yet fully developed this process is much slower which causes bilirubin to build up in the blood. This is the reason babies with jaundice will have a yellow tone to their skin and eyes.

Other types of Jaundice are breastfeeding Jaundice, which in my opinion, is just an extension of Physiological Jaundice. The reason I suggest that breastfeeding Jaundice is also physiological is that, within the first couple of days, Mom’s milk hasn’t come in yet and baby is just getting colostrum. While colostrum is arguably some of the most important nutrition in a person’s life, it is not a lot of substance and naturally, baby will have very small and very few eliminations.  As long as Mama is healthy and producing colostrum and then milk, that’s all the baby needs. Breastfeeding Jaundice should not be confused with Breast Milk Jaundice which is a fairly rare condition where a substance in the actual breast milk causes a rise in bilirubin. Even in this case however, the jaundice usually clears up in a period of several weeks. Again, if Mama is healthy and has good nutritional status, I would imagine that this is an even more rare occurrence than seen in the general population.
In some cases jaundice can be caused by the incompatibility of mama’s blood and baby’s blood. In this situation Mom actually produces antibodies to the baby’s blood which accelerates the destruction of their red blood cells. In more severe cases the treatment is to place baby under ultraviolet light or “bililights.” (Side Note: I was actually the first baby in NY State to be treated for jaundice by this method. It also gave me super powers which I’m not allowed to talk about. Oops.) Prior to this light therapy it was typical for infants with more severe cases to need an actual blood transfusion.
So What To Do.

As I said, in most cases no treatment is needed and baby’s bilirubin levels will naturally drop within a couple of weeks. Typically, the liver is functionally developed in about 8 days which increases bilirubin metabolism. The absolute best thing for jaundice is breast milk. Healthy breast milk has everything baby needs to facilitate the healthy development of the liver. More importantly, the more baby feeds, the more baby will poop and the more baby poops, the more bilirubin is excreted.

We were told several times that we needed to supplement with formula in the hospital. We did not. Even at our fist well visit to the pediatrician a few days later, we were told to supplement. Not only were we told to use formula, we were told that soy based formula is better. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but suggesting soy is absurd. It’s not the docs fault of course as they typically have absolutely no nutritional training in all those years of medical study. I couldn’t let it go of course and told the doc (who we actually really liked by the way and was very nice and well intentioned) about the problems with soy. That in fact, there is so much exogenous estrogen in soy formula that it’s the equivalent to giving your baby a few birth control pills. Not so healthy and that’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to soy formula. I’ll probably write a separate blog post on the subject one of these days... but I digress.

The other thing we did was to give the little guy a little safe sun exposure. The reason the “bililights” are effectively used is because the UV rays converts bilirubin into a form that can more easily be excreted in the urine. This was a bit tricky for us since Mason was born in January. Fortunately, we had a pretty mild winter here so we blasted the heat, opened the back sliding glass door and let the little man soak up some sun. About 15 - 20 minutes once a day for a couple of days and I think that really helped a lot. Don’t over do it of course. You obviously don’t want them to get a sunburn and you REALLY don’t want them looking like a tiny member of Jersey Shore. THAT would be tragic indeed. You may want to start with 5 minutes and work up from there. Use your own discretion and again, don’t over do it. A little sun can go a long way.

Again, I’m not here to give you medical advice. Always consult your doctor when it comes to any medical condition. I just wanted to share our experience and opinion on this deal in hopes to help some folks out in the paleosphere and beyond.

Welcome to the World!

Mason James - Born January 9th, 2012. 8:42AM.

40 + hours of labor.

6 Lbs. 9 oz.

Yes, 40+ hours! This was an epic childbirth indeed and the talk of the hospital. No one could believe my wife went as long as she did without intervention. Hospitals are not used to seeing this type of thing, even ones that use an amazing midwife staff like we had. We saw 4 shifts of nurses and midwives in total. The staff at Stony Brook hospital was amazing, by the way, and truly respected our wishes for a natural birth. Well, as natural as possible in a hospital setting.

Baby Mason is doing great, perfect in fact. It all feels very surreal right now. 

Apparently, while a healthy paleo baby Mama makes for a perfectly healthy paleo baby... it may not necessarily make child birth any easier. My wife is a warrior. 

Looking forward to posting more as we go along this crazy journey. I can't be sure what or how often I'll write here but I promise it will be full of typos and grammatical errors and hopefully, once in a while... something helpful.