Honey We're Killing the Kids

The other day we visited the recently remodeled home of an old college friend. The house is lovely and modern, like something out of Dwell magazine. As she walked us through the sunny, open floor plan she highlighted the low VOC paint, the environmentally sustainable cork floors, the whole-house water filtration system, and the earth-friendly carpeting. Then she reminded us of all the toxic chemicals in most retail baby products and gave us some free samples of Arbonne Baby Care. Convinced that my daily application of sunscreen, our VOC-emitting home and all that chlorinated water I've been drinking had already permanently damaged the baby, I purchased an additional $150 with of all-natural skin-care products hoping to fend off any further damage.

The next morning I pulled up Babble's main page to find this article on lead poisoning. Like the author of the piece, I assumed lead poisoning only happened to unsupervised children “gnawing on windowsills” in slummy apartment buildings. (and, of course, anyone who happens to buy toys made in China, which really, is just about anyone who buys toys) So now I was convinced that underneath my VOC-emitting Silver Sage walls a sinister layer of lead dust was accumulating, just waiting to off us all. I thought this news might finally cause that famous “nesting instinct” to kick in and I would get out my mop and buckets in a cleaning frenzy, but the information sheet on how to remove lead dust began with “PREGNANT WOMEN MUST NOT REMOVE LEAD DUST”, so I just stayed in front of the computer waiting for the next terrifying bit of information to come over the internet.

And I didn't have to wait long. I checked in on our neighborhood message board where I found a debate raging over whether or not petroleum based products (i.e. Vasoline) are causing irreversible damage to our kids. After doing a bit of my own research I concluded Vasoline is probably just fine, but I did spend about an hour on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep web site checking the safety rating of every cosmetic product I use. Most of them fell in the “moderate hazard” range, which was somewhat disconcerting because I actually do make an effort to use “safe” products, especially since I became pregnant.

I guess the point of all this is that even though I feel like a fairly well-informed, environmentally conscious consumer, there are still a ton of hazards that I hadn't considered and for a day or so I felt completely inadequate as a wife/mother/consumer/citizen. I can't rid my home of every possible toxin and even if I tried to I would probably end up introducing some new danger during my efforts. I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet and I know that the “natural products” industry has an interest in scaring us away from conventional products. At the same time there is compelling evidence that chemicals in many of the products we use may be causing developmental problems, fertility issues, allergies, etc. Am I just a big worrywart? Somehow I don't think my parents ever bothered with these sorts of things and they may have been better off for it.

Food Poisoning!

I thought I was going to make it through this pregnancy vomit-free, but after 8 and half months of avoiding morning sickness I ended up with food poisoning and have spent the last last 18 hours nauseated, vomiting and battling diarrhea. I know 18 hours is much preferable to the 3 months of nausea that many pregnant ladies endure, but I am still feeling icky and sorry for myself.

My husband and I had gone out to dinner at Chaya Venice for our anniversary and quite possibly our last nice dinner out for the next few months. I ordered the baked chicken wrapped in prosciutto. I know prosciutto is on the “bad food” list, but since it was baked (and since I really wanted it) I thought it would be okay. I guess not.

After not being able to keep anything down for hours I decided to call my doctor and make sure the baby wasn't at risk. I figured he'd be okay without food, but I was starting to worry about how the bacteria might affect him. Her office was already closed so I had to call her cell phone, which I always hate to do, but she was very nice about it and said that baby would be fine, but that I would just have to wait out the food poisoning since any of the medications typically used to treat it can't be used during pregnancy. She also reminded me to drink lots of fluids and try to eat bland foods like toast and bananas.

The car seat is in!

This morning my husband and I drove to the LAPD station near the corner of La Brea and Venice to have our child safety seat installed. We had considered installing it ourselves, but after reading the infant seat instructions, our Honda's owner manual and fiddling with a multitude of buttons, latches and straps we determined we needed professional help. Guess those 4 years of engineering school didn't prepare us for the complicated mechanics of car seats. Perhaps if we'd splurged on those Master's degrees...

Thankfully, LAPD has a free installation/inspection program and after a quick phone call last week we had an appointment with 2 very nice officers this morning at 8AM. They showed us how to adjust our Baby Trend Flex-Loc seat and buckle it into the center of our Honda's back seat. We asked them about installing it on one side or the other, but our reason (needing a place for the dog to sit) was deemed unsatisfactory. The officer asked us, “what's more important, the baby or the dog?” so we sheepishly agreed that the center of the backseat was the way to go. Our dog is too big to sit in the back next to the car seat, maybe she'll have to start riding up front with my husband.

I'm starting to understand why people run out and buy a giant car as soon as they have a baby. Between the car seat, stroller, diaper bag, etc., then throw transporting a dog into the mix, well, it's easy to feel a bit cramped. And we're just dealing with the infant seat here. I've seen some of those convertible car seats, which the officers informed us we'll need to upgrade to once the baby is over 22 lbs, and they are like mini Barcaloungers! I wonder if they come with tiny little cigars and brandy glasses.

I remember watching as our friends (who are a few years ahead of us on the whole kid thing) slowly replaced their compact sedans with mini-vans and scornfully asking “Why does the addition of 8 pounds of baby suddenly require 2 tons of car?” Now I at least understand the inclination. I still can't justify a mini-van or one of those obnoxious Hummers, but I do admit to eying station wagons lately.