nYn Supports Women & Children in Uganda

This has been on my heart for a while and I'm excited to share it with you!

Starting today, a portion of all nYn doula fees will be given to ministries in Uganda.  

I've never even been to Africa but there is a piece of my heart reserved for Uganda. Why? Well....

My best friend, who also blogs at A Southern Ruckus, adopted her daughter from Uganda in 2010. In an attempt to survive the painstaking waiting process, she soaked in as much knowledge as she could about Uganda: the landscape, the history, the culture, the language, the orphanage, logistics. Everything. In my attempt to support her as much as possible during this time, I learned right along with her. We've often joked that I was her "adoption doula." I read the same websites, saw the same pictures, read reviews on her book selections, followed the same blogs, and stalked kept up with the same people on Twitter. Some of my favorite people on the Internet right now are families that I "met" virtually during that process. Many of them have also adopted from Uganda. 

When my bestie was in Uganda for 6 weeks, I lived vicariously through her via email, chat, blog updates and video conferencing (thank goodness for technology). While I have never experienced Uganda first hand, it's 3 years later and still on my mind. Mainly because it pops into my blog newsfeed so frequently. ;) In the last few months, I have been feeling the need to continue to support women and children in Uganda. 

After much prayer and consideration, I'm excited to put real funds towards the following ministries. When you hire me as your doula, a portion of that fee will be given directly to this family and organization. Read below to learn more about each of them! 

NATHAN & JADE METZ

I "met" Jade when she was on Uganda soil waiting to bring her son home. Her personality, patience, humbleness and love for the Lord was and still is abundant. I've been inspired by her in ways she will never know. Now, her family is preparing to go back to pursue a full-time ministry opportunity.

MERCY FOR MAMAS

I also "met" Melissa while she was in Uganda waiting to adopt her daughter. She brought to my attention to conditions in which Ugandan women deliver their babies. She began distributing "Mama Kits" to help the women of Uganda have cleaner, safer births. 

Training: Herbalism for the Birth Professional

Ever since I first became pregnant many years ago, I have not been able to stop researching and learning as much as I can about pregnancy, birth, and babies. So far, I have completed my doula certification through Childbirth International and my Hypno-Doula certification through Hypnobabies.

Along the way I have also developed an interest in natural health, wellness, and treatment. I've been a fan of Vintage Remedies for a while now and I was thrilled when they released this course last year. I thought it would be a nice compliment to my doula training. I think it's important to be to be able to give my clients as many tools as I can to manage their pregnancy in the most natural way possible. However, just because something is natural doesn't mean that it's appropriate for a pregnant or nursing mother. This course should provide me with the the resources and information I need to make appropriate recommendations for my clients.

One extra perk of this course is that there is a section on keeping the doula healthy as well. Herbalism for the Birth Professional covers information on aromatherapy, herbalism, natural solutions, and immune boosters.

Vintage Remedies also has a variety of other course options available including Family Herbalist, Holistic Wellness, Foundations of Aromatherapy and more! If you are just looking for a good book to get you started, I would recommend, The Handbook of Vintage Remedies, The Herbalism Course, or The Aromatherapy Course.

I'm excited to get started!

No 'Poo Part 3: Switching to Low 'Poo

When I last checked in, I was 20 days into the No 'Poo Experiment. I'm now on day 55. Here are the updates.

Right after I posted my last update, I noticed that my hair suddenly didn't feel so "clean" between washes. For a while I chalked it up to the fact that "Hey, hair that contains some of it's natural oils is definitely going to feel 'different' than hair that has been stripped of it's natural oils." That is technically true. My hair felt heavier, yet it was still bouncy with plenty of volume. It had texture. I didn't mind this as my hair actually stayed in place. Fly aways were non existent. It was nice!

But, no matter how thorough I was in my washing process, I still had random spots that felt greasy, especially up underneath. The top of my hair always looked flawless and gorgeous (or so people told me). Underneath it felt greasy. Maybe this is because my hair is so short right now. The top part has more surface area to distribute the natural oils. The little short hair underneath does not. That was my reasoning but I'm not sure how accurate that is. See what I mean?

The goal was to be able to go 3 or eventually even 4 days between washing but I was back to 2 days and sometimes really toughing it out on day 2. I kept trying to adjust my baking soda to water ratio, or keep it the same and adjust the apple cider vinegar to water ratio, but nothing seemed to make a difference.

And that's when I colored my hair on day 40. I'm pleased to report that you can, in fact, still color your hair and not use shampoo. I was afraid the baking soda would be so harsh that it would wash the dye right out but it's been totally fine. However, by coloring my hair, it stripped the oil right out. Since I'm disclosing all hair secrets, I use Preference or Excellence by Loreal. After washing on that day, even with baking soda, my hair was back to it's pre no 'poo state. I'm not gonna lie, I REALLY liked the way may hair felt. It was squeaky clean and light. I almost threw in the towel right there on day 40.

Alas, I figured there had to be a happy medium. So, on day 45, I cheated. Well, not really but kinda. I'm now doing what is referred to as Low 'Poo. I'm still not using shampoo but I've added a soap agent, castille soap. It's still all natural and chemical free, which is the whole point, but the castille soap gives it a sudsing effect that essentially dissolves dirt and grease. Now, I'm back to washing every 3rd or 4th day and I'm much happier. My new recipe is below. This will last me about 4 washes and is super cheap!

12 ounces of water
2 Tablespoons baking soda
1 Tablespoon castille soap

Oh, I've also been super pleased with my dry shampoo concoction. Again, all natural. I've actually considered adding it to the nYn product line. I typically start needing to use it to get through day 3 but it does a great job of soaking up any oil and leaves my hair looking fresh but doesn't weight it down. I have a friend testing it now to see if someone else loves it as much as me.

There you have it. If something else changes, I'll do another update. For now, I'll just be over here doing my Low 'Poo thing.

I'm curious. Are there any other No 'Poo or Low 'Poo folks out there? Do you have a recipe that works for you that I haven't tried? Share it with me and other readers in the comments below.

Want to start at the beginning?
No 'Poo Part 1: The Journey
No 'Poo Part 2: The Experiment