 In 1928, Alexander Fleming is credited to discovering the "first real" antibiotic, known to many people as Penacillin. This was supposed to be the wonder drug. It was supposed to kill all infections and be the answer to infections all over the world. As time has gone on, penacillin, along with many other antibiotics, have been prescribed by doctors for any range of different infections. Ear infections, urinary tract infections, skin infections-- you name it an antibiotic is and was commonly prescribed. Flash forward to 2015, and you will find many people refusing antibiotics. Why? Why would people refuse an antibiotic for themselves or their children? Well-- first let me tell you what an antibiotic is. According to Web MD Antibiotics are medicines that kill bacteria. Bacteria can cause infections such as strep throat, ear infections, urinary tract infections, and sinus infections (sinusitis). Antibiotics not only kill the bacteria that cause infections in the body, but also the good bacteria in our body that keeps us healthy... Wait.. There is such a thing as good bacteria? YUP This good bacteria protects our bodies and makes up 70% of our immune system. The gut flora creates a protective barrier around the gut lining. When we take antibiotics, it not only destroys the bacteria that is causing havoc on our system but it also destroys the bacteria that does good things for our body. According to many different sources, it can take anywhere from 1 to 2 years to restore the gut flora after a round of antibiotics-- but some people don't believe you can ever fully restore the gut lining. Some experts believe that with each round of antibiotics changes your DNA a bit.Read more about the importance of gut flora here and here A lot of people are starting to choose to deny antibiotics for a number of different reasons including surgery and common infections. Many people are choosing to let their body fight off infection as naturally as possible. Right now, there are 7 different classifications of antibiotics--- each that carry risks and side effects other than killing off the good bacteria in your system. But say all they did was kill the gut bacteria... Say you have one round of antibiotics and it kills your gut bacteria, then you have another round. The more "blows" to your gut health the worse it is for you. As your gut continues not to be fully nourished, micro tears in the gut lining can and will occur. This leads to leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is associated with autoimmune disease and allergies! But I have an infection.... What am I supposed to do? Here are a few things you can do when you realized you have an infection to help your body fight it off naturally-- *Take probitocs *Drink Bone Broth *Use the proper essential oils for the infection you might have (melrose, thieves, purification, lemon, oregano, etc) *Eat fermented foods *** if your child has an infection-- you can breastfeed! BUT I have to have antibiotics-- the infection has gotten too far.... If you need to have a round of antibiotics, for whatever reason.. there are ways to help your body recover-- *Take therapeutic grade probioitcs (I recommend nature's sunshine's probiotc 11 or probiotics based on your blood type) *Drink bone broth daily *Make sure you keep your bowels moving. Slippery Elm is a great herb to keep your bowels moving properly-- as does fiber. *Good fats! Lube the tube so to speak! *Daily fermented foods such as kefir, water kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt (homemade especially), and other fermented foods. *Eat REAL & Clean foods! Stay away from the processed crap! **This article is not at all to discourage you from doing what is best for you. You might need to have a round of antibiotics and that is okay! It is my job, as a natural health professional, to be educate you and make you question things! Don't 100% take my word for it, but do your research for yourself!** Protect your child's gut & immune system! tAs you might have seen on my Youtube channel or Facebook, I recently said that my son will be having an operation to fix a hernia that is in his groin.
My husband and I spoke with his doctor and have decided to decline the "protocol" antibiotics that are given the day of surgery. We met with his surgeon recently and discussed with her our reasoning for denying the antibiotics if possible. She wanted to know why we would choose that. We then told her that we would like to protect his gut health & if it is just a preventative we would rather only use antibiotics if he actually has an infection. Once she saw that we weren't just wacko people and that we had thought this whole thing out she was fine with it! I have to urge all of you to TALK to your doctors in a respectful & educated manner. It can be a scary thing to do at first, but this is YOUR child and YOU are responsible for them! It has been my mission from the day Ezra was born to be sure he has a strong and healthy gut! His first "food" was bone broth according to his blood type (B positive so it was Lamb). He has been taking probiotics since he was about two weeks old. His pediatrician is completely on board with this! He says the more probiotics in your system the less likely you are to get an infection you can't fight off. Watch my Vlog about antibiotics here. Here are some other great articles about gut health! http://paleoleap.com/you-and-your-gut-flora/ http://www.naturalnews.com/046641_antibiotics_gut_flora_healthy_bacteria.html http://thekitchenrag.com/2012/03/why-i-take-antibiotic-prescriptions-seriously.html
As a nutritionist, I have found that it is difficult to recommend products that come packaged that are actually good for my clients. I have spent countless hours in local grocery stores reading the ingredients labels in order to have a product I can recommend. About a year ago, my husband and I finally got a Costco membership and we have found many whole foods with good ingredients at our local store in Norfolk, Virginia!
During my pregnancy, I was terribly sick and struggled to keep anything down. One day my husband came home with a huge box of Fig Bars. I have always been a fan of other fig cookies growing up but was not a fan of the crazy long list of ingredients that came with the cookie. He smiled and said "Maybe you will be able to keep these down, I know you love figs and um... these say Non GMO on it!" I remember rolling my eyes at him and thanking him, figuring this would probably be another snack item that would sit in our pantry or we would end up donating at the end of the year. I distinctly remember being 21 weeks pregnant and not being able to keep down even water, my stomach was in knots, and my sweet baby kept kicking me as I spent the afternoon leaned over the toilet puking (graphic I know). I had this random thought to go look in the pantry for crackers and happened upon a box of Fig Bars. I shrugged and opened a package and took a bit. Talk about explosion of flavors! I flipped over the package to read the ingredients and was pretty pleased with what I was reading: Stone ground whole wheat flour, fig paste, organic dried cane syrup. I nodded to myself as I continued to eat a bar, surprised I didn't feel nauseous yet. I was a little tripped up by the fact that there was caramel color (ammonia-free) in the list of ingredients and a couple different types of sugar, but over all I would give the list of ingredients a B+. I probably wouldn't do much better making my own version and I had no motivation to-- unlike many other products. I went to theirFacebook page to read more about them, and I found this amazing statement! This made me feel pretty good about the company! Nature’s Bakery is a family-owned on-the-go snacks and foods brand that supports health conscious living and active lifestyles. 
My husband's "work" backpack.
My husband decided to try them the next morning and they became a really quick favorite of his! My husband serves in the Navy and works 12-14 hour shifts. He takes a box of Fig Bars to work with him every other night and enjoys them with some of his colleagues. So far his two favorites are Blueberry and Peach Apricot.
Fig Bars quickly became his "go-to" snack. I never was able to get my husband to be a raw fruit or veggie kind of guy. He quickly traded chips, store bought granola bars, and cookies for Fig Bars almost overnight! Every time we go to Costco, he buys another box. 
My pumping station in my living room. It is complete with a quart sized mason jar of water, fig bar, and a good book to read.
On Valentine's Day of this year, we welcomed our first child, Ezra James! He was born at 35 weeks and is a beautiful little boy! He is exclusively breastfed and takes a bottle of expressed milk when I'm at a birth or seeing doula clients. Breastfeeding throughout the first year means breastfeeding through growth spurts. I have a love/hate relationship with growth spurts. I love them because my body is able to regulate milk and feed my son who is constantly eating. I hate them because I have trouble eating and drinking enough. To boost my supply I do a combination of Fig Bars and Mrs Patel's Fenugreek Bars. Fig Bars help keep my energy up if nothing else!
One time we didn't make it to Costco for about three weeks and ran out of Fig Bars and I began to experience some low blood sugar (I get this occasionally when I forget to eat). We immediately bought some Fig Bars and I haven't had an issue ever since! We keep a couple in the diaper bag, a couple in the car, a couple in my husband's jeep, and I had a whole box in my hospital bag (which we polished off while I was in the hospital!) At night when I get up to pump, there is always Fig Bars sitting at my pumping station, next to a quart of water. I also always have a Fig Bar sitting next to my bed, along with my supplements and favorite essential oils, so that I can eat them when I first wake up. 
My night stand, complete with supplements, a salt lamp, and a fig bar for mid night hunger or morning snack.
So let's talk about some other reasons that Fig Bars are amazing:
-No high fructose corn syrup -They are made with GMO free wheat (which let's face it is hard to come by in the US) -They contain actual fruits (Fig paste, strawberry paste, pumpkin paste-- yes they have a pumpkin spice one right now & it ACTUALLY contains pumpkin!) -They are dairy free for those people who have to stay away from dairy (like some breastfeeding mamas!) -They are soy free (another thing that is hard to come by!) To be fair... Let's talk about some possible cons-- -I'd like to see them get rid of caramel coloring -I'd like to see them use avocado oil instead of canola oil-- but I am happy that it is Non GMO canola oil instead of the GMO canola oil that is so common here in the states. -There is also a few different types of sugars in the fig bars, I don't have a problem with this, but some people feel that there should be one and only one form of sugar in products. All in all this product is wonderful and I've been 100% satisfied. For a packaged snack-- they are amazing! My hubby will continue to take them to work every other day and eat them at the gym. I will continue to have them every night while I pump and have them within arm's reach everywhere I go! Once Ezra is about 15-18 months (when he begins to have grains) he will probably have some of these delicious bars as well! If Nature's Bakery happens to read this review-- Thank you! Thank you for making a fig product that is actually pretty good! I can count on them to keep my full and my blood sugar stable! I know what every ingredient is and can pronounce the ingredients. They give me energy and I don't get a "crash" like I normally do with carbs. The stone ground wheat tastes phenomenal as well-- and yes I can tell the difference! I thank you, my husband thanks you, and I'm sure his buddies thank you as well! If you would like to try some of Nature's Bakery's Fig Bars, enter to win the Giveaway! I hope you will be just as satisfied as my family and I have been to incorporate this product into our homes! What I learned in the first 7 months of being a mom.. and what I will do differently next time.9/16/2015  Congrats! You're a new parent. Maybe this is your third child or your first. Following the birth of your child, you will spend one to three days in the hospital, depending on the circumstances surrounding your birth. While you are in the hospital the nurses will literally drive you crazy and constantly tell you what to do, as annoying as it is, it is their job. They will ask you what time you fed your baby, how long, and tell you its probably time to do it again. They will ask about the diapers and expect you to remember everything about them. They will tell you not to sleep with your baby or hold your baby too much. You won't be allowed to carry the car seat to the car, but your husband can. Then they shut your door and you are on your way home. It is all up to you now! I grew up with lots of cousins, a younger sibling, and all of my close friends and cousins had babies before I did. My friends would ask me advice about their children even though I had never had a baby. From a young age, I was drawn to women and children. I loved listening to my great grandmother and aunts and family friends talk about their experiences as parents. When I met my mother in law, it only took about a month for me to know my husband and his twin brother's entire birth story-- conception to teenage years. I pretty much thought I would have this whole parenting thing in the bag-- and for the most part I have-- but I did learn a lot in the first 7 months of my son's life. He is quite possibly the best teacher I have ever had! I was sitting up tonight texting a couple of my friends from across the country. One of my friend's in Michigan, the other in California. Each of us have children and I was thinking about how everyone has said time has flown so quickly since Ezra's birth. I stop to think each time someone says this and haven't been able to agree with them, but I also spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week with my son (with a few exceptions). I also got to thinking about how much I have changed, grown, and learned in the last 7 months and the 9 before that! I decided to share some things I've learned & hope these things will help you!  skin to skin baby wearing in my moby wrap
 Those are a few things I learned or took to heart.. Here are somethings I would do differently next time:
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Who am I?My name is Jes! I am the earth loving, natural parenting, Jesus loving weirdo your mama might have warned you about! I am the owner of an organic, chemical free skin care product line, called HBC Organics. Categories
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