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28
Apr
2010
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
My doula for this pregnancy (yes, this is an exciting thing for me) recommended I start drinking red raspberry leaf tea to help reduce the number of Braxton-Hicks contractions and give the ones I have focus. The idea is that the body will not have to work as hard to get to the same readiness.
“Medical studies have shown that red raspberry leaf can be consumed safely during pregnancy and can decrease the length of labor and decrease the number of interventions used such as artificial rupture of membranes (AROM), assisted delivery, and cesarean delivery.1 Red raspberry leaf also seems to help prevent pregnancies from pre-or post-term gestation (delivering too early or too late).” Drinking Herbal Teas During Pregnancy, American Pregnancy Association.
I bought some in bulk at the local health food store, Healthway, and brought it home to try out. I put a teaspoon of leaves into my tea pot infuser and added 180-deg F water, then let it sit for 7 minutes. This is how I treat all herbal teas, and they always turn out great. 
I didn’t, unfortunately, realize that RRL is actually a green tea, which is not exactly the same thing. I would have prepared it the same, but my tastebuds would’ve been better prepared had I realized! The tea looked like water and had a very delicate, light flavour. Like green tea. The smell was not a pleasant thing to have so near my nose. Still, I finished most of it and opted to make another pot. This time I used the same temperature water, steeping time, and amount of RRL tea. This time, however, I added a pinch of peppermint tea before and after the RRL tea leaves. I’ve found that my favorite herbal, peppermint, when added in small amounts, can bring out flavours better and even replace a need for sugar, which I hate to add to my teas!
Adding the peppermint to the red raspberry leaf tea made it much more palatable without having to resort to sugar or honey. Hopefully this will help other pregnant women or those just wanting to try the tea to make it easier to drink! The smell was more minty than the weird RRL scent and definitely tasted better. You could try more peppermint than I added–just try not to add more than one cup of tea can handle!
Of course, please discuss any concerns with your doula, midwife, or obstetrician.
21
Oct
2009
I should be thankful
I tell people when they express sympathy to me for having Coeliac that there are worse things to have. And there are. After all, we have a “fix” of kinds. Don’t eat gluten and you won’t get sick. Pretty simple.
But it sucks. Not because it’s hard, though it is, but because so much of our socialization in this country has to do with food. Because my family is Southern and it’s easier to lie to my great-grandmother and say we’ve eaten already when she offers food I can’t have. It’s rude and I hate it but I’ve tried explaining it and it’s just easier to lie. She doesn’t get it. No one gets it. No matter how many times I explain, they don’t really see me as being healthier and they don’t understand that I HAVE A DISEASE DAMNIT AND IT SUCKS. Only my mom has really noticed a difference, from when I was dying and crazy to now and she is thisclose to joining me in my misery.
It’s isolating. I’m always on the outside, even when I bring my own food. No one really wants to try what I can eat, too. They’ll just make their own to eat while I have mine. It’s not bad, I promise! Gluten-free stuff can be amazing, as evidenced by the green bean casserole my husband made for Thanksgiving that my mother deemed the best she’d ever had. But no one wants to try it.
It makes me wonder if maybe I’d be better off with another disease. One with a less easy “fix.” Because then maybe people would realise that it is a disease. Maybe then it would be something they could understand. Maybe then people wouldn’t be so resistant to getting tested and dealing with it. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so alone in a room full of my own family.