• Have whole-food concentrates
• Have decent vitamin content
• Have good balance between all the ingredients
• Include minerals
• Include enzymes

It’s still hard to figure out, which is better, as the labels are lengthy with ingredients and numbers. By the time I would move on to looking at the label of the next supplement, I would have already forgotten the information of the previous one.

On that note, I decided to do a side-by-side label comparison of three whole food supplements that looked the most attractive to me. I picked Dr. Mercola’s Whole Food Multivitamin Plus, Nature’s Plus Source of Life Multivitamins and Minerals and Nature’s Way Alive Whole Food Energizer.

At first they all looked very similar, but once I compiled them into a table format, the difference became obvious.

Product	Dr. Mercola’s Whole Food Multivitamin Plus	Source of Life Multi & Minerals w/ W-F Concentrates	Alive Whole Food Energizer Multivitamin
Daily Serving Size (tablets)	8	3	3
Price per bottle of month supply	$47.97 or $119 for 3	$34.99	$24.96
Vitamin A (from natural beta carotene)	5000 IU	10000 IU	15000 IU
Vitamin C	500 mg	1000 mg	1000 mg
Vitamin D	5000 IU	400 IU	400 IU
Vitamin E	400 IU	200 IU	200 IU
Vitamin K	–	–	80 mcg
Thiamine	3 mg	–	25 mg
Riboflavin	3.4 mg	–	25 mg
Niacin/Niacinamide	40 mg	40 mg	125 mg
Vitamin B-6	4 mg	25 mg	50 mg
Folic Acid	800 mcg	400 mcg	400 mcg
Vitamin B-12	100 mcg	200 mcg	200 mcg
Biotin	900 mcg	100 mcg	300 mcg
Pantothenic Acid	30 mg	60 mg	125 mg
Calcium	250 mg	200 mg	250 mg
Iron	–	18 mg	800 mcg
Iodine (from Kelp)	200 mg	150 mcg	150 mcg
Magnesium	500 mg	100 mg	125 mg
Zinc	15 mg	15 mg	15 mg
Selenium	200 mcg	25 mcg	70 mcg
Copper	50 mcg	0.5 mg	2 mg
Manganese	10 mg	4 mg	4 mg
Chromium	200 mcg	20 mcg	120 mcg
Molybdenum	100 mcg	–	75 mcg
Sodium	–	–	15 mg
Potassium	99 mg	50 mg	50 mg
Lutein (natural)	6 mg	–	–
Lycopene (natural)	6 mg	–	–
Zeaxanthin	1 mg	–	–
Inositol	100 mg	30 mg	–
Trace Elements (from Sea Vegetaon)	100mcg		–
Stronum	297 mcg		–
Silica	100 mg		–
Choline	60 mg	30 mg	–
PABA	50 mg	15 mg	–
Boron	1.5 mg		–
Vanadium (as Amino Acid Chelate**)	50 mcg	–	–
Amino Acids and Enzymes		–	325 mg
L-Cysteine/N-Acetyl L-Cysteine	150 mg	–	–
Betaine (from 150 mg Betaine Hcl)	114 mg	25 mg	–
Bromelain (2,000 GDU/g)	50 mg	40 mg	–
Glutamic Acid	20 mg	–	–
L-Methionine	12.5 mg	–	–
Rose Hips	100 mg	–	–
Lemon Bioflavonoids	100 mg	60 mg	60 mg
Red Wine Proanthocyanidins/Pine Bark Extract	50 mg	–	–
Hesperidin	35 mg	10 mg	–
Run	25 mg	11 mg	–
Orchard Fruit Blend	–	12 mg	100 mg
Myco Defense Mushroom Blend	–	13 mg	100 mg
Fruit and Vegetable Blend	700 mg	14 mg	600 mg
Blueberry (fruit)	100 mg	15 mg	–
Garlic (bulb, Pure-Gar®, odorless)	100 mg	16 mg	–
Broccoli (enre plant)	100 mg	17 mg	–
Cauliflower (enre plant)	100 mg	18 mg	–
Spirulina	100 mg	1000 mg	–
Chlorella (broken cell wall)	100 mg	–	–
Green Papaya Extract (fruit)	100 mg	–	–
Green Tea Extract (leaf)	50 mg	30 mg	–
Sprouted Barley Juice (enre plant)	50 mg	–	–
Wheat Grass Juice (enre plant)	50 mg	–	–
Beet Extract (root)	50 mg	–	–
Apple Pecn (fruit)	50 mg	20 mg	–
Sunflower Oil	–	70 mg	–
Bee Pollen	–	100 mg	–
Black Currant Seed Oil	–	50 mg	–
Ginseng Root	–	50 mg	–
quercetin	–	30 mg	–
Rutin	–	25 mg	–
Rna	–	21 mg	–
chlorophyll	–	7.5 mg	–
Dna (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)	–	6 mg	–
amylase	–	5 mg	–
lipase	–	5 mg	–
eriocitrin	–	3 mg	–
octacosanal	–	200 mcg	–
Omega Fatty Acid Blend	–	–	100 mg

At the end I picked Dr. Mercola’s Whole Food Multivitamin Plus because it contained minerals along with the vitamins, it had the highest amount of concentrated foods and it had enzymes for better digestion and bio-availability. It has lots of other benefits, which you can find here.

After having a piece of my great-tasting healthy bread, I wanted to find out its caloric and fat info. It wasn’t bad at all, within healthy range. Then I noticed ingredients’ list beside it and it seemed quite long, and the longer I read it, the less familiar they sounded. Here they are:

• whole wheat flour

• water

• sugar

• wheat gluten

• brown rice

• cornmeal

• oats

• wheat bran

• yeast

• cellulose fiber

• soybean oil

• salt

• molasses

• cultured dextrose

• maltodextrin

• DATEM

• mono- and diglycerides

• calcium sulfate

• citric acid

• poppy seeds

• grain vinegar

• soy lecithin

• nuts

• whey

• nonfat milk

Okay, so the first few ingredients I am very familiar with, I know their origin, what they look like, taste like and they sound okay-healthy to me. But as I’m going down the list, the names get more scientific and not nearly as familiar. I run into the unpronounceables! What are these ingredients? Still healthy?

Out of curiosity I decided to do a little research on my own to ensure that I am making a true “healthy” choice. Here is what I found so far translated into plain English.

Dextrose and maltodextrin are highly processed food additives derived from corn or wheat and come as a light, white tasteless powder. They mix well with liquids and have lower density than sugar. As far as I understand they are used instead of sugar for improved texture and flavor of the final product. According to Wikipedia they are commonly used for the production of natural sodas and candy such as SweetTarts. So why are they in my healthy bread?

DATEM is short for Diacetyl Tartaric (Acid) Ester, a mouth full, isn’t it? It’s used in baking as a softener. It is chemically produced and is generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration. Well, does safe by the FDA standards mean healthy for me? I’m yet to figure this one out…

Mono- and diglycerides are derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. They are the kind of fats that are solid at room temperature and are responsible for clogging up arteries. But on the other hand, they improve loaf volume, and create a smooth, soft crumb.

Next is calcium sulfate. Here is how Wikipedia states it: “Calcium sulfate is a common laboratory and industrial chemical”. What?  How does the proud statement “No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives” fit in then? Calcium sulfate is a chemical name for gypsum, the material that’s found in drywall and cement. Yakes. What’s it doing in my healthy bread? I am assuming it is a preservative.

So here I have it — beautifully preserved, soft, flavorful, tasty, loaf of gorgeous looking bread. After doing my research I decided this this healthy bread isn’t healthy enough for me. I still finished the loaf, it’s just so good. But I sure won’t be buying it again!

After some looking around, I think I found my healthy bread! I now buy organic sprouted grains breads by Food for Life. This bread is kept in the freezer, since it’s free of preservatives. Here is its ingredients’ list:

• organic sprouted wheat

• filtered water

• organic malted barley

• organic sprouted rye

• organic sprouted barley

• organic sprouted oats

• organic sprouted millet

• organic sprouted corn

• organic sprouted brown rice

• fresh yeast

• organic wheat gluten

• sea salt

No unpronounceables here. This bread is about twice the cost of the other bread, but to me, it’s worth it.

I also make my own bread at times. Actually, my bread maker does, I just toss the familiar ingredients into it and press the ‘START’ button.

What is your favorite bread? Please share your experience.

My goals are to have more energy, feel better physically and hopefully loose a little weight. I have two little kids and I need as much energy as I can possibly master to keep up with them and the household, and maybe have a little extra left for things that I enjoy doing for myself. Health wise I don’t have much to complain about, but there is definitely room for improvement. I do get occasional colds and quite often I get cold sores inside my nose. My nails have become brittle and I was told by my dentist that I am loosing the gum bone. Both of these are more likely due to two pregnancies and the breastfeeding. As far as weight, ideally I would like to loose about 15 pounds, which would put me down to pre-kids weight.

So far it’s been a few days since I’ve started and I’m feeling good. I don’t have restrictions of how much I eat, just what I eat. My cravings have subsided, but I still do crave the ‘bad’ things. The worst time is when I have to feed them to my two-year old. It’s hard not to take a bite off of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich or take a sip of cold milk.

It seemed like she developed a phobia of going into the potty. She’s been perfectly ready for the potty for at least 6 months. She’s been able to go without a diaper without an accident for a while. As she needed to go, she would request a diaper. And if we tried to make her go into the potty instead of a diaper, she would put up the biggest stink. It involved lots of screaming, crying, resenting sitting on the potty, until she had no choice but to go on the floor!

Finally a few days ago I decided to enforce the “no diaper” policy. Basically, I wasn’t willing to give up no matter how much stink she puts up. The goal was to make her go into the potty versus the diaper or the floor. I even sweetened up the deal by promising ice cream if she goes into the potty.

First couple of times we had to force her to sit on the potty while she was peeing. It came to the point where she would cry, scream and shake from trying to hold it in. But eventually, she just had to let it loose. There was quite a bit of spillage, but some of it made into the potty. After much praising she got her ice cream.

Now she seems to enjoy peeing into the potty. She gets really excited when she does, she runs around clapping and proudly showing everybody her full potty.

But our work is far from over. Our next step is to make her go #2 into the potty. The ice cream deal didn’t seem to work tonight. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

On April 22 Nathan turned 2 months. I can’t believe how fast the time is going! Seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He seems to be adjusting very well to his new life outside mommy’s tummy. Everything checked out great  at his 2 month doctor’s check up. Apparently he is in the 96th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight for his age group. No wonder he wants to eat all the time! This is completely opposite from my daughter. She always checks out in the 25th percentile.

Though he’s not sleeping through the night yet, he usually wakes up only once a night to eat. His going-into-the-night time fussiness has greatly subsided. For the first month and a half of his life, his daily crying fit would begin around dinner time and last until 10:30-11 at night. He would literally scream this whole time, unless he was being fed or held. Now he still cries, but it’s only for a few minutes at a time.

Elyana seems to be adjusting well to her baby brother. She can’t quite say his name yet, so she refers to him as baby or bother (brother that is). Even though she plays rough at times, he seems to enjoy her company for the most part. He loves the attention and lets off crooked teethless smiles as she touches or kisses or talks to him.

The three of us started to get more social after Nathan turned 6 weeks. We now routinely visit the library for Elyana’s toddler story time and the playground. We go for morning stroller walks two to three times a week. It’s a great exercise for me and an outing for the kiddies. I am now braving grocery shopping by myself with the two of them. Nathan is usually sound asleep and Elyana, well, she’s being Elyana, the typical toddler in her terrible twos. She does fine though, unless the check out line is too long. Then she tries to sneak a candy bar or two past me, though puts it back when I ask her to. She is definitely learning ‘the rights’ and ‘the wrongs’. When she does something wrong, she feels bad and tries to fix it. We’re taking her out of daycare that she attended part time for the past 3 months. I now got the routine going with the little one, and I feel confident that I can keep Ely busy without having her in daycare.

Today Elyana had her first shower. We went for a stroller walk right before dinner. I knew that I wasn’t going to fit her bath and my shower in separately before dinner, so I combined the two. We took a shower together and made it well before dinner time. She seemed to enjoy it!

Baby Nathan is now 7 weeks old and is doing well.  Alas, last couple of nights I went to bed before midnight for the first time since he was born. Usually he needs attendance until 1-2 in the morning before going down for the night. I’m hoping that the pattern of him falling asleep at a normal time continues, since I have to be up for my oldest at 7:30.

He’s been smiling for couple of weeks already. Best time to catch him greening is in the mornings or while changing his diaper. He loves attention. His fussy time is at night, starting around dinner and ending with his last feeding for the day, at around 10. Often we have to move him to his crib during dinner for the sake of our sanity. Though having two-year old around kind of defeats the purpose.

Elyana is still going to daycare twice a week and seems to enjoy it. I enjoy a little break from her as well. She learns a lot there and constantly shows off new words and skills she learned there! Her language skills and awareness of her surroundings are improving a mile a minute. Just yesterday I missed a turn to the library and as soon as I did that, she yelled: “Mommy go where? Mommy go where?”. That caught my attention and I made a U-turn before I drove too far. Elyana is quite a dancer and a singer. She’s more likely going to be artistic and I can’t wait to get her into something that involves dancing or music of some sort.

I’m fully recovered from delivery and working at establishing a realistic exercise routine for myself. Breastfeeding is taking up a good chunk of my day, though it’s getting easier as the time passes by. Lack of sleep and possibly other things are starting to affect my ability to remember things. Sometimes I feel like a complete cluts! I’ve given up at keeping my house “perfect” and my face made-up, as I simply don’t have the time! As long as I manage to clean the kitchen, pick up loose toys around the house, brush my teeth, wash my face and conceal the dark circles under my eyes, I feel pretty good! At the end of the day, I’m not going to remember how clean my carpet was or whether I made up my bed.

On a different note, I’ve been accepted back into graduate school at USF for Masters in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. I took a break after my daughter was born in December of ‘07. Not sure if I will be attending this summer, since only couple of courses are offered by a different engineering department. Though it would be nice, since they are being offered online!

Furnishing a Nursery

Choosing a Stroller and a Car Seat

Choosing a Jogging Stroller

Necessary Baby Equipment

In this post I will focus on articles that I found unnecessary either through my own experience or judgment. So here is my list:

Breast pump. I’m sure it depends on the type you get, but the one I got was not working for me at all. Since I knew that I was going to be staying home, I decided to settle for one of the cheapest automatic pumps out there. I would sit there for 15-30 minutes at the time, pumping  and get only an ounce or two of breast milk from both of my breasts combined. I was even thinking that my body will get used to it within time and gave it a run of a month or two. The pump was designed to pump from both breasts at the same time, but one of the sides broke way before I gave up on it.

With this in mind, if you are seriously considering pumping, I would highly recommend renting a pump from a lactation professional. They will give you a hospital grade pump with good suction. It’s also recommended for women who happen to have low or no milk supply. The pumping action with correct suction is supposed to help stimulate breasts to get them going on producing milk.  You can inquire about renting a pump at the hospital where you’ll be delivering or just look up a lactation specialist in yellow pages. When I inquired about it, the monthly cost of renting was about $40. Also, once you use the pump successfully, then you can buy one for yourself that is very similar to a professional grade either from the same lactation specialist, a store on online. They usually cost $200-300.

Baby carrier (6+ months). We happen to own one of the front facing baby carriers and I didn’t like it. I tried it at home, adjusted the stripes according to directions, put the baby in it and wore it for a few minutes. First, putting the baby in the carrier by myself while wearing it was a big challenge. The carrier itself felt like it kept sliding downwards under the baby’s weight. My back started killing me after just a few minutes. I just could not get comfortable! I gave it couple more tries and gave up on it.

Diaper disposal. I never owned one and don’t feel like I missed out. First, newborn’s poop doesn’t really smell until he starts eating real food. At that stage, while they go to the bathroom literally all the time, I kept a small trash can with a grocery bag liner inside next to the changing station. I emptied it couple of times a day and it worked out just fine. Once they start on solids, their poop definitely gets stinkier, but they don’t go nearly as much. By then I decided to get rid of the trash can in the nursery and started using our big trash can in the kitchen. Yea, I had to make a trip to the kitchen after every diaper change, but it wasn’t a big deal. Little exercise never hurts. If you feel disgusted by throwing a poopy diaper into the trash can, just put it into a grocery bag and it won’t smell. Not recycling plastic bags and using disposable diapers is not a very eco-friendly move (I’m not proud of it), but it works. I happen to rid of trash in the kitchen once per day and I’m not having any smell issues.

Couple more things to consider with using a diaper disposal. Depending on the manufacturer, you might have to purchase special bags for it, adding cost to the overall purchase. Another thing is, you still can’t completely avoid the dirty diaper stink experience. Can you imagine changing a liner every 2-3 days, with all the stinch coming out in your face while you’re doing it? I don’t care how deodorized they make the bag, a three-day old poop still stinks!

I am ending my post here, since I can’t think of other things at this point. I can’t possibly cover all of the baby paraphernalia, so please feel free to leave a comment with other baby equipment that you found not very useful or otherwise.

It’s pretty different from my first pregnancy. The first time around, my cervix was 1.5 centimeters dilated for 2-3 weeks prior due date. And sure enough I went into labor on the 5th day after my due date.

This time things seem to be moving much slower. The induction is scheduled for Monday, February 22, 6 days from now. I have another appointment in three days to see whether I dilate between now and then. If I’m not dilated, I will have to come to the hospital on the night prior my induction date and receive cervix softening medicine. It should work overnight before starting the induction medicine the next morning.

Oh well, even though things are happening a little slower than I would like, the longest we have to wait is 6 days! And there is always a chance to go in labor before then too.

Besides waiting, there is always plenty of stuff to do at home. Cleaning the house seems to be a constant chore, no matter how much or how often I do it. My 2-yr old daughter needs constant attention, and other life’s odds and ends never seem to stop coming my way!