Melaleuca Antibacterial Hand Soap

My family never used liquid hand soap at the sink, but that is one change that marrying Nate made to my grocery list. I was so surprised one day when he asked me last fall, "Honey, could you buy some liquid hand soap to have at the kitchen sink?" So I bought a bottle of Pomegranate flavored Dial that was rather salmon-colored, slippery and skin-drying. I still preferred to use a little Dawn to clean my hands.

Then, in my home-conversion value pack from Melaleuca that we ordered this month, we got a bottle of their antibacterial hand soap. I have it at the kitchen sink and I think I'm in love! It's a super cute bottle of cream-colored soap that only takes a tiny drop to clean your hands - and I mean CLEAN them. I hate the smell of food on my hands - onions, garlic, meat, etc. Dish soap never cuts it, either. But, this soap, in one drop, eliminates every food odor from my hands. I'm a fan. And I've been converted to a liquid hand soap user.

MelaPower Laundry Detergent

I'm not the kind of person who really cares what detergent I use on my clothes, in fact, my general rule is: buy the cheapest thing that looks like it might actually be somewhat effective. Add to that the fact that no matter how much they say to use, I generally use about half that amount, just to conserve it. I don't have incredibly high standards for clean clothes, either, which is really not a great habit. I think I've trained myself to believe that stains will stay and white clothes will turn gray, both no matter what.

So, while converting our home to exclusively the natural, chemical-free Melaleuca products, their laundry detergent was one of the first things I began using. My first favorite thing is that one bottle will last us 48 loads (currently for us about 3-4 months of laundry), because you only use 1/2 an ounce of the soap per load. That's literally like maybe two tablespoons. Probably closer to one. Then, I started discovering that old stains were disappearing from our clothes...just by using the detergent! I washed my bedroom slippers today so I could pack them in my hospital bag for when Baby comes, and forgot to put stain remover on them. It didn't matter, though, because they looks brand new anyway, after coming out of the dryer!

I wonder if you have any idea how ecstatic I am!
No extra effort +
Itsy bits of detergent +
Completely chemical-free wash loads =
Wonderfully clean clothes for less

Vitality Prenatal Vitamins

I have never believed in vitamins. Trust me, I'd tried! But I'm a skeptic at heart sometimes and when results aren't jumping out at me, I refuse to believe, no matter how hard I try to force myself.

Then I became pregnant, and started taking Walmart brand prenatals, simply because "that's what you do" when you're pregnant. Baby won't be a healthy baby if you don't take vitamins, right? But of course, nothing seemed different to me, and although I took them fairly regularly, I eventually started to give up. Then my mom sent me Melaleuca prenatal vitamins. "Ok, I'll try them." I rather sporadically took one or two vitamins every couple of days, to appease my conscience.

This pregnancy has been a rough one in a lot of ways. Oh, I'm aware that it could have been much worse - I could have been on bed rest, or have been throwing up constantly, or had preclampsia, or Baby could have had health problems, and none of that has been going on. However, I struggled to eat anything for the first 6 months, losing 8 pounds between August and Christmas, instead of gaining one ounce of baby weight. I was working retail as a sales associate for 16-20+ hours a week during those months and literally coming home from work and sleeping for the rest of the day and night. On my days off I felt incredibly accomplished if I got dishes done or went grocery shopping. My back was in constant pain, too.

At Christmas, Mom strongly encouraged me to be faithful about taking my vitamins. "You AND the Baby need them!" She insisted. So, I went back to it. The recommended dose is 2 per day, and I gradually worked up to taking that amount faithfully.

This week, as I was thinking back over the past three months, I realized how incredible the change has been for me in this trimester. Other than being a little worn out every day, and the normal aches and pains of a body changing with a growing baby inside, I'm almost back to normal health. My former exhaustion has almost completely diminished and I'm eating like a horse (have gained 15 pounds since Christmas). I'm able to eat healthy, wholesome foods, and enjoy them. My back pain is closer to what it was before I was pregnant - more off and on rather than constant (some of that is due to the past 5 months of chiropractic care, I'm certain, too).

Then, it occurred to me that the improvements in how I'm feeling have come at the same rate as my increase in regular vitamin-taking! These prenatals have restored my strength and energy. I have to credit it to them, and God using them in my body. Otherwise there's no way I could feel this good at the end of my pregnancy when the first two-thirds of it were so miserable.