I had serious concerns that I was pregnant on Sunday. We were at a picnic and boy, did I have nausea. The kind that usually only comes from one source. I was tired. I had a massive headache...and my monthly bill had not yet arrived. What was it? I knew I couldn't be pregnant, given what I know about my cycle (unless God had other plans). What caused it?
Stress caused the delay in the cycle. But the other stuff? Duh! I started a very mild liver cleanse two weeks ago because I'd dropped several medications that I really no longer needed and I wanted the remains OUT of my body. I'd also given up aspartame seven months ago and figured that some of the garbage may still have been in my system.
What caused the illness that looked like pregnancy? A healing crisis, I think...My body finally flushed all the yuck out of my systems and temporarily sent it into my blood stream only to be flushed away (if you get my drift). However, in the process, my system went EEKKK! POISON!!!
While I was nauseous, headache-y and tired on Sunday, Monday was 10 times worse. School was modified to a 2/3 day schedule (we'll make up the balance on Friday afternoon). I took two naps. I took an epsom salt/baking soda bath. I used a caster oil pack on my tummy. I drank peppermint tea. I drank about a gallon of water. This morning only the headache remained. Strangely, it is still going in and out. I have already downed 64 oz. of water because I just can't get enough and my skin is amazingly soft (must have been the baking soda bath). But the nausea is gone, praise the Lord!
Now, I am working toward eating better and getting more sleep. I will work on the food part first as the sleep thing is harder for me.
So, to all those friends at the picnic on Sunday night that were praying for me, thank you!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The shortest of posts...
...just to say that since school has started and my computer has started to die (and I'm just too busy to set up the new one), I haven't had time to blog.
The three year old continues to have eczema that bleeds because it's so itchy. His geographic tongue looks better, but not completely healed. All his food needs to be made separate from everybody else's because of his wheat, dairy and egg allergy...
I'm crabby as all get out because all people under the age of 5 have been destructive. Baby learned to unload all the clothes out of the dressers in our family closet/laundry room. A baby lock has since been installed on the door with express instructions that the baby is only allowed in for diaper changes. She also regularly unloads all the books and magazines at her level. My kids are getting really good at sorting.
On the bright side, and I want to thank GOD for Chocolate Emporium for peanut free and dairy free M&M-wannabees. For those with allergy issues, you might want to check them out....and Illuminated Ink for there beautiful products which have kept antsy girls at bay.
The three year old continues to have eczema that bleeds because it's so itchy. His geographic tongue looks better, but not completely healed. All his food needs to be made separate from everybody else's because of his wheat, dairy and egg allergy...
I'm crabby as all get out because all people under the age of 5 have been destructive. Baby learned to unload all the clothes out of the dressers in our family closet/laundry room. A baby lock has since been installed on the door with express instructions that the baby is only allowed in for diaper changes. She also regularly unloads all the books and magazines at her level. My kids are getting really good at sorting.
On the bright side, and I want to thank GOD for Chocolate Emporium for peanut free and dairy free M&M-wannabees. For those with allergy issues, you might want to check them out....and Illuminated Ink for there beautiful products which have kept antsy girls at bay.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
HI. My name is Cathie and I am addicted...
to coconut milk. I love to use it in everything I bake as a non-dairy substitute for milk and sometimes eggs. It is so, so good for you as is coconut oil. It's one of the few foods that has lauric acid, which is fabulous for healing a bad gut (which Celiac's would cause.) Heck, some people have claimed to cure diseases with it. Sadly, here's the problem.
A week or so ago, we took the three year old to the doctor to get tested for the wheat allergy (again), a Celiac panel and oat allergy. He only scored .5 on a scale from 0-6 for wheat and .3 on a scale of 0-6 for oats. The doctor's not convinced wheat's his problem, but he's asked me to keep him on the wheat free diet for 3 months. We've got one month practically under our belt. He did ask me to watch for other allergies.
Here's what I've come up with...coconut and sunflower. Last time I gave him a spoon full of sun-butter, the poor kid's nose ran like a faucet and he broke out in hives. His eczema flares seriously if I give him coconut. Yes, the coconut yogurt he loves may be making his skin worse. That along with everything I've been baking for him (because I keep adding coconut milk.) What a bummer. You see when you have a kid allergic to eggs and dairy AND is failure to thrive, you try to find ANYWAY to get fat into them. Little kids really need it. All the non-dairy milks are pretty much fat free. So, I can't add cheese, cream, ice cream, etc to fatten the kid up. I'm practically down to potato chips and french fries ;-). Okay, I'm only kind of kidding. He doesn't eat much meat. He will eat baked beans. We've cut him off from his 2-bowl-a-day oatmeal habit because of the fear of cross contamination with wheat. He'll eat some veggies and lots of fruit. He would live on boxed cereal if I let him, but that's not going to happen. Against my will, I've been giving in to giving him soy based cheese. I haven't tried tahini yet. That might be next. We stay away from nuts and peanuts because of other allergies in our house. He's eating quinoa about once every two days for variety, although he doesn't like it. If you have any suggestions on other good-fat foods I could feed him, please hit the combox.
So, I'm back to not knowing how to keep this kid on the growth curve. He keeps sliding off...
A week or so ago, we took the three year old to the doctor to get tested for the wheat allergy (again), a Celiac panel and oat allergy. He only scored .5 on a scale from 0-6 for wheat and .3 on a scale of 0-6 for oats. The doctor's not convinced wheat's his problem, but he's asked me to keep him on the wheat free diet for 3 months. We've got one month practically under our belt. He did ask me to watch for other allergies.
Here's what I've come up with...coconut and sunflower. Last time I gave him a spoon full of sun-butter, the poor kid's nose ran like a faucet and he broke out in hives. His eczema flares seriously if I give him coconut. Yes, the coconut yogurt he loves may be making his skin worse. That along with everything I've been baking for him (because I keep adding coconut milk.) What a bummer. You see when you have a kid allergic to eggs and dairy AND is failure to thrive, you try to find ANYWAY to get fat into them. Little kids really need it. All the non-dairy milks are pretty much fat free. So, I can't add cheese, cream, ice cream, etc to fatten the kid up. I'm practically down to potato chips and french fries ;-). Okay, I'm only kind of kidding. He doesn't eat much meat. He will eat baked beans. We've cut him off from his 2-bowl-a-day oatmeal habit because of the fear of cross contamination with wheat. He'll eat some veggies and lots of fruit. He would live on boxed cereal if I let him, but that's not going to happen. Against my will, I've been giving in to giving him soy based cheese. I haven't tried tahini yet. That might be next. We stay away from nuts and peanuts because of other allergies in our house. He's eating quinoa about once every two days for variety, although he doesn't like it. If you have any suggestions on other good-fat foods I could feed him, please hit the combox.
So, I'm back to not knowing how to keep this kid on the growth curve. He keeps sliding off...
Monday, August 23, 2010
So Delicious
Did you know there is coconut milk yogurt out there now?? Yes there is!!! It's aptly named "So Delicious". And, the three year old loved it! I have to take his word for it since it has rice in it. Now, it's $1.89 a container. He won't be getting it often, but whoo-hoo! If I could just figure out how to make my own. I've seen lots of yogurt recipes with regular milk...
Time for a google search!
Time for a google search!
Trusting in God, Big Family Style
As practicing Catholics, my husband and I have chosen not to use contraceptives. This seems to get me into trouble when I go to my doctors' offices or talk about the subject with non-Catholic friends and family. Six children seems like enough to everyone. What's wrong with me? I'm sure that is what they are wondering.
When my husband and I were first married, we aspired to have two children (one of each, of course) as the cafeteria Catholics that we were. I was a career woman and figured daycare and parochial school were in our future.
Nope. After a couple of miscarriages and inability to get pregnant during times we "SHOULD" have gotten pregnant, I finally convinced my family practice doc to refer me out to a fertility clinic to find the root cause of both problems. After test after test, we were told we would be best to adopt or do other "assisted fertility procedures" that went against our Catholic beliefs. The day we were told, we were 4 days pregnant with our first child. At my son's six month check up, my doctor said, "This is when I usually give moms the birth-control talk, but I don't think I have to with you. He (meaning my son) is one in a million, so I won't worry about it." I showed up in his office 3 months later at my first prenatal visit for my second child. Fast forward to now, when I have six. I say God is good and He's the doctor of my body, not the medical world. God has a plan. Had God's plan been to not give us children, we would have prayerfully considered adoption. I, in no means, believe God ever punishes anyone by not giving them children. I just believe His plan is different than someone's wishes.
One thing that I have been thinking about lately, though, are the folks who encourage me to either use birth control OR to get permanently sterilized. Do they Trust in God? I hear friends (non-Catholic) who talk about others who should "get fixed" or use birth control. I just had a garage sale this weekend. I put all my baby clothes out and a neighbor said to me, "Are you finally done?" I said, "Only if God thinks I am. We've always trusted He would provide for us, and He always has."
This leads me to this Bible verse that I've had my kids memorize from Proverbs:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
What does it mean to trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding? It means that we completely trust God with all that is in us, that we rely not on anything that we can do on our own strength, and that we give all of the strength we possess, both physically and mentally, to the will of the Holy Spirit. Then God can fulfill His perfect will through us and bring glory to Himself. We do not seek our own gain but desire God to receive all the glory. We get to enjoy what God does for Himself.
So how does this apply to NFP and birth control. Well, NFP (Natural Family Planning) is a method of tracking a woman's fertility by charting her basal body temperature, cervical position and cervical mucus. Those three beautiful God-given signs tell her about her fertility. Together, those things change as a woman goes through her cycle. During ovulation, her temperature drops (albeit slightly), cervical position changes to a lower position and her cervical mucus changes in consistency and amount allowing for conception. Once you've learned to read these signs, it is possible to improve your chances of conception. Also, the opposite is true. It is possible to abstain during this time to avoid pregnancy. The basal body temperature rises after ovulation, the cervical position raises and the mucus goes away or becomes nominal. Now, one must prayerfully consider why they are avoiding pregnancy and be sure they have good reason. The most important part is that a couple remain open to life. God is the maker of life. He can decide when a new life will be created in cooperation with the choices of a couple.
If God is truly the center of our lives, we live for Him and Him alone. Do we really believe that He lives? Then we should also believe that we can trust Him with all our hearts. The result is the blessing of God falling on our obedient bodies, the body that was used to fulfill God’s perfect will. If His will is that a child be conceived, then that is a blessing.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3)
Children are a reward.
“In all your ways acknowledge Him” To acknowledge the Lord is to be wise. We should acknowledge God when we get up in the morning, we should acknowledge God when we start to talk, think, eat, listen, and act (or engage in a marital act). When we are around people we should acknowledge God. This keeps us wise, and most importantly keeps us from sinning (Proverbs 1:7; Exodus 20:20).
Here's the blessing: “HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.” Why? Because they are no longer our paths but His. Since He is perfect, He can’t have any fault. So the paths must lead to fulfilling His work, His perfect will, in and through the life He has given. So many have fallen to the god of Money or Health. They would rather have things than children or they worry their health will suffer (or heaven forbid their body shape) if they have more children. We go down the wrong path when we fail to trust Him. Have you ever heard the saying, "The Lord won't give you more than you can handle?" I believe that stems from this Bible verse. We've banked on that. We've got six children. We've experiences health issues, miscarriage, unemployment and family losses. That doesn't give us an excuse to stop trusting Him.
A friend, bearing, is writing about St. Francis de Sales book Introduction to the Devout Life. This particular entry hit me right across the head, and it applies here:
In this case, I think the "prudence in our affairs" is our choice to use NFP. And when they use birth control or get permanently sterilized, they call it economy "economy".
One last thing:
Psalm 127:4-5: "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."
Ed. note: A friend emailed me over a little confusion about the temperatures. I added more info to make it clearer what happens during ovulation ;-).
When my husband and I were first married, we aspired to have two children (one of each, of course) as the cafeteria Catholics that we were. I was a career woman and figured daycare and parochial school were in our future.
Nope. After a couple of miscarriages and inability to get pregnant during times we "SHOULD" have gotten pregnant, I finally convinced my family practice doc to refer me out to a fertility clinic to find the root cause of both problems. After test after test, we were told we would be best to adopt or do other "assisted fertility procedures" that went against our Catholic beliefs. The day we were told, we were 4 days pregnant with our first child. At my son's six month check up, my doctor said, "This is when I usually give moms the birth-control talk, but I don't think I have to with you. He (meaning my son) is one in a million, so I won't worry about it." I showed up in his office 3 months later at my first prenatal visit for my second child. Fast forward to now, when I have six. I say God is good and He's the doctor of my body, not the medical world. God has a plan. Had God's plan been to not give us children, we would have prayerfully considered adoption. I, in no means, believe God ever punishes anyone by not giving them children. I just believe His plan is different than someone's wishes.
One thing that I have been thinking about lately, though, are the folks who encourage me to either use birth control OR to get permanently sterilized. Do they Trust in God? I hear friends (non-Catholic) who talk about others who should "get fixed" or use birth control. I just had a garage sale this weekend. I put all my baby clothes out and a neighbor said to me, "Are you finally done?" I said, "Only if God thinks I am. We've always trusted He would provide for us, and He always has."
This leads me to this Bible verse that I've had my kids memorize from Proverbs:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
What does it mean to trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding? It means that we completely trust God with all that is in us, that we rely not on anything that we can do on our own strength, and that we give all of the strength we possess, both physically and mentally, to the will of the Holy Spirit. Then God can fulfill His perfect will through us and bring glory to Himself. We do not seek our own gain but desire God to receive all the glory. We get to enjoy what God does for Himself.
So how does this apply to NFP and birth control. Well, NFP (Natural Family Planning) is a method of tracking a woman's fertility by charting her basal body temperature, cervical position and cervical mucus. Those three beautiful God-given signs tell her about her fertility. Together, those things change as a woman goes through her cycle. During ovulation, her temperature drops (albeit slightly), cervical position changes to a lower position and her cervical mucus changes in consistency and amount allowing for conception. Once you've learned to read these signs, it is possible to improve your chances of conception. Also, the opposite is true. It is possible to abstain during this time to avoid pregnancy. The basal body temperature rises after ovulation, the cervical position raises and the mucus goes away or becomes nominal. Now, one must prayerfully consider why they are avoiding pregnancy and be sure they have good reason. The most important part is that a couple remain open to life. God is the maker of life. He can decide when a new life will be created in cooperation with the choices of a couple.
If God is truly the center of our lives, we live for Him and Him alone. Do we really believe that He lives? Then we should also believe that we can trust Him with all our hearts. The result is the blessing of God falling on our obedient bodies, the body that was used to fulfill God’s perfect will. If His will is that a child be conceived, then that is a blessing.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3)
Children are a reward.
“In all your ways acknowledge Him” To acknowledge the Lord is to be wise. We should acknowledge God when we get up in the morning, we should acknowledge God when we start to talk, think, eat, listen, and act (or engage in a marital act). When we are around people we should acknowledge God. This keeps us wise, and most importantly keeps us from sinning (Proverbs 1:7; Exodus 20:20).
Here's the blessing: “HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.” Why? Because they are no longer our paths but His. Since He is perfect, He can’t have any fault. So the paths must lead to fulfilling His work, His perfect will, in and through the life He has given. So many have fallen to the god of Money or Health. They would rather have things than children or they worry their health will suffer (or heaven forbid their body shape) if they have more children. We go down the wrong path when we fail to trust Him. Have you ever heard the saying, "The Lord won't give you more than you can handle?" I believe that stems from this Bible verse. We've banked on that. We've got six children. We've experiences health issues, miscarriage, unemployment and family losses. That doesn't give us an excuse to stop trusting Him.
A friend, bearing, is writing about St. Francis de Sales book Introduction to the Devout Life. This particular entry hit me right across the head, and it applies here:
They will watch us carefully; one word of anger and they will say we have an ungovernable temper; if we show prudence in our affairs they will say we are avaricious; if we are gentle they will call us foolish, while as for them, their anger is courage, their avarice economy, their over familiarity honest fun...
In this case, I think the "prudence in our affairs" is our choice to use NFP. And when they use birth control or get permanently sterilized, they call it economy "economy".
One last thing:
Psalm 127:4-5: "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."
Ed. note: A friend emailed me over a little confusion about the temperatures. I added more info to make it clearer what happens during ovulation ;-).
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Day 7 - One Week Wheat Free (almost)
First, I apologize for not posting last night. We have some kind of virus going around our house. I was first, now my oldest daughter has it...yucky 101+ degree temp, headache, sore joints and malaise.
Even though I haven't felt well, I was able to keep the three year old on a diet free of wheat yesterday and today. I was really bummed last night, though, when I hosed him off in the tub to see his eczema worse than it has been in a long time. I was really, really hoping it would go away, not get worse. What I worry about with allergies is that once you are off the offending food totally, when you have a "incident", it's much worse than when you were having that food all the time. Maybe it was the wheat in the rotisserie chicken on Sunday night. I don't know. I also know I have not triple verified that EVERYTHING is gluten free by contacting the manufacturers.
I can't honestly remember what he had yesterday, so, sorry about that. I can tell you what he had today, though:
Breakfast:
3 very small pieces cinnamon toast on BRM Wonderful bread (mini-loaves)
2 bowls of Berry Berry Kix with Rice Dream
1/2 a banana
1/2 a glass of apple juice
1 slice of soy based cheese
Lunch:
Rice noodles with Prego spaghetti sauce
1 Coleman's GF/EF/DF chicken nugget
Apple slices
Afternoon Snack:
Rice Crackers
Rice Dream
Dinner:
Quinoa/Corn pasta with tomatoes and sausage
1 slice of tofutti soy cheese
peaches
BIG TREAT - An Icee
He and I went to a healing Mass tonight. The priest is a member of the Charismatic Renewal here and I can only say it was nothing short of AMAZING. We started with a rosary. The Mass was an hour long because the priest, Fr. Jim Livingstone, prays over whatever needs he feels need to be pray for and he takes as much time as it takes. We got there at 7pm for rosary, followed by Mass, followed by the priest praying over each person individually and got to the car at 9:35. The three year old was prayed over. I was too, and it was indescribable. It was like I was at one of the TV shows where people are being healed and they fall over. That was the way it was here. I was, well, a bit skeptical. However, when he laid his hands on me and started praying, I got so dizzy I could not stand up. They thankfully have someone there to catch you. And, a nice lady walked the three year old around the stain glass windows while I was prayed over. If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing this priest, whether it is physical or spiritual healing that you need. I'll stop gushing now. Thank you, Fr. Livingstone!
Even though I haven't felt well, I was able to keep the three year old on a diet free of wheat yesterday and today. I was really bummed last night, though, when I hosed him off in the tub to see his eczema worse than it has been in a long time. I was really, really hoping it would go away, not get worse. What I worry about with allergies is that once you are off the offending food totally, when you have a "incident", it's much worse than when you were having that food all the time. Maybe it was the wheat in the rotisserie chicken on Sunday night. I don't know. I also know I have not triple verified that EVERYTHING is gluten free by contacting the manufacturers.
I can't honestly remember what he had yesterday, so, sorry about that. I can tell you what he had today, though:
Breakfast:
3 very small pieces cinnamon toast on BRM Wonderful bread (mini-loaves)
2 bowls of Berry Berry Kix with Rice Dream
1/2 a banana
1/2 a glass of apple juice
1 slice of soy based cheese
Lunch:
Rice noodles with Prego spaghetti sauce
1 Coleman's GF/EF/DF chicken nugget
Apple slices
Afternoon Snack:
Rice Crackers
Rice Dream
Dinner:
Quinoa/Corn pasta with tomatoes and sausage
1 slice of tofutti soy cheese
peaches
BIG TREAT - An Icee
He and I went to a healing Mass tonight. The priest is a member of the Charismatic Renewal here and I can only say it was nothing short of AMAZING. We started with a rosary. The Mass was an hour long because the priest, Fr. Jim Livingstone, prays over whatever needs he feels need to be pray for and he takes as much time as it takes. We got there at 7pm for rosary, followed by Mass, followed by the priest praying over each person individually and got to the car at 9:35. The three year old was prayed over. I was too, and it was indescribable. It was like I was at one of the TV shows where people are being healed and they fall over. That was the way it was here. I was, well, a bit skeptical. However, when he laid his hands on me and started praying, I got so dizzy I could not stand up. They thankfully have someone there to catch you. And, a nice lady walked the three year old around the stain glass windows while I was prayed over. If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing this priest, whether it is physical or spiritual healing that you need. I'll stop gushing now. Thank you, Fr. Livingstone!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 5 - Wheat Free - almost...
We went to the Minnesota Irish Fair today. Archbishop Nienstedt said Mass (WOW!) and then we spent the whole morning and afternoon enjoying a FREE day. The fair is free. We brought our own lunch to avoid any allergens. It was lovely.
Unfortunately, we ended up blowing it tonight. We got rotisserie chicken and I didn't think to check the label. The seasoning had wheat. So, we'll have to see how he fares tomorrow.
Here's what he ate:
Cinnamon Chex with Rice Milk
Banana
Ham and Soy Cheese sandwich on BRM Wonderful Bread
Fritos
French fries (had some from a vendor - may have had some wheat...)
Peach
Cotton Candy (a little bit)
Chocolate Rice Dream
Carrot Sticks
Rice noodles with spaghetti sauce
Chicken Drum Stick
Pearson Mint patty
Bowl of Mother's Cereal with rice milk
Like I mentioned before, he's a big cereal eater. I just found a website that costs $4.95 a month that has 30,000 different items with allergen indicators. I'm considering the expense. I can do my research before heading to the grocery store. Trust me. The last thing I want to do is spend my time reading more labels in the store than I already do. The big gotcha's with Gluten Free (we're really just trying wheat free) are:
modified food starch
natural flavorings
natural color
caramel color
Those things can contain wheat. I've not been perfect at avoiding those items. So, perhaps my test isn't really a good test at all.
We'll see how the next week goes.
Unfortunately, we ended up blowing it tonight. We got rotisserie chicken and I didn't think to check the label. The seasoning had wheat. So, we'll have to see how he fares tomorrow.
Here's what he ate:
Cinnamon Chex with Rice Milk
Banana
Ham and Soy Cheese sandwich on BRM Wonderful Bread
Fritos
French fries (had some from a vendor - may have had some wheat...)
Peach
Cotton Candy (a little bit)
Chocolate Rice Dream
Carrot Sticks
Rice noodles with spaghetti sauce
Chicken Drum Stick
Pearson Mint patty
Bowl of Mother's Cereal with rice milk
Like I mentioned before, he's a big cereal eater. I just found a website that costs $4.95 a month that has 30,000 different items with allergen indicators. I'm considering the expense. I can do my research before heading to the grocery store. Trust me. The last thing I want to do is spend my time reading more labels in the store than I already do. The big gotcha's with Gluten Free (we're really just trying wheat free) are:
modified food starch
natural flavorings
natural color
caramel color
Those things can contain wheat. I've not been perfect at avoiding those items. So, perhaps my test isn't really a good test at all.
We'll see how the next week goes.
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