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Category: Feeding Baby

Struggling with breastfeeding? Not sure if your baby is ready for solids? Is your little one not gaining weight? You’ve come to the right place. I’m here to help you nourish your baby with feeding challenges. You’re in the right place to overcome any obstacle feeding baby.

My own kids struggled with feeding from birth – tongue ties, oral sensory processing disorder, short feeds, long feeds, all of it. But I did not give up! And I don’t want you to either.

Nourishing your baby from day one is so important. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I don’t want others to suffer like I did. So I share all of my best tips and tricks and my experience with feeding baby well.

Don ‘t give up on breastfeeding. Don’t let doctors tell you your struggles are “normal.” You can do this! Check the blog for lots of advice for feeding little ones. Or email me with any questions.

Simple Soup Series: Split Pea Soup

Simple Soup Series Split Pea Soup || Homemade Dutch Apple PieHands down my favorite kind of soup is split pea!  Growing up it was such a treat when my mom would make a pot of split pea soup with big chunks of ring sausage. You could smell it simmering on the stove for hours in anticipation of dinner.

So of course I make it for my family now. But I generally do not have time to monitor a pot of soup for hours.

I make my split pea soup in the crockpot. It really doesn’t get any easier. Add peas. Add broth. Add meat. Add seasoning. Dinner is ready. It only takes about five minutes to get it going. It’s so easy my three year old can pretty much prepare it for me!Simple Soup Series Split Pea Soup || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

What we add to the pea soup just depends what we have on hand. Sometimes I make it pure pea soup – peas, broth, salt. Sometimes I add diced ham, ring bologna or diced carrots. It would even be good with cooked sausage or leftover roasted chicken.

For the batch I photographed I used large chunks of ring bologna as a nod to how my mom made it growing up. I would eat the soup and save the sausage for the end. It was fun. But if you have small children it is easier to cut up the meat into smaller pieces.

You can make split pea soup as thin or as thick as you like. I prefer mine thicker.

One of the best parts about this soup is how much my kids love it.  I was going to take a picture of my son eating it, but he finished his bowl before I could get the camera. He just shoveled it in barely taking a breath between bites.Simple Soup Series Split Pea Soup || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

This is even an easy soup for very young children to eat. You can thin it out with extra broth and leave out the meat chunks for little ones.

Split pea soup is very allergen-friendly. So it’s great for people with all types of dietary needs. It also freezes well.

I believe split pea soup is a Dutch soup. Maybe that’s why my grandma and my mom always made it. And maybe that’s why my family and I love it so much!

This is also a very budget friendly soup.  Make broth from chicken bones and add some dried split peas. You’ll feed the whole family for a few dollars.Simple Soup Series Split Pea Soup || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

Note that split peas are similar to beans. They are not like sweet peas. So if you don’t tolerate beans you should only try a small amount of split pea soup to see if you can handle it. It can be gassy like beans. I learned that quickly as a nursing mom. My little one doesn’t appreciate me eating too much pea soup.

This really is the most delicious and easiest to prepare soup I make. The whole family loves it, and it’s full of vegetables and broth. It doesn’t get much better.  I even love to eat the leftovers for breakfast. Leftovers never last long here. My daughter loves it in her lunch too.

As with other soups that I make I like to add a little coconut oil or butter to individual bowls to balance it with healthy fat. Then I pair it with muffins or bread. Dinner has never been easier or tastier.

Simple Soup Series Split Pea Soup || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

 

Simple Soup Series: Split Pea Soup
Serves 6
A simple, nourishing split pea soup.
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Ingredients
  1. 1 lb. dried split peas (green or yellow)
  2. 6 cups chicken broth (you can substitute water if you don't have broth)
  3. 2 cups any meat of choice (cubed ham, sliced ring bologna, cooked sausage, cooked chicken)
  4. 2 tsp. sea salt (to taste)
  5. 2 tsp. garlic powder (to taste)
Instructions
  1. Rinse the split peas in a strainer.
  2. Put the split peas in the crockpot.
  3. Add the broth, meat and seasoning.
  4. Cover and cook on high 6-8 hours or low 7-12 hours, until the peas are fully cooked and the soup reaches desired thickness.
  5. Stir the soup every 3-4 hours if possible to make sure there is enough liquid. Add mor if necessary.
Notes
  1. You can make the soup thinner by adding extra broth or water.
  2. This soup freezes well.
  3. It is helpful to add a little water or broth when reheating pea soup.
  4. You can make this soup in a pot. Simmer 2-4 hours, until peas are cooked and soup thickens. Stir it periodically.
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Allergies: Avoiding Is NOT Healing {10 Tips Plus An Update!}

Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

*As with all of my posts, this should not be taken as medical advice. I am not a doctor. I am just a mom that has a lot of experience and has done a lot of research. Every person is different and responds differently to diet and supplements. Not all allergies can/will be healed or prevented even on the healthiest diet. But I hope many can make steps in a positive direction with some simple changes.*

Allergies. Whether food or environmental they are not fun. But an allergy diagnosis is also not a life sentence. There are things you can do to heal rather than simply avoid allergens.

Today I’m talking about food allergies and some of the mistakes so many people make when dealing with them. I know so many families that deal with food allergies. But I never hear much talk about trying to get rid of them. They just suffer with them.

How do I know about the mistakes so many people make? I’ve been there. I’ve made them…with both myself and my children.

Where do allergies come from?  There is no single answer. Often times allergies are passed down through generations.  According to my allergist they usually come from the father. So it makes sense that since my husband and my father-in-law have allergies my children do too. Keep in mind it’s not necessarily the same allergy that gets passed down. My husband and my daughter have environmental allergies, but my son has food allergies. It is still TBD if he has environmental allergies as well, but the allergist said it looks like he does.

Allergies can also be a result of the mother’s health and diet both before and during pregnancy.  If you ate a lot of peanut butter while pregnant it can increase your child’s chance of having a nut allergy. Though some say the opposite is true. If you had an unhealthy gut during pregnancy your child might as well.

Also, if you have a c-section your child does not pick up your good gut bacteria from the birth canal and usually gets some antibiotics in his or her system. We deal with this situation as well. My gut health was definitely not where it should be during pregnancy. I also had c-sections for all of my children. That being said I was on a REAL food diet when pregnant and breastfeeding my son. He still developed allergies.

Note that the health of the mother can have an impact not only on her own children, but on her grandchildren and great grandchildren!  It can be passed down through generations. Just as it can take several generations to make a significant impact for the better. So while my diet won’t totally keep my own children from health problems. My changes plus the changes my own children make will likely have a positive impact on future generations.

These are just a few of the many possible sources of allergies. And most people have multiple factors that play a role.

Regardless of the source, allergies are a big pain. My son was diagnosed last year with quite a few food allergies.  The worst being dairy. We are thankful he never had any life threatening reactions (we don’t even own an epi-pen). But it was still not pleasant to see him suffer. He had hives, eczema, digestive issues and behavioral issues.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

After our first visit with the allergist we had about three foods to strictly avoid and about ten foods to not eat very often. We tried that method for a while. The result? After six months he had new food allergies.  This seems to happen to many people. The allergies aren’t too bad so you just limit the offending foods. But it doesn’t work. Then you cut them out completely. That helps. But it still doesn’t solve the problem.

What now? Here are the things I’ve learned about allergies that I hope will help you as well.

1. Avoiding does NOT heal allergies.

This is probably the most important thing to understand. Avoiding the problem foods will definitely help ease symptoms and reactions. This is an important first step. But it doesn’t actually get to the root of the problem.  Allergies are an autoimmune problem. You have to heal the gut and the autoimmune system to actually get rid of the allergies. Else they are almost always going to be with you for life.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

2. Work on the gut.

The gut is the source of the problem.  You need a healthy gut full of good bacteria. How do you get that?

There are many healing diets you can try like GAPS, SCD and AIP. They tend to be quite restrictive and not individualized.
I prefer to follow some of the healing principles of these diets while adjusting for individual needs. So here are the main things that I think are helpful to everyone that needs healing, even if you don’t follow a specific diet.

*Bone broth – try to consume this every day if possible. It is so nourishing and healing. Even if you do nothing else, consuming real broth will greatly improve your health and your immune system. It is also a great source of calcium and other vitamins and minerals that are often missing on a restricted diet.

*Probiotics – find a good quality probiotic to take daily and rotate brands periodically to get different strains of bacteria. You can also add fermented food to your diet to obtain a variety of good bacteria.

*Gelatin – this is the main component in broth. It is also very healing and very easy pure protien to digest. You can add it to just about anything. So it’s very easy to give it to children. My kids love homemade fruit snacks. Plus I add collagen to drinks and smoothies. It does not gel and has no flavor.

*Avoid gluten – even if you are not allergic to wheat it is problematic for most people. I don’t think eating grain free is necessary for everyone (though some do benefit from it while healing). But stick to gluten free grains.

Homeopathy and parasite cleansing can also help to heal allergies.

3. Rotate foods and eat a variety to prevent creating more allergies.

One of the biggest pitfalls when dealing with allergies is eating the same foods over and over. This is the one I struggled with the most. I had no idea that eating the same food day after day can actually cause problems. But it does.

I need to clarify here – if you are a healthy individual with no gut or autoimmune issues food rotation is not necessary (though still good for you). But if your immune system is already compromised and attacking your body then eating the same foods every day will create new problems.

When I was in college I ate granola and apples pretty much every single day. Now two of my biggest problem foods are oats and apples. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat them again without digestive distress.

The same thing happened with my son. While his body was still at a low point we were struggling with what to feed him. If we found something he would eat willingly we tended to give it to him quite often. That is how he added new allergies to his list, like peas and avocados.

The more you give your child the same food day after day the more allergies they will develop. Although it can be tough to find anything to feed them some days you have to try.

A common allergy protocol will include a rotational diet. I’ve been on one myself before. The general idea is that you rotate foods on a four day schedule. So if you eat an apple one day you can’t have one again for four days. If you eat dairy one day you can’t have it again for four days. It is challenging to eat this way, but it can really help with healing and prevention.

I have found that we don’t need to do strict four day rotation for every type of food. But I do make sure to get variety in our diet. If I serve broccoli for dinner one night I won’t serve it again for quite a few days. I try to serve a variety of fruits, meats, vegetables and grains throughout the week. I don’t worry too much about rotating what types of fat we use. But the rest I try to make sure we get variety and rotate things.

I urge you to make this a priority.  I see way too many kids gradually get worse because they eat the same foods all the time. The diet gets more and more restricted as new allergies arise.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

 4. Avoid processed foods. Make the diet as nutrient dense as possible.

Another important part of healing is making sure the diet is as nutrient dense as possible. That means avoiding all processed foods and loading up on the good stuff.

The good stuff includes broth, grass-fed meats (especially cuts on the bone, with fat, including beef, pork and poultry), pastured eggs, organic fruits and vegetables and healthy fats (real butter, coconut oil, lard, tallow, avocado and extra virgin olive oil).

It is critical to avoid vegetable oils like canola, safflower, corn and sunflower. These are found in just about every packaged food. Even things like cereal should be cut from the diet.  It has no nutritional value and can actually do more harm than good. It may be easy, but it will hurt your efforts in the long run.

Healthy food does not have to be complicated. Snack on a piece of fresh fruit. Cook a vegetable in butter or coconut oil. Serve raw veggies with homemade sour cream dip. Eat leftover roast chicken for some energy. Keep it simple, but real.

 5. Be strict about avoidance.

 This is another component of healing that I did not understand at first. The allergist told us we could give my son some of his problem foods in limited amounts since they didn’t show a strong reaction.

So that is what I did. I really was good about only giving these foods once in a while. But it wasn’t enough. And those allergies actually got worse at my son’s six month check up.

Even if a food shows only a small reaction it’s still attacking the immune system every time you eat it. And it does not give the body time to settle and heal.  It’s like having a cut. If you leave it alone completely it will eventually heal. But if every day you pick at it just a tiny bit it’s going to stay irritated and inflamed and maybe even get worse.

If you or your child has any degree of allergy, avoid it. Once the body has gone through some healing then you can gradually add foods back. But when the body is inflamed and very sensitive even small amounts of allergens will cause big problems.

It takes a while for allergens to fully clear from the body. So if you are periodically having small amounts of a problem food you never fully clear it out. Foods like dairy and gluten can stay in the system for as long as 6-8 weeks! You have to give the body time to fully rest.

6. Detox methods can be very helpful.

When the gut is healing detox is often an important part of the process. As you add the good bacteria and nutrients to your body the bad stuff will have to get out.

I am no expert on detox. I struggle with it myself. But I do know that one of the easiest ways to gently detox is with epsom baths. Simply add epsom salt to a warm bath and soak for twenty minutes. This even works well for kids and is very relaxing.

Another simple way to detox is by drinking lemon water. You can add a couple drops of lemon essential oil to your water or even some real lemon juice.

Detoxing will help speed up the healing process. Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

7. Diet at a young age is very critical.

It is very important to observe your child for any allergy symptoms from birth. From day one my little one had green bowel movements (and a LOT of them in a day), a red bottom and even blood in her stools.

She had little red bumps all over her face. Most people just ignore this and say it’s “baby acne” and don’t give it another thought. But the skin is a great indicator of what is going on inside.

Once I cut dairy and wheat 100% out of my diet she was such a happy baby. No more twenty dirty diapers a day. Normal looking bowel movements. And clear skin.

Does this mean that my baby has allergies? Not necessarily. But I’m not taking any chances. I’m going to let her body rest and heal to help prevent problems down the road.

Even when my little one starts solids I will be very careful about what she eats. Keeping children grain and sugar free until they are at least one year of age is very important. They do not have the enzymes to digest grains. And sugar is just not necessary or healthy for them.

Stick to whole foods like fruits and vegetables, bone broth, grass-fed meats and pastured eggs. Don’t forget to give them plenty of healthy fat like butter, coconut oil and sour cream. It is so important for their brains, hormones and overall well-being.

By avoiding foods they react to and filling their bodies with nutrient-dense foods you can minimize long term health problems. This is also helpful for healing allergies at a young age if they do arise. It does not guarantee your child will not develop allergies. But it will give them a good foundation for improving health.

I was on the GAPS diet myself when pregnant and breastfeeding my son. He had a very nutrient dense diet. He still developed allergies. But he had a solid foundation of health that really helped on our journey.

8. Find ways to relax. Stress will only make things worse.

If there is one thing I understand very well it’s how stress and anxiety impact your body. I am the queen of worry. Worrying about health and diet is at the top of my list.

Stress will actually weaken your immune system and cause problems of its own. If you are in the process of healing worry can really sabotage your efforts.

I find that often it is the parents that worry about the children with allergies. It’s natural. But it is so important not to let it show!  Kids pick up on your fears very quickly and mimic your behavior.

If I make a big fuss over what my kids can and can’t eat when we are around others then they get uptight about it. If I act like it’s no big deal and don’t get emotional about it they think nothing of their restrictions and don’t worry about possible reactions.

Allowing your child to be a child and not worry about their allergies is one of the best things you can do for them. You need to let them know the importance of the situation, but they don’t need to worry.

Whether it’s you, your child or both that worries, find ways to relax. A detox bath can help. Also any enjoyable activities like reading, exercising or being with friends.

I have to also mention here that proper rest is critical as well. Your body does most of its repair work while you sleep. If you don’t get enough rest your body will gradually get more and more run down. You’ll see signs of it in your skin, your mood, your digestion, everything. So making sure you and your child get enough sleep is very important.

 9. Picky eating is often a symptom of allergies.

I have written quite a bit about picky eating since we have struggled with it with both of my big kids. For my oldest it was related to oral sensory issues. But for my son it was tied to his allergies.

When he was very young he was a great eater. Anything I put in front of him he would devour. He didn’t even want sweets. He loved all vegetables and meats. Around the age of two he started to eat less and less. It became a struggle to get him to eat good food. That is also when his allergies surfaced.

For a while we had a battle at every meal. Just putting one bite of a vegetable on his plate sent him running and crying from the table.

This is very common in children with allergies. It’s not because they are being strong willed. It is because their bodies are run down and food actually doesn’t taste good to them. The bad bacteria wants sugar and starch. That is what they crave.

But don’t give up. Keep trying. Give them a variety of foods. Start with just a vegetable on their plates when they are really hungry. Even if they only get one bite down give them praise.

As the body heals their appetite will increase and their tolerance of a variety foods will increase as well. I am amazed almost daily lately at what my son will eat without hesitation now that we’ve been working on healing for a while.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

10. Even if an allergy does not show up on a test there can still be a reaction happening.

This last point is a tricky one. You have to be very observant of how you or your child responds to foods.

Originally my son was diagnosed with an allergy to peas. But by his six month check up it went away. We were so excited. So we let him have peas again.

It took us months to figure out that peas were still bothering him. He may not have a true allergy to them anymore, but his body was still reacting to them. It took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. But once the peas were out of his system he was finally free of his digestive problems.

Even if an allergy seems to clear be sure to add the food back in very gradually (start with once a week) and observe any reactions. There can still be an allergy or a sensitivity even if a test does not show it.

We have observed a similar situation with our oldest. She does not have any food allergies. But she definitely reacts to gluten. Once she went gluten free we saw big improvements in her overall health, growth and behavior.

Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

This is my top ten list of ways to work on healing allergies and prevent them from getting worse. 

Simply avoiding allergens may relive symptoms. But it will not take away allergies. Start taking steps now to heal instead of simply avoiding. These steps do not guarantee healing. But in most cases they will at least provide an improvement.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

And now for the update:

Over the last year we have experimented with my son. We’ve had times where he was symptom free. We’ve had times where we couldn’t figure out what was bothering him. He has gotten rid of some allergies and has acquired others. But we have been working hard to heal his body with probiotics, broth, gelatin, rotation and avoidance.

It is amazing to see the progress he is making. About six months ago his diet was very limited. I struggled to find more than one vegetable he could/would eat. He loved avocados (not really even a vegetable, but it was all he would eat), so I gave them to him a lot. And of course that led to an avocado allergy. When we would put one tiny piece of cooked carrot on his plate he would run from the table crying and wouldn’t come back until it was gone. If I managed to get him to put a sliver of raw carrot in his mouth he would spit it out instantly. If we got squash in his mouth he would gag and spit it out. It was that bad.

Fast forward a bit. Two weeks ago he ate an entire RAW carrot in his lunch…with no problems. When he was helping me prepare cauliflower for dinner he grabbed a piece (again, raw) of his own accord and happily munched on it. Another day he had a plate full of food for lunch, including a vegetable. He asked me if he could also have a dish of plain salsa to eat. My son that screamed at the sight of vegetables six months ago asked for extra without me even mentioning it. We used to have to force him to try one bite of a vegetable. Now he’s asking for more. The other day I made pizza for dinner. My son finished the squash on his plate before his pizza. He has even told me he loves crunchy carrots now. It’s pretty amazing.

He also used to have eczema all over his legs. He would scratch it until he was bleeding. Now his legs are totally clear.

His other major symptoms were loose bowels and frequent urination. They both subsided once we finally got all of his allergens out of his system.

In addition to the eating improvement and clearing of symptoms my son is definitely making great progress in his development! He has grown about 1 1/2 inches in the last six months. He is fully potty trained now. And he is finally showing interest in learning letters, writing, coloring, etc. He is also making great strides in his speech with just a few visits to the speech therapist. Now that his body is working better he is just taking off in all areas of development.

Last week my son had his one year check up since being diagnosed with food allergies. I was hopeful and nervous.

I am happy to say that we have healed my son of all but two food allergies!! He even got rid of his dairy allergy!!!! It is truly amazing.

The only allergies left are to banana and corn. Corn is actually a new allergy. I’ve been suspicious of that one for a while since he eats a lot of corn when he can’t have wheat or rice. And as I said above if you give a lot of one food when the body is in the healing process that is when new allergies pop up.

So we’ll keep bananas out as before and get rid of corn. I can live with that!Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

Now we begin the process of gradually adding foods back and seeing how he tolerates them.  Of course we are starting with dairy. My son is so excited. And I’m hoping he tolerates it well. It will take a while to fully introduce dairy. Since he has not had one bite of it for a year his body will have to relearn how to digest lactose.

So far we have given him very small amounts of plain, whole milk yogurt per the allergist recommendation and a tiny bit of butter. From there we will follow the GAPS protocol for introducing dairy and see how it goes. I’m hoping he can tolerate all dairy at some point. But for now I’ll be happy if he can at least handle raw dairy.

Once we get through dairy we’ll gradually add the other foods – beans, peas, grapes, pears, avocado, tuna, rice and nuts. We’ll probably do peas and avocados last since even just a few months ago those were bothering him. We also get to try turkey finally this Thanksgiving. Last year he could not eat turkey. But I don’t think I’ve served any turkey since his allergy cleared at his six month check up.

Even though he does not have a wheat allergy we will continue to eat gluten free. It is especially important as his body has more healing to do.

Of course as we start this process of reintroducing foods I will continue to give him healing foods and continue the process of getting his body to full health.Allergies - Avoiding is NOT Healing || Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

It is truly amazing to me the power of real, nutrient dense food. It is also beyond my wildest dreams that God would allow us to have two stories of healing in one year. My blog is focused on dealing with infertility and allergies. This year we welcomed our third child, conceived naturally. And now we’re on our way to being a food allergy free house! God is good! Real food heals!

 Do you or your children struggle with food allergies? Start taking steps now to heal. It can be a long process, but it’s worth the effort.

If you suspect your child may have food allergies I strongly urge you to get them tested. It is a simple process and then you can end the guessing game.  Typical symptoms can be eczema, hives, loose bowels, constipation, frequent urination, delayed development, picky eating that is not just a short phase and behavioral problems (like tantrums and hyperactivity). For symptoms such as throat swelling seek immediate help.

If you made it to the end of this post I commend you. It was a long one! But the information is so important. I have learned so much in the last few years about dealing with allergies. I hope you can use some of this information for yourself or your children. Please pass it along to anyone you know dealing with food allergies. Real food can heal.

Do you have a story of healing? I’d love to hear it!! Do you have more questions? Ask away.

This is a great starting point for dealing with allergies. If you’d like to read more here are some other great articles:

Why I Stopped Eating Eggs | Simply Healthy Home

Best First Foods For Babies | Mix Wellness

Feeding Nourished Babies | Raising Generation Nourished

Do You Have the Guts to do the GAPS Diet? | Holistic Squid

Three Surprising Ways To Heal Food Allergies | Weed ‘Em and Reap

A Surprising Natural Food Allergy Remedy | Whole New Mom

What Causes Food Allergies | Nourishing Days

 

In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.

Baby Is Here!

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The long awaited day has come. Our newest arrival is here! Johanna Ruth joined our family on August 21. She is a healthy 9 lb. baby. She looks like her big sister and loves to snuggle.

We praise God for this miracle! Everything went very well with the delivery and recovery. We are happy to be home and enjoying life as a family of five now.

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My Pre-Baby House Makeover

house makeoverBack in March I posted my 2014 goals. One of them was to simplify and de-clutter. I was slowly getting my energy back after a very long stretch of “morning” sickness.

I started doing little things here and there. Gradually I was able to tackle projects that took 2-3 hours (that’s what nap time is for, right?).

After three months I think I’ve achieved my goal. Is there still more to be done? Absolutely (please don’t look in the “craft” room in our basement). But I have gotten all of the bedrooms organized. I moved all of my son’s things to my daughter’s room. I set up the nursery (including baby clothes, cloth diapers, etc.)  I cleaned the office. I reorganized my daughter’s craft center and our living room. I got rid of some old stuff.

I also actually cleaned instead of just organizing. This is very helpful for all of the allergy sufferers in the house.

Was it a lot of work? You bet! Was it worth it? Totally.

Now I just have to keep up with things. When I see a mess it only takes a few minutes to get things back in order. I don’t feel overwhelmed with the clutter.

I actually can clean and dust now without feeling like I have a million things to move out of the way first.

One of the best parts is that my children love the change. When they don’t have too many toys out at once they play so nicely together and really use their imaginations. It’s so fun to watch.

We also now have room to set up the baby gear.

In the end it was a lot of work. But it is so worth it. Even if you only work for 15 minutes a day it can make an impact. De-cluttering the house has made life far less stressful. Plus I’m teaching my kids how to take care of their things and put them where they belong…now that they actually have a place for everything.

I’m not perfect. Neither is my house. There is always more to be done. But I’m excited about the change. Here are some before and after pictures. I think they speak for themselves. I didn’t remember to take all of the before pictures. But the after pictures are still great.

Is your house or your stuff feeling overwhelming? Taking just a few minutes a day to de-clutter will make a big difference. 

bedroom collage
A clean bedroom.
breakfast nook collage
We can eat at the breakfast nook again.
craft center collage
My kids LOVE the setup of their craft center. They use it every day.
nursery collage
The nursery closet is ready for baby’s stuff.
office collage
I can see my desk again.

 I feel calmer just looking at the after pictures! I didn’t even take pictures of some of the big rooms like the kitchen and living room. Organizing the house was a big task. But I’m glad it’s done. Now my goal is to just maintain and not let things get as bad as they were. If I can do the hard work while pregnant I should be able to maintain when my body is fully functional again.

My Goals of the Year – 2014

Now that March is underway it is time to think about my 2014 goals! It only took 2 1/2 months. This year I’m focusing on simplifying life and getting back to the basics. I want to make room and time for people and relationships.

One thing that stood out as I was making my goals was that I didn’t even really think about food or diet in terms of my own health. That is a big sign of healing. I don’t have a special diet. I eat nutrient-rich food. I eat what my body likes/what makes me feel good. I eat enough to support my body and my baby. It’s nice to not have a laundry list of diet do’s and don’ts as part of my goals this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~2014 GOALS~~~~~~~~~~~

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1. Get back to the basics with nutrition.

I first learned about real food about four years ago. I took the time to really understand what nutrition meant and how to feed my family. Over the years with my own health struggles, dietary restrictions for my kids (for allergies) and times of doing what you can just to get by (during things like miscarriage and early pregnancy) I have lost sight of that a little bit.

Sometimes I’m even amazed when I look back through my old posts. I posted a lot of good information! So it’s time to get back to the basics of nutrition. I never strayed too far. But I know I can do better with getting some of the junk out of our house. As I get my energy back I also hope to get my passion and drive back for making real, homemade food that is nourishing for my family.

This will include simple steps like adding egg yolks, coconut oil, gelatin and bone broth to foods whenever I can. I may also re-post some old articles to help myself get back on track.

I’m not going to be extreme. I know there has to be balance. I also know I’m human and can only do so much. But I’m also ready to put in the effort to make sure my family is nourished.

As part of this I may start re-reading Nourishing Traditions. It has such a wealth of knowledge.

Once I am feeling better I will also do a one week challenge with my kids to see how they do with absolutely no packaged food. They don’t eat much as it is. But over the last few months we’ve had to go with convenience sometimes because it was all I could manage. We need to break the habit and get back to real food.

This is not about restriction. This is not about a special diet. This does not mean we can’t enjoy other food when we are out or with friends. This is about sticking to real, nourishing foods the majority of the time and especially at home. It’s easy to lose sight of that in our culture. I want to be sure my kids know what true health means.

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2. Simplify and de-clutter my house and my life.

One of the biggest sources of stress for our whole family is the clutter and mess in the house. With me being only able to do the minimum around the house for the last three months it has gotten even worse. It’s time to finally do something about it.

When I used to think about cleaning what came to mind was organizing and making things look neat. I didn’t care about dust bunnies in the corner or mold spots on the ceiling as long as things were in order.

But now that my daughter has been diagnosed with severe dust and mold allergies, cleaning has a whole new meaning. I’m starting to notice every little spec of dirt in our house. I’m realizing just how dirty it is!

So my cleaning goal is two-fold. I want to get things organized and get rid of things we don’t use/don’t need. I also want to do a thorough cleaning of the whole house. I want my daughter and my husband to be able to breathe better and feel better at home.

The cleaning will be better for our health. The neatness will make everyone happier. It will create more peace. There will also be a place for everything…which means clean up will be much easier.

This will also free up a lot of time (especially mine!). Instead of spending half of my day just trying to stay on top of the mess, I’ll have more time for my family and for doing other things. By bed time everyone will be much happier and calmer.

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3. Make relationships a priority.

I probably want this or even write it as a goal every year. It is one of my biggest struggles. I am an introvert by nature (extreme introvert and painfully shy). So making friends is very difficult. Add to that severe OCD, feelings of isolation from infertility,  anxiety…you get the picture. For most of my life I’ve just gone the easy route. I avoid deep friendships. I keep everything surface level. I don’t let anyone in. I try to hide all the things I don’t like about myself. But it’t not a good way to live. It’s also not a good example for my children.

I did have some very close friends when I was younger. But life changes as you get older. I’ve also had deep friendships that have caused a lot of hurt. After that it was hard to open up to anyone again.

Over the years I have realized that having close friends is one of the biggest things missing in my life. I have a wonderful husband and a great family (both my family and my in-laws). I am thankful for a couple friends that I keep in touch with regularly via email.

But this year I want to build lasting friendships. I want to put in the effort, let others into my life and drop my guard. It will not be easy. But I think it’s worth the effort.

In addition to making friends, I wan to make sure that my relationship with my husband is a priority. This is especially critical before baby #3 arrives. Since our children are almost six and three, now is a good time to go on dates and spend time together.

I also want to make sure my kids get plenty of attention before the baby comes. I will try to continue our monthly mommy/daughter dates. I will also try to do special things for my son. Finally we will make the most of our summer and do lots of fun things, like going to the beach, playgrounds, etc.

Life will be very different in September with a new baby and my big girl in school all day. So we are going to enjoy our family of four for the summer.

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4. Work on myself.

This year I want to really think about how my actions impact my children (and others around me). I want to be a good example to my kids. This includes things like facing my fears, making friends and trusting God.

My daughter already struggles with anxiety, just like I did when I was little. I need to teach her how to handle anxiety and how to let it go. I have to do this through the way I handle my own anxiety.

I will have two big adjustments later this year. I will be adjusting to life with three children. I will also be adjusting to my daughter being in school all day. I plan to prepare myself mentally for these changes.

My yearly goals would not be complete without talking about my health. Thankfully this year there isn’t too much to think about. My main focus is to keep my thyroid levels and medication well-monitored, both during and after pregnancy.

I need to focus on eating enough quality food, getting moderate exercise and getting plenty of sleep. Yes, good health really is that simple.

Finally, I want to take more time to read. I don’t do it very often these days. But I have a lot of books that have been sitting on my desk for a long time. I also have a lot of Kindle books. So I am going to read more and watch TV less. I just got a few new books last week as an early birthday present. I’ve already finished one of them!

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5. Focus on my writing.

My writing has taken a back seat for the last few months. After my miscarriage I lost my focus and energy. I had to really concentrate on my health. Then when I had bad morning sickness I simply could not sit at the computer to write.

Now that I’m starting to feel better I’m finally getting my desire to write back! It feels great. Although my kids don’t like to give me time to do it.

I switched my site from Blogger to WordPress earlier this year. But being so sick I didn’t have time to do anything else with it. I want to learn more about WP and update the look of my site.

I want to write about a variety of topics. I will still post recipes. I will also be writing about health issues.

I will continue to learn about photography and work on my skills.

I am also hoping to start doing some giveaways this year!

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6. Word for the year – LOVE.

Last year I started focusing on a word for the year. It was acceptance. Last year was definitely a year of acceptance. It took a while to figure out a word for this year. But it turns out I didn’t really have to figure it out. During the first two months of this year God has bombarded me with the word LOVE.

My daily email devotions started in January with “40 Days of Love.” At church we did a series called “How’s It Growing” where we talked about spiritual disciplines…the final and most important being love.

For Valentine’s Day this year my daughter made all of her cards. We found a pack of cheap bracelets for her to use for the girls in her class. They each got two. At the end there were two bracelets left that I told her she could keep for herself. Instead she kept one and gave one to me in my card. Like a good mother I put it on…and it’s been on ever since! It’s just a little, plastic red bracelet. But it reminds me daily to love.

There have been plenty of other signs of love as well.

So this year I am focusing on love. I want to give love. I want to be loved.

I have been reminded constantly this year already about how much God loves me. It’s incomprehensible. But it is so comforting. Even when I’m worried or anxious or not so happy with myself…God still loves me unconditionally.

I want to show this same love to others. I want to show my husband and my kids unconditional love.

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This year I hope to work hard to make life simpler and make room for building relationships and setting a good example to my children. It all comes down to simplify and love. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us this year.

Health Lessons I Learned Through Infertility

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Every time I think about writing what I learned in 2013 my mind goes in a million directions. I learned so much. I learned it all the hard way – through first hand experience.

I know I’m not alone. I know I’m not the only one struggling with these problems. So I want to share my journey with others in the hopes that someone else doesn’t have to go through the struggles like I did.

So here is my attempt at sharing some of these lessons. I hope to go into more detail on some of the topics in separate posts later. For now, here is some of what I learned in 2013 (and over the last ten years).

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1. Eat enough food.

I fell into this trap for many years. And I see it in so many well-meaning sites and books. Time and time again it is suggested that women should eat 1200 – 1500 calories a day to loose weight and be healthy. This is far too little to sustain your health.

Unless you are on complete bedrest and can barely move your body most women should eat a minimum of 2,000 calories a day. You should consume even more than that if you are active and exercise. If you starve your body it will not function well. If you feed your body you’ll feel great. Combining enough quality food with moderate exercise is a great way to maintain your health in the long term.

2. Eat what works for your body.

Don’t follow a prescribed diet (GAPS, Paleo, low carb, etc.) just because someone else says it’s great.

This is another lesson I had to learn the (very) hard way. I’ve been on every diet you can think of to try to feel good. For me it was never about losing weight. I just wanted to feel good and heal my body. So I tried the IBS diet, low fat, high fiber, dairy free, egg free, wheat free, red meat free, grain free, GAPS, low carb,…I’ve tried them all.

Where did that get me? Feeling worse than when I started. Over the last 10 years I have learned to eat what works for my body. And that is what makes me feel good.

Just because your friend tried eating paleo and feels great doesn’t mean it’s the perfect diet for you. Just because someone says grains are evil doesn’t mean they don’t work for you.

I have read over and over about how things like potatoes, bananas and root vegetables are “safe” starches and much better for you than grains. I am living proof that this is not true for everyone. If I eat potatoes and bananas I will be in so much pain. But I MUST eat gluten free grains daily to feel good.

All this boils down to – don’t restrict your diet just because someone else says it’s good. Eat a variety of real food that makes you feel good and gives you the energy you need. Don’t cut foods (real food) out of your diet if they aren’t causing you problems. You won’t find your “perfect” diet in any book. You have to figure out what works for you.

3. Real food is great! But sometimes it can be beneficial to stray away from it.

I know this sounds contradictory to what my site is all about. But it’s true. I still firmly believe in fueling your body with healthy, homemade real food…most of the time.

But depending on the state of your health, there are times when you can benefit from some less than ideal foods. For someone that has been on a strict diet (like paleo or GAPS) and is underfed and unhealthy, processed foods can be a great jumpstart to getting back to full health. Processed foods are easy to digest (yes, frozen pizza is often easier to digest than a big plate of vegetables). It is also easy to quickly increase your calorie intake with processed foods.

I am not recommending this as a permanent solution to health by any means. But it can be beneficial if you are recovering from undereating or a condition called orthorexia. Once your body is not starving anymore you can go back to eating real, quality food. You just have to be sure to eat plenty of it.

Having bad morning sickness was a good way to break me of my orthorexia. I do love to fuel my body properly with quality food. But sometimes I can be too strict about it…and it fuels my OCD and anxiety. I had to just learn to eat whatever I could manage for the last couple months. I am really looking forward to getting back to eating mostly healthy food. My body is ready for it. But it was nice to have a break and just eat whatever I wanted. It was a great way to change my mindset and figure out how to find balance.

4. Don’t drink too much water.

One of the best things I did for my health in 2013 was to stop drinking so much water. There really is no science behind the 8 glasses a day rule. And if you really think about it, it doesn’t make sense to force yourself to drink water. If your body needs fluids it will let you know.

Drinking too much water is a great way to slow down your metabolism, lower your body temperature and feel cold all the time. It will also flush the vitamins and minerals out of your body.

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5. Get plenty of sleep.

This sounds like common sense. But there are probably very few people that actually get enough sleep. For a healthy individual seven hours of uninterrupted sleep is the minimum needed. Most people need at last eight. And for someone that has been sleep-deprived for a while nine or ten hours is ideal.

Quality sleep with no problems falling or staying asleep is a sign of good health. While you sleep is also the time when your body repairs itself. So if you’re trying to heal and you’re not getting enough sleep you’re setting yourself up for failure.

I went for years and years getting very poor sleep. I had too much to get done in a day to spend my time sleeping. But at some point I just had no energy and could barely function. It has been great over the last couple months to get nine or ten hours of sleep a day (night time + a nap). My body really needed it. Hopefully soon I can stop taking a nap every day and just stick with my eight hours a night and have it be sufficient.

Even if every other part of your lifestyle is ideal, if you’re not getting enough sleep you won’t feel your best.

6. Exercise is great…if you are eating and sleeping enough.

If you are not eating or sleeping enough, it can be beneficial to take a break from exercise. When you do exercise it’s good to do a variety of things like weight lifting, yoga and walking. You don’t have to push yourself to extremes to be healthy and fit. Too much aerobic exercise may be harmful.

I used to run every single day. And do nothing else. Now I still enjoy running. But I don’t do it every day. Actually I haven’t done any running in a long time because my body was not healthy enough. When I was healing I stuck to short walks and bikes. I also did gentle yoga. I got new weights for Christmas…but haven’t been able to use them. Maybe by next Christmas I’ll be able to start lifting weights 🙂

Move your body doing what you enjoy. Make sure to do a variety of things to work all parts of your body. And combine it with enough food and enough sleep. That is the way to stay healthy.

7. Basal body temperature can tell you a lot about your health.

Basal body temperature is your temperature when you first wake up in the morning. Another great thing I did for my health in 2013 was to check my temperature every single morning and keep a spreadsheet of it.

Your bbt can tell you if your metabolism is working well or not. For women it can also tell you when you ovulate/how your hormones are functioning. So it is a good indicator of health (since metabolism is a key factor in health). It is also great for understanding fertility and either getting pregnant or preventing pregnancy.

A healthy individual with a well-functioning metabolism should have a bbt of at least 97.8 F in the morning. Higher is even better. You can also check your temperature throughout the day to get an idea of how your food and activity level impacts your body temperature. It will help you see what keeps you warm (boosting metabolism) or makes you cold (suppressing metabolism). Then you can adjust your lifestyle accordingly.

For women, bbt is lower (but still usually around the 97.8 range for a healthy individual) in the first half of your cycle when estrogen is dominant and progesterone is low. When you ovulate there is often a temperature drop for one day. Then after ovulation progesterone increases, raising your temperature.

It will take a few months of charting your temperature to get an idea of how your body works and to see if there are any patterns. For example, as I was healing and charting my bbt there wasn’t really a pattern that I noticed at first. My cycles were not regular. But after a while I noticed that if my bbt dropped into the 96’s (or below) even for one day my body was way off and was struggling to get my hormone levels up. And it would be at least two weeks before ovulation. A bbt below 97 meant a restart for me. If my bbt stayed in the 97’s for two weeks I knew ovulation was coming. And after ovulation my bbt was always at least in the 98’s and sometimes 99’s. Once my bbt started dropping that meant the start of a new cycle.

Charting my bbt was the easiest change I made the whole year. But it told me more about my health than just about anything else I did.

8. Focus on health, not looks.

I think I’ve been saying this for years. So it’s not completely new. But deep down I don’t think I fully believed it. I did shift my mindset to focus on health a long time ago. But I didn’t ever drop the focus on looks and size. I still wanted to be thin.

In 2013 my control over my size was taken away. With my thyroid totally out of whack my weight kept going up and up. There was nothing I could do about it. For the first time I truly had to focus 100% on my health.

Did I always like how I looked? No. Did I want to loose some weight? Yes. But that was completely secondary. My health was front and center. And it always will be now, no matter what size I am.

When I look to the future I think about how I want to impact my children. I would much rather teach them to take care of themselves and be healthy. I don’t want to teach them to be obsessed with looks and size. So I am done with that.

Don’t try to be a certain size or weight. Treat your body well. And give your body what it needs to be healthy. You’ll be so much happier. Love yourself and take care of yourself.

9. Change is a very gradual process.

Change does not happen over night. No matter what the next fad diet or workout video tells you. If you want to make changes that are sustainable long term it will be a very gradual process.

Do you want to loose weight? That’s fine. But know that it will take a while. Do you want to eat healthier? That’s a wonderful thing to do. But don’t go crazy trying to do everything at once.

Small, consistent steps each day will get you where you want to be. Don’t get upset because two weeks into making changes you haven’t noticed any big improvements. Give it time.

Healing takes time. Weight gain or loss takes time. A healthy diet takes time. Don’t rush it and set yourself up for failure. I’ve been working on getting healthy for about 15 years now. And I’m finally getting there. One step at a time.

10. Your thyroid can have a big impact on your health.

I was diagnosed as hypothyroid in 2006. I was put on a synthetic thyroid hormone and had my TSH checked about once a year. I really knew nothing about thyroid. I figured the doctor knew what he was doing. I didn’t have any hypothyroid symptoms that I knew of. So I didn’t bother to learn about it. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

Seven years later I finally had to learn more about it. I wish I would have researched it sooner. I didn’t realize just how much your thyroid could impact your health. I think there are about 200 symptoms that can be attributed to thyroid dysfunction.

Last year I learned so much about the thyroid. I learned what blood work you need to get done and how to interpret the results. Just because your levels are in the “normal” range does not mean you are on the right dose of medication. You have to look at the symptoms more than the numbers.

I learned about the different kinds of medications, how to take them and how to get correct dosage.

I learned how other hormones can impact your thyroid and vice versa.

I learned that iron levels and adrenal problems can mimic thyroid problems. And they need to be addressed first.

I can’t say that I have my thyroid problem 100% figured out yet. It is the last piece of the puzzle that I’m still working on. And I will be writing more on this topic in the future. I will be getting my thyroid hormones levels rechecked in a week and go from there to see if adjustments need to be made.

11. Manage stress.

Stress can be as bad for your health as lack of sleep, a poor diet and lack of exercise. Stress can suppress your metabolism. It can alter your hormones. It can come in many forms too.

Find a way to manage your stress to stay healthy. Take time to do things you enjoy – reading, writing, visiting with friends. It’s also important to find techniques to relax such as walking, yoga or reading the Bible. Figure out what works for you and make it a priority.

12. Adrenal health is very important.

Your adrenal glands play a huge role in your health. If you are not getting enough sleep, aren’t eating enough, are exercising too much or are too stressed, your adrenal glands have to work overtime to compensate.

This works for a while. That is what they are for. They raise your cortisol levels to compensate. But if you do it for too long you stress the adrenals and eventually it leads to adrenal fatigue. Then your cortisol bottoms out and it takes a lot of work to get it back up.

If you think you are suffering from adrenal problems it’s great to do a 24-hour saliva test to check your cortisol levels. I had it done early last year. I’m thankful that my levels were just slightly raised. Which means I was doing ok, but starting to make them work a little too hard. By altering my sleep, diet and exercise I was able to get my cortisol levels back to normal.

13. Birth control is not for everyone…and probably not good for most women.

This is another less I had to learn the very hard way. But it wasn’t until years after I stopped birth control that I realized how much it had harmed me.

A few months before I got married I started birth control. That’s what you do, right? I knew nothing about what it was or what it actually does to your body. But had I not made that one decision I probably never would have struggled with infertility for so many years.

When I was in college I got my health under control. Things weren’t perfect, but I was eating enough, sleeping enough and exercising regularly. I had found a good balance. And for the first time in my life I had regular cycles every single month. This lasted a few years…until I started birth control.

Once on birth control things started to change. The changes were gradual. And I never attributed them to the birth control. But now that I have done a lot of research I can see the big picture. I started to gain weight. Five pounds or so. Nothing major. My anxiety started to get worse. My OCD started to get worse. Eventually I started having panic attacks. My gut got so messed up that I started restrictive diets to try to help. My weight went way down from restriction. I was a big mess. I even had to switch to a new form of birth control because I was starting to puke every month from the hormones. In case you haven’t noticed by now my body is extremely sensitive to any hormone fluctuations.

After stopping birth control three years later it was too late. My hormones were non-existent. I was underweight. I was hypothyroid. My OCD was so out of control that I could barely function. My anxiety was so bad. I had to start seeing a psychologist. My digestive system was so messed up that I had to have major colon surgery. Eventually we started fertility treatments.

I think almost all of this could have been avoided had I not taken birth control. It messed up both my mind and my body.

I know not everyone reacts the same way to hormones. And I’m sure there are cases where it can be helpful. But please do your research before considering any type of birth control. I know that it is something I will never take again. It has taken me many years to get my life back. I’m not going down that road ever again.

14. Be your own advocate.

One big lesson I have learned over the last ten years is that you have to stand up for yourself. Don’t let doctors brush you off or tell you you’re fine when you know you’re not. If something doesn’t feel right, find a doctor that will help.

I had GI problems for years. I finally was brave enough to talk to my doctor about it. He referred me to a gastroenterologist. Great. I thought I’d finally get the help I needed. He asked a few questions, felt my stomach and told me I was healthy and fine. Eventually I got him to run a few tests. But he still said I was fine. I knew I was not. I had to research and research and finally diagnose myself. Even then when I told the nurse at my doctor’s office what I thought was the problem she said “you don’t have that. You’re too young” without missing a beat…over the phone…without asking me a single question. I’m so thankful I was persistent and didn’t just say ok. I finally got referred to a colon surgeon who confirmed my diagnosis and immediately scheduled surgery.

This has happened time and time again to me. I go to a doctor, even specialists, trying to get help. And they tell me I’m fine. Even though I know I’m not. I have had to figure out all of my problems on my own…and just use doctors to get medications and treatments.

15. PCOS is a confusing topic.

When I had my first appointment with an endocrinologist he asked some questions and made an assumption about my health. He assumed I had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). He ran some tests and did an ultrasound. His conclusion? I had what he called polyfollicular ovaries.

Great. What does that mean? I never really did find out from him or anyone. I tried to research it for years. Nobody else used that term. I have come to some of my own conclusions (as usual). But it’s still confusing.

Many women with PCOS are overweight or have trouble maintaining their weight. Many women with PCOS have irregular cycles and heavy, painful periods. Many women with PCOS struggle with facial hair. Did that sound like me? Not really. I just had no periods.

The common solutions for PCOS are losing weight, eating low carb and taking Metformin to help with insulin resistance. Did I need any of that. No. In fact, eating low carb made my situation worse.

Where did that leave me? Basically my body would try to grow some follicles/eggs each month. But my hormone levels weren’t high enough to mature the eggs. So instead of having one dominant follicle that released an egg (ovulation) I’d have lots of small follicles that did nothing but sit there. Which on ultrasound looks like little cysts. They are really just lots of follicles…polyfollicular.

Even when doing IVF I would have tons of follicles start growing. But very few actually matured enough for the egg to be good (hence our seven rounds of IVF and two good eggs out of almost forty that were retrieved and fertilized). That is also why I would have a condition called hyperstimulation every time. There were too many follicles.

I still don’t have a full answer about what this means. One endo said it’s from bad communication between the brain and the ovaries. Could I technically be classified as having PCOS? I don’t know. I don’t really have the symptoms. My condition is helped by being a healthy weight and taking care of myself. Finding balance with sleep, exercise and food. I also think it is related to my thyroid problem.

All this to say that if you have been diagnosed with PCOS please do your research to figure out where you fit into the criteria and what treatment is best for you.

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16. Let God have control.

I’ve known my whole life that ultimately God is in control. But I also know I can make choices. For most of my life I’ve tried to be in control. I ask God for things I want. I ask for things to go my way. If things are good I say it’s God’s plan. But when things aren’t going so well it’s hard to believe it’s still true.

I have such a strong desire to be in control that I could not let go on my own. In 2013 God took the control out of my hands. And it was wonderful. It doesn’t mean that my life was great. Actually it was very hard. But it gave me such freedom to not have to hold every little detail of my life in perfect balance. It was terrifying and wonderful at the same time.

It is so good to know and have proof that God really does have things in his control. He knows what I need. His plans may be different than mine. His timing may be different than mine. But I don’t have to worry about it.

On my own, trying to keep control, I probably would not have had any more children. I would not have made the necessary changes on my own. But with God in control we are expecting baby #3. And the door is open for more. That is something we can decide as a couple down the road. But just to know the door is open, even if we decide not to have more kids, is amazing.

17. OCD does not have to control my life.

It’s no secret that I’ve struggled with pretty severe obsessive compulsive disorder for many years now. I was finally diagnosed/finally realized that I had it about five years ago. And I’ve been working on treating it ever since.

It has been a long and difficult journey. No matter how much I told myself my compulsions were silly and illogical I couldn’t stop. I went through a lot of exposure therapy and have made progress over the years.

Over the last seven months once again God has allowed me to change. When He takes the control, my OCD does not have to control me.

Especially during the first trimester of this pregnancy I had to just let everything go. I just had to do what I could to get through each day. If that meant laying on the couch most of the day, then that’s what I did. If that meant eating less than ideal food, then that’s what I did. If that meant my digestion was so messed up that I was in pain, I didn’t let it bother me or make me anxious. I just kept on going.

I’m so happy to be able to continue this process of eliminating my OCD. My fear does not have to take control. I can give it to God. And I’m never going back to where I was.

It’s hard to think back to when I was first married. It’s hard to think about all the time I wasted being consumed by my thoughts and compulsions. I am very blessed to have such a loving husband that never judged or got upset with me. He helped me through it. And with each child I’ve let more of it go. I’m a type A person. So I will never be 100% cured from OCD. It’s part of my nature. But it will no longer control my life. It will only be an asset and be used for good things. It is what fuels the drive and determination I’ve always had. But if it hinders my relationships or my life it has to go.

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Final Thoughts

It feels so good to share all of this information in hopes of helping even one other person. But even more than that it feels good to write it out and be done with the things that have burdened me for so many years. I know how to be healthy and happy. I’m ready to move on to 2014 now.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post I’ll be digging deeper into some of these topics later. For now if you’d like to do some research on your own, here are some great resources I’ve come across.

The Nourished Metabolism (20% off 6/10/16 – 6/30/16 with coupon code SUMMER20)

Eat for Heat

Diet Recovery 2

The Nourished Metabolism (20% off 6/10/16 – 6/30/16 with coupon code SUMMER20)

Go Kaleo

Your Eatopia

Stop The Thyroid Madness

Natural Fertility and Wellness

What have you learned over the years about your health and how to really live?

Health Update 2013 Part 1 – What Happened

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The health changes I experienced in 2013 were beyond my wildest dreams. Looking back I am truly amazed at all that has happened. That being said it was a very painful and challenging process. And one of the hardest parts was that it was out of my control. God knew what I needed. Even if it took heartache to get there.

There is so much to share. I’m not even sure how to capture it all. So I’ll go through the year one month at a time. This is my story of a year of healing. There was no magic secret. No one thing I did to cause change. But I did learn a lot. Today I’ll share how the year went. And soon I’ll be sharing everything I learned in the process.

January 2013

I started 2013 quite unhealthy. I was nursing a 20-month old (quite draining on an already undernourished body…with no break from fertility treatments to pregnancy to almost 2 years of nursing). I was sleeping about 5-6 hours a night, always interrupted. My diet was quite restricted. Although I was gradually trying to add foods back into my diet after almost a year trying GAPS, I was still scared to eat. I exercised daily, more than I should for the state of my health. And it was always cardio. I was stressed both physically and mentally. I knew I was not healthy. I knew I wanted change. But I didn’t want to give up control.

I decided to see a new doctor. She ran tons of tests.  The results? I had lots of food intolerances, candida, high cortisol, low mineral levels and heavy metals. She had a laundry list of foods to avoid, supplements to take, etc. If I wasn’t stressed enough before, now I was more anxious than ever. But I took the supplements and adjusted my diet once again to see if it would help. I started a rotational diet to try to eliminate some food intolerances. It was not easy.

But I kept going. I wanted to be healthy. In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to prepare my body for another round of IVF and hopefully another pregnancy. It was the thing that kept me going.

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February 2013

In February I made a big change that would have a huge impact on my health for the rest of the year. I had been diagnosed as hypothyroid in 2006 and had been on Synthroid ever since. After research I took it upon myself to get my doctor to prescribe me Armour Thyroid instead, a natural form of thyroid hormones. I was very hopeful that it would be a good fit. I started at a very low dose since I was on a low dose of Synthroid.

I also stopped nursing. I wanted to give my body 3 months of break before starting fertility treatments again. It had been 6 1/2 years since I had given my body a break from fertility treatments, pregnancy or nursing. And I wondered why my body was undernourished. Sheesh.

March 2013

In March I gained a few pounds. It was my body’s response to not nursing anymore. I also had bloodwork done to check my thyroid and my reproductive hormones. I was curious where I was at. My thyroid levels came back pretty normal. My free T3 was actually a little high. I now know that is a sign of adrenal problems. But my doctor said they looked fine. So I figured that was taken care of and the switch to Armour was a success. And I didn’t give it another thought.

Unfortunately my hormone levels were not so normal. Both my estrogen and progesterone levels were basically the same as that of a 10 year old girl. Non-existent. Not good when you’re wanting to get pregnant. But I knew we were doing another round of IVF regardless (which doesn’t require my body to do anything on its own). So it was one more thing to think about down the road.

April 2013

In April life was fairly normal. I was still sticking to my rotational diet. I was trying to make gradual health changes like getting more sleep.

We also had our consult with the fertility doctor and got our schedule and medications.

May 2013

May is when life started to get crazy. And the journey that I never dreamed I’d be on began. I started my progesterone pills to induce a period and start the IVF process.

A few days after starting we received a letter from our fertility specialist. He was ill and had to retire immediately. And that was that. What now?? We were hopeful about things to come. We were just getting started. And now what?

Thankfully we have two endocrinologists here. So we had to immediately get in to see a brand new doctor. He was able to squeeze us in to his schedule so we didn’t have to stop and wait. But he knew nothing about our history/our story. And it added a lot of stress for me.

The following week I started my estrogen pills to prepare my uterus for the IVF transfer. Little did I know that the simple act of taking a pill would be the start of both my heartache and my healing. I had done this before many times. Take estrogen, then progesterone, then do the transfer and wait. But this time it was different.

Within days of starting the estrogen pills I started to gain weight. I had done enough research to know a little about estrogen dominance. So I figured it was just a temporary thing while I was on the high dose of estrogen for a few days. And my weight did go back down a few pounds after decreasing the estrogen and starting progesterone. So I figured that was it.

A few months later I went back and read the information that comes with the estrogen pills. It specifically says your thyroid medication dose may have to be adjusted when taking them. But my doctor never even asked about my thyroid. And I was on the new medication…and would later find out I was not on the correct dose. All of that combined was the perfect combination for what was to come.

June 2013

On June 1 we transferred our 3 remaining embryos that had survived the thaw. That was it. Our last chance. Over the next two weeks I waited and rested. I felt awful. But I had been down this road before. I knew that the hormones I was on made me feel like I was pregnant. So symptoms didn’t mean much.

On June 11 I had my first pregnancy test. It was positive. We were overjoyed and relieved. Our final chance had worked. Our family would be complete. And we would be done with fertility treatments forever.

On June 24 we had our first ultrasound. It was too early to see a heartbeat, so there wasn’t much to see.

On June 28 I had pain and spotting. I had another ultrasound that was inconclusive. Another hcg check showed that my levels were barely rising.

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July 2013

On July 1 I had my final ultrasound where the doctor confirmed that it was a blighted ovum and not a viable pregnancy. I stopped the hormones and waited for the miscarriage. I expected it to take a week or two for things to complete. And then I’d work on healing.

What I didn’t expect was that the bleeding continued into early August. Over a month. It was pure torture to be reminded day after day after day of what would not be.

In addition I continued to gain weight. At a check up to make sure things were ok I asked the doctor about the uncontrollable weight gain. His response was that I was probably eating more or exercising less than I realized. Not much of an answer. More like a brush off.

What the doctor should have told me was that my thyroid was messed up. But he just dismissed me with no answer. It took me almost 5 months researching and experimenting on my own to figure it out.

One very positive and critical step I made during July was that I started tracking my daily basal body temperature. Little did I know that one simple thing like checking my temperature each morning would be key to assessing my health and becoming pregnant. I knew body temperature related to health. But I didn’t know about its relation to hormonal cycles.

August 2013

In early August the miscarriage finally ended. In hind sight I know that the extended bleeding was due to my messed up estrogen, progesterone and thyroid levels. Again, I had to figure that out on my own.

I had a lot of bloodwork done to check for any autoimmune issues or genetic reasons for miscarriage. It all came back normal. I also had my estrogen levels checked. It was now up to 42. It was in the normal range.

Part way through the month I had more spotting due to my fluctuating hormones.

My weight was also still going up. By the end of August I decided to stop weighing myself. I couldn’t handle watching it go up day after day. And I was hitting a low emotionally. I wasn’t pregnant. And now I had no energy and had gained over twenty pounds. I also had severe swelling in my legs and constant pain when I stood for more than a few minutes.

At the time I figured the swelling, water retention and weight gain was my body’s response to years of disordered eating. So I just waited. I figured it would work itself out in a month or two.

September 2013

By September I had one goal – getting healthy. I thought it was possible to heal my body and get my reproductive system working again. I was studying anything I could find about balancing hormones. I was still checking my basal body temperature every morning to monitor how things were going. And to my amazement the first week of September I ovulated on my own for the first time in ten years! I felt a new sense of hope.

Although this was so exciting I was still very swollen and in pain. My weight continued to increase. And I was very worn out.

October 2013

In October I started seeing a chiropractor for the first time. I have had scoliosis since I was a teenager, but never did anything about it. I thought it might help balance my body to deal with that. So I started to go to the chiro twice a week.

I was charting my temperatures and trying to predict when I might ovulate again. This was almost impossible to do since nothing was regular about my body. But about 4 weeks after I had last ovulated I thought I might have ovulated again. So I had my hormone levels checked.

I was very disappointed to hear that my estrogen was 47 (about the same as before) and my progesterone was 0.6…still non-existent. In other words, I didn’t ovulate. And my hormones were still very low.

So I kept researching and kept checking my temperature. Two weeks after I had thought I ovulated…I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had ovulated again. It wasn’t just a one time fluke. My body was really trying to work. Although not on schedule yet.

Again I had my hormone levels checked. To my great joy I got much better results. My estrogen was 121. And my progesterone was now 15.4! In the normal range for after ovulation. My body was actually making hormones!!

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November 2013

By November I was getting excited that I was on the right track. I had ovulated twice. My cycles were a little longer than normal, but not too bad.

On the down side my weight was still quite high. I still had a bloated abdomen, swollen legs and pain every day. I was still tired. I knew that something still was not right. I had experimented with my diet. But that didn’t seem to make a difference. I wasn’t eating any more than I used to. I was still exercising daily. But nothing changed.

I read and researched and read and researched. Finally. God gave me the answer I had been looking for. It was my thyroid. I don’t even remember what I read or what made me think of it. But I figured out that I was on the wrong dose of Armour Thyroid.

I called my doctor and she said it was ok to increase my dose. I started increasing it immediately and hoped I’d notice a difference.

With all of my research I also realized that I had been taking the medication incorrectly the whole time. So I started making sure I was taking it properly – chewing instead of just swallowing the pills, at least 4 hours apart from any vitamins and splitting my dose into two parts so I would have some in my system all day.

I also figured out that millet is one of the strongest goitrogenic foods…which are horrible for people with thyroid problems. The gluten free bread I had been eating daily had millet as the first ingredient. So I stopped eating it. All of these changes combined started my body on the right track to finally feeling better.

On the other hand I was discouraged that I had gone over a month and not ovulated again. My cycles were getting longer instead of shorter. I started to worry that things were getting worse instead of better with my reproductive system. But I kept charting my temperatures and tried to predict when I might ovulate.

The last week of November I thought ovulation was coming. My body temperature was good. All the signs were there. So for the first time in our 10 years of marriage my husband and I decided to actively try to conceive.

We knew it was not likely to happen. Especially since we have both male and female factor. But we figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. So we gave it a go for the week before I thought I would ovulate.

December 2013

On December 1 I did ovulate. I was just excited to actually ovulate again. And was happy that we would be able to try to conceive over the next few months with an actual chance of it working, although very slim chance. We knew that even if my body was working we still had the male factor that was a big unknown.

I also talked to my doctor and increased my Armour dose again since I still wasn’t seeing major signs of improvement.

Life was super busy. So I was going, going. By December 12 I was excited that I had not started my period yet. That meant I did not have a short luteal phase. One more step in the right direction to getting my body healthy. My cycles were not regular, but when I did ovulate at least things seemed normal.

Around December 13 I expected a new cycle to start. But the day came and went with nothing. December 14 I was sure things would start any time. But the day came and went with nothing. I decided to give it one more day. I had ovulated on December 1. So surely by the 15th things would start. But the day came and went with nothing.

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December 16 I woke up with a still very high body temperature (actually my highest ever for post-ovulation – 99.75!). And I got to do something I never thought I would do. I took a home pregnancy test. And it was instantly positive. I was in complete shock…and so was my husband. Could this really be happening?!? I don’t even remember how long it took me to stop shaking. The rest of that day was kind of a blur.

I called my OB that day to get a blood test to confirm. To my complete amazement my hcg level came back at 611 (higher than the normal range for 4 weeks pregnant). I was also shocked to hear that my progesterone level was 25.4…on the high end of the range for the first trimester of pregnancy.

Not only did we conceive on the first try. But my hormone levels were more than adequate to sustain a pregnancy. No pills, no shots, no procedures, no nothing. I didn’t have to supplement progesterone. My body was doing it all on its own. This is what “normal” pregnancy is like? It didn’t feel real since I wasn’t going to doctors and giving myself daily shots.

Two days later I had another hcg check to make sure the levels were rising. This time it was 1352. Perfect. Everything looked good. But I’ve been down this road before. I know there is a lot that can happen early on.

I hoped and prayed and did my best to trust that this was God’s plan. This was God’s little miracle for us. And I knew that He was taking care of this baby. And that God would get all the glory.

Yes, I went through a LOT this year. Yes, I had to go through a lot of struggle. Yes, I had to keep pushing myself day after day. Yes, there were a lot of small steps I  made that added up to big change.

But none of it was really my doing. It was not in my control. It was only by the grace of God that this little miracle was created.

On December 31 I had my second ultrasound. And I saw the most amazing sight. A tiny little baby with a tiny little heartbeat. What a way to end my 2013.

I have been waiting years to write a post like this. I had always hoped I could share a story of real food, real healing, real hope and real faith. And now it has finally come. 2013 was my year of trials, perseverance and miracles. God is good.

Be sure to come back soon and see what all of this has taught me about health and healing. I’ll be sharing what I learned in 2013.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

My Little Secret

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If you follow me on facebook I recently mentioned that I’d be sharing my little secret. Today’s the day I’m ready to share.

I apologize if you came here looking for a weight loss secret. Because I don’t have one. Yes, I have lost some weight recently. But that’s not what this is about.

What I do have to share is my journey with infertility and my story of God’s love.

Over the last seven years my husband and I have gone through the joys and sorrows that come with infertility. God has blessed us with two amazing children. But we have also been through seven rounds of in-vitro fertilization and dealt with many disappointments.

In June of last year we went through a miscarriage after what we had hoped was our last round of IVF.

That left us in confusion. Where do we go from here?

It took a while, but God gave us the answer. In fact, he was giving us the answer before we even started our last round of IVF.

Throughout 2013 God was allowing changes in my life that I didn’t even realize. Just little steps that seemed irrelevant at the time. But they added up to big changes.

Even heartache, frustration and confusion led to big changes that I could not have made on my own.

I will share all of the details of my healing journey over the last year very soon. There is a lot to share!!

But that’s not really what this post is about either.

This post is about my one little secret that I’ve been waiting to share. And it hasn’t been an easy wait.

This post is about the Christmas miracle that God gave us.

Here is a picture of my daughter opening her last Christmas present. I have been waiting to share this photo. The expression on her face when she learns our secret captures our feelings better than any words ever could.

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God is so good. God can and does do miracles. God has given us another chance when we thought our chances were over.

Today I’m beyond excited to share my little secret. My miracle secret that will be joining our family at the end of August.

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After years of both male and female infertility, round after round of treatments, I am pregnant with baby #3…conceived naturally.

We are so amazed and so thankful. God is awesome!! He gives us hope when we think all hope is lost.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

And just in case you were still wondering about the weight loss. I don’t really recommend spending most of your time laying on the couch, eating small amounts of whatever you can manage…mostly junk food. It really isn’t the way to go. But I’m thankful I get to do it. I just hope I start feeling a little better soon. And then I’ll be back in the kitchen and sharing recipes again. Thanks for being patient while I hid my secret.

Beautiful Babies

Are you thinking about having a baby? Are you already pregnant? Do you have small children? Do you struggle with infertility? Do you simply want to learn more about Real food?

If  you answered yes to any of these questions you should read Beautiful Babies by Kristen Michaelis (writer at Food Renegade). This book is packed full of information about how to grow and raise healthy, happy children.

As someone that has struggled for years with my own health I found it to even be extremely helpful for myself! Kristen shares a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of diet and overall health.

Beautiful Babies will be available on March 19, 2013. But you don’t have to wait until then to secure your copy. You can pre-order today on Amazon!

The best part? If you pre-order, you’ll ALSO receive a free enrollment in Kristin’s Beautiful Babies Online Nutrition Course (a $199 value)!
You can find out more about Kristen’s e-course here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/babies/

To receive free enrollment, you must email Kristen a copy of your Amazon sales receipt to [email protected]. When she verifies the purchase, she will email you a coupon code for the free enrollment!

What an amazing deal!!

I don’t have much time to read these days, but I could not put this book down. Even as someone that has been eating Real food for years now I still learned so much. But don’t just take my word for it. Here is what others are saying:

Joel Salatin — a hero of the sustainable food movement (who also wrote the book’s foreword!) — said this about it:

“I find Kristen’s feisty spirit and mischievous humor both empowering and liberating. As a dad of two, husband of one, and grandfather of three, I covet these historically proven and normal principles for every family on earth. I wish this book had been around when my wife, Teresa, and I were starting our family.”

Dr. Jill Tieman, a doctor of chiropractic care and a clinical nutritionist (and VGN blogger at realfoodforager.com, said this about it:

“Before civilization, humans once had an innate intelligence about what was edible in their environment and how to prepare it in order to extract the most nutrition from it. Kristen Michaelis walks you through the minefield of conventional nutrition babble to the safety of what thousands of years of cultural traditions have shown: that vibrant health comes from eating what our ancestors ate—unprocessed foods from animals raised as they are supposed to live. This is correct nutrition that needs to be taught in every household and school and handed down from parents to children. This book should be required reading for all parents and those contemplating parenthood.”

Dr. Cate Shanahan, author of Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, said this about it:

“Kristen Michaelis can help rescue your child from the quagmire of unhealthy baby formulas, cereals, and jarred foods and teach you how to implement a nourishing lifestyle that is your child’s best immunization against illness. I see many happy babies growing up on these kinds of real foods, and I would like to see more.”

Order your copy and reserve your spot in Kristin’s online course today!

Make Your Own Babylegs

I made 2 pairs of babylegs for Abram this morning. They only took about 5 min. each! Who knew it was so easy to make these yourself? And so much cheaper!! These basically cost us  nothing since I use Justin’s old work socks to make them. He gets holes in the toes of his socks pretty quickly, so I have a never-ending supply 🙂  You can, of course, go buy some cute socks to make babylegs too. I found a tutorial for how to make these at Everything Your Mama Made and More. I didn’t take pictures of each step. Check out Kymy’s site for the detailed steps. I’ll just give the basic process here.

Babylegs

1 pair of long socks (men’s dress socks, women’s knee socks, etc.)

Cut out the heel and cut off the toe of the socks. Fold the bottom part of the sock into itself and line up the frayed edge. Pin this “cuff” over the bottom of the other part of the sock (3 frayed edges lined up). Sew around the edge. Fold the cuff down.

Here is the end product.