The craziness around here

So I thought life would come down to a slower speed once we were done with all the camp stuff.  In one way that is true, but in others, not so much.  Most of my problems have stemmed from this:

Oh, I didn't tell you I was expecting?  Well, I didn't tell you, because I'm not!  This would be a combination of weak tummy muscles (though I have been exercising for the past two months), and the dreaded 'unwell gut'.  Sigh.

For the past two months I have had my yeast flare up marker present.  It didn't get worse, but it wasn't getting better.  I knew it wouldn't take much to swing the pendulum.  If it swung the wrong way I would end up with a 'sinus infection'.

So I tried to increase my ferments.  Just a bit at a time.  But this left the baby very upset.  To the point that she was now waking, nightly, every. single. hour.  Can we say, "exhausted"?  It was bad.  I couldn't function.  And then we had the birthday month.  I did not go overboard.  One piece of cake with each party.  But that was three parties, each about a week apart.

Last week Monday night I suddenly didn't feel well.  My sinuses started to hurt, and my whole body felt sick.  This was no annoying yeast fed sinus 'infection'.  It was, but it was ready to go beyond that.  I never had my whole body feel sick with one of these sinus flares.  I had to do something, and I had to do it fast.  I knew that doing the nasal rinses, essential oils, immune boosting supplements were NOT going to work.

So I did the only thing I figured was going to get to the bottom of this, and do so quickly before getting out of hand.

I started on GAPS.  Oh, yes I did.  Full GAPS mind you, since I am nursing.  Unfortunately, since my gut is so unwell, I have to avoid some of the GAPS legal foods at least for a couple of months.  After a couple of months I will see if my gut is healed enough to deal with those foods. Plus some of these foods aggravate the baby's tummy. On top of that, I have a couple of, what I am calling 'transition' foods that are not GAPS legal, due to nursing and other things.

The things that are GAPS legal that I have to avoid are:
:: eggs
:: any GAPS legal milk based products (milk kefir, yogurt, cheese)
:: the only bean you can eat on GAPS, the navy bean
:: cabbage and broccoli (though I am able to eat fermented cabbage)
:: honey (temporarily since I really wanted to kick this 'infection')
:: cocoa

The things I have added are:
:: small amount of oats
:: popcorn (This will be phased out. Although I am not on intro, which can mess up your bowel movements, I wanted a bit of an insurance policy....just in case :-))

The above foods I am avoiding have been proving difficult to do without.  I mean, eggs?  They are an essential staple on GAPS.  The only bean allowed really limits my dishes.  I can make it without, but beans are cheaper than meat.  I really love cabbage and broccoli in some of my dishes, like soups, and it is a bummer to go without.  I'm kind of glad to not be consuming honey, if for no other reason than to train my taste buds for things less sweet.  Cocoa....ah, well, I look longingly at our brown container daily and sigh.  I love me some chocolate, but not for now.  It is allowed after much healing, and that is one thing I did *not* wait for the first go around on GAPS.

This time around I am doing a ton of ferments.  They are where the healing action is!  I was not getting anywhere near the amount I should have the first go around.  Not by a long shot. Live and learn.

Moira and Isabella have joined me on this GAPS adventure.  Moira did not take the sugar overload very well, coming down with an upper respiratory infection that was making it's way to her lungs.  And Isabella?  Well, that girl would need a post of her own, if for no other reason that this post is long enough, and if I had to list out all of the things going on with her health, no one would have the time to read it all!  Seriously people, it's bad.

With everyone else I am attempting to get more fermented foods into them.  I am making a game plan where I plan our menu around our ferments, because I know this is the ticket.  The other thing I may or may not do is have them go gluten free.  I think we can swing that one.  One thing for sure....NO. MORE. SUGAR.  And I need to get better at putting in my green powder into their foods as well.  They all need a change in their taste buds as well, but not sure how to make that happen.  One step at a time.  I would put us all back on GAPS, but two words.....food prices.  Yup.  Not gonna happen.

And even if I could, I would do it one or two people at a time.  Even though I started on full GAPS I can not believe the effects of the first week.  I felt like I was moving through mud.  Massive brain fog.  Aches, pains, and other lovely things like my IC.  Oh the joys.  And don't forget the feeling of being hungry, all the time!  I don't think I could have handled all of that, and more, times 8.  Nope.

I have been on GAPS for a week now, and am already seeing progress.  For one, my yeast marker is gone.  No sign of a sinus infection impending.  I have a bit more energy now.  And I can tell that my belly is a wee bit less bloated.  That one will take time, but I am glad to see a difference so soon.  As for the baby....my goodness she is doing better sleep wise!  Thank goodness!!  I started feeding her some of my coconut milk kefir.  The first night she slept for a 4 hour block.  I didn't hold my breath, but then the next few nights she had another 4 hour block, with 2 and 3 hour blocks afterwards.  Last night, six hours!  YES!  She has been having a bit of tummy trouble each day, but I believe her system is trying to adjust to the new bacteria.

This time around on GAPS I am putting my focus on:
ferments
fluids
broth
veggies

I really do not want to be where I was the last time, eating the same things day after day.  I've been scouring Pinterest for more ideas.  There are a ton of recipes for GAPS desserts, I am steering clear of those.  I think we over did them the last time.  So, lots of putting into practice what I learned we did wrong/right the first time around.  Looking forward to feeling better soon, oh and to not looking like I am expecting....when I'm not :-(

Jed's Endo appointment

It appears we are really making headway with Jed's growth!  He is finally "on" the growth chart....sort of.  I couldn't remember all the numbers when I talked with my sister the other day, so I went to look for the papers his doctor sent home with me.  I plotted the points on the graph so you, and I, can see where he is :-)  I also have the written info, which you can see that he is actually in a positive percentile!  Wowzers!

The appointment went without any issues.  No questions on my end.  So without further ado, here is where Jed stands (pun intended):

Jed's weight readings from past three appointments:
7/8/14   20.3kg (44 lb 12.1 oz) (4%*, Z= -1.78)

2/11/14  18.5kg (40 lb 12.6 oz) (1%, Z= -2.28)

9/27/13  16.3 kg (35 lb 15 oz) (0%, Z= -3.19)

Jed's height readings from past three appointments:
7/8/14   116.1cm (3' 9.71") (2%, Z= -2.11)

2/11/14  112.2cm (3' 8.17") (1%, Z= - 2.43)

9/27/13  107.2cm (3' 6.2") (0%, Z= - 2.99)

I had thought he made more headway with his height, but we have seen more success with his weight!  Which is amazing if only because he looked so, so, so very skinny just a couple of months ago.  He put on some weight, but I noticed recently he is tending to look more skinny again (growth spurt in action?).  For anyone who isn't familiar with these numbers above, the "%" is the percentile on the chart, so in a years time he went from being 0% in each reading to being 'on the chart'.  However, he hasn't actually reached a 'line' yet as evidenced by the "Z=.....".  The Z reading stands for how many lines (on the grid) he is below the growth curve lines.  I thought he actually hit one of the growth curve lines, but I was mistaken, but he is really, really close to hitting the first one.  The first growth line is for the 5%, so at least he is in a positive %ile!  I am happy with that :-)  Below you can see the growth chart that I plotted with those numbers above.

They also track his BMI.  I find it hard to believe how his numbers have changed.   Here were those past three readings:
7/8/14   31%ile (Z= -0.49)
2/11/14  4%ille (Z= -1.78)
9/27/13  2%ile (Z= -2.11)

It is hard to believe he is considered in the normal range for BMI.  Sometimes I am afraid if he should fall he is going to break a bone because he is so thin!  Hard to imagine that is considered normal!

Speech Therapy

This subject has been on my mind a lot lately.  Maybe due to the not so regular and as-healthy-as-can-be diet that has over come us this month.  Nothing major, but it seems our bodies are ever so willing to go south much faster than moving in the right direction if given even an inch!  As such, I can definitely notice a difference in Jedidiah's speech.  The sad thing is, that even when eating healthy he is still very hard to understand by anyone outside our family.  Right now, pretty much everyone but me, is having a hard time understanding what he is saying.  Having just turned eight years old is just making this seem larger than life right now.  I saw a video of a nine year old boy, who had apraxia and went through therapy, speaking very clearly.  My heart sank.

I have been looking into doing speech therapy at home.  But it seems I waver from being overwhelmed or a sinking spirit.  Most things cost money.  Don't get me wrong, I understand that.  The problem is we don't have a lot of money to put to such things.  We are not talking ten dollars, but hundreds.  Jed has a lot of poor articulation with many of his letters.  I am trying to come up with a solution that will work for us.  For now I have not found it, but I am still searching.

I looked on line to see if I could find a way to get our school system to give Jed more than two days a month therapy.  However, since homeschooling is established as a non-public education, we are not to be given 'public' help.  Basically, they were doing us a favor by giving us 2 days a month.  Sigh.  I know I can work with Jedidiah at home. The problem is that since he has so many speech issues I don't even know where to begin.  So maybe getting even just a base line of which sound to work on would be helpful.  However his speech therapist at the school wasn't very helpful in this matter as she had to go and get the next group of kids.  But with some online ideas, and knowing which sounds he should be working on I think we may get somewhere.

Not sure yet.  Maybe looking into even one speech therapy session a month with our insurance might work better (private therapy).  This way I can actually sit in on the session to see what the therapist is doing and have a better working relationship with them.  With the school therapy I can't sit in to see what they are working on.  I've been scouring the internet and Pinterest to find ideas.  I decided to start with the very basics.  I think we will make a couple of games that have just some sounds, or mouth movements, and work from there.  Jonah needs a bit of help as well.  He can be difficult to understand, but not as bad as Jed.  I figure we will just play the games together.  The more the merrier, right?  I thought I would take a video of Jedidah talking.  You can see it below:

Edited to add:

   I am linking up with some blog hops that are about homesteading, homemaking, homeschooling and the like.  It may seem odd to put a post on there about speech issues.  The connection is that speech issues, as I am finding out, effect learning abilities.  It has been found that children who do not get speech therapy early on in their life (in the toddler years) will be effected later in their schooling years with their ability to read.  Jedidiah had therapy early on, but his issues are not fully resolved.  As such this is definitely effecting his reading ability.  He is a very smart boy.  The issue isn't in his intelligence, but with his abilities to sound out what he is reading.  I'm not sure if I should be encouraging his reading when he is sounding out the sounds incorrectly.  This is where having a speech therapist will be helpful!

 

Has anyone else dealt with speech issues with their child?  Did it effect their reading?  Any long term consequences that you have noticed?  I am very much interested in hearing from others who have been down this journey!!  Please don't be shy.  Leave me a comment about your experience.  Thank you!

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Let the Birthday Season begin!!!

To start us off on our Birthday Season we have Jedidiah up first.  He turns eight years old today!  Amazing!  8.....8....EiGhT!  Crazy, I tell ya, crazy.  We will be celebrating tonight with his birthday dinner of homemade mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, and potatoes.  Then the cakes.  Yes, plural.  He has two smaller Ninjago cakes, a lady bug cake, and Moira will be whipping up a bee cake any minute.  I think we may be all birthday'd out before we even get started!  I will have to share pics of the festivites...after they actually happen.  But, I was able to get a picture of Jed with his birthday sign.  I am so upset that I neglected to get photos of our other two birthday kiddos this year with their signs :-(.  They got a sign, just not a picture to go with it.  Ugh.

The kids are loving Runner's Camp. Except Flannery.  Not that she doesn't like it, but she wasn't actually able to go today :-(  The child managed to come down with a major double ear infection.  One side was so bad that the ear canal was closed off and the doctor couldn't even see her ear drum....and that was the side that was just 'starting' to hurt!  The other side was so painful she just kept crying.  Poor girl.  They said that the meds would take 48 hours to start working....and we are still waiting.  We are at the 36 hour mark and Flannery said her one ear, that was massively swollen, is having brief moments of opening up.  I am taking that as a good sign.  She is still in a lot of pain.  For her sake I hope she will be better enough to go tomorrow.  The camp only goes up to 12 years old, so this is her last year participating in it.  Though she will be able to be a volunteer come next year.

As expected Jonah was having a wee bit of trouble staying where he was supposed to!  But, he loves it, and didn't have any issues that he was separated from his family!  Jed is doing amazingly well, as far as trying hard.  He actually ran a MILE!!!  Whoa!!  They sign up for the events they want to do, and both Jed and Jonah want to do the mile run!  How crazy is that?  Ha, ha!

Saoirse is having a great time.  She tried to die the ends of her hair green to match her Runner's Camp shirt, but it didn't work!  Moira tried to dye the ends of her hair blue, but it ended up coming out green.  I suppose we should have went with what she was using.  By the way, the dye is only temporary....kool-aid.  Try, try again :-)

Isabella was supposed to working at horse camp this week, but it got cancelled, so she just jumped in to volunteer at Runner's Camp.  They needed the help, so it worked out.  And get this....she's been driving them all there and back!  Talk about crazy :-)

Ok, on to a couple of pictures:

 I felt so bad.  We didn't get his sign done last night.  The first thing he did when he woke up this morning was to go looking for his sign :-(  I promised him that is would be all ready when he got home.  Thankfully Merida took a really long morning nap and I was able to pull this off (Flannery helped by taping on the Ninjago characters, and she thought of putting on some Paw Patrol characters as well.).  Jed loved his sign.  He saw it the moment he walked in and was all smiles!

 All of the campers...and volunteers.  I had Flannery throw her camp shirt on for the photo.  You can see Moira's green hair, that was supposed to be blue.

And who can resist a picture of Merida?  Moira has become interested in photography.  She was playing around with my camera on manual setting.  I was able to print off a 'cheat sheet' that explains the settings in a clear way.  She's having a lot of fun with it.  I do say though, that I am afraid I may never see my camera again.  Between Isabella and all of her horse videos and photos and now Moira.....I might not get any hands on time with it!!!  The price of learning children :-)