Hard to believe it's June. We waited and waited for May. And now it's already June. My goals aren't changing too much this month. Still adjusting here and taking it a little easier than usual. But it is almost summer...so we're trying to get out more and enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully we'll spend lots of time outside, at parks, on walks, at local attractions, etc. For food I'm mostly focusing on figuring out food for Abram and me (more strict with GAPS and try to reduce reflux) and keeping us nourished. I want us both feeling as good as possible this summer. Trying to gear up for summer produce/perservation. And enjoying time with both kids. Plus continuing on my own path of healing, etc. The better I feel, the better wife and mother I can be. Here's what I've got planned.
FOOD
1. Eat full GAPS-legal food (no grains, no dairy except butter, hard cheese, kefir and yogurt (if it doesn't bother Abram), no sugar except honey and fruit). I've been slacking here and there lately taking bites of things Rebecca is eating (namely grains). Time to get back on track!
2. Eat plenty of healthy fat daily (coconut oil, butter, lard, EVOO). I need to try adding coconut oil in more again. Maybe I'll have to make some fudge or something. But I'll have to go slowly. I've read that coconut can increase reflux in breastfed babies.
3. Eat broth/soup regularly - This needs to be a priority again to continue the healing process and to get lots of nourishment.
4. New probioitic - start using a low dose at some point this month.
5. Avoid foods that I'm sensitive to or that Abram is sensitive to (which is making it tough to find things to eat!!). He has reflux, and I'm trying to figure out if things that I eat are making it worse. I've seen several places that list foods for mom to avoid. I'll list the ones here that I currently eat and may need to stop eating (many of the items on the original list I already don't eat). I'll have to use them with caution/take note if they impact him if/when I eat any of them. I'm still debating about cutting out dairy completely. I haven't been eating much dairy at all lately. And then after my smoothie yesterday Abram had a rough day. Maybe I'll do a few days without and try again. We'll see how it goes. I'll stop dairy for now if I have to but I'll sure be sad if I can't have ice cream all summer :P I'm also watching peanuts and any non-crispy nuts. With all the things I'm cutting out I'm one step closer to GAPS intro...and one step closer to more healing. I just need to keep up with daily broth.
Broccoli Green Peppers Cabbage Brussel Sprouts Cauliflower Tomato Tomato Juice Corn Cucumber onions Garlic Rhubarb
Citrus fruits Coconut
Milk (lactose intolerance can provoke reflux or hyperactivity in some babies)
Fatty or fried Foods (fats take longer to digest) Meat with connective tissue/ gristle (take longer to digest)
Chili Powder Vinegars Chocolate (high in caffeine, which keeps baby awake) Honey
6. Continue Sunday night fun/finger food night, and do breakfast one night a week.
7. Add kefir back into my diet regularly if I think it doesn't bother Abram.
8. Digestive enzymes - this is another very critical part to gut healing that I've read about in GAPS. I would like to get some digestive enzymes to see if that improves my digestion. You take them with each meal. Maybe I'll do a separate post about them sometime. I'll have to see what Harvest Health has.
9. Fermented veggies - Continue eating sauerkraut regularly. Try fermenting other veggies.
10. Farmer's Market!!! Hooray - June is the start of the local farmer's market. So excited to start going there weekly to stock up on in-season produce. Which also means it's time to start preservation as well. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with that even with the baby. I'm excited to restock some good fruits and veggies in the freezer. I also want to restock our homemade dried fruit. It's time to try out my new dehydrator :)
11. Get back in the kitchen. As we settle into a routine and life settles a bit I'm anxious to get back in the kitchen more doing what I love. Hopefully I can do some more GAPS food experimenting.
12. Pick up beef. Which also means I need to clean my freezer/make space :)
13. Vitamins - Ever since I came home from the hospital I stopped taking my daily multi-vitamin (my discharge sheet actually said to stop taking any prenatal vitamins). GAPS does not recommend using vitamins if possible...you should get everything you need from food. Plus certain things in vitamins could cause Abram problems/make reflux worse. Not to mention they are hard on my tummy. So unless I feel like I'm totally run down/not getting what I need I'm going to stop taking vitamins. And I'll tell Justin he can stop his once his bottle is gone too.
HEALTH
1. Get enough sleep - nap when possible.
2 Adjust to baby/new routines - try to get on a bit of a routine this month.
3. Exercise - I'm trying to do something active every day. Whether it's on the treadmill or stationary bike or taking a walk outside (pretty good workout with 10 lbs. strapped to me and pushing 45 lbs. :). I'm enjoying walking with Abram strapped to me. That was such a special thing I did with Rebecca until she was about 1 1/2. And I'm happy to do it again with Abram when time allows.
4. Healthy lifestyle series - digetstive enzymes, omega-6/omega-3.
FAMILY/PERSONAL
1. Activities and Outings - we don't have too many things scheduled yet for this month. I'll list what we know is going on and things we'd like to do this summer (not necessarily this month).
a. MOPS playdates at various parks throughout the summer - first one tomorrow!
b. MOPS book study?
c. Nursery cmt dinner to welcome new members - June 6 (I'll do my best to avoid the pizza :P).
d. 6 week OB check up - June 15
e. psychologist appt. - June 23 (hopefully the last one for a while)
f. Potentials - Michigan's Adventure, John Ball Zoo, local parks, library, family vacation (Chicago??), Whitecaps game(s), Lake MI/beach
2. Rebecca - some things to do with Rebecca this month:
a. Keep working on potty training. Hopefully at some point soon we can work on doing away with diapers while she sleeps. But no signs of that so far.
b. Keep working on letters, numbers, spelling/sounds, counting, math, writing, etc.
c. Adjustment to baby - this will get easier as Abram gets bigger/she can interact with him more/he is less needy.
d. Make sure she gets plenty of attention/some one-on-one time/let her know how important/special she is.
3. Abram
a. Possibly start cloth diapering by the end of the month - we'll just see how it goes. We're waiting until the frequency of diaper changes goes down a bit and I have time to do extra loads of laundry. I'm thinking maybe around 8 weeks or so is a good time to start working on cloth diapers.
b. Plan baptism/party - July 17
c. Mail birth announcements.
d. Keep trying to figure out reflux/sleeping/eating issues.
e. Work on development/milestones
f. Baby wearing - wear Abram when we walk, go out, around the house, etc. So far I really like the Moby for this.
Using REAL food to heal the mind and body. Trust in God and eat the food. Eet Smakelijk!
Good luck figuring out the reflux issue with Abram. I hope you're able to find what works and doesn't. That's not really a large list that you can eat, is it? Although, some of them were surprising to see on a list that you can eat... like the fatty/fried foods. And I was surprised to see milk, but not yogurt. Hopefully you can add kefir back in slowly. I need to get my grains going again. I haven't made kefir in about 3 weeks, I think... I'm going to try it tonight. I hope they're still kickin'.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to start fermenting lots of veggies again soon with all the produce coming in! I'm going to make some pickled (fermented) asparagus this week! I hope its good. I figure I loved the pickled green beans last year, so I'll probably love the asparagus, too.
Looks like lots of fun things planned this month!! Michigan's Adventure sounds so fun! We'd love to meet you there some time if we could work it out. Carson and Rebecca would have a blast together. And Chicago, too - awesome! We're still hoping to get there (on the train) for a weekend this summer, too.
Sara, just wanted to clarify...those are the foods to avoid/foods that cause reflux. In addition to what I don't eat b/c of GAPS. I haven't cut all of the items on that list out yet. Just being cautious/taking note when I do eat them. I'm struggling with veggies right now. Only a few that I can eat it seems like (that don't cause either of us trouble). Got some more beets to roast this week. That went over well last week. And I LOVE beets. Glad we're growing a ton this year :) I'll have to ferment some.
ReplyDeleteRebecca is always talking about going back to MI's Adv. since we went last year. Maybe later in the summer we'll be up for it (when Abram's a little older). I'll keep you posted.
Ok, that's what I was wondering... but it says "I'll list the ones here that I currently eat and may need to stop eating"... so that's why I was confused/surprised I guess. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I take it the list of possible activities aren't for June, rather the entire summer. I was thinking you were trying to plan Michigan's Adventure for June.
ReplyDeleteRight. That's why I said "not necessarily this month". I just wanted a list for myself of things we'd like to do at some point this summer.
ReplyDeleteMy wording was off on the food stuff. I meant I'll list the things to avoid that I don't already avoid.
Sorry, I missed the "not necessarily this month" part. I just assumed it was the monthly post so you were talking for this month like in the past. Thanks for clarifying. It makes sense now, though. I thought it was an awful lot for you to handle in one month's time, especially with Abram being so young still.
ReplyDelete