Last week was busy and fun. I made a quick trip to Hop Scotch to get new diaper inserts (although Abram is still wet in the night!!) and cloth swim diapers. We celebrated Independence Day with a parade, craft fair and fireworks...well Justin got to watch fireworks :P I sat inside with Rebecca since she was scared of the noise...and then wanted to go to bed instead of watching them. We went to the zoo on Thursday. I'm glad we have a membership and can go whenever we want. Rebecca loves to play on the train and pet the goats :) And she also loves the kiddie ice cream cones :P Yesterday we went to a bridal shower. It was fun to see lots of family. And I think they all enjoyed getting to see Abram :) We also spent time in the pool. Even Abram got his first dip...he seemed to like it. Aside from our outings I was busy at home keeping up with diapers (still trying to get into a routine and figure out how many we need). I also made kefir, froze cherries, dried cherries, roasted beets, made sausage, mud balls and graham crackers.
Like I said, this week will be crazy because we have 2 dentist appts., 1 doctor appt., errands, baptism prep and guests. I hope I can keep up with everything, especially since I'm battling a cold (Justin is on the tail end of his...praying the kids don't get it). Today is church. Justin has to collect/count, so he'll have to go to evening church as well. Monday Rebecca and I both have dentist appts. Completely unintentionally they were scheduled on the same day...at very different times :P So we have to go twice. Once in the morning for her (her first appt.! I hope she does ok). And in the afternoon for me. So that will kill most of our day. Tuesday is Abram's 2 month check up. Hopefully we can also manage to get to the farmer's market. Wednesday there is a MOPS playdate, but I think I'm going to skip this one. I need to go to Meijer. Thursday will be our weekly trip to Harvest Health. Friday we'll be home trying to get a ton done and clean the house. Saturday will be more party prep and Justin's parents will be here to visit/have dinner.
Aside from all that I have a lot to get done in the kitchen this week. Next Sunday is Abram's baptism. And we're having family over afterwards. So I have a lot to prep. In addition, I want to freeze more cherries, make pea-sto and make fermented veggies. And hopefully have a few minutes to spare to make an ok dinner for guests on Saturday. For the baptism I need to make mayo, honey mustard, brownies, fruit salad, chopped veggies, dip, cooked ham and turkey and blueberry jubilee. We're starting to run low on almond butter (Rebecca has been eating it every day lately. Her go to snack is homemade grahams with almond butter...hence our graham cracker baking yesterday :). I'll be buying more nuts this week to make nut butters, but I think that project (making crispy nuts and butter) will have to wait for next week. Plus keep up with all the day-to-day stuff...like washing and stuffing diapers, prepping wipes, changing wet crib sheets, putting away laundry, regular meals, nursing, etc.
An exciting food item...a local orchard has tart cherries!! I didn't think anyone around here grew them. So we were able to order some pitted tart cherries. I only did 5#. It'll be fun to bake with them.
Still doing well with GAPS. Although I've had a few rough tummy days. Not sure what the culprit was. Possibly 3 days in a row of kefir smoothies? Possibly too much nut butter bread (made w/ boughten peanut butter...not soaked nuts)? I'm starting to wonder if I should just take the next step on my journey towards GAPS intro and start going completely dairy free. I think I do a lot better w/o dairy...and I think Abram does too. When I eat a little more dairy he seems to spit up more and has a harder time with bms (not constipation...just goes a lot longer w/o going). Maybe I'll just start by at least making sure I have some days each week that are completely dairy free and see what happens.
I also need to get started on the baby probiotic. Hopefully I can get that going in the next day or two.
I want to start Rebecca's reward chart as well. I found some free ones online. I just need to print them. Last night she told me she does certain things because "she wants to be naughty" and "to get attention." Hopefully we can change that so that she gets lots of attention for being nice.
I guess that's all for now. Here's what's the on the menu/agenda for now. Subject to change :P I'm still working through freezer foods for Justin's breakfast. And we're still using lettuce from the garden.
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S (prep dinner, church, nursery)
B - hard boiled egg, salmon, beets (me), sd english muffin, fruit (Justin)
L - cp white bean and sausage soup (using only navy beans and homemade sausage, no rice), crackers w/ cheese or bread w/ jam
D - chips, cheese crisps and veggies w/ white bean avocado dip, salsa, navy bean hummus, mixed berry milkshakes
M (prep dinner, dentist (2x), make broth/soup)
B - leftover soup (me), homemade apple cinnamon raisin bagel, fruit (Justin)
D - beef roast in cp w/ veggies, baked potato
T (Dr. S., fm, make peasto, bake brownies, make whey/kefir)
B - broth/soup (me), whole wheat zucchini bars, fruit (Justin)
D - turkey peasto burgers, salad, broccoli
W (boil/peel eggs, chop veggies,
B - beef broth w/ leftover turkey burger and avocado (me), granola w/ milk, fresh fruit (Justin)
D - beef and veggie stir fry
Th (prep smoothies, HH, make fermented veggies (cabbage/beet/carrot), make mayo, make dip seasoning)
B - kefir smoothie, muffins (Justin), broth (me)
D - corn dog muffins, broccoli (Justin), salad w/ cherries, walnuts, raisins, avocado, cucumber (me)
F (clean, cook chicken and ham, make hm, chop veggies and fruit)
B - broth, avocado, turkey (me), hard boiled egg, toast (Justin)
D - salad (me), leftover corn dog muffins, peas (Justin)
S (laundry, party prep, Voogts)
party prep - make desserts, make dip, make fruit salad, set table
B - broth, avocado, egg (me), oatmeal muffins, fruit (Justin)
D - pesto ham and zucchini quiche, beans, sweet bread (from freezer)
Good luck with everything this week. Sounds like you have a good plan for getting it all accomplished, though.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any of those waterproof pads? Like those square Carters lap pads I think they were called? If you don't have any, it might be a good investment. You could put one of those out under Abram at night. Then you don't have to strip his crib so much... just the pad.
Thanks for the idea, Sara. We do have a few lap pads...that I don't think I've ever used :P I got the hemp inserts which definitely hold a lot more. I think now we just need to get the fit of the diapers just right...tight enough to hold everything in but not too tight that it's uncomfortable. I've been experimenting. Hopefully I figure out the best fit soon. Lately he goes one long stretch at night before waking up (like 9pm - 2am)...and he's not even that wet when he wakes since he's been so sound alseep. But then the next time he gets up (around 4 or so) he's soaked through...build up from the whole night. Maybe I'll have to put in an extra liner for the 2nd shift :P
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of diapers do you use? We use fuzzi bunz and I actually use 2 doubler inserts at night so that Ian can last all night without a diaper change (if I have to get out of bed, I can't go back to sleep; this way, I just roll over and nurse him as needed and I get the most sleep possible). Sure makes for a huge diaper butt though!
ReplyDeleteIf you could go without dairy for awhile and then re-introduce it prior to doing intro, that could be a big help during intro. I've done intro two times; the first time my son was 6 months old and not on solids yet. I felt like I was starving to death and dropped weight too quickly (4 pounds per week for several weeks). The second time I did intro was much better since my son was eating some solids and since I had already done the full dairy progression. I drank so much kefir and yogurt that time, but it really helped me not feel like I was starving. Anyhow, let me know if you need any more info about doing the intro as it can be so overwhelming!
Thanks, Sarah! I use both fuzzibunz and bum genius. Last night we did one microfiber insert + 1 hemp insert. Seemed to do ok last night...but could be a one time thing :P We'll try it again tonight and see what happpens. That's impressive that you can go the whole night w/o a diaper change! I need to figure out what combo works best...w/o being too bulky. Sometimes I feel like there is so much in the diaper I can't fasten it well.
ReplyDeleteSo you started intro with dairy included the 2nd time? Interesting. Never thought of doing it that way...the dairy step before the actual intro. Something to consider. I too worry about being too hungry/not getting enough while breastfeeding and doing intro. Abram will be around 6m/just starting solids when I'd like to try intro. I can't stand to lose that much weight. If I lost more than 5-10 lbs. I'd be underweight.
Just out of curiosity, how long did it take you to get through the steps...how long were you on the early steps/the hardest part?
Yes, the second time I did intro, I included fermented dairy (just yogurt and kefir, but not cheese). It really helped and I didn't lose weight that time. I got the idea from reading in the GAPS guide about how you could include fermented dairy during intro if you had previously went through the whole dairy progression. (I think it is described in detail on the gaps.me site in the FAQ's. Let me know if you can't find it.) You just have to be careful as eating too much fermented dairy (especially during intro) can trigger more intense die-off reactions. If you're worried about that, try to stick with yogurt instead of kefir (kefir has a much more aggressive mix of probiotics that can really trigger die-off.)
ReplyDeleteThe first time I did intro, it took about 8 weeks to get back to Full GAPS. I really wanted to quit because of the starvation-feeling, but once I started I could not go back as my stomach would hurt really bad if I tried to rush through it by introducing foods too quickly. The second time, it took less time, more like 4 weeks. I was amazed at how much easier it was the second time because I could tell I had really healed a lot in the time since the previous intro. I didn't have the same problem with introducing new foods the second time; it all went very smoothly. I'm glad I did intro twice, and may do it again in the future. It really gives a kick-in-the-pants to the healing and there are very fast results. The second intro diet really helped with some persistent low-level heartburn I was having.
Regardless, plan to eat many times once you start intro. If you normally eat three meals a day, you'll probably need 5-6 during the early stages of intro as the foods are digested so quickly. I'd recommend stocking the freezer with lots of soups ahead of time if you like variety (eating 5-6 bowls of the same chicken soup in one day gets to be a bit much). Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks for all of the advice Sarah!!! I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get closer to intro/as I start. I'm thinking this fall. Maybe between now and then I can cut out dairy for a bit and then slowly add it back. Did you make your own yogurt or use boughten plain yogurt? I know the book says not to use boughten, but it seems like organic full fat plain would be ok. Else I'll have to venture into the world of yogurt making finally :P Kefir is so much easier to make. I'll check out the faqs for tips on the dairy stuff. I'll have to make big batches of soup every week and freeze a bunch leading up to intro.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand what you mean about not going back. It's crazy how stuff I used to think was ok/I tolerated now gives me such a stomach ache since I cut it out/have started the healing process. A great reason to be sure I'm ready b/f I start intro. We'll see how many times I have to do it to fully heal. At least it sounds like it gets easier every time. I've been noticing it especially lately that even little things will make my stomach hurt. No cheatintg :P It's not worth it. But it's very tough.
I will be so happy when I get past the intro, have some healing and can hopefully tolerate more raw veggies again. I need crunch :P That will be the toughest part for me w/ eating soup all the time.
Did you find that juicing was critical/very helpful for your healing? I don't have a juicer. Wondering if it's necessary.
Thanks again for all the advice!!! And for your great blog.
The reason you are supposed to use homemade yogurt is to allow it to culture longer (24 hours) to make sure all of the lactose is gone. I tried making my own initially, but had problems getting consistent yogurt with such a long culture time. So we ended up switching to store-bought anyway. We did go real slow, though, introducing whey first as recommended, then only a teaspoon at a time to see if there was any reaction. No one in my family seems very sensitive to dairy, though. Even my husband, who is lactose intolerant and can't drink pasteurized milk, had no problems with it. I recently got some of the villi and matsoni cultures for yogurt (these don't require heat so should be easier to make). I'm hoping they'll be much easier to deal with.
ReplyDeleteWe were very strict with GAPS for the first 6 months. Now we can occasionally cheat a little and have no problem. But big cheating (bday cake at a party or even eating potatoes too often) does still cause reactions. It's nice to see progress though.
I didn't use a juicer much initially as I had to borrow one from my brother. It definitely seems to help with the overall detox (especially since I was nursing and didn't want to do most of the detox protocols). It also helps keep the bowels regular.
Hang in there! It can be especially tough when you're trying for those raw veggies and fruits.