Days 4 & 5 (GAPS Intro Stage 2 & 3)

RJ making a mommy impression!

Oh goodness, where to begin! I am experiencing a lot of die-off, so my brain is shot. And yesterday was the longest day ever, and thus far the toughest day of intro. But we have progress! Today is much better!
And a friend came over and did some cleaning for me. Uhh, I am so blessed with so many amazing friends and family! I don't know what I would do without their support. Yesterday was stressful because I was up against something I was very unsure about, but we figured it out. Or at least think we did! And all is well!

It started with Venita(17mo), would have been the night before last, woke up around 11:30. Nothing abnormal I just held her and she went back to sleep, but when she went back to sleep she was twitching really, really bad. That kinda freaked me out! So I stayed up until 1 in the morning trying to figure out what this symptom could be associated with. I looked into Vitamin deficiencies it could be, Magnesium or B12. Magnesium is easy, but B12 is in Cod Liver oil which I hadn't started them on yet. So I order our Fermented Cod Liver Oil that night. Of course the thing I was most worried about was Ketosis, which comes on about the 3rd or 4th day if you aren't getting enough carbs. It could explain her extreme fatigue, but not really the twitches. And of course it could be die-off. And I had introduced more probiotic that day, and that could explain a lot. The twitches can be caused by a toxic overload, and die-off can cause extreme fatigue. She slept through the rest of the night fine, but woke up about 7:30 extremely thirsty, didn't want to eat, and was back to sleep by 8. Then slept all the way till 11. While she was sleeping I snuck a little bit of a date in her mouth and she woke up pretty chirpy. I had talked to my cousin Teresa and she said I should make the carrot mash with some ghee, and at that time I had been baking an acorn squash, so I thought I would combine the two. So I boiled some carrots in broth, but they weren't ready by the time Venita woke up. So I just gave her the squash and ghee. Wow! What a hit. That ghee made that squash to die for!! She perked way up after that. No more whining, no more crying. No more extreme thirst. And no more twitching. All in all, I think it was a little Ketosis. Which would make sense too because of her extreme thirst and fatigue. She was also not wanting ANY meat, only the veggies. So her body was naturally craving more carbs.

Refining the Butter to make Ghee

Now RJ(4) woke up similar, he didn't want to eat. I tried giving him a tiny bit of date too. And immediately he got a stomach ache. I tried giving him fresh carrot juice like a friend suggested, but he threw all that up. So I just gave him some time to let his tummy settle down. I gave him a tiny taste of the squash, though I had to force him to try it. And he said, "It's like apple sauce!!" I gave him a little bit of the squash too while the carrots were finishing up. He perked right up too! So the issue I had the rest of the day was getting them to eat something other than that squash. They went through all 4 cups of carrots and 1 squash in 1 sitting. So I made more for the evening with butternut squash and 6 cups of carrots plus about 4tbs of Ghee. Uhhhh, I love ghee!! It's amazing!!

Other than that issue, RJ finally pooped yesterday. Venita pooped about 8 times yesterday!! lol I will leave myself out of this subject for now, other than yes, the lack of fiber hasn't helped me! We are tolerating our sauerkraut well. I don't think they are experiencing too much die off, just right. I feel like I have some die-off, but not enough to put me out. I'm still functioning pretty good. Just a mild headache and a lot of brain fog! :)

Finished Ghee

As far as behavior goes. RJ has good and bad moments depending on die-off, but I am noticing things that I haven't seen from him in a long time. Like right now, he is playing and playing so well. He isn't making annoying noises, and he is being REALLY good with Venita. Another thing he started doing is letting me sleep in which he used to do, but for some reason and especially since our diet went pretty south, he has just woke up being loud on purpose. He would walk right into the room and say it's morning! I woke up to hearing him playing in his room, he never did his annoying morning routine, he just played and tried to be quiet for Venita. I just praised him like a saint for that one!! And Venita is playing more, and is way less clingy. Yeah that could be due to no longer nursing, but I'm positive it is a part of the healing, which is something a lot of people see change in their children through GAPS. She also goes to sleep like an and angel, she is so easy to get to bed!! And I used to nurse her to sleep. So she will be transitioning over the RJ's room very soon! Exciting! RJ is very excited about it! She just seems to play so well with RJ too, not near as whiny about toys, she is just happier and more content. I LOVE it. It is because of that, that I am even getting this done today. She never lets me sit on the computer without fussing about it. Always, thats why I have to write in the evenings. Now she just whines when she is tired, and she whines when she is hungry. Perfect!

Cooked Carrots and Squash before blending them.

Last night I HAD to go shopping, I needed more squash obviously!! So traveling to go shopping takes us 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get anywhere plus shopping time and then driving time back, so I had to have food and it had to be a quick trip. So I brought some cooked veggies with us. They got hungry just as we were leaving town. I opened up the bag of veggies and gave them to the kids. Jeremy says, "It smells like GAPS in here." I say more like GAPS intro, but I look forward to getting on fresh veggies and nuts, it will be so much easier with traveling. But I must say, RJ only begged for chicken at the store.. That is impressive!!

Last night I made Shepherd's Pie for dinner. It was amazing to have a change!! RJ and Venita both thought it was a slice of heaven! Sooooo easy to make, could have used onions but I was out. RJ is getting good at eating broth with our meals that aren't soups. And thank God, they both aren't eating even close to as much anymore! I am still struggling with getting Venita enough broth though... And we are introducing ripe avocado today! Yay!!

So I will do some more updating on today, once I get the kids knocked out this evening!!

For more information on the GAPS Diet visit my other site, www.thehealthnewbie.com