GAPS & My Nephew's Day 1

Well, here we go again! Though this is not GAPS Intro. It is the transition from the Standard American Diet to the Full GAPS diet. So essentially it's a lot like going from Full GAPS to Intro. It sucks!!! So we expect a lot of die-off and flu like symptoms. And this time it is going to be for my Nephews! Ahhhhhh!! And I decided I needed this documented! Because I have A LOT of doubting Thomas's sounding this whole thing.

WHY?
First of all I want to establish what has gotten us here today..... Currently my Niece N is in Denver for Open Heart Surgery with my brother and his wife. She is 6months old and was born with DiGeorge Syndrome, and has severe heart defects (please pray for her and her family). I have volunteered to help watch their two boys, G-man age 4 and E-man age 2 along with my three kids! Call me crazy, but I have much peace about the decision! lol My mom will be watching them through the nights and get them ready in the mornings, and I will be taking care of them while she is at work. So we should have them for a couple ISH weeks, or more.

I am hoping to at least have enough time to get them to the point of zero food aversions or sensory issues. G-man of course craves the carbs and sugars and has texture issues. E-man, same thing but he recently started pocketing foot, which is something my son RJ use to do before GAPS. They just hold the food in their mouth and won't swallow it. I remember when RJ would try to swallow he would gag. So these are all things I hope to have resolved by the time their Dad gets home!

So needless to say, my brother and most people that know G think it's just in his personality to be a picky eater. He's just stubborn, but I totally disagree and I have been hounding my brother about it forever and he has told me if you really think you can do it have at it!! It honestly freaks me out how very little nourishment G-man gets and that is my driving force. Not only that, but to simplify my Brother and his wife's life. I think people don't realize how exhausting it is to constantly be fighting a kid over food. Parent's try to push veggies and push healthy things, but they are only making it harder on themselves by not getting the biggest culprit to this problem out of the picture.. And that is Refined Carbs and Sugars. OR really anything that feeds Candida. Both boys have suffered chronic diaper rash as well (candida). So we know we are on the right path here and I have no doubts that God has a hand in this all coming together for a reason! :) He is sooooo good!

Poor or delayed speech, food aversions, sensory issues, food pocketing or packing, picky eaters, diaper rash, whiny personalities or behavioral issues are all things reported improved from the GAPS diet.

GAPS Day 1

Essentially this isn't day one, it's more like day 2 1/2. We haven't removed fruit, yogurt, or cheese and have kept those at a minimal.

Breakfast
This morning started out with eggs, and yogurt with honey. My mom said the boys ate a lot. They were in great spirits when I got there this morning. They played really good for about an hour, when 9:30 hit, fatigue set it. You could watch their eyes glaze over and their cheeks get red. They both plopped on the couch and stared at their toys! lol My son RJ just wanted to play and didn't understand why they didn't want to play! That is what the rest of the morning consisted of. We read some books and did some cuddling, it was REALLY easy! lol

Lunch
I made sure to start lunch early I knew they would be extra tired and wanted to get it over with so they could pass out and get some rest. G was so disappointed, it's like you knew he was expecting a pb&j! He just looked at the veggies and turkey and started crying, "no, no." E was so excited to eat, and then he had a look of disappointment, and tried to eat some turkey.. BUT two bites and he wouldn't swallow his food. G never even touched it. My kids devoured it and asked for 3rds!! lol I love it!! (And to know that my kids have been here before!) So we sat down to watch a show for their nap, and E went right out, and G didn't go out right away but his fatigue was growing more and more. E woke up and then G passed out! I later realized that E pocketed his lunch in his mouth and even fell asleep with it in. Oooops.

Snack
Well after E woke up I was starting a snack, but G wanted nothing to do with snack. He knew that their would have to be some kind of consumption of something he didn't like! E didn't want anything to do with it either. All I was asking for was a little bite of cucumber and then he could have some apple. He just wouldn't do anything and he's suppose to be the easy one! Meanwhile G had fallen asleep on the couch. So I cooked up some Hamburger patties, which is always been a winner for my kids. I sat in the living room with E to eat some and he totally went for it. GREAT! But then he started pocketing it again.Oh well, hopefully he will eat it! So I let E and my kids go outside for a little bit and enjoy the warm day in the snow!

Finally G woke up and expressed hunger, so I showed him the extra Hamburger Pattie I had left, and he totally wanted it! So he ate almost half of one, and took a bite of a cucumber and I gave him 2 slices of an apple. And the least part of his last apple fell on the floor, my dog ate it up so fast you wouldn't believe it. G's face blew up beet red and started screaming. OMG just like when he was a hungry baby and you didn't feed him right that second, you thought he would die from a heart attack. Scary, but he calmed right down when I explained to him I would get him another one, and he was so good and patient while I finished nursing Brenna. Can you imagine people! Your sugar bugs out of control and you finally get a heavenly piece of a sweet apple and the dog eats it.... I would freaken lose it!!!!! I'm proud of him! :) And I tried to let E eat some apple finally and he just kept pocketing it. And I would try and try to get him to spit it out and he would just cry and cry. His mouth was so full he couldn't even talk!

The rest of the afternoon consisted of grumpy kids. G was just yelling at RJ, and was not having anything!! lol E was making good friends with the floor, because every time I tried to get the food out of his mouth he would cry and lay on the floor. And my Venita was is a great mood, she always is with a full belly! As soon as Gramma came home, oh my GOSH G just started throwing fits about nothing. He was also POed that Grandpa didn't give him any gum. He was just at his wits end by that time. But Gramma was good, and I think she quickly realized that G views her as more of a softy, and stayed stern with him, but still loving, as Gramma always is! :)

Dinner!
Oh dinner!! Went way better than I expected it to... We had Beef Roast with carrots and a full salad. Last time G had carrots he almost threw up so I didn't even put it on his plate, I just wanted him to eat something. So just meat on his plate with his salad on the side. He just cried and said no. So then RJ asked for butter, and then Venita asked for butter, and then G asked for butter and then E asked for butter. So they all were eating butter, and G was so excited about it and just wanted more and I thought well hey, thats awesome! He likes butter! So I gave him some more... But then as he was so delicately eating his butter his plate slipped of the table and shattered onto the floor. OMGosh there it came again, the blood curdling scream, his face bright red, eyes bugging out of his head!!!!! lol Gramma and Grandpa where trying to calm him down and I got up and showed him the butter on the table and said it's okay I will get you more, it's okay... And he calmed right down. I'm so genius! ;) lol Anyway, he sat there so patient waiting for us to finally clean up all the glass all over the floor, and I got him more steak with butter melted over it. He didn't want the steak, but my husband with the magic touch, got him to take one bite..... And it was on.. He chowed down! Then he had a few bites left and had been sitting there for a while and we got him to take one more bite, but he ended up gagging on the last bite and throwing up a little. But we were so proud of him. Everyone was cheering him on and you could tell he was proud of what he accomplished at dinner.

Now E! I had to finally hang him over the garbage and squeeze his cheeks and scoop out the food, and he was not a happy guy. BUT he ate incredible, he downed the carrots, and the meat and some cucumbers and tomatoes from the salad. Wow, but then he started pocketing his food again. Gramma stayed with him trying to coax him into swallowing, while me and G-man went and ran an epsom salts bath for them. Gramma was quite cleaver and gave him some ice to eat, which got him to swallow the rest of the food in his mouth. YAY!!!

So in all honesty, I'm amazed at how well they did with all things considered. I am sooo proud of them! We shall see what tomorrow will bring! :)

Day 42 & 43 (GAPS Intro Stages 3 & 6)

So day 42, Venita woke up feeling much better, though she ended up in our bed for the first time in a loooong time. She just couldn't get comfortable, and I could tell she just needed some comforting. We are all getting on probiotics, aside from the ferments we are already on. I took one the other day and started having some major die-off. It took me awhile to realize what it was.

Day 41 (GAPS Intro Stages 3 & 6)

Well, day number 41.. I haven't written much lately because I just haven't been feeling well lately and I just don't have the brain to think right now.. But I thought this was at least really important to write about..

Venita 18mo, still on stage 3.. Had steamed asparagus for dinner tonight. She has had the most horrible stomach ache tonight. She has been sick for a few days and I thought at first it was just that. But it began to become quite obvious that it was her tummy. So finally I broke down and gave her a little enema. My husband thought it was the most horrible thing in the world, but she handled it just fine. And poop just a tiny bit. But guess what was in that poop... Undigested Asparagus... So shortly after she started finding some relief and is crashed in our bed. Thinking maybe her being sick may have made her even more sensitive.

Some might find this as a negative thing. But I view it as a good sign. A sign that healing is taking place. Of course I know healing is taking place, I don't know why I need events like these to remind me. But as a parent putting your child on this diet, you constantly fear whether or not you are doing it right. If what you are doing is healing. Venita could eat Asparagus fine before this diet, BUT she couldn't digest it. This experience is just a sign that her tummy is full of brand new healthy and very sensitive flesh and that all the wear and tear from her being unable to digest her food is going away. So I feel good, needless to say! :)

Hope you can find peace in moments like these, rather than fear...

Days 33-35 (Intro Stages 3 & 5)

Venita and her cute little scrunchy face!

Well it's 11pm and I'm not tired. I have chicken and carrots boiling on the stove. I realized tonight that I am not prepared for tomorrow which is our GAPS Group day and shopping day all rolled into one. Today was a rough day. I woke up doing, mmmmmm, okay I guess. But quickly after my Phat Cup of Joe I went kinda downhill.

My love affair with Oil Paints!!!

So last weekend I took RJ to this free class on oil painting for kids. My friend had been going and said that we could paint too. So I was excited to say the least.

Day 30-32 (GAPS Intro Stages 3 & 5)

Everything's a blur... Days are running into days. My meals are less and less ambitious. Why?? Because all my kids do is eat!! All I do is feed them, all my meals blur together really. It's really hard to be ambitious when eating is all your kids ever do and so long as it's what they are nutritionally needing, they are happy! It doesn't matter how much salt is has on it.

Nothing real exciting today.  A couple days ago RJ started wigging out after eating a whole bunch of Coconut Oil. I love lots of oil on my brussel sprouts!  I don't think his Candida like it very much! He just had no ability to rationalize, he was throwing a massive panic tantrum over the dumbest thing. Why I didn't think of a bath right then, I don't know.. Venita's Yeast is clinging on for dear life... I'm starting to think Bio-Kult is about in order for her. I'm thinking me too. Just so I can get a good amount of good bacteria in my body before baby comes. And of course, RJ would benefit significantly too. He has had one little rash on his privates since intro. With Venita it is a constant battle. I have also noticed her immune system has declined since we stopped nursing. In one month she has been sick twice and both times have lasted a long time. So I know the probiotics would benefit her a lot..

Yesterday we decided to go try out a new restaurant in Billings called "The Field House." It's kinda tradition when someone is flying in or out of town we usually do a meal as a family. It seems that our diet will complicate many traditions. But we received a tip from my cousin about a restaurant that is pretty clean feeding. No processed foods and they source as much local food as possible. I knew Venita would be easy. I could just bring her food, and I hoped that RJ and I could find something. I had read a bunch of reviews about some of their food and I was really hoping they had sourdough bread so I could have one of their burgers.. Sourdough is only suggested for pregnant or nursing woman with good enough digestive health. I would say my digestive health is quite good compared to most. So I lucked out and they had sourdough bread. The burger was delish! Of course yes everything was quite expensive. But no more than a high end restaurant. RJ had a salad and I ordered a chicken breast but it had a sauce with it. I tried to clean off the sauce because it looked like there was dairy in it. Turns out, cleaning it off wasn't enough. He ended up getting a stomach ache and diarrhea.. But I handled the burger really well, no stomach ache or anything. Though it felt incredibly heavy in my stomach like I had eaten a brick or something. But later than night I was dealing with pretty bad Heart Burn. But I ate a grapefruit and took some HCL and it went away right away and I slept like a baby. So overall, the restaurant wasn't something to completely rave about. The food was good, but didn't have much selection sadly. But I loved the atmosphere!

You know, this morning I woke up and for the first time in my entire life I had the thought, "Ugh another day." Like I just begin the day as I always do, looking at the clock.. Se how much I got to sleep in, or how early I have to get up, always random. And I go cook Venita and RJ breakfast. Luckily I'm not as sick in the mornings now, and I'm not ready to pass out the whole time I'm trying to cook. I'm just so ready to be done with intro... But really will that ever make life better!! lol Because I've always felt this way, just not so bad. Will I ever get it together, will I ever get all my laundry done, will I ever declutter like I want to? Will I ever feel weightless??? Some days I would pay someone to burn my house down. Just so I don't have to deal with all this stuff. I will get there, I just gotta start throwing crap away. But I have so many things out of sentimental value that stress me out just having.. Like plants... WHY!!! They mean so much to me especially if it's a plant thats been in the family for generations. What the heck, and if you kill it, it's like killing a memory and I hate that idea. And I don't have a green thumb at all... Ugh I just want this weight off of me. A constant reminder of my failure as a wife or mother. I know people say I'm hard on myself, but really you should see my pile of laundry.... Really.....

Tomorrow I'm throwing 100 things away, not joking.. 100 things are exiting my house..... Ugh...

Update: Me and RJ always seemed to have a reaction to food about the same time, and I never realized it. After some bouts of trial and error long enough you will start noticing a pattern. Well I did with eggs, but nothing else.. It turns out we are quite sulfur and histamine sensitive. Hense the reason he kept reacting to the brussel sprouts! Venita was also getting face and butt rashes from the sauerkraut, so it makes a lot of sense now! We are going on intro again to do low sulfur and histamine which are very similar, and see the difference as well as continue to heal!

Day 27 (GAPS Intro - Carrot/Squash Almond Flour Muffins)

So as of yesterday we officially hit 4 weeks on intro. I can't really say it's gone by fast, in fact, it's done nothing but dragged on! I can say, it's hard to believe that we've been on intro for 4 weeks now. It's hard to believe that Venita (18mo) is still on Stage 3! RJ (4) hasn't gone much farther than Stage 5.

Day 24 (GAPS Intro Stages 3 & 5)

Hello Thursday! So today was really uneventful. I started my day out really edgy. I'm thinking maybe the Apple Juice I had last night? And man I keep having Braxton Hicks Contractions like crazy. Can't believe how strong they get at only 4 months. Baby is starting to kick more and more all the time.

Day 23 (GAPS Intro Stages 3 & 5)

There is this strange phenomenon going on in our house...... Plate licking! Don't get me wrong I have had plate licking happen a time or two in the past, but it's getting a bit crazy these days!

Day 21 (GAPS Intro-Risen with the Lord!)

So I'm really not sure what stage to say the kids are on, because there are some things that may not have been quite at their stage  on Easter, but they both did incredibly well with them. But I can officially say, we have been on GAPS intro for 3 weeks!!