Kicking this thing off

Hello all and Happy 2018! I choose to keep my same blog I used in 2015 even though the posts aren’t all relevant to making changes around your home.  Why, might you ask? Well, the story that started this blog was a jumping place for all of the changes I have made since!

You see, back in 2014 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.  This moment has become a huge turning point for so many other things that have happened in my life since.  Does it sound melodramatic to say that?? Maybe.. But, it’s true! I started down a path of major changes to my eating (insert gluten free and such here), I started using clean beauty products (insert my customer status with Beautycounter here), etc..

And then 2017 happened…

Wait? What does that mean?

2017 was filled with ups and downs, as related to this story.  I totally and completely fell off the gluten free train (and gained 20 pounds, but that’s neither here nor there). Definitely a down.  I joined Beautycounter as a consultant and started to share my story and my love of safer products.  Definitely an up.  I got back to the gym, somewhat sporadically.  Another up!

So, here we are at the dawn of a new year.  As a whole, I am not big on resolutions.  Seems like we are just setting ourselves up for failure.  But, January 1st feels like a new beginning to me and so I decided to get back in the swing of things.  I am eating better (mostly avoiding gluten, but not being as hardcore as I was), I am making a goal to exercise 3x per week, and I am trying my best to break up with sugar (this is by far the hardest for me!!).

Are you still with me? If so- I will get to the point! I wanted to find a place to categorize some of the changes I have made in my home, life and health and share with you new changes I am pursuing each week.  I can’t wait for you to tell me your favorites.. Give me suggestions!  We are all learning together!

So.. cheers to 2018! Let’s make our homes the safest places we can so we, our children, our families, our pets.. our people can stay strong and healthy!!!

And here they are.. my reasons for change.  LET’S DO THIS!

A long past overdue update and a new recipe!

Well I went completely MIA.  So much going on around our house.  Right after I posted about my second pregnancy loss I found out I was pregnant again.  Naturally after the way the 2 before ended I was not eager to shout it from the rooftops.  I had quite a few appointments and ultrasounds to make sure this little bean was growing the way it should and all reports were positive.  We finally told the boys when I was around 12 weeks and made it “public” around 16 weeks.  We were quite excited a few weeks ago to learn that we will welcome another sweet boy into our family.  Yes.. 4 boys.. I am completely and totally surrounded.  I have resigned myself to a life of spraying shout on baseball pants, sweeping dirt out of the living room, finding legos all over the house and saying 800 times a day “Don’t throw the ball in the house.”  But hey, I wouldn’t change it for the world!  Because with the loud, dirty, ball throwing, messiness of raising sons also comes a tender loving nature that is saved for a boy and his mama.  I am surrounded and protected by more love than any one person deserves and for that I am so thankful!

So I thank you all for you support and kind words.  As far as my thyroid goes things have gone pretty smoothly.  They do blood work every 4-6 weeks to check my levels and so far my dose of meds has increased pretty steadily.  I am almost 22 weeks so I expect it will go up again before all is said and done.  Baby Ironman as he is known in our house is due on Christmas Day.  Way to make things easy right?? We shall see as we get closer how that plays out.  I am feeling good and trying to enjoy every minute I can of this last hoorah.  🙂

I continue to eat 100% gluten free.  If I never had to eat out of my house I would tell you this is a piece of cake!  There is pretty much a reasonable substitute for everything necessary (i.e.: bread,pasta, etc..).  It’s the little things like cheese its and ritz crackers and pre made baked items and DOUGHNUTS that you miss.  At least that is true for me.  But, seeing as those things are all pretty much horrible for you anyways it is not all together bad to just leave them alone.  Most of the time I still avoid dairy and soy but I do splurge on these items.  I have noticed that when I do eat dairy I get sinus congestion and pressure as well as the occasional mouth ulcer.  It is definitely my body saying “easy lady!”

So, last night I cooked this pasta dish for my family.  Below is the link to the blog post where I found it.  It was very tasty and easy to make and of course anytime I can cook the whole meal in one skillet I am happy.  Sure makes clean up time easier.  I used gluten free fusilli (spiral looking pasta) and unsweetened coconut milk instead of regular milk.  I only used 4 oz of goat cheese, which was plenty if my opinion.  I think it would have been overwhelming with more.  I did however use regular fresh grated parmesan cheese.  It was a fairly small amount (1/2 cup) in the whole skillet so I went with it.  Everyone in my house cleaned their plate.  My 6 year old wasn’t thrilled with the cooked spinach but he forced it down.  The others ate it not problems!  Hope you enjoy it.. we did!

http://hostthetoast.com/one-pot-roasted-red-pepper-and-sausage-alfredo/

Some thoughts on National Infertility Awareness Week

When I wrote my blog post about my pregnancy losses and my health issues I was so touched by how many of you reached out and shared your stories with me.  As I stated before, I shared my story because I felt like there was someone out there who needed to read it.. someone struggling with similar issues that needed to know they weren’t alone.  I have often thought in the last 6 months “what would have happened if I have married later?  If my hubby and I had waited until later to have children? Would I have still developed Hashimoto’s when I did?  Would I have experienced these losses before ever having a child? Would I have been left to wonder if I would ever be a mother?” Because while losing any baby is so sad and wondering what in your body is causing this to happen is frustrating I ultimately have been so blessed by my sons.  So be clear that I am not comparing my situation to those struggling with infertility.

That being said.. according to science journals 1 in 8 women struggle with infertility.  We are all surrounded by people living through this.  I have quite a few close friends who I have had the privilege of being a part of their journey.  They have shared with me their heartache, called me with updates and in many of their situations I’ve celebrated with them as they became moms whether it was through adoption or fertility treatments.  Not everyone is as open with things as I am (we all know I probably overshare but hey.. that’s me), but they are there living with this every day.

So what is my purpose in writing this post?  To remind you to be kind.  You never know what path another person is walking.  You never know how your words will affect them.  I can look back at my ignorance and think about some dumb stuff I said to other people and I wish I could go back and unsay it.  So my advice is like anything else.. know that what might have happened easily for you, isn’t easy for everyone.  Be kind.  All the time.

A little bit of follow up information

Thank you all so much for your out pouring of love, support and prayers after my last post.  It was simply amazing to me the amount of people who reached out and said “I’ve been there, thanks for sharing” or “We struggled through infertility, thanks for bringing light to a difficult subject.” I’m determined to learn more about this subject and share my thoughts as I go.  I’ve done a lot of research but there is SO much information to digest, to weed through, to absorb and discard.  I’ve read books, blogs, medical review sites and articles.  Sitting down the record my family history for my nutritionist, Allison, was so eye opening.  Diabetes, Alzheimers, Cancer, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Kidney Stones, Thyroid disfunction, Mental Health issues, Lung Disease.. the list goes on and on.  What does this all mean? Is there a connection?  A common thread?  I’ve read a lot about intestinal permeability.  Is the food we eat damaging our insides?  Are we creating a perfect storm that leaves an opening for auto immune diseases to charge in? This was my driving force for changing my diet.  Can I heal the inside of my body?  Can I seal off the damage?  Can what is wrong become right?

I wish I knew the answers to these questions.  I saw my OBGYN for follow up after my last miscarriage.  Luckily everything cleared out on its own and my body readjusted.  Really it was more of chemical pregnancy and my body simply treated it like a longer cycle.  For that I am thankful.  They drew blood and my thyroid numbers came back perfect. What does this all mean?  I don’t know.  But I will keep trying to find out.

For now I will keep on keeping on.  I cooked what looked like delicious mac and cheese for Easter for my middle son Jay (his favorite) and didn’t have one bite.  Because right now, getting better sounds a heck of a lot better than even the best mac and cheese!  Tomorrow I see Allison and I will update on that later.

Thanks again for the love and support!  I am truly blessed.

A super hard post to write..

I have spent a great deal of time trying to decide whether or not I wanted to write this post.  I just feels too personal and private to put out into the blog world.  But, after scouring the internet looking for stories that were similar to mine I decided that sharing my experience and frustrations could be more helpful to others than keeping it private was helpful to me.  So here it is..

Many of you know that I started this autoimmune diet/therapy as a result of my Hashimoto’s diagnosis last summer.  However, what few know is the reason that I was motivated to look past the”I will just take this pill and be fine” option.  In September, Penn and I found out that we were expecting our 4th child.  We were very excited (we had always planned to have 4) and naturally a little nervous.  We were in the middle of construction on our home and were about to move out into my parents vacant house, we had 3 energy filled boys keeping us on our toes, and I had never been pregnant with my thyroid condition before.  I immediately contacted my OBGYN and internist to let them know I was pregnant and they went ahead and tested my TSH to check levels.  It had jumped up a little to 2.04 so they upped my dose of meds and planned to continue monitoring my levels every 4 weeks to be safe.  I felt good.  Of course I was nauseated, tired, and all that but those things made me feel better in a weird way because it meant everything was okay!  I had an early ultrasound at a little past 6 weeks and saw a little bean with a heartbeat.  It measured slightly behind (a day or 2) and the heartbeat was a bit slower (supposedly because it was early).  I was told they would do another ultrasound in a few weeks.  At 7 1/2 weeks I started spotting.  I had never in my 3 previous pregnancies spotted before so that Saturday I went to the ER to learn that I had lost the baby.  I realize I am a very blessed person to have had 3 easy conceptions, pregnancies and deliveries with no worries or losses, but this was completely new to me.  Of course I was sad.  Of course I was a little angry/frustrated.  Why did that baby not make it?  The doctors all told me that it was probably a fluke thing… many pregnancies end in miscarriage for no apparent reason.  But somehow in my gut I knew that my thyroid disease was to blame.  I decided at that point that I was not okay with just taking a pill.  I wanted to heal my body!

Fast forward to now.  I have been dairy, gluten, and caffeine (and mostly alcohol) free for 2 1/2 months.  We had not planned to try again for a baby until I got the all clear from  my nutritionist.  Life, however, had other plans and I found out Sunday a week ago that I was pregnant again.  I immediately made calls, but had an uneasy feeling. This pregnancy was even shorter.  I miscarried at a little over 5 weeks.

Penn and I are not sure what our plans are at this point.  I am going to continue on my diet plan, keep taking my supplements, and what not.  I am going to keep on the path to healing because that is what is best for my body.  As far as babies go.. I don’t know.  I don’t know if we will try again.  I just don’t know.  I am sure there are people out there who would say “You have 3 healthy children.. more than many can have at all and you should just be thankful.”  My answer to them is of course I am thankful!  I am thankful every day for them and if this experience has taught me nothing else it is that babies are a miracle!  If I have all that I will have.. thank you God.  But for now we will keep eating well, keep soaking in the sunshine, and keep counting our blessings.