tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15215627952880368062024-02-20T13:31:19.494-05:00Father Healer - An Advocates TaleI am the mother to twin children who HAD FPIES - Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. Their condition prevented them from eating food. They used to survive with Nutramigen AA, a prescription medical formula...that was before we found the GAPS healing diet....and that was before Divine Healing! Today...no foods are off limits! This is the story of God(the Father) working it all out! To Him ALL the glory.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-41066802137309808072012-08-13T14:54:00.000-04:002012-08-13T15:06:11.925-04:00Broken Men Break Their Children....I'm Bigger Than That<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
About two weeks ago LittleM began having a hysterical
over-reaction to being buckled in the car if there was not a grown-up IN the
car with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though we don’t leave
the kid’s in the car alone she would FREAK out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After buckling the twins in their seats I would close the door and walk
around the car to the driver’s seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
that amount of time she would be literally in hysterics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overnight this little girl became completely
terrified of being left in the car. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One day she got into her seat, but refused to buckle herself
until I was in the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinking we were
simply dealing with the next chapter in the developing war of wills with your
typical toddler, I verbally forced her to buckle herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her that she needed to obey and if she
did not she would have a punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
cried and cried, but as I firmly repeated myself she obeyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BUT by the time I got from the passenger seat
(where I had been putting the lunch and diaper bag in) to the driver’s seat she
was a mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I learned that day
though, was that if she was not buckled in (read: trapped) she could handle
herself much better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On another occasion my sister-in-law had LittleM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She stepped out of her mini-van to walk her
son to the front door for a play-date.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>LittleM FREAKED out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
scared of being left alone in the van.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We don’t leave the kid’s in the car when we go places, but of course
there have been plenty of times when we’ve loaded them in the car and needed to
run back into the house to get whatever it was we might have forgotten
inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all of her 3.5 years of life
this reaction has NEVER occurred.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I began praying about this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Had something happened when I was not home that scared her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had she been trapped in a closet (a favorite
playing spot) or the bathroom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had there
been a punishment that made her feel particularly trapped?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked my husband and there had been
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One morning after praying about
it, I remembered an event that happened shortly after we moved in with my
in-laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For various reasons, we put
a gate at the top of the stairs once we go to bed at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We use both of the two bedrooms upstairs and
don’t want the kids wandering downstairs during the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few mornings when I went downstairs to make
the kid’s breakfast “bottle” I left the gate up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After only moments in the kitchen I was
running to the steps to help LittleM – who was hysterical at the top of the steps because
she was trapped upstairs without mommy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
realized that this was somehow related to her fear in the car, but it was still
a mystery to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other thing I have noticed in this same time frame has
been a deep inward breath that I clearly recognize as anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has also been most concerning to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I personally had a childhood wrought
with anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was painfully shy and
insecure (that is a whole other topic!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Watching the birth of this anxiety in LittleM was more difficult for me
than the hysteria really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I continued
to pray that God would reveal the root.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today I made “soup” for LittleM and LittleR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> "Soup" - t</span>his was what we called vegetable and meat
puree before LittleM had her tongue-tie revision this May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a time when the kids were about 2
when this is what we were trying to get them to swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some reason LittleM couldn’t even swallow
this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All she could accomplish was a
loose stage 1 baby food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thicker “soup”
puree was too much and she would not swallow it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were told again and again by the
occupational therapist that we were seeing that this was a behavioral
issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though I really didn’t think so,
the doctors continued to tell us that there was nothing wrong with LittleM’s
mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a moment of doubting myself I
entertained this theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided that
LittleM was GOING to swallow her soup or suffer the age appropriate punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This little 28 month old repeatedly chose
punishment over swallowing her “soup.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thinking about this now brings tears to my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sat there at the table battling for hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided that one day that she would not get
up from the table until she had eaten her 2 ounces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We literally sat there all morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was faling asleep at the table – both from
being tired and from being emotionally exhausted from the timeouts, spanks, and
yelling that she was enduring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not
advocating this approach – not at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I took her from the table and carried her sleeping into her room, I
sat there on the floor at her crib rocking her while I cried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was terrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After nap we went at it one more time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later that evening I called my mom – I was at
the end of myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After going over a 2-year-old's choice of discipline over swallowing some soup – a two-year-old who
loved the approval of her parents – my mother helped me to see that this was
crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She helped me to stand on what I
knew in my heart – something was physically wrong with LittleM’s mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a side-note, it wasn’t long after that
that this OT and I simply COULD NOT work together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fast forward to today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the first time since those days, I made “soup” for the kid’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t call it soup because I didn’t want
to revisit that horrible experience on LittleM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called it broccoli/carrot puree, but as
soon as LittleM saw it she said, “Did you make us soup?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to answer honestly, but I didn’t really
want to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked her if she wanted to
have it to which she said yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That in
and of itself was a shock to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asked,
“Is this the same soup that I had when you made me a crib and I couldn’t get
out of there?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My heart fell like a
stone into my stomach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yes, it was
honey.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She just kept eating as though
it all meant nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat there for a few moments wanting to cry, and then I
began talking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that this was my
opportunity to do some repair work with my daughter. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“M,” I began, “Did that scare you when you were in your crib
and you couldn’t get out?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes it did, because I needed you and you didn’t come, and I
was screaming (yes she used the word screaming),” she answered.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tears were welling up in my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had put her in her crib several times as punishment
in between each horrible bite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one
point I was so angry/confused/frustrated that I closed the door to her room and
left her in there screaming for probably 10 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh – I will never forget that day and I so
wish I could do it over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank God
that he is bigger than that day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“M. did you know that mommy made a mistake that day?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were you getting in trouble because you weren’t
swallowing your soup?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a mouthful of
meatball, she shook her head yes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Mommy is very sorry, M.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know that you had a tongue
tie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know that you COULDN’T
swallow your soup because your mouth wouldn’t work right.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She talked with me about it for a few minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was very matter of fact about it – not upset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was absolutely shocked that she remembered
this event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not shocked that it
had affected her, but that she REMEMBERED it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Right now as I am writing there are tears in my eyes and a big hard lump
in my throat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But THANK THE LORD He is
BIGGER than this historical event in my daughter’s life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I reiterated my sorrow over these events several times to my
3.5 year old – in 3.5 year old language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>LittleR was there participating in the conversation too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had some significant stress watching this
event when it happened. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At one point I
very seriously called LittleM’s name and told her to look at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she took in one of those deep anxious
breaths I knew that she thought I was about to say something of a disciplinary
nature; to the contrary, I reiterated my regret and remorse to my
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that moment I believe I saw
a change in her countenance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was as
though that little girl exhaled all that anxiety right out of her little
body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When she was finished eating all of her lunch I got her down
from her booster seat and held both of her hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked in her eyes and said, “M, mommy made
a big mistake and I am SO sorry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This beautiful,
articulate little girl looked at me and said, “You ARE sorry, and I am sorry
too.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My heart melted and then she
melted it again when she reached her little arms around me and hugged me
tighter than ever before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We always end timeout conversations in that way – holding hands,
conversation, hug…forgiven, but never before has that little girl reached out
and actively hugged me in one of those moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Usually she passively lets me hug her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am just
believing that the Lord healed something in that little one today – something that
I had done to her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you Lord that YOU are bigger than my brokenness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listen to this beautiful truth – spoken by the Lord to you
and me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kIAPM46dYPY" width="560"></iframe>
Misty Edwards<br />
"I Knew What I Was Getting Into/All Men Are Broken"<br />
<br />
“I knew what I was getting into when I called you
I knew what I was getting into when I said your name – I said it just the same.<br />
I knew what I was getting into and I still like you.<br />
I knew what I was getting into.<br />
Listen my beloved,<br />
I am not shocked by your failure.<br />
I am not shocked even by your sin.<br />
Only I can see the end from the beginning.<br />
Only I can see where this is going.<br />
Where you see only your failures, I see a fighter
.<br />
When you see only your brokenness, I see a lover.<br />
I am not shocked by your failure.<br />
I am not shocked even by your sin.<br />
Listen, listen, I knew what I was getting into when I called you.<br />
I knew what I was getting into when I said your name – I said it just the same.<br />
I knew what I was getting into and I still like you.<br />
I knew what I was getting into.<br />
Just don’t give up. Don’t give in.<br />
If you don’t quit you will, you win.<br />
It’s all that I’m asking,<br />
Just don’t give up. Don’t give in.<br />
If you don’t quit you win, you win.<br />
Listen, cause everything is in my hands.<br />
It’s gonna be all right - gonna be ok”<br />
<br />
I hear him singing over you.<br />
He says:<br />
<br />
“Everything is in my hands – it’s gonna be alright, gonna be ok.”<br />
He says,<br />
“Everything is in my hands. It’s gonna be alright.”<br />
I hear him singing over you.
And some of you are hearing Him saying your name.
Saying your name – he says to you,"<br />
<br />
“I’m not like your father.<br />
Listen my beloved one, I’m not like your father.<br />
Cause even the best of them are just broken brothers.<br />
Listen my child, listen to me
I’m not like your father,<br />
why are you putting that on me?<br />
Listen, listen, I’m not like your father.<br />
I’m not like your father.<br />
Cause even the best of them are just broken brothers.<br />
Listen,
For all men broken,<br />
and broken men break their children,<br />
Who grow up to be broken men…<br />
BUT I’m bigger than that."<br />
<br />
"Listen, I’m bigger than that.<br />
And all men are broken,<br />
And broken me break their children,<br />
Who grow up to be broken men…<br />
But I’m bigger than that<br />
Come to me – I’m bigger than that." <br />
<br />
"I’m not like your father,<br />
and some of you have been so afraid of repeating the same mistakes –<br />
that fear has you frozen.<br />
But listen, listen,<br />
I have the power to change things,<br />
and I have the power to make you new,<br />
and I have the power to rearrange that same old chain.<br />
And listen you’re not like your father.<br />
It’s a new day, it’s a new day.<br />
Your not like your father and the sins of their fathers, and their fathers, and their fathers and their fathers fathers will not be on you.<br />
Just keep on, keep on coming…<br />
Listen my beloved,<br />
All men are broken<br />
and broken men break their children<br />
who grow up to be broken men.<br />
Listen, I’m bigger than that.<br />
You gotta let your fathers go.<br />
Your fathers were broken by their fathers, who were broken by their fathers and their fathers and their fathers and on and on and on…”<br />
<br />
We’re all in this together.<br />
And there’s only one good father.<br />
He’s the father of all creation.<br />
He’s the father of lights,<br />
the father of glory<br />
and He loves us so well.<br />
<br />
And he says,<br />
“Everything is in my hands -<br />
it’s gonna be alright –<br />
you’re gonna be ok.<br />
No regrets.<br />
Everything is in my hands -<br />
it’s gonna be alright –<br />
you’re gonna be ok." <br />
<br />
"And some of you have been so full of regrets.<br />
Your babies are my babies.<br />
Listen, your babies are my babies.<br />
And I will be the father.<br />
Cause your babies are my babies.<br />
I’m gonna turn it all around - just wait and see.<br />
I’m gonna make everything beautiful just in time.<br />
I’m gonna turn it all around - just wait and see.<br />
No regrets.<br />
I’m gonna make everything beautiful just in time.<br />
It’s just a matter of time."
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-44015591012720375852012-08-06T15:14:00.004-04:002012-08-06T15:21:25.144-04:00The Beautiful Act of Cleaning the Broth Pot<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">For the past year and a half we have cooked more broth than I can really even figure out.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Until recently my process was to pretty much keep the broth pot on the stove all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I would then blend a couple of “bottles” worth of meat/broth formula for each of the twins as needed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was not really the adhering to the “work smarter not harder” train of thought.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was more of a “head above water” train of thought.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Recently, as we moved in with my in-laws I realized that we really had to get a better process going since we would be sharing the kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here we are about a month later and the process is quite a bit better.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We cook a pot of broth and meat and then blend two days worth of formula all at one time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After this big blending job is done the hefty stock pot gets a much deserved rest on the baker’s rack.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But the effort to get “old faithful” onto that baker’s rack has been a much dreaded effort for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At some point over the last year and a half I have come to DESPISE cleaning this thing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The very thought of it was part of the reason I used to leave the thing on the stove all the time rather than blending the contents all at one time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It had gotten so bad that I pretty much refused to clean it and asked Shawn to be the official broth pot cleaner.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">About a week ago something occurred to me that changed all of this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am certain that it was that “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit in me – challenging me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I suddenly had a change of perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I realized that in reality the act of cleaning this dirty broth pot was really such a joyous honor.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This pot that is instrumental in nourishing my children…this pot that nurtures the very “medicine” that is healing my children’s bodies…this pot is akin to the “hearth” in our home – the place where we gather as a family for warmth and togetherness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No, we don’t actually gather around the broth pot.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ha!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But this pot – it is beautiful, and the act of cleaning it – the same!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It has only needed to be cleaned twice since this great realization, but both of those times I thanked the Lord not just for the pot, but also for the opportunity to clean it again.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A few days ago my sister told me of a couple who shared their story in her church recently.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When she told me that she gave them this blog address I thought, “Oh no.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not that I didn’t want her to pass on the information, but their story…it makes the struggles we have faced seem so insignificant and writing about them, well, almost silly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This couple’s 10 month old baby had a degenerative condition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe they were told that their precious little girl would not live past the age of two.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today I got word to pray for this family as their little girl went to be with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PANiveIKVX0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">***</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though I was already writing this blog post and had already decided that cleaning the broth pot would be an act of joy, the sobering reality of how blessed we are is overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The fact of the matter is that for some reason LittleM and LittleR were born with a rare and strange condition – a serious condition, BUT they are growing, healing, and even thriving.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am so thankful for the ways in which the Holy Spirit has changed my heart over the last year, but I am truly ashamed for some of the attitudes I held onto.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The broth pot --- case in point.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Please pray for BabyP’s family.</p><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FlDUkp1Ts8A" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-55837308855462001752012-07-23T14:45:00.000-04:002012-07-23T20:53:37.839-04:00We Are IN the Ark<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Divine Provision</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
I think that
here in the US we think God’s provision is supposed to look a certain way. God should provide a good job, a nice house,
2 cars, nice clothes, plenty of money for a nice vacation, extra funds for entertainment and
on and on. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
I think about
this and I have a difficult time. I just
know that my family is in the will and plan of God and yet look at some of his provision
in our lives (not even to mention those in 3rd world countries). </div>
<ul>
<li>We have twin
children who <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2010/09/poor-baby.html" target="_blank">are allergic/intolerant to food</a> and who have spent the majority of their lives <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2010/12/loss-to-say-much-else.html" target="_blank">really sick</a>. God’s provision
was not supernatural healing, but insurance coverage for<a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-time-to-write.html" target="_blank"> “liquid gold"</a> and then later the <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-plan.html" target="_blank">GAPS healing protocol</a>. </li>
<li>When the kids
were babies we operated our family with one car – not as though we didn’t need
two – with the number of doctor appointments for the children. Provision was loading up twin babies most mornings and driving Shawn to work so that we would have
the car during the day. (Later provision was God GIVING us a 1999 Saturn, but that is a different story really.)</li>
<li>Today with a
little over a <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2011/02/too-big-for-email.html" target="_blank">dozen special foods</a> for the children, we don’t make enough money
to feed them, but by the grace of God they have never gone without a single need. </li>
<li>At this
point, we literally don’t have the money to provide a <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2012/05/you-cant-stay-here-mold.html" target="_blank">safe living environment</a>
for the medical needs of our family and yet we are living in a safe environment
as we speak. God’s provision was to move
us in with my in-laws. </li>
<li> A year ago Shawn finished his undergraduate
degree and not for lack of trying he has still not been able to get
a better paying position within his company. Somehow I am sure this is part of the Lord's provision for our family.
</li>
</ul>
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In obedience
to the voice of God, we moved our independent – sovereign – “leave and cleave”
family in with our parents. This seems
like such a backward move – and in many ways it is, but this folks, is
provision.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Ark</b></span></div>
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What a
whirlwind summer this has been. It seems
like a near eternity since we first found out that there was <a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2012/05/you-cant-stay-here-mold.html" target="_blank">mold in our hom</a>e. Though in reality it has only been
about three months. Even so, the Lord
gave me complete peace that he was in control of the situation and that he
would provide – even supernaturally for our health/medical needs in the interim
of remediating the mold. The Lord spoke
to my heart as Abba Father, speaking into my spirit that I was simply waiting
for my father to call (and tell me what to do next).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
Then the word
came – word of the estimate to remediate the mold and repair all of the
necessary things in order to prevent the mold from repopulating immediately. Since we couldn’t give the children their
allergy immuno-therapy treatment while living in an environment contaminated
with mold, we had decided to allocate the funds from a year’s worth of this
treatment toward helping our landlord with the mold repairs. We were excited to be able to offer that
$2200 toward the project. We were
hopeful that this would cover a large portion of the cost. When the actual cost came in we were shocked
and overwhelmed - $30,000 No, I didn’t put the comma in the wrong place. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>It Looks Like We’re Moving</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
There are a
couple of things I KNOW about our landlords.</div>
<ul>
<li>First, these are
good people – they don’t come any better.</li>
<li>Second, they
love the Lord and they do not make hasty decisions.</li>
<li>Third, they
are invested in our lives – as the parents of my brother’s wife – and as
friends of my family and me since I was a kid.
Simply put, they love us.</li>
<li>Lastly, in addition
to the above facts, I also know that they gave us there home in a time when my
family needed a place to live for a price that was a fraction of the market
rent. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1287446382"> </a><a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2011/05/beautiful-timely-perfect-symphony.html" target="_blank">This was a gift. </a></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
The Lord in
his grace and provision prepared my heart the very same day that they told us
that they couldn’t fix the mold right now – I already knew. Although I wanted to cry when I read their
letter explaining this, I was completely at peace in my spirit. Although my flesh wanted to panic, my spirit
was at peace. In the days and weeks to
come there would even well-up moments in my “heart” and mind when I was
inclined to be angry – but still my SPIRIT was at rest. The Holy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spirit</i>
was no doubt at work in communion with mine.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br />
We knew it was time to move on. In my
spirit I heard the words of a song, “the Lord has promised good to me…” I heard
this as the song of the Lord to my heart – a promise in this situation.</div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Building the Ark</b></span></div>
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We began
looking for homes to rent the day before we got the news. There was nothing in the miniscule budget
that we have to work within. We knew
that we would have to purchase a home.
Given our budget we figured we could afford a home at about $60,000. The next day we began driving by the homes in
our area in this range. Some were
horrible – some were possible – but they were all old, needing work, and
questions remained about the safety of these homes for the physical health of our family. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
We drove by a
home in an undesirable location – it was newer, the price was good – but the
location… yikes. As we were driving away
Shawn looked at me and said, “I would sooner move in with my parents than move
my family into this area.” YEAH
RIGHT. I laughed and said, “I would
sooner move to Maine.” I truly thought
the idea was laughable – I wasn’t about to move in with anybody. That very afternoon my husband’s parents were
coming over for a cook-out. I laughingly
replayed the conversation for my mother-in-law.
She laughed for a few moments and then she and my father-in-law started
informing us that we were certainly welcome.
They started going over the details of how we could make it work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
I didn’t like
this idea, but somehow…I just knew – even in that very moment – that his was
the answer to our immediate problem. I
didn’t accept it right then. The fact
that my husband was adamantly against it allowed me to fight the idea in my head
– for a short while anyway. Still, the
Lord was working on my heart and within 24 hours I was praying and decided that
if this was His plan I would leave it in his hands to change Shawn’s
heart. I am sure that you can guess that
is exactly what God did. It was Saturday
when we drove past the house. By
Wednesday when I asked Shawn if he had thought any more about the idea of
moving in with his parents, he answered that he had already called his mom
about it. We were on our way to Maine
for a week of vacation (paid for by my mom – provision) and we knew that God
was moving us in with my in-laws when we got home. </div>
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After talking
with my sister-in-law (daughter of our landlords) I knew that there was still
one thing the Lord would have to work out.
What would we do with our things?
The very next morning after talking about this with her we got a phone
call. My in-laws had arranged people and
trucks to move us, as well as a place to store our things. This was just one of the many confirmations
that we were moving in with Shawn’s parents.
</div>
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It took 100
years for Noah to build the ark. It took
only 14 days for us to actually move into this one.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>This Truly is Our Ark</b></span></div>
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Two weeks
after moving in with the in-laws our pastor preached on Noah. He likened the ark to a place of provision,
rest, and safety. He talked about the
ark being that place of safety as the storm raged around it. He told those of us listening to look at the
person next to us and tell them, “There may be a storm coming.” I looked at Shawn and said, “We are IN the
middle of the storm!” We sat there for a
moment whispering back and forth about how we don’t feel like we are in a
storm. We feel at rest. We know that this strange and “backward” move
is the Lord’s provision. “It’s because
we are IN the ark,” I said to him. </div>
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He agreed.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Word From the Lord</b></span></div>
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Before the
move there was a short time when I was truly fighting this whole idea. But I lived many years outside of the Lord’s
plan. The past handful of years has
shown me that I have no interest in living contrary to his plan for my life. No matter how hard it is, I want to be right in the
middle of it. His plan is not always
easy. I am certain that the ark was no
picnic. I am sure it was hard work,
crowded, and seemed to stretch on forever.
</div>
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In a short period of time, I decided I
would just open my heart the master sculptor.
I opened myself up to allowing him to mold my heart toward his will. In that time I heard him speak into my heart
very clearly. I heard what I know to be
a promise, “I need you to be obedient in this so that I can do what I am trying
to do.” With that statement in the “still
small” of my spirit I knew that he was talking about our living situation (at
least in part).</div>
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I am still
not certain what the Lord is doing, but I know that He is in control – and that
he has promised “good to me.”</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-81880825460088473442012-06-01T07:57:00.000-04:002012-06-01T07:57:31.241-04:00The Hard WorkI have recently been in a situation where I have had to hear the Lord’s voice and then act. Even as I was acting out the things that I was hearing God lead me to, it was difficult not to second guess myself each step of the way. It was in those moments that I had to really think about what I heard God telling me, and then consider all of the confirmations that allowed me to know it was really God. As I did this and weighed the cost of following through with what I knew I had to do I was confident. In this situation I was blessed to see the Lord work within 24 hours. It’s not that the entire situation was resolved that quickly, but there was a “game changing event” that once and for all confirmed that what I had been hearing was surely from the Lord. This was not about doubt to begin with, but about building my faith. <br />
<br />
<br />
The night after this “game changing event” I heard a new message from the Lord deep in my heart. I heard him saying, “You hear my voice, you know what I have said (about the kids). Now you have to act in faith.” That night I really hadn’t thought about how the situation at hand was about me. I really thought of it as me being in the right place at the right time to intervene in a hard situation. But after the Lord showed himself in it, I realized that he was using it as part of my testimony as well. He is so amazing like that. I realized that not only do I KNOW what God has told me about the children, but that I HAVE to walk in faith. It is my responsibility now to do the hard work in what he has showed me. In faith I have to go through this healing protocol for LittleM and LittleR. I have been stuck. During the fall and winter we were actually not stuck, we had gone so far backward, but that was not as a result of us following the protocol. It was actually a result of us getting too far ahead of the protocol and not paying attention to some of the details because they were too hard. <br />
<br />
Right now I know what I have to do. I also know that with all of the hard work of the protocol as we already follow it, adding in each new step is going to be SO MUCH work. Honestly it is overwhelming to consider right now as I sit here and type. In these moments when I feel so overwhelmed at the mountain before me, I just have to reel my thoughts back in and rest in a few things:<br />
<br />
<strong>It is the voice of the Lord that I am believing in and following.</strong><br />
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27<br />
<br />
<strong>If he has called me to it he will give me the strength that I need.</strong><br />
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”ThereforeI will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 1 Corinthians 12: 7-10<br />
<br />
<strong>As I rest in him, he will continue to work on my behalf.</strong><br />
It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Psalm 127:2<br />
<br />
So what does this mean for LittleM and LittleR? We will be walking in faith through each step of the healing protocol. I don’t know how long it will take, but there are certain components that we have been avoiding because they are difficult (fermented fish) scary or because they “should” be avoided in very extreme children (things like dairy and nuts). BUT if the Lord himself gives us an instruction – that’s all I need to know.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">the conviction of things not seen.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hebrews 11:1</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-50378441959551071962012-05-24T16:06:00.001-04:002012-05-24T16:20:43.011-04:00It Took All of TWO Minutes!LittleM has had extreme feeding (specifically swallowing difficulties)for her entire life. She has seen more than her fair share of medical providers for various reasons, and SPECIFICALLY fo rher feeding issues. She has been unable to eat properly which in part has led her to be diagnosed as Failure to Thrive for 3 years. <br />
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Provider after provider – we have been told that there was no diagnosable reason for her difficulties. Then one day, after some research on LittleM’s behalf, Kelly Rice of Sovia Therapy (our occupational therapist) came up with an idea. Could LittleM have a posterior (hidden)tongue tie? We researched this and thought it made sense. Then the diagnostic battle began. It was at this time, with this diagnosis in mind, that we took her to the ENT and Oral Surgeons. They both said, “NO tongue tie.” They were sure, adamant, but my gut said they were wrong.</div>
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Later we traveled over 2 hours to see a pediatrician. She had no additional degree or training, but an interest in tongue tie. Dr. Penny Soppas is considered to be an expert, but with her gentle nature and humility, she did not want to take on that label. Though she could not definitively diagnose LittleM’s tongue as tied, she clearly recognized the abnormal range of motion and suspected “hidden” tongue tie. After consulting the International Affiliation of Tongue Tie Professionals (of which she is a member) with LittleM’s history including photos and videos Dr. Soppas was certain that LittleM indeed had a posterior tongue tie. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Dr. Soppas told us that there was a pediatric dentist in Albany, NewYork, and that he was the ONLY one she would recommend for this severe and unusual tie. We opted to try a form official therapy before going for the surgery. This therapy given by Kelly Rice of Sovia Therapy, did a great deal for LittleM’s ability. It was really a game changer. The tongue tie was released to a noticeable degree and LittleM’s ability to swallow improved. But it wasn’t enough. After LittleM aged out of Early Intervention we had to make a decision. Would be keep going hoping more therapy would completely release her tie or get the surgery. I prayed and prayed about this and finally felt that the answer was clear. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Yesterday we woke up at 4:00am. We were on the road by 5:30 and arrived in Albany, NY at the office of Dr. Kotlow at around 11:30 in the morning. The evaluation to diagnose LittleM’s posterior tongue tie, maxillary lip tie, and abnormal jaw positioning took all of 2 minutes. With a little silver measuring tool for the tongue, a light, and the eyes of probably THE leading expert in this area, it was all confirmed. </div>
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At 1:30pm yesterday, Dr. Kotlow took LittleM to the room with the dental laser. About 15 minutes later he returned with a less than hysterical, but sobbing little girl who just kept repeating, “You were so scared, you were so scared.” </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhpPhn7Dg6O3_9Kr53wATa6Kz2DxnVnBJprHDxW3ZiuXMtc9FPRaM4QAFtu-gtAW0p9Za2_HmBk3p8quXhpCzlZXzjID9sBFCjjy865S9XoSpzJmtIv5-RqBQ_erbyN8ISuaSO9N-oWI/s1600/Mari's+Surgery+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhpPhn7Dg6O3_9Kr53wATa6Kz2DxnVnBJprHDxW3ZiuXMtc9FPRaM4QAFtu-gtAW0p9Za2_HmBk3p8quXhpCzlZXzjID9sBFCjjy865S9XoSpzJmtIv5-RqBQ_erbyN8ISuaSO9N-oWI/s320/Mari's+Surgery+004.JPG" width="236" />.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Laser incision of the Maxillary Lip Tie</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"> Note the space between the 2 front teeth. This is an obvious sign of lip tie.<br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcVbqHhf_MuI0jBt62xvQQLsw85zRctEN5uZl8yqyzvX6SXzpOkK0wRijpFvjLvfqjGvFzLQ_3q7GVrR8AO-G2EnBfKlTrUVaDUjBvC1hKvqGGcgJnkIIAF_CyIyUH729_4NCJ1InDyY/s1600/Mari's+Surgery+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcVbqHhf_MuI0jBt62xvQQLsw85zRctEN5uZl8yqyzvX6SXzpOkK0wRijpFvjLvfqjGvFzLQ_3q7GVrR8AO-G2EnBfKlTrUVaDUjBvC1hKvqGGcgJnkIIAF_CyIyUH729_4NCJ1InDyY/s320/Mari's+Surgery+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">Laser Incision of the Posterior (Hidden) Tongue Tie</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Not how NOT hidden this incision is...hmmmm....strange it is SO difficult to find!</span><br />
</div>
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</div>
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Though she was clearly traumatized by the event she was not in a lot of pain and it was DONE! By 3:30pm we were back on the road. We stopped to give the kids dinner around6:00pm and LittleM was in some pain. Trying to eat made it much worse. “When you get your lip-tie fixed, that makes your carrots hurt your liptie,” she kept saying. After giving her a little benzocane to numb the area, LittleM proceeded to eat an entire meal WITHOUT a water wash. She used puree to wash her food down, but she could never even do THAT before. This was new and clearly improved!</div>
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<br /></div>
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We arrived home with 2 sleeping children last night at 11:00pm. Within less than 24 hours this 3 year old problem was corrected. This is not the end of the road to fix the damage done. LittleM will have a short recovery from the surgery. It is important to make sure that the tissue doesn’t reattach as it heals. Then we will have to begin helping her to re-learn all of the adaptations that she taught herself in order to swallow. The habit of swallowing with a “water wash”will have to be broken. She will have to build enough strength in her tongue and neck to swallow correctly. Even with this work ahead, I feel confident that this is a pivotal moment for LittleM. I think she proved that at dinner last night!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 180%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3 Years of Intensive Medical Involvement</b></span></div>
<br />
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All but 4 of these professionals were seen or consulted with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SPECIFICALLY </b>for LittleM’s feeding issues. Some of them were only seen for a one time consult but most of them were long term providers.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">THESE GUYS TOTALLY MISSED IT –Some of them really should have known.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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1 Pediatric Maxillofacial Surgeon</div>
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1 Pediatric ENT Surgeon</div>
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2 Gastroenterologists</div>
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3 Pediatric Allergists</div>
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1 Chiropractor</div>
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1 Neurological Chiropractor</div>
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1 Nutritionist</div>
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1 Physical Therapist</div>
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2 Occupational Therapists for Feeding</div>
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4 Pediatricians (from 2 Practices)</div>
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1 Family Medicine Doctor</div>
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1 Pediatric Endocrinologist</div>
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2 Evaluations by speech therapists</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">THESE FOLKS GOT IT RIGHT</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">1 </span></b><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">(of the 3) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Occupational Therapist for Feeding</b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">1 Pediatrician with an interest in tongue tie</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;">1 Pediatric Dentist</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 180%;">LITTLEM’s SYMPTOMS</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Infant Feeding Difficulties</b></div>
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Lost too much weight in hospital as newborn due to inadequate feeding</div>
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Unable to Latch on Properly</div>
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SUPER Long Feeding Times (ALWAYS over an hour for 4 ounces)</div>
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Syringe Feeding</div>
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Inability to use a bottle (tried more than 10 bottles before finding one that was workable)</div>
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Gagging</div>
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Reflux</div>
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Vomiting</div>
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Drooling while feeding</div>
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Motor Planning Difficulties with Feeding ONLY – unorganized suck swallow breath pattern</div>
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Abnormal range of motion for tongue(unnoticed)</div>
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Failure to Thrive</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Older Baby Feeding Difficulties</b></div>
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Long Feeding Times</div>
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Motor Planning Difficulties (Self-adapted so not as bad now)</div>
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Reflux</div>
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Gagging</div>
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Difficulty taking a spoon</div>
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Abnormal swallow pattern of purees(V-Shaped swallow)</div>
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Inability to swallow anything other than Stage 1 purees (even thicker purees refused)</div>
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Complete lack of ability to swallow solids of any kind</div>
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Abnormal range of motion for tongue (beginning to be noticeable)</div>
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Failure to Thrive</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Toddler Feeding Difficulties</b></div>
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Inability to swallow solids without a significant “water wash”</div>
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Inability to swallow some solids even with a “water wash”</div>
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Abnormal swallow pattern of solids and purees (V-Shaped swallow)</div>
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Very extended meal times</div>
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Inability to take adequate calories through eating</div>
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Bottle Feeding in order to take adequate calories</div>
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Some speech problems – despite above average communication skills</div>
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Gagging</div>
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Motor Planning Difficulties (Completely Self-adapted)</div>
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Abnormal range of motion for tongue (completely noticeable)</div>
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Failure to Thrive (until recently)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-10328707891749477732012-05-07T14:53:00.001-04:002012-05-07T14:55:09.493-04:00You Can't Stay Here Mold!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">What a month…I feel like that is all I have the energy to say, but there is so much more to be said!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If I had to sum it up in one sentence I would say: we found out we have mold (and have confirmed that it is a part of the problem), but I have peace that it is all going to be ok. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It all started when we noticed that the dingy grey discoloration that we had noticed on LittleR’s closet ceiling was spreading.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We sent a sample to Mold Labs and sure enough – it was mold.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Though a bit disconcerting we didn’t worry too much.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We did wonder if this explained why LittleR would always wake up with a “snuffy nose” or if it was part of the reason for all the respiratory distress.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We moved LittleR ‘s bed into LittleM’s room and put the kid’s toys in his room.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I figured that short exposure to the room during the day would be ok.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Wrong.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had told our immunotherapy tech. what was going on for the purpose of explaining why we had to delay further treatments (you cannot have low dose immunotherapy unless you can ensure that your environment is free of allergens).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Two days later I got a call from our now retired physician.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His first question really got my attention; “Can you move out?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ummmmm……No.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Realizing that this was so serious that our environmental medicine specialist doc who is retired (he now works one week per month) who we were scheduled to see during his next work week on May 11<sup>th</sup> called me from “vacation” on April 13<sup>th</sup> AND ASKED US TO MOVE OUT OF OUR HOME – this really freaked me out. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">He told me what to do since we could not move out.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I followed his instructions, but still started freaking out inside.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were to seal off the problem rooms entirely, get a GOOD HEPA air purifier and run it in the kid’s bedroom 24/7, support the kid’s immune and respiratory systems with stinging nettle, and FIX THE MOLD.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This doctor who isn’t the biggest fan of medications and knows that I am not either told me that if the stinging nettle and homeopathic allergy supplement that we had already started didn’t work we would HAVE to put them on Cingulair in order to prevent a reactive airway cycle like the one we couldn’t seem to get out of all winter.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We started exploring the house to see what was going on with the mold.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It didn’t take long to realize that the attack is FULL of it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With all of the exploration we must have stirred up a significant amount of mold, because the kids and I all got sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I could feel it in my throat and lungs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They started coughing and I just knew we were in for a vicious cycle of respiratory illness. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was bad.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then I heard from the Lord “loud and clear” in my heart that we were doing what he wanted us to by following the instructions of the doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The very day that Doc called me I was looking for a new doctor since he has retired.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was praying – well more like yelling – in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just as I asked, “Who is our new doctor God?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The phone rang and it was Doc about the mold.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was one of many confirmations that we were to follow his instructions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God impressed upon me that discovering this mold was a blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was an opportunity for us to eradicate at least a part of what has been making the twins so sick. The fact that disturbing the mold made them sick was also a blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This too confirmed that the mold has in fact been making them sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One thing that the Lord spoke to me in such a gentle and gracious way is that He would take care of them during this time of waiting (as we gather quotes and wait for the work to be completed).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was been so faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The kids came out of the illness amazingly – no reactive airway CYCLE.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The mold is still here but with the interventions that the doctor prescribed, the children are well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p>Though it took me about 24 hours to get past my panic, I am confident that this is a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am confident that this is Divine Providence and I declare that b<span class="text">ecause I have made the Lord my refuge, and the Most High my dwelling place, no evil shall befall me, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">nor any plague or calamity come near my home</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You can’t stay here mold.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ha!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also declare that the effects of the mold – as well as the kid’s immune system dysfunction, and all the other aspects of their illness, have already been defeated and will be overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And I declare that LittleR and LittleM’s testimony is this:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Jesus <span class="text">was wounded for their wrong-doing, Jesus was bruised for their sin; the punishment of their peace upon Jesus, and by HIS stripes LittleM and LittleR are healed.</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-62226086546714361442012-04-09T14:40:00.003-04:002012-04-09T14:44:27.109-04:00Voices in Your Head<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> 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semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Jesus said that his sheep know his voice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Prior to the last year or so I knew this to be true but I had never realized just how tangible his voice is.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I grew up in a denominational experience that (at least in my perspective) nurtured the idea that God speaks only through a “still small voice” or the “peace of God.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It wasn’t until I came to my adult years that I truly encountered the person of Jesus Christ in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was driven by many personal experiences, but precipitated by my reaching the absolute <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">end of myself</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In that place – at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">edge of the pit</i> – I knew that there were only two options.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As I called out to the Lord, I knew that he would either answer me or I would plummet into that pit to the end of my existence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even then, when I barely knew His voice, He answered me loudly – and immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That was a number of years ago, and it marked the start of my journey with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Prior to that event I just didn’t realize that I could truly hear His voice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Since that first experience with the Lord, I have heard him many times, but still His voice has not been all that clear most of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How is it that “his sheep know his voice,” but we have such a difficult time figuring out what he is saying?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have realized more recently that there is just so much going on inside of my head that I often have a difficult time discerning who is saying what.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Have you ever considered just how vast your own inner dialogue is?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A recent study reports that the average person speaks 16,000 words per day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With this in mind I cannot even imagine how many words we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">think</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Recently I have been working through a healing prayer ministry.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The idea is to allow the Holy Spirit to heal inner hurts caused by events and/or people of your past.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Through the educational piece of this ministry, I have been learning a lot about this inner dialogue and where it comes from.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are so many factors creating a whole lot of noise.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Consider the following “voices” in your own head:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Your own Voice… not so simple when you realize that your own thoughts are based on truths, untruths, things others have said to you, things others have done to you, things you have learned and witnessed, things you have believed…this list can go on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yes, we are talking about your own thoughts, but they are based on SO many factors and each of those things is also filtered through the difficult thing called perception.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This complicated matters even more.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">The Voice of Others… we are all tasked with weeding through the influence of others words and actions on our own lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is a song I love by a band called Sleeping at Last.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It sums this all up for me stating, “We are made of love and all the beauty stemming from it, we are made of love and all the fractures caused by the lack of it.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">The voice of the Enemy… here we go, right?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t believe in some enigmatic force of evil that simply exists in the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No, I believe that there is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“person” – </i>an Enemy – that<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> is</i> evil, and that this Enemy works to further separate all of human kind from our Lord and Creator.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I do not think for a moment that just because I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">covered by the blood of Jesus</i> that the Enemy (or his minions) do not <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“whisper” into my ear as much as they are allowed to (consider Job).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe that the dominion of the Enemy is at least a factor in the foundation of each of our belief systems, and that this begins long before any of us comes to faith in the Lord (consider our inherent sin nature).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And don’t think I believe we can’t overcome this one – I believe that though we rejoice that are names are “written in heaven” we have “authority…to overcome all the power of the enemy.” (But we have to recognize the need <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">and</i> </b>exercise the authority!)</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">His Voice…this is the whole point of the thought right?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How do “his sheep know his voice?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is not as if the Lord is speaking to us in an audible voice (not saying he won’t, but it is not commonplace).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is an inner communication through the power of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">So where am I going with this?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have come to realize that there is just so much noise in my own head.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe Jesus when he says that I know his voice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am one of his sheep after all.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What I have come to realize though is that this is a matter of discipline.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is truly a matter of holding every thought captive to Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The only way I can know for sure if something I think is from God (or at least in line with the truth or His will) is to hold it up to the light –God himself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have become better at hearing His voice, but have also come to realize that when He speaks to me about something that I agree with I hear His voice and KNOW it is him.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then there are those times when I hear Him, but I am not real thrilled with what I hear him saying and then I wonder, “Is that God or is that me?” <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">This is especially difficult when I am trying to listen to Him regarding the kids’ health and treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is even more complicated when things are not going well in this area and when there are times of waiting and times of silence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Still, I trust in His word.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I trust that I will seek him and he will be found by me.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">Jeremiah 29:12-13</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">Hebrews 11:6</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">James 1:5-6</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">I have a really cool story to share concerning this concept, but I have no more time to write today.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Next time I write I will share how listening to his voice multiplied $230 into $580 and provided some much needed peace about the latest “unknown” for the kids’ condition!<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ncMImEvZZcg" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-23020663153393020472012-03-28T20:32:00.003-04:002012-03-28T20:41:25.652-04:00Hunker Down...A Long RoadGod is good (as we say in my circle of girl friends) all the time. <p class="MsoNormal">The last 5 months have been pretty difficult ones.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As I reported previously, the twins spent most of November, December, and January plagued by infection after infection.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was only recently that I realized that we had become pretty lax in making sure that we were truly following the healing protocol and giving enough time at each new step.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudOusyBlPx9Nw7XSFBo3O5fSrffb-1jdjcEhOF1uKcSGUU3DmNt5isjBS1N4kgt3cj3tRAZE3lUXW1YGFOmNSYNlMYcUF6NWaHzQveljf0lOErMcetKtzTlci_bJTpYNRkCeXNwlzvT0/s1600/February+113.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudOusyBlPx9Nw7XSFBo3O5fSrffb-1jdjcEhOF1uKcSGUU3DmNt5isjBS1N4kgt3cj3tRAZE3lUXW1YGFOmNSYNlMYcUF6NWaHzQveljf0lOErMcetKtzTlci_bJTpYNRkCeXNwlzvT0/s320/February+113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725112563355023506" border="0" /></a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today we had our third appointment with our new doc.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. Chris is actually a neurological chiropractor who we began consulting in order to rule out any subclinical or subtle neurological explanation for why LittleM cannot swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even after releasing her posterior tongue-tie (which was very severe) this kid still cannot swallow without washing her food down with a large gulp of water.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just image how full she gets this way – on water – not food.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is definitely a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is this reason that she still has to drink most of her nutrition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Chris is literally the first person I have found who can truly carry a conversation about FPIES in relation to the immune system in relation to the respiratory involvement, in relation to the neurological involvement… This doctor has been dealing with this issue on a daily basis from a holistic approach long before he met us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is SO refreshing!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here is the plan:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Blood Work</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Chris is ordering a number of tests.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He is looking at things that have not been looked at like thyroid function, ANA, C-Reactive Protein, Cortisol, and other things as well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Most reassuring is that he is listening to EVERYTHING I am telling me, assuming that I am telling the truth and trying to determine how it all fits together.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We have always said, “These things are a piece of the puzzle, and our doctors don’t even admit that there IS a puzzle.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is pretty shocking that we have found this kind of medical collaboration with a chiropractor, but hey, I’ll take it!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Diet</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Chris wants us to further restrict the diet until there is significant healing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He is thinking that we may see enough healing in a matter of months to THINK about starting food trials again.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As of now, we are not to introduce any new foods (except avocado).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We are adding a supplement that is designed to heal the gut lining.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For the first 2 weeks we are to remove all other supplements including probiotics (Dr. Chris explains that the probiotics can be leaking from the damaged gut lining and antibodies may be produced to those as well).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Consultation</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Chris is very humble.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He repeatedly tells me that he doesn’t know everything and points out things that are “his opinion.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Today he actually told me that he is not 100% sure of what we SHOULD do, but he is extremely confident of what we SHOULD NOT do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To that end he informed me that there may come a time when we want to consult with an immunologist that he works with in North Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This man doesn’t see patients.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He consults with doctors.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He would take the history and labs and then actually do research.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He is over $300 per hour!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It may or may not come to it, but WOW this is something new!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Lip Tie</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Chris advised us that while trying facial release therapy may be in order to treat LittleM’s newly discovered lip tie, he doesn’t recommend that we give it very long.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He feels that it is imperative to get this resolved as soon as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After trying to simulate the effect of a major lip-tie in my own mouth and then trying to chew and swallow, I am inclined to schedule the surgery as soon as we can.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5RRdWsYzcKRkiVt2LIVBfxPAJJ0McRPVZGjPN6Iz2v_1ilGAjkXsLvrBgYi7B7NFZbnuPWEOHWm8p-t_X1CNneXxPeGBJ7q7C2Zda8ErFp_HegY6_m9YuTwmE9nTKuDSSacA23vxkEY/s1600/Lip+Tie+006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5RRdWsYzcKRkiVt2LIVBfxPAJJ0McRPVZGjPN6Iz2v_1ilGAjkXsLvrBgYi7B7NFZbnuPWEOHWm8p-t_X1CNneXxPeGBJ7q7C2Zda8ErFp_HegY6_m9YuTwmE9nTKuDSSacA23vxkEY/s320/Lip+Tie+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725111180785834418" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">LittleR also has multiple lip ties off to the side of his mouth on both sides, but I am not sure if this is restricting his ability or not.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am assuming (simply by the fact that it takes him so long to eat) that it is.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Hunker Down</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The main message that Dr. Chris conveyed to me is that we are only in the infantile stages of “attacking” this condition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He warned me that this was going to be a long road, and that there were many issues going on right now that we can’t even THINK about addressing because with the immune system in the state it is in, these issues would not remain resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My favorite thing that he said (only since I KNOW it to be true and people think I am over-reacting), is that the twins have NEVER been “immune-neutral” in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-85199602165628330832012-02-28T14:39:00.004-05:002012-02-28T14:52:19.363-05:00Muscle Testing: "This isn't working."<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">It has come to my remembrance that I once mentioned muscle testing in a post some time ago.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We had heard about it from our doctor’s office and knew nothing about it – just that it was supposed to be a way to determine (better stated, discern) what foods the twins may or may not react to.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Muscle testing, we were told, would be a good indicator of what NOT to try.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were told that if a food “failed” we should consider that food unsafe, but if it passed, we should consider it a “maybe.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were not told much about how it would work, but that it would be the body leading the whole thing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At the time we didn’t think much about it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We had absolutely NOTHING to go on, and so we figured it would be worth a try…either it would work or not – nothing gained nothing lost.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">We went to see a chiropractor who was said to be good at the muscle testing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was younger and nice enough, but a bit rushed with us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nevertheless, we were absolutely AMAZED at the results.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Shawn would hold each child on his lap with a given food placed next to the chest of the child.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then he would raise his arm up and outstretched and hold firm as Dr. M tried to push the arm down.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If the arm stayed up this was a “strong” sign and the food was a pass.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If the arm went down this was a weak sign and it was a fail.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As I mentioned we were AMAZED with the results.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Each child passed and failed a number of foods. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleR failed more than LittleM; this made sense to us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was so glad that Shawn was the one who was the “surrogate” since I knew he would be skeptical if he had not actually felt what had happened.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No kidding, on the failed foods his arm would simply give way – there was nothing he could do about it, and on the passed foods his arm would NOT go down.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There was truly something to this.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">We took our list and went home ready to use it as a guideline of what to try next and what to stay away from.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Fast Forward</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">At one point the same woman at the doctor’s office recommended that I go and have some muscle testing done to help determine what was going on in my body that doctor’s couldn’t answer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I made an appointment with the same chiropractor and had the opportunity to experience the phenomenon for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I too was AMAZED at the results of the testing and even more AMAZED at what happened when Dr. M. attempted to use the same practice to determine my course of treatment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Dr. M. tested multiple points on my body that would “tell him” which parts or systems of my body were not working properly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I help my arm up as he tested different things.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My arm was very strong for the most part.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was a little weak when he “tested” my digestive system, but when he got to my thyroid my arm FLEW DOWN to my side.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had been tested for thyroid dysfunction a number of times and had even had more specific testing done to determine that the thyroid looked “good enough,” but I had always suspected that there was perhaps a sub-clinical issue with it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was AMAZING.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was shocked at the TRUE reaction my body had.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">Now it was time to test the treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. M. left the room and returned with a couple of supplements in his hands.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He placed them on me and began to test again. To my amazement my arm was weak for one and very strong for another.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. M. explained that the strong reaction was the right supplement and then told me that we would test for the correct dosage.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was excited!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The next thing out of his mouth gave me a whole lot more information than I was expecting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">He said something about how open I was to this and that was why it was going so well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then he finished, “now just open your mind.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">“Oh SHIT!” Was the next thing that went through my mind.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">Yes, I swore about it in my head.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I suddenly KNEW what was going on here.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I remember all too well my days of “opening my mind to the universe.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I knew that I was NOT interested in opening my mind to ANY spiritual realm that was not firmly rooted and PLANTED in the GOD of the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I IMMEDIATELY began repeating the name of Jesus in my head.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;"><b style="">“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…” I kept going.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><br /></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> </b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">I was lying there in complete panic, but calmly calling on the Blood that never fails.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">Dr. M. was pushing on my arm - testing. “The correct dose is one pill.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nothing.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">“Two pills.” He pushed again, but my arm didn’t move.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal;">“Three pills.” He was going a bit faster now, but again pushed on my arm.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">“Four pills.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He paused then went on, “Five, six, seven, eight…” He quickly ran through the numbers up into the teens, and then simply stated, <span style="font-weight: bold;">“This isn’t working.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">OH. MY. WORD.</b> <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I certainly knew what was blocking this “power” from revealing itself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I wanted out of there.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was conflicted about the results though.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> Dr. M. just told me to start with 2 pills a day. </span>I purchased the supplement (which I have never been able to bring myself to take), went home, and researched muscle testing (Applied Kinesiology) and the occult.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was shocked (but not so much since the experience I had just had) to learn of its roots in the occult, and I thankfully educated on how the practice didn't fit at all with my faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">I found the list we had gained from the children’s muscle testing and threw it away.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Ephesians 5:11</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;">Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" 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mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I am reading a book about embracing the pain you are facing in order to find the “hidden treasures” that the Lord has for you in that dark place.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This book will prepare me for a journey of personal healing from things in my past that have gripped me (on some level) for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I think that this season with the health of my children is a pretty dark one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is by no means the darkest season of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not by a long shot.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When I give it a second or two of thought, I can see so many treasures that the Lord has given me in this journey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know beyond any doubt that I am stronger and more able to hear His voice – as a direct result of this journey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Again and again I have veered by one degree (or maybe just a few) from the path that the Lord has set us on with the kids’ healing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There have been 3 separate seasons during this journey that I have really implored the Lord to heal the children.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have struggled trying to figure out why He has not done so with just one word, or one breath, or one thought, or a thought of a thought.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know full well that this is all it would take for the creator of the universe to heal them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have struggled with believing that He will.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have wondered if my lack of (enough) faith was the reason they were not being healed in the way that I was asking.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But nevertheless, I have petitioned God three major times and each time have come to hear the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FOLLOW THE PATH THAT I HAVE LAID OUT FOR YOU, AND I WILL PREPARE THEIR BODIES ONE STEP AHEAD.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hearing these instructions for the third time on January 15<sup>th</sup> really made me realize that it was time to stop asking and DO.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If faith without works is dead than I need to live out my faith in what God has told me, and I need to do it right.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Over the past few months the kids have been very sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had veered from the prescribed healing protocol that God so clearly led us to.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not by a lot, but my a little here and a little there. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One little step at a time – adding foods that they were not ready for - led us to a cycle of illness and food reactivity.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleM and LittleR had multiple ear infections, general respiratory infections, stomach bugs, and bronchitis twice (probable pneumonia for LittleR).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All of these illnesses took place in just over 2 months.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were never well for more than 4 or 5 days before the next illness set in.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This really brought me to a place of fear and questioning - and ultimately petitioning God for that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">healing zap</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What I failed to realize at the time is that we had not gone backward for no reason, but because I had not stuck to the path that had been laid out – BY GOD – for their healing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It took me three times of hearing God “tell” me to follow this healing protocol for me to realize that he was not saying “no.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was actually telling me, “Yes Nichole, I will heal your children – just not in the way you are asking me to.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After realizing this and thinking that I had surrendered to this PROMISE I took the kids to the new immunology and allergy specialist.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was a nightmare!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But it showed me yet again where I was not truly surrendering.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was still looking for answers and still trying to figure things out outside of God’s leading.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It took 2 more weeks for me to really get it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On January 29<sup>th</sup> I knew that something was about to change. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleR was sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleM’s immune system was actually fighting off this illness – all she wanted to do was sleep, but LittleR was sick.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His temperature had reached 102 degrees (this new illness started on the same day we finished antibiotics from the last illness!) <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I sent out an email to my Mom’s Group for Prayer.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Hello Ladies!<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">I hope that you all had a blessed day! I have had a very long, difficult day...but a BLESSED day!!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">I just want to ask for prayer for M and R. We didn't even finish the antibiotic for R's most recent ear infection when the new illness started. Yesterday afternoon R spiked a fever and it has just progressed from there. It is 102 tonight and he is complaining that his stomach hurts, he seems to be achy (best I can discern), and does not want to eat anything. The doctor thinks it is a virus that is going around. The one thing that concerns me at this point is that the lymph nodes behind his ear (that was just recently ruptured) are VERY swollen. I don't want to see complications with the healing of that eardrum. I did test his hearing by whispering questions to him on that side. With each question I got further away and as quiet as I could - he answered all of them. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">God is good - I know we will get through this, in the long run. Right now I am praying that this cycle of illness will be interrupted so that we can get back onto the path of healing that the Lord as marked out for us.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Thanks ladies! Love to you all!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Nichole</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The mom’s emailed back and prayed and a few hours later the Group's mentor, an incredible woman of faith emailed back her prayer.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;tab-stops:31.5pt; background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:black">Father in the Name of Jesus I join Nicole's prayer and I decree and declare in the Name of Jesus that this cycle of illness leave now by the power in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the power in His Blood that was shed at Calvary. I pray that the wind of the Holy Spirit go thru the G. house and clean it of any spirits of infirmity. Amen so be it in Jesus Name. And I ask the Angels of the Lord to stand guard, and protect it from any more intrusion of the enemy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: .5in;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Love Becky</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Becky sent that email at 8:32 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I didn’t check on LittleR until around 10:30 that night, but his fever was gone.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It never returned.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Oh – and just in case you were thinking this was just one of those 48 hour bugs – maybe so, but LittleM and LittleR have never had a 24 or 48 hour bug.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Actually they have.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They have gotten things that for their cousins were, but those same bugs for them always last 10 to 14 day bugs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Today LittleM and LittleR have been well for 2 weeks and 1 day!</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-89037194615855627452012-02-04T21:34:00.000-05:002012-02-04T22:12:17.454-05:00Two Cakes It Is!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosbDYK9RbXDWtQmDr5ORF4_3ECMxm2TaiVhxi0i4u2cGHN_KDNefc9hxHo9_6MIEO4MGrNwX82W94OtkET-1Ggc4BdDpI8Vf2k9PDFmbvcon6N1SeTJif1A8kJQE0_pVKI8KS7l-OmrY/s1600/Happy+Birthday%2521+028.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgosbDYK9RbXDWtQmDr5ORF4_3ECMxm2TaiVhxi0i4u2cGHN_KDNefc9hxHo9_6MIEO4MGrNwX82W94OtkET-1Ggc4BdDpI8Vf2k9PDFmbvcon6N1SeTJif1A8kJQE0_pVKI8KS7l-OmrY/s320/Happy+Birthday%2521+028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705481507910890466" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oIWD7Z__0AmfDMBnlopz4RbcQenK5q3BfA0M6mBpWSuu3lGSUspPKEqT9JsFoGJlk1dvecAmM44rcGHOHXyrsj_KER4dzQh_O5fO7uOiSGz4zf9_wOS8AU-Yr8I0iApz8BPNdjV8h5I/s1600/Happy+Birthday%2521+026.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oIWD7Z__0AmfDMBnlopz4RbcQenK5q3BfA0M6mBpWSuu3lGSUspPKEqT9JsFoGJlk1dvecAmM44rcGHOHXyrsj_KER4dzQh_O5fO7uOiSGz4zf9_wOS8AU-Yr8I0iApz8BPNdjV8h5I/s320/Happy+Birthday%2521+026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705481319663189202" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I wasn’t planning to make “birthday cakes” for LittleM and LittleR this year.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Last years cakes took countless hours to make.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This year we had really hoped to have some sort of cake like recipe that the kids could eat.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Over the summer things were going so well that it looked like that might have been a possibility, but the backward momentum of this fall proved otherwise.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Somewhere along the line I realized that I was entertaining some “thinking errors.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Many in the FPIES community have heard my take on the impact of FPIES on a mother, and some have even quoted me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe that God revealed it to me in a moment when I really needed to understand why the reality of FPIES cut so much deeper into my being than it did my husband (not that he didn’t care – it was just different).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A mother’s created role is to nurture and NOURISH while a father’s created role is to provide and protect.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I have come to realize that as a mother, the inability to feed (nourish) my children, when left unaddressed in my emotional/spiritual self, is an injury to my perceived ability to be a mom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am not saying that this actually does in some way impact my ability to be a good mom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t believe that for a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What I am saying though, is that somewhere in the deepest and most vulnerable places of my soul – I FEAR that it does.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> At some points this perception has pushed me into a cycle of trying to “make-up” for the kids’ condition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have found myself overcompensating – trying to give LittleM and LittleR what they “deserve” in the absence of food.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To that end, last year I planned the birthday party of birthday parties.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This 2 year old bash was much more than a birthday party – it was an EVENT. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was wonderful and I am so glad that the kids had a great day, but I realized recently that THEY didn’t need all of it – I needed to give it to them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I realized that they were happy little people who really had no idea they were missing out on anything.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> SO….this year I decided that we were not going to have a big, expensive, difficult to execute party.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We planned to take LittleM and LittleR to Hershey Chocolate World with their cousin and best bud, LittleK.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This would be low key, fun and free!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was all set until the beginning of the week when LittleR told me that he was going to have a cake.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Uh-oh!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I didn’t even think the kids knew/remembered what a cake was – I was shocked that they remembered last year’s cakes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then I remembered that we just had them out in December to have a professional photo taken of them before we took them apart.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2kqGlPOjJZ9HF40cJID_f06SVQHcnhIShnXvR5oJi9_7kLPHcAUu0lohH7l4vExt71zVJK-JPYoNTMeeb5mpP2inGN18BM3AfMbkLdroEoiHNB39Vfud1-y7te3v8u_5sgFtLNvOlR8/s1600/IMG_1540.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 365px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2kqGlPOjJZ9HF40cJID_f06SVQHcnhIShnXvR5oJi9_7kLPHcAUu0lohH7l4vExt71zVJK-JPYoNTMeeb5mpP2inGN18BM3AfMbkLdroEoiHNB39Vfud1-y7te3v8u_5sgFtLNvOlR8/s320/IMG_1540.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705475190540688466" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ok.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Change of plans.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Time to make a cake!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As I began work on a large food-free cake for the two of them LittleR excitedly told me, “we are gonna have two cakes and have fire (candles)!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ok.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Changing the plans again…two cakes it is!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUnEhM1CeRPT66Rmh5yxvlSJKFv8v0F5YQNKDbWOI2HDf738mZSs9Ut_ynOXZzHXtOjdCyyRcAy4_CsqE3k_rkRMI4VBB_UWpJwkncLoSZguaIZNM4PWaH9Carq5e7GtdQqdvGNCT6p4/s1600/3rd+Birthday+021.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUnEhM1CeRPT66Rmh5yxvlSJKFv8v0F5YQNKDbWOI2HDf738mZSs9Ut_ynOXZzHXtOjdCyyRcAy4_CsqE3k_rkRMI4VBB_UWpJwkncLoSZguaIZNM4PWaH9Carq5e7GtdQqdvGNCT6p4/s320/3rd+Birthday+021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705481880948137122" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50ON_DVTiI3SzhtNt-D69FmINuDR8FDyHTl7e3Eah2EH8MW-11XIX5zbwQqiLIdx8DszA3OnxC9eQ-d-_oNFyewnt3fjOXPGWGwiAZprVeqkBJLJXBLQSDmdRApj4JyxbyiEyp8HM2Mk/s1600/3rd+Birthday+022.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 323px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50ON_DVTiI3SzhtNt-D69FmINuDR8FDyHTl7e3Eah2EH8MW-11XIX5zbwQqiLIdx8DszA3OnxC9eQ-d-_oNFyewnt3fjOXPGWGwiAZprVeqkBJLJXBLQSDmdRApj4JyxbyiEyp8HM2Mk/s320/3rd+Birthday+022.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705482226562408034" border="0" /></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-91435219417114973342012-02-04T21:12:00.000-05:002012-02-05T20:22:00.919-05:00A Barrier System Issue<p class="MsoNormal">Last week we went to a new Allergy/Immunology specialist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It had occurred to me at one point recently that perhaps the kids don’t have FPIES at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, there is no blood test or imaging study that can confirm or diagnose FPIES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the contrary, FPIES is more of a diagnosis of exclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children with the constellation of symptoms that LittleM and LittleR have get tested for other issues and in the absence of real answers…FPIES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being said, we didn’t really go down that path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first many months of the twin’s lives we were told that there was really nothing wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took weeks for anyone to realize that they were milk and soy protein intolerant, but we were told that this was common and nothing to worry about – that they would grow out of it without incident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 6 months when we began to feed them solid foods we started to learn how wrong they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually it didn’t take that long, we just didn’t know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After putting them on the “safe” formulas we saw increased reflux and vomiting, delayed gastric emptying, and other strange symptoms like gagging and choking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids didn’t tolerate the “safe” formulas either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finally landed on one formula that they both seemed to do alright with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctors told us that this medical formula was a cure for the condition, and we believed them – but over time we have found that this is not a cure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, this is a band aid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ok, back to the present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The allergy/immunology specialist that we went to see was not really all that interested in looking into the kids immunology, but she agreed to do some studies just the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told her that I was concerned that since I had been the one to find the diagnosis of FPIES originally perhaps the doctors agreeing with the diagnosis and not doing much to rule out immunological issues was actually a mistake – I was worried that perhaps we had missed something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if they had a recognized immunodeficiency with the FPIES diagnosis?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, the appointment was awful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left there feeling defeated and confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just KNEW that she was missing the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event she concurred with the diagnosis of FPIES and did some blood work to be sure the immune system was ok.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today we went to a neurological chiropractor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was very interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LittleM has a number of strange symptoms involving her entire body really, but only on one side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has uneven pupils, tongue weakness (in addition to her dysphasia), left toricollis at birth, and tightness in her left abdomen that when released improves her constipation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have so many questions about what else isn’t working on her left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can she hear and see equally?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is her GI tract sluggish on only one side?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t know the answers to these questions, at least not now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The conversation with the Dr. Chris was so refreshing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This guy could actually carry on an FPIES conversation with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was he knowledge able on the “alternative” side of the conversation (not all that surprising from a chiro) but he was right there with the traditional medicine of FPIES.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure how familiar he was with FPIES by name, but he was well versed in the idea of cell mediated allergies and even talked about the T-cell involvement in this kind of allergy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is MUCH more than I expected!!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was so relieved to hear him say – if their immune system can’t even handle food proteins how is it supposed to handle common issues like colds or vaccines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YES!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what I have been asking all of our doctors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While some FPIES children’s immune systems are so over-sensitized they efficiently fight off every germ AND protein, LittleM and LittleR seem to not know when to fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their systems fight food, but don’t do so well with germs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An illness that lasts 7 days for our nieces and nephews will last weeks or even months for LittleM and LittleR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other thing that was refreshing to hear Dr. Chris say was that kids like these are on a crash course headed for autoimmune disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No I don’t find that truth to be refreshing – what is refreshing however, is that he recognizes this truth. Unbelievably, most MDs do not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leaves the FPIES community in an impossible predicament as it forces us to constantly butt up against the establishment of traditional medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It forces us to have to over-advocate, and this is a dangerous place to put a parent in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can understand a great deal through research and experience, but we are still parents – lay people as related to medicine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cannot possible know how to exhaust all possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are constantly put in the position of advocating for our children often AGAINST our doctors – with this being the norm – it is hard to imagine what might be missed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even recall all the comments and looks I have endured as that crazy mother who thinks everything is or might be wrong with her kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">BUT TODAY…today we met with someone who knows what we are dealing with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is ready and willing to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me that it was easy to look at the history, do an examination, and name the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fix though…he warned me that correcting the problem is a much different challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will not be easy, but it is possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This confirmation from a doctor was a refreshing change of pace.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now to get all of LittleM’s labs to him for review so that he can formulate his recommendations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><ul><li> Heal the gut.</li><li>Heal the blood-brain barrier.</li><li>Balance the two hemispheres of the brain. (LittleM’s history and examination confirm an imbalance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t remember is her right brain is over or under-active, but I am sure this will be discussed once Dr. Chris formulates his recommendations.) </li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-78271024928832141222012-01-22T22:38:00.000-05:002012-01-22T22:50:31.631-05:00by His stripes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> 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Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >What a hard few months it has been.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since my last jubilant post we have taken many steps backward.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In fact we have taken so many steps backward that it has been difficult to believe that we will ever get back on track with healing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I think I have been questioning God in this time, but not consciously.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am only just now – today – realizing this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have been questioning whether or not we are truly on the path that we are supposed to be on, but I have not truly even admitted this to myself until now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >There are 2 reasons I write this blog.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One is that I believe the Lord impressed it upon my heart to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have no doubt that God himself occasionally uses our journey to reach into the lives of others – believers and non-believers alike to speak into their lives in some way.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I happen to believe that this is very personal for God, and I believe that He uses our story – I imagine that is the only reason He would “ask” me to write our story and post it in a public way.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The other reason I write this is because it is the testimony of my children’s lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Someday I want them to be able to read this and know beyond any doubt that the God of the Universe was there with them weaving an amazing story of hope and healing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The one thing that I have forgotten along the way is that this is also MY testimony.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This evening I went back into the entries to remind myself of what God has told ME.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >In my “little faith” I often pray that He would help my unbelief.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know this is a place where God can meet me – and faithfully has, but I am also no longer a baby in my faith.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe that this is a good time for me to start on some “solid food(faith)” and let him develop in me a “perfect faith” (at least in this area).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know what the Lord has told me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know that “all good and perfect gifts come down from the Father of Heavenly lights” and I know that he does not make a promise and then just change his mind…”who does not change like shifting shadows.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My heart became heavy recently when a fellow FPIES mom and dear friend pointed out to me that God had never said he would heal her daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had realized that God had never told me that about the twins either.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I took this statement on personally – and though it is true – and I took it on with a positive attitude – I let it become a little bit of unbelief inside of myself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >So what has God told me?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He has told me that as we take this journey and follow this healing protocol that we are on, HE will go before us – each and every step of the way and prepare their bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >So what does this mean?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Does this mean that there is complete healing on the other side?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When I think about what I know about the protocol that we are on...I have to say yes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This means that one day those two children will be healed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >So why is it so difficult to truly follow the protocol?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In part, it is very individual, and there is no one set way to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It requires a lot of customizing and constant tweaking to get it right for each patient, and as we have seen first-hand the guidelines are meant to be very customized.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At one point we were adhering to the plan as outlined in the book PERFECTLY.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In one of our correspondence with the doctor who authored the protocol she advised us to move forward in some ways that were actually not “by the book.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >So what do we do next? <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe that we need to get back on track – back to following the protocol as it is written.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What will that mean for the twins?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I guess no more potty reward raisins and no more fresh mango.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Those raisins are actually the most difficult one for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>These children LOVE raisins and don’t many parents give their kid an M&M or a Skittle when they are potty training?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Is it really too much to ask to give my kids a RAISIN?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >This is harder than it sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I hear myself and I think it sounds pretty silly, but then the everyday reality hits me and it is tough.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >Still there is so much more I want for them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m not talking about candy from the checkout lane.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No, I would just love to give them a piece of GAPS legal Angel Food Cake for their 3<sup>rd</sup> birthday in a couple of weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I would like to let them grab one of daddy’s bananas.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I would love to make them a roasted chicken sandwich on sprouted sourdough bread with a bowl of grass-fed yogurt and berries for dessert.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >It’s still just manna from Heaven for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am not complaining, but I am really hoping that we are allowed to enter into the Promised Land before long.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Obedience – I am thinking that is the lesson here.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >“When God heals my belly, I can have muffins.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >When God heals my belly, I’m gonna have cookies.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >“Can I try that when I’m bigger and God heals my belly?”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >I think this will have to be the motivation when it is almost too hard to say, “No, you can’t have 5 raisins today.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The dream that one day they will be able to eat like this – if I am obedient – and walk in faith…one step at a time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >Today LittleR was talking to me about eating the recipe that they had helped me make.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He told me that God was healing his belly and Jesus was healing his belly too.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I sat down and told him that I wanted to read something to him that God said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I explained that I would read it from the Bible because that was God’s word to us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In response he explained to me that God would have to speak to us through the Bible because he was “way too far away (pointing up) working on the computer.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal; mso-outline-level:3"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:boldfont-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >I read:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Isaiah 53:5 – </span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >But he was wounded for our wrong-doing, he was bruised for our sins; the punishment of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >LittleR:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“But I’m not healed yet.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >My response:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“But God is working on it.” </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" >We say this all the time…”God is working on healing your belly.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And since mommy does all her “work” on the computer…God MUST be working on LittleM and LittleR’s bellys…on the computer.</span></p> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxLINaJ25YKUc4nXyTdJbUpctRnhycTPPg6sKXYsiIvcF13NQKe0EWSXCN3lfKkdX1o08P9vEmx6TTxhQBARA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-36851568692273455632011-11-10T14:22:00.000-05:002011-11-10T14:36:25.477-05:00I Have to Cook Two Hotdogs<div style="text-align: left;">I have to cook 2 hotdogs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So what does that mean you ask?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Wow, where to begin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></div> <p class="MsoNormal">**Scroll down to Cranio Sacral Facial Therapy to skip the back-story**</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I guess I should start with the hotdogs themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleM and LittleR have been painfully aware of hotdogs for some time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>their dad eats them almost daily as a snack to hold him over until our very late night dinner (after the kids have gone to bed), and their cousin LittleK who is their age, and lives next door, eats them all the time too.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The kids have wanted hotdogs for ages, and before we started GAPS in March of this year there was no hope that they would be able to have them anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By the end of the summer we realized that they were experiencing a lot of healing, and so I began looking for a safe hotdog.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I couldn’t find anything so I decided to try and make my own with lamb meat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were a big flop!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwF8derr5QoiC6UwnwB2oxHJrjueL_80C_C5_bBbpn467YjAVEQPC7YFqFtCtRI4nz6Rlx35cCXZZoQZEv-ow' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">While in Maine for my sister’s wedding we decided to try an amazing product that we had been waiting on for some time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Applegate Farms claims to be “changing the meat we eat.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They make a product called the Great Organic Hotdog.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well if you start looking into the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">big food lie</i> you start to realize that the word organic doesn’t necessarily mean all that much.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You learn that organic beef is simply beef from a cow that was fed organic feed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This cow was still fed corn and soy and lots of other things that it was not created to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Now LittleM and LittleR have already reacted to trigger foods that were ingested by their meat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>BUT there is more.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The meat, fat, and healing components of a piece of organic beef are not all that desirable either.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But grassfed beef….ahhhh…that is a whole other story.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This GREAT ORGANIC HOTDOG is not just organic, but also made with 100% grass fed and finished beef.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The other ingredients in the dog are minimal and worth the challenge.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlPX3b1AUu41jhBJGr8ugY8pDaUEtXu35R0G_uxlHVfRRjCxkmEV1VeEk8Fmh_FG2bGg6r2TGc4vVn77nkcaEIKr4gT_Sw-RfYCpovH1eAThK2KigRO4DmDBf50iFCx8fIo2GQCt3CGg/s1600/applegate.bmp"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlPX3b1AUu41jhBJGr8ugY8pDaUEtXu35R0G_uxlHVfRRjCxkmEV1VeEk8Fmh_FG2bGg6r2TGc4vVn77nkcaEIKr4gT_Sw-RfYCpovH1eAThK2KigRO4DmDBf50iFCx8fIo2GQCt3CGg/s320/applegate.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673450172009201842" border="0" /></a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, since October, we have had a safe hotdog.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>THIS IS HUGE.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is amazing to think of how much I took for granted the ease and convenience of cooking and eating before this journey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Having something that I can cook in a matter of minutes for the kids is so great, and they LOVE their hotdogs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Besides hotdogs being fun, easy, and quick, I had high hopes that they would be a good food to learn to chew and swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was the case for LittleR, though we had to remove the casing for a while since it was difficult to swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleM was a different story.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She couldn’t swallow anything solid really.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Cranio Sacral Facial Therapy</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That was until we started cranio sacral facial therapy for her.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was a part of the result of the journey from my last post.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were led into this therapy that helps to release tension in the body – anywhere in the body.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our amazing OT was convinced that we needed to try this therapy in order to release LittleM’s tongue tie before we went ahead with surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I can’t say that I thought it was going to work, but I knew that it was my job to follow God’s leading, and this is where he had brought us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Session 1 – Tuesday</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Thursday my sister-in-law and I stood talking while LittleM was eating lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While we stood there LittleM was quietly SWALLOWING her lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I didn’t see it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My sister-in-law just asked where the food was.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I looked around without saying a word – since I didn’t want to spook her into stopping.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Sure enough it was nowhere to be seen and after watching for a little longer, I saw that she was indeed swallowing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She finished her entire plate and asked for another.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She ended up eating 2.5 plates of food.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At that point a plate of food consisted of one “coin” of hotdog cut into quarters, 1 “coin” of carrot cut into quarters, and 2 tiny pieces of broccoli.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Before the therapy session I would struggle to coach her to swallow 1 – 2 bites.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After the first session she swallowed more than 20 bites!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Just after she finished eating she told me she had to go to the bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The little girl who is fully potty trained and goes off to hide if she needs to poop (she holds it in for days at a time) was telling me that she needed to poop.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I sat her on the potty and within 10 seconds she went.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>THIS IS AMAZING.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This has NEVER happened.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This girl has been so constipated for her whole life (unless in an FPIES reaction with diahrrea) that pooping would sometimes take more than an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This makes sense because as the OT was working on LittleM she discovered a “knot” in her abdomen – above her belly button just to the left.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had felt this knot many times, but didn’t know what it was or what to do about it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Session 2 – Wednesday (the following week)</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pooping has been ok – not as amazing as that first session, but much better. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Swallowing has continued to improve daily.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">UNTIL TODAY…</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today I had to cook 2 hotdogs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There was no need to cook 2 before today.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleR would easily eat a whole one, but LittleM only needed 2 very thin slices cut into quarters – that was all she could swallow – even after 2 sessions of the CSF therapy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>BUT TODAY this kid just kept going.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She kept swallowing and telling me that she needed more.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She swallowed a half of a hotdog and lots of veggies!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was so funny watching her fuss with the waist band of her pants as her tummy kept expanding as she continued swallowing!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is still hard work for her – it took her over an hour to eat it all.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>BUT PRAISE GOD!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">LittleM just chewed and swallowed and became FULL with her FIRST age appropriate meal!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This therapy is truly amazing.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-6119218175857485832011-10-27T14:54:00.000-04:002011-10-27T16:07:58.023-04:00PEACE THAT SURPASSES UNDERSTANDING<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> 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mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">During this journey there has been one lesson I have learned loud and clear.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is not that I got an A on the first test – nope – not even close.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I failed the first test miserably.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even after roping in a failing grade, I kept right on going trying desperately to make 1 + 1 = 3.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Eventually though, I realized that I was looking to the wrong source for the answers to the equation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was relying on my own wisdom, my own research, and my own efforts and power to figure out what to do next for LittleM and LittleR.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At one point I decided to heed the message that had been coming to me again and again… “be still.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who me?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yikes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am a get it done type of person.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My signature tag line on any cover letter I send out boasts my “just get it done work ethic.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I thrive during crunch time when many simply panic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Waiting on someone else – someone I couldn’t even see – was no easy task.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In fact, it took me a number of months to truly be able to wait on God, but since that time I have realized that waiting on God is such a comfortable place to be.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In learning to let go of my children (placing them in the hands of the Father), I have experienced overwhelming peace.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have learned to listen for his voice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am still learning when and how to follow the promptings of His voice, but if not for these circumstances I would still be scrambling to figure it all out on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I would still be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">beating my head against the wall</i> – in despair at not being able to nurture and nourish my children to health.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Instead, over time, I have learned to surrender my worry and my fear, and allow the Father to lead me to the next step and the next bit of research, the next practitioner, etc.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Most recently, through a journey of interesting twists and turns (unmistakable navigating by God) we have arrived at some exciting and hopeful next steps LittleM and her feeding difficulties.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This journey has led us to/through: <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>3 occupational therapists, a chiropractor, a maxio facial surgeon, an ENT specialist, a pediatrician/lactation consultant who specializes in tongue tie, an affiliation of medical professionals who specialize in tongue tie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We also have appointments scheduled with: a pediatric neurologist, a chiropractic neurologist, and the Hershey Medical Center for a barium swallow study.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Wait a minute…what was that last one?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A BARIUM swallow study.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>OH GREAT!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This one is scary.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because of LittleM’s FPIES (affectionately termed a “universal reactor” by her primary doc), I have been putting my foot down on this study for months.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Each time it has been mentioned by a medical professional I have said, “No, we don’t know if she will react to the barium and how far back it will put her treatment.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So what changed?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Actually NOTHING.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>LittleM had made no progress in swallowing since we started this journey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With months of occupational therapy and a number of foods to try, her skills were actually getting worse.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, when our practitioners seemed to split – leading us in two completely different directions (surgery for tongue tie vs. alternative therapies to release the tongue)…I began praying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We were headed to Maine for 2 weeks of working on my sister’s wedding and I would have no opportunity to keep working on this while we were there.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had no choice – I prayed that God would just take over.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I prayed that he would open the right doors and close the wrong doors.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Just a couple of days after I “gave it to Him” the calls started coming in.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">READ ALL THE DETAILS HERE OR </b><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">SKIP TO THE PEACE THAT SURPASSES UNDERSTANDING BELOW<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><u><br /></u></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hershey Medical Center called first.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They didn’t just call to talk with me about the studies available, they called to tell me that the test had been scheduled.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>OK GOD.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I guess this is an open door.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After we got back from Maine, I started doing my due diligence and called Hershey to check in on what test they were planning.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To my surprise it was not the barium free nasal scope study, it was the barium swallow study.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was instantly sick to my stomach, and couldn’t understand why this was the door God was opening.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I KNEW this was not the right thing for LittleM – that this would not support the healing protocol that they are on.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What could I say though, this was a door that I had not opened – I had to trust that it was God, but just to be sure I prayed that He would keep opening the right doors and closing the wrong doors as I continued on with my responsibilities as a mom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I called Hershey and insisted on speaking with someone who could tell me why this test was ordered and not the one we were asking for.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The speech intern that called me explained to me that the other study would not show us anything that was going on in the oral phase of LittleM’s swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This one was the only one that would even look at what the tongue was doing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ok.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My final confirmation came when I attempted to reschedule the test date to a more convenient day of the week.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not only did it reschedule for a nearby date, but it was the most convenient date on the books.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had to concede that this was God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I emailed our team to let them that the barium swallow was ordered and pending.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I quickly received an email from out OT with a couple of words of warning about the.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She did not think we were going to get the answers we needed from this study and that it would expose LittleM to the barium and radiation for little to no answers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Honestly, I was a little put off by the email for a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was thinking something like, “well this is GOD not ME.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That feeling really lasted just a short time before I realized that this could all be part of the journey.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I decided to continue on with my job of due diligence and follow through with all of the suggestions she had given me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was praying all the while for God to open and close doors.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was NOT going to plow through any door or simply say no (closing any door) on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As the events continued on, it became more and more clear that God was the one at work here.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I called Hershey asking them to schedule us with the practitioner that the OT has suggested.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The scheduler wanted me to keep the professional we has since they were both skilled at their jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not wanting to push through the wrong door I just sort of went with the whole conversation (not at all like me!).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In the end I ended up asking for the first practitioner to call me instead of just rescheduling with the other one.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our OT had also recommended that I discuss the study and what we were trying to see with them to see if they even thought it would be possible.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The scheduler sent an email to the first one asking her to call me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She also copied the other professional on the email just so that she would be aware of what was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As it turned out, the second professional (and the one our OT thought would be better suited to helping us) called me back by accident – she had thought the email was asking HER to call me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We ended up going over everything.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She agreed with the OT that the study was most likely not going to show us what we wanted to see.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She hesitantly asked (almost as if she was out of turn), “how would you feel about coming in for a speech therapy for feeding consult? “<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">THE PEACE THAT SURPASSES UNDERSTANDING</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There it was.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was as if a burden was instantly lifted from my chest.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The peace that surpasses understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And I finally saw that God was not leading LittleM to something that seemed to counter all that He had been leading us to before now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was leading us to the right moment, to the right therapy, to the right person.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What he needed from me was complete faith AND obedience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Those steps of faith were not easy to take, but I was prepared to follow His leading all the way no matter where it was going (even we ended up in radiation department of Hershey Medical Center).</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-49811671192582575142011-09-21T23:23:00.000-04:002011-09-21T23:42:30.696-04:00Today Was Different<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> 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style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >Today was a long, but good day.</span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;font-family:";font-size:85%;" ><br />I woke up late – thanks to the little ones who let me sleep in this morning!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That being the case, every moment between waking up and getting out the door was spent preparing food, diaper bags, nap gear for LittleR and an entertainment bag for LittleM.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Somehow we managed to get out the door on time to drop LittleR off at his aunt’s house for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >LittleM and I started off on our journey 2 hours away to Drexel Hill, PA (just outside Philly).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In my usual manner we showed up about 20 minutes early…oh wait…I am never early – this was a good start!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >LittleM has no idea that we were going to see a doctor for her tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Usually I prep her for appointment so that she knows what to expect, but the last appointment was so awful that I decided not to let the anxiety build.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I didn’t tell her until we were walking back to the exam room.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She was not all that impressed, but seemed to breathe easy when I told her that I would go first.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Just like Dr. B.” she said.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >**Yesterday, LittleM was adjusted for the first time by our favorite chiropractor, Dr. B….just like mommy!**</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >About a week ago LittleM saw an ENT to help us figure out why she can’t swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her OT wanted us to rule out a tongue tie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The ENT was very nice, but expected this 2.5 year old to behave like a 25 year old, and when that didn’t work out he just decided he was going to use a tongue depressor an assistant (to hold LittleM down) and look in her mouth whether she liked it or not.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When he put his finger in her mouth to feel under her tongue she BIT HIM!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>GOOD GIRL!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Is it really any wonder that he didn’t feel anything!!!???<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Although he said there was no tongue tie I certainly didn’t feel confident that we had truly ruled it out.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >Six weeks ago LittleM say a maxiofacial surgeon.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even worse…he didn’t even try to feel in her mouth. He didn’t even LOOK in her mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Still, he was somehow able to rule out a tongue tie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ok this was just a colossal waste of our time – and LittleM’s medical patience.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >BUT TODAY…Today was different.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. Penny Soppas is well known for her work with tongue tie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She is a pediatrician and a lactation consultant.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Upon researching tongue tie her name came up in more than one place.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It seems that people drive much greater distances than we did for her expertise.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The only drawback I could see is that she most often sees and treats infants who are having difficulties feeding and nursing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well I guess in hindsight we should have been in to see her a LONG time ago.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif"">The Appointment:</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif";font-size:85%;" >Dr. Soppas was patient with LittleM.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She gently followed my lead when I told LittleM that mommy would go first.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She allowed me to talk LittleM through each step, and didn’t try to force LittleM to cooperate.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She didn’t try to act like she had all the answ</span><span style=" Times New Roman","serif";font-size:85%;" >ers.<span style=""> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; text-align: center; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzzjJ2sE0gKfin0VLL14PPFm7_8qhjnCCJiZI3xpKg9Z8-u1Iz5UxVuCqIs0DAXGahqJR4_6upEfk3XlDtXVA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif"">The Verdict:</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" >Yup, I liked her.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. S. (as LittleM called her) said that she couldn’t rule out a tongue tie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She told me that she wanted to bring LittleM.’s case to a “council” of tongue tie professionals and brainstorm on where to go next.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She talked about a couple of other doctors who we may want to see, but never dismissed us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was a good day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif"">The Hope:</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif";font-size:85%;" >For the first time since we started this quest to rule-out a tongue tie, I feel hopeful.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I feel like we have someone working alongside us who knows where to go and what to do next.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have had the proverbial door slammed in our faces on this one for a few months and this is progress.<span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif"">The Follow-up:</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" >This evening after a very long trip home and a very long night trying to get two wired kids to bed I settled in and checked my email:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="Times New Roman","serif";font-size:85%;" >Hi Mrs G,<br /><br />The more I think about [LittleM.’s] swallowing dysfunction the more I think that posterior tongue-tie is a major factor. I'm sorry I was not able to view or copy your videos today. I was thinking that it might be hard to send those videos if they are large. There is a free program that allows you to send large attachments called "cutesendit" which you can search for and download. I look forward to viewing those videos and consulting with the doctors and therapists in the International Association of Tongue-tie Professionals.<br /><br />Thank you,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="Times New Roman","serif";font-size:85%;" >Penny Soppas MD, IBCLC<br />Drexel Hill Pediatric Associates</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;"><span style="Times New Roman","serif"; font-size:85%;" >Thank you God for your leading stride.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I pray that you lead and direct us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Grant us your wisdom and understanding to navigate this next step for LittleM.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>She is in your hands Father…Jehovah Rapha.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-64500191987141424902011-09-08T23:26:00.000-04:002011-09-09T00:29:42.010-04:00Manna From Heaven...One Day at a Time<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">I am sitting here tonight in the beginning stages of planning for a two week trip to Maine.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Yikes.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The juicer, the Vitamix, soy free eggs, grass fed ghee, raw sauerkraut juice, soy free chicken (heads and feet too!), grass fed meat, bones, organic apples, the list goes on and on.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3IhBPTm6GxsRFhyphenhyphenSD1vpABwU6ja032ORWfNEf66DlwdrvbHPuejGHne9CuzguAaoxIwiN_XAKzgOyk6zejcusrwkff97PdvGCBlFP0AqgPyf_BLRAkLxBfIuVNalv1xJSuX-fecuJ8M/s1600/August+061.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3IhBPTm6GxsRFhyphenhyphenSD1vpABwU6ja032ORWfNEf66DlwdrvbHPuejGHne9CuzguAaoxIwiN_XAKzgOyk6zejcusrwkff97PdvGCBlFP0AqgPyf_BLRAkLxBfIuVNalv1xJSuX-fecuJ8M/s320/August+061.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650206484589828786" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">How am I going to fit this all in a little Saturn Ion?</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> </span> <p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal">This is not even to begin planning for our clothes and personal items.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal">I repeat…YIKES.</p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal">What a different place we are in though right?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A year ago at this point in time LittleM and LittleR had ZERO foods.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s right none.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They had been getting goat cheese, but after the summer trip to Maine we had to pull it since they began reacting to it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In hindsight we realized that they may not have been reacting, but may have been experiencing die-off from the goat yogurt we has started giving them in Maine.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01Jp7a83Rq7k2Zeznj4B4TtXFFesnlm0RQlE2e4gT8QX7vuPXDYYhp_P55RE7bmZ7-JctovBqDXCGmnz9xWzm7RRXzMfjtx8h02m-XfzSlKelNG7Ra2LZ6GmYI2C1ijcVpQSRdIkTiNc/s1600/Maine+Summer+2010+032.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01Jp7a83Rq7k2Zeznj4B4TtXFFesnlm0RQlE2e4gT8QX7vuPXDYYhp_P55RE7bmZ7-JctovBqDXCGmnz9xWzm7RRXzMfjtx8h02m-XfzSlKelNG7Ra2LZ6GmYI2C1ijcVpQSRdIkTiNc/s320/Maine+Summer+2010+032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650207543983316738" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In any event, we pulled it and they were left with no foods.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It wasn’t until late September (2010) that carrots came on the scene, but today – 2011…today we have about 27 foods.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>TWENTY-SEVEN FOODS!!!!!!!</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyk4VCkfNxCDL4hAs0b_GfIr8jgQyq3EREXVMFTItuSCoB2O2DyX9IgM-oz_y91DlbFqDjjSixUWzTwBixvJg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the unmistakable leading of the Lord, we have been introduced to the <a href="http://gaps.me/">GAPS</a> protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thanks to this protocol and the grace of God the kids are experiencing healing and are eating!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Each time I have become impatient and veered off of the prescribed protocol they have reacted, but as long as we have followed the protocol – they are well – no reaction and eating lots of food!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html">This brings me to the belief that God has impressed upon my heart.</a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As we step out in faith and take each next step of this protocol He has brought to us – HE will prepare the way…one step in front of us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>HE will make their little bodies ready.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>AND HE HAS.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In my impatience I have tested this theory, and each time I have seen it to be true.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are times when taking one of these steps in faith has seemed impossible - too scary, but in faith we have taken moved forward through the fear.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There have been other times when waiting seems impossible and I have gotten ahead of myself (<a href="http://motherhealer.blogspot.com/2011/08/littlem-will-one-day-have-her-cookies.html">feeding them raisins even though it is not time</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As I realized my misstep and corrected our path, healing and peace has continued to come to their bodies.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeZMdhZj6Wp7hhXWff3FIxQAco0FQlMUSBxrjh5TvZUPPKF1J29gPwJhyEDvGCcB8oDPaSt7btKFUgCSOcrJO3ReFsfp9p3jkJ8z90CYK39i5ekyi0ou03vHWjtICnFlXGTGddlsdqyg/s1600/july+042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeZMdhZj6Wp7hhXWff3FIxQAco0FQlMUSBxrjh5TvZUPPKF1J29gPwJhyEDvGCcB8oDPaSt7btKFUgCSOcrJO3ReFsfp9p3jkJ8z90CYK39i5ekyi0ou03vHWjtICnFlXGTGddlsdqyg/s320/july+042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650202191539092130" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal">Honestly I feel like I am gathering manna from heaven – just enough for the day. If I gather too much – trying to store up what we need – do this in my own strength – it just spoils.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For whatever reason, the Lord has us leaning on him daily, and not just for the normal things like faith, grace, love, wisdom, understanding, but the normal everyday thingslike feeding our children.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This really is like the manna, isn’t it?</p> <p face="georgia" style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Lord, </p><p style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" >Help me to rely on you every day.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" > </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" >Help me to give LittleM and LittleR over to you each day.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" > </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" >I know that you loved them even before I did (</span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20139:13&version=AMP">Psalm 139:13</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" >).</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:georgia;" > </span><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNpgVOJhGxgC4o-l0oMkmgSY9xzPOSE2mRIolvLpi0w_KDQJNV2zJBGVi7bJlcdBlbgIfOCLwPjylCTwcrGUz75G2mJ74QtWZxgPCu928ZFFHyBaxnbGihLMpIP8KLyCLe2fXrGjojvs/s1600/DSCN3946.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNpgVOJhGxgC4o-l0oMkmgSY9xzPOSE2mRIolvLpi0w_KDQJNV2zJBGVi7bJlcdBlbgIfOCLwPjylCTwcrGUz75G2mJ74QtWZxgPCu928ZFFHyBaxnbGihLMpIP8KLyCLe2fXrGjojvs/s320/DSCN3946.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650202828059559314" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: left; font-family: georgia; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="MsoNormal">I know that you have their best interest in your heart (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2041:10&version=AMP">Isaiah 41:10</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2041:13&version=AMP">13</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know that you have I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">given </i>them to me as a reward (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20127:3&version=AMP">Psalm 127:3</a>). <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know that you have a future and a hope for them (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2029:11&version=AMP">Jeremiah 29:11</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know that things are not always going to be the way I think they should be or the way I want them to be and yet you are still in control (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%203:5-6&version=AMP">Proverbs 3:5-6</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Give me the courage, strength (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%204:13&version=AMP">Philippians 4:13</a>) and faith (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%2012:2&version=AMP">Hebrews 12:2</a>) to lay it all at your feet just the same (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20peter%205:7&version=AMP">1 Peter 5:7</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Help me to walk in faith (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%209:24&version=AMP">Mark 9:24</a>) and obedience following your prompting (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2014:16-17&version=AMP">John 14:16-17</a>) to wait <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+27:14&version=AMP">(Psalm 27:14</a>) and act (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%202:6&version=AMP">Proverbs 2:6</a>) in the season (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%203:1&version=AMP">Ecclesiastes 3:1</a>) that you appoint.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thank you, that you are not a far-off and distant God (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%204:16&version=AMP">Hebrews 4:16</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thank you, that as I call on you and seek your face with all of my heart, YOU WILL BE FOUND BY ME (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2029:13&version=AMP">Jeremiah 29:13</a>).<span style=""><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:georgia;" >Amen.</span><br /></div><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="MsoNormal">***Now to pack the car. Ha ha!***</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-28050090398738132992011-08-19T20:03:00.000-04:002011-08-19T20:04:42.409-04:00LittleM Will One Day Have Her Cookies<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“God’s gonna heal your belly and then you can have cookies.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This has been LittleM’s favorite saying lately.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since being able to eat more foods we have allowed the kids to be exposed more “normal” foods and meals – mostly at my brother’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are especially intrigued by the foods they often see their cousin LittleK eat since he is only a few weeks younger than they are.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Interestingly, they are pretty good about not being able to have the same foods as the other kids.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They may ask for them from time to time and LittleM may try to eat scraps and crumbs that she hunts down on the floor, but other than that they are willing to accept that their “bellies need to heal” before they can have many foods they see.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At this point we are experiencing out first food fail since starting the GAPS protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We add so many foods at a time that I am not even positive which food we are failing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It could be beets, spinach, apple juice, or raisins.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Honestly as I am sitting here writing there is this little nagging feeling in my gut as I am reminded of what I know God has told me in this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am certain that God has brought us into the light at the end of this tunnel, but I am also certain that He has us following the GAPS protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have “heard” Him tell me that He will go one step ahead of us in this and prepare the way.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The feeling that has gone along with that is that we are to obedient and stick to the protocol.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So what is outside the protocol?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Raisins.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I gave them raisins in a moment of weakness – just wanting to give my children something normal and tasty to snack on.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And they LOVED them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They began asking for them all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So what’s the big deal?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Raisins are on the full GAPS diet, but at this point in the protocol they may just be too much for the intestines to handle.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I feel pretty silly as I am writing this now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have to give them raw egg yolk – because if we cook it – it is too difficult to digest.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have to give them the juice of certain vegetables and apples – because if they eat the whole fruit – it will be too difficult to digest.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are only allowed to give them boiled foods – because if they eat them raw or cooked by other methods – they will be too difficult to digest. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, I certainly feel like I have come up with the answer I have been seeking.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am guessing that the raisins have compromised the intestines and interrupted the cycle of digestion and ultimately I am not sure how much damage has been done – has this caused a reaction to one of the new foods?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am not certain.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am however certain that the raisins are out…for now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes it is just so hard to deny your children SO much.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am so grateful for all that they are able to eat now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have said for so long that if they could only ever eat 10 foods we could deal with that.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was just always the not knowing that was too much.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well, here we are today and we have passed the 10 food mark.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is a good thing!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I KNOW that God is faithful and that He will be true to his word.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I know that as we follow the protocol He will prepare their bodies – and on the other side – there will be a complete healing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I know LittleM will one day have her cookies.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-87411503756281438552011-07-18T13:22:00.000-04:002011-07-18T13:33:05.179-04:00Last year at this time we had a problem. LittleM would put everything in her mouth. Even though we were past that stage in age, we were not past the stage in actuality. I always suspected that this had something to do with her innate desire to put things in her mouth and chew – to eat. While other parents of the twin’s age were talking about strategies to get rid of the pacifier that was not even on the radar for us.<br /><br />The papu (as LittleM named it) was a soothing mechanism, and an added layer of protection from eliciting an FPIES reaction to God only knows what the twins might put in their mouths. For me it was more than that though. For me the papu has been one thing that I don’t have to deny them. Imagine the emotional tie I have had to it since it has been one of the only things that I could LET them put into their mouths. It has gone right in line with my theory that while dads are created to provide and protect, moms are made to nurture and nourish. In a strange way the papu has met both of these desires in me, but it was not until today that I could put that into words.<br /><br />Over that last few weeks Shawn and I have been talking about the need to get rid of the papus. It certainly makes it easier to think about since the kids have a dozen or so foods that they can eat. This is not the main reason we are pushing forward with the task though. Cute as it may be both LittleM and LittleR have developed papu-speech. At one point LittleR actually developed a lateral list. Put your thumb on the roof of your mouth and say “church.” Yup that is how he sounded – only worse. Although out OT told us that there was no way to work on this until three years old we began working with LittleR and the lisp is pretty much gone. In the last week or so LittleR started saying things like, “look, I see a big, big twuck!” While LittleM spits out the same “r” sound; “let me twy it.”<br /><br />Yikes. Time to make a change.<br /><br />Today I was out for groceries with the twins. As we pulled out of Wegman’s, I decided to make a stop at the thrift store across the street. I made a passing request to the Lord as I parked the car; “Ok Lord, you know we need to get this done.” I went inside and made my way to the back of the store to sift through the children’s books. Right there on the top of the bin was a copy of Little Bunny’s Pacifier Plan in great condition. Wow. This was a long shot really – such a specific type of book and there it was. I flipped through the pages and quickly discerned that the “plan” was for Little Bunny to give his pacifier to a new baby. I was not real thrilled with this “cold turkey” approach and dug through every last book in the bin in search of a better plan. Who wants to deal with the fallout from taking twin 2-year-old’s pacifiers away in one fail swoop? I sure don’t, but more than that, I didn’t want to put them through that. I know that my emotional ties to food and their inability to eat like other kids is stronger than theirs, but I also know that I have no idea what is going on in their little minds. I have no idea how one is related to the other – for them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4VDhkxfeFkeO_8C_RkYz5ObGZJ3qdF70zIhmY2v74uwSiuKLb9YoF5RftWDJX4xU0CVVA5BM7DFJSahrFCnhlkcM0S7J94A6_5ztRPrBHKuAJBhtNdtvVq1mul2WRZCBk9XcUt18XPw/s1600/pacifier+plan.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4VDhkxfeFkeO_8C_RkYz5ObGZJ3qdF70zIhmY2v74uwSiuKLb9YoF5RftWDJX4xU0CVVA5BM7DFJSahrFCnhlkcM0S7J94A6_5ztRPrBHKuAJBhtNdtvVq1mul2WRZCBk9XcUt18XPw/s320/pacifier+plan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630746404648779010" border="0" /></a><br />Still, I said, “ok God.” I bought the book. Before nap time I began telling the kids that we were going to give their papus to a new baby soon. They seemed ok with the idea though they obviously have no idea what that would mean for them. We all sat down on the couch to read the new book. I figured there was no reason to hold off the indoctrination of the papu plan. As I read the book to the kids my eyes welled up with tears. I let out a quiet laugh – just between me and God. He never ceases to amaze me. I am always so surprised at how he cares for even the little things.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Papu Plan</span><br />Step One: My little bunnies can only have their papus inside house<br />Step Two: My little bunnies can only have their papus in their bedrooms<br />Step Three: My Little bunnies can only have their papus on the papu chair (in their bedrooms)<br />Step Four: My little bunnies pack their papus away in their closets<br />Step Five: LittleM and LittleR wrap their papus to give to a new baby as a present<br /><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >And he is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree</span><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy</span><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions</span><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >Eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are</span><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >And how great Your affections are for me</span><br /><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >And oh, how He loves us, oh</span><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" >Oh, how He loves us, how He loves us all.</span><br /><br /><span style=" color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;font-size:78%;" >John Mark McMillan</span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_GFIJXWXiyI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-75304213848534790352011-07-06T15:01:00.001-04:002011-07-06T15:01:50.324-04:00The New Plan<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">There has been a new turn of event in our little house.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After some thoughtful deliberations we have decided to begin family dinners.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Shawn and I discussed the “sacrifice” of a fairly boring diet as it complements our desire and ability to begin eating meals together as a family (while still limiting LittleM and LittleR’s exposure to foods that they cannot have).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Honestly as we thought about what our menu would look like; it became clear that this was a “no-brainer.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Up until now we have made sure that the kids ONLY consume grass-fed meats (they have reacted to soy-fed poultry; corn fed poultry is questionable), but as for Shawn and I all bets-were-off.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We generally eat grass-fed beef, but everything else has been conventional due to the increased costs of quality meat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Over the past couple of months that the kids have been able to eat multiple foods, we have cooked them dinner in the evening. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I would pull meat off of the bone in their bone broth and then boil a 2 or 3 vegetable to go with it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then I would have to cook dinner for Shawn and me once the kids were in bed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Many night we wouldn’t eat until 9pm. When I talk about not having time to get things done I have not been kidding.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After cooking and eating dinner and clean-up we finally finish the night off at or after 10pm.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This has been exhausting, but worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The relationship the kids have with food is worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The fact that they have NO idea they are denied such a large part of a normal life…they have just not felt the sting of this in their short little lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This has been worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But wow – I am tired!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The New Plan:</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tonight will be the 3<sup>rd</sup> night of family dinner!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>WOOOHOOOO!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When I say family dinner I am talking about the four of us eating the same thing…well at least to the same extent as any “normal” family.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In many families the kids plates don’t look exactly like the adults simply because the kids don’t like certain foods – right?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, we will have to cook dinners that are very simple and pure.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Shawn and I will still use different sauces and marinades that will not be on the kid’s foods, BUT I am preparing these from scratch with ingredients that are allowed on the protocol that we are doing with them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The idea is that down the road when they are allowed to have the ingredients we will be able to build meals that are EXACTLY the same.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are certain things that I will continue to cook for Shawn and I that the kids cannot have, but we will limit their exposure to these foods in simple ways – like positioning the plate with these foods out of sight or reach.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am not worried about them seeing these foods – to the contrary – I think seeing other pure foods that they may be able to have in the future is good for them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My goal is really for us to be eating very similar meals – TOGETHER!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday for the first time EVER LittleM and LittleR were allowed to eat off Mommy and Daddy’s plates.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I just really cannot describe the feeling.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thank you God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The Food: Theirs/Ours</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">July 4<sup>th</sup> - Day 1</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dippy Meat (meat with pureed carrot “sauce”) / BBQ Chicken</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Zucchini Sticks / Seasoned Grilled Zucchini</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled “Cole Slaw” / Honey Raisin Cole Slaw</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One bite of lettuce (No harm here they won’t swallow it yet!) / Salad</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">July 5<sup>th</sup> – Day 2</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Garlic & Ginger Salmon / Grilled Garlic & Ginger Salmon</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Carrot “Fries” / Sweet Potato Grill Fries</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Broccoli / Boiled Brocolli</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Tonight’s Menu</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Mini-Hamburgers / Grilled Hamburgers (no bun)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Sliced Onions / Fried Onions</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Butternut Squash Puree / Honey Grilled Butternut Squash</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Boiled Peas / Boiled Peas</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-87694969350958465822011-06-30T17:29:00.000-04:002011-06-30T23:25:43.446-04:00The Good, the Bad, and the New PlanPhew. Time to take a breath since going on vacation! I think it is often the case for any American family, with or without a chronic illness; you really need a vacation to recover from vacation! I feel like we are just coming out of this stage now. We have now been home for 4 days – the bags are unpacked (mostly) and the kids are getting back into the swing of things.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yv7fjFawDM3FgoiA_9U2GDyeJ1en5qQf2J241077Wgoekaz0rxldpJC5wRwgjK3cTikAnBVPYa1dXvDsmGWWUUiUoBbzmeakExGb4j87DTB_7taY0h285aO8o6hO8NEUuy4wb7sZQ10/s1600/Vacation+173.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yv7fjFawDM3FgoiA_9U2GDyeJ1en5qQf2J241077Wgoekaz0rxldpJC5wRwgjK3cTikAnBVPYa1dXvDsmGWWUUiUoBbzmeakExGb4j87DTB_7taY0h285aO8o6hO8NEUuy4wb7sZQ10/s320/Vacation+173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624216210216041394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The GOOD</span><br /><br />Just a few days before we headed to Maine for 10 days of vacation LittleM headed back to the GI doc for her 3 month follow-up. It was back at the beginning of this year that Dr. D. put both of the twins on “feeding tube watch.” At that time he gave us 4 weeks to make significant weight gain for LitttleM and 6 for LittleR. By the grace of God they both began to make gains far beyond anything the medical world could explain. Well this visit was no different. LittleM is back on the growth charts for the first time in probably TWO (of her almost 2.5) years! PRAISE GOD! I am happy to report that Dr. D. cleared her for six months!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The BAD</span><br /><br />The bad news is that these kids are growing up. Well that is really not all that bad news is it? No, really it is good, but it presents a whole new bunch of challenges. Just today LittleM was going through her “annual testing” with her OT (early intervention tests yearly to make sure nothing is being missed). She finished her cognitive tests today and scored at 32 months (she is almost 28 months). I can see that this is probably part of the reason we are presented with some of these new challenges. The other is probably the effect from being exposed to her peers eating food while we were on vacation. The result? This little girl is not all that happy that she cannot eat other foods. For the first time in a year she is sneaking food into her mouth (crumbs, groceries while in the store). Just 14 short days ago she would bring it to me. LittleR is affected in a different way since vacation, but still new. He is not really trying to eat things that he should not, but yesterday he melted down when his cousin had a popsicle and he could not have one (his special pops were not ready).<br /><br />I emailed a couple of PhDs today to chat about the psychological effects of all of this on self-worth. I had done just a little research on this topic after reading an excerpt from a book about living with allergies. At the time we decided that based on what I had read we would not expose the kids to food. It seems to me that at this point – unless we plan to raise them in a bubble – we have to begin the evolution of our plan. We have to prepare and make incremental changes that will allow them to grown. After doing a little more research on personality development I really believe that my “instincts” were really God-given wisdom (which I have prayed for tirelessly in this situation). Not to say that removing exposure to food is the only answer for an FPIES child – some families don’t have this option – and I am sure that God gives wisdom on how to instill self-worth and self-esteem even though they have to be denied food. I have always believed that we are fortunate to have the option to shield LittleM and LittleR in the ways that we have.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The NEW PLAN</span><br /><br />Still, we can’t do it forever. We can’t create a world for them that is so far removed from the real world that they don’t know how to function IN the real world. I believe that we need to begin planning for the next step in this journey. What does that next step look like? I have no idea. Time to pray and seek wise council. We can return to normal (VERY little exposure to food) to a certain degree at this point, but they are growing older, and we WILL face this problem again…how can we best prepare them to operate in the world around them and still nurture their spirit and personality.<br /><br />That is actually the task for every parent isn't it?<br />Thank God that He gives wisdom to those who earnestly seek it.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-family:verdana;">Proverbs 2</span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16436">2</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Make your ear attentive to wisdom, </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Incline your heart to understanding; </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16437">3</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> For if you cry for discernment, </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NASB-16437a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%202&version=NASB#fen-NASB-16437a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lift your voice for understanding; </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16438">4</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> If you seek her as silver </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And search for her as for hidden treasures; </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16439">5</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Then you will discern the fear of the LORD </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And discover the knowledge of God. </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16440">6</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> For the LORD gives wisdom; </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">From His mouth </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">come</i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> knowledge and understanding. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Proverbs 3</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"> </span><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16477">21</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> My son, let them not </span><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NASB-16477g" title="See footnote g">g</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203&version=NASB#fen-NASB-16477g" title="See footnote g">g</a>]</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;">vanish from your sight; </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Keep sound wisdom and discretion, </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16478">22</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> So they will be life to your soul </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And adornment to your neck. </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16479">23</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Then you will walk in your way securely </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And your foot will not stumble. </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16480">24</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> When you lie down, you will not be afraid; </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16481">25</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Do not be afraid of sudden fear </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Nor of the </span><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NASB-16481h" title="See footnote h">h</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203&version=NASB#fen-NASB-16481h" title="See footnote h">h</a>]</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;">onslaught of the wicked when it comes; </span><br /><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="versenum" id="en-NASB-16482">26</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;"> For the LORD will be </span><sup style="font-family: verdana;" class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NASB-16482i" title="See footnote i">i</a>]">[<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203&version=NASB#fen-NASB-16482i" title="See footnote i">i</a>]</sup><span style="font-family:verdana;">your confidence </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And will keep your foot from being caught. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-16463969090132845382011-05-27T19:49:00.000-04:002011-05-27T20:15:04.385-04:00A Beautiful, Timely, Perfect SymphonyIt’s funny how sometimes the slightest variation in perspective can really change the way you see things.<br /><br />For months we have known that our food expenditures were surpassing our food budget, but with the very specific kinds of foods that we have needed to buy, we have not had much of a choice. Thankfully we have always been able to cover the expense one way or another.<br /><br />Just this week, we realized that beginning next month our car would be paid off and we would have about $115 “extra” per month. Believe it or not, this was actually frustrating to me because, wouldn’t you know, we would have to allocate the extra money (at least in part) to balancing our food budget. I was frustrated because every time without fail that we have had money free-up in our budget there has been something else that swoops right in and gobbles it up. God has been teaching Shawn and me all about relying on him for our finances ever since we have been married. Honestly God has provided for us in some really amazing and creative ways. I am certainly not blind to the fact that he stretches a very meager one income VERY far beyond the economy of this world.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7zPGG37GAk3OWaoA7rKRc6ekP6PmT-LzCa6vyayf4T1_YmTq4GYPW0fKVr1VbFCjY7Amwdg3tfYKIOM4K5V1vkP3iUqw_wLLFMW0iGuT_MANLMYRkSemwMfks41IOklEG7_5RTgyr8o/s1600/May+DINNER+052.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7zPGG37GAk3OWaoA7rKRc6ekP6PmT-LzCa6vyayf4T1_YmTq4GYPW0fKVr1VbFCjY7Amwdg3tfYKIOM4K5V1vkP3iUqw_wLLFMW0iGuT_MANLMYRkSemwMfks41IOklEG7_5RTgyr8o/s320/May+DINNER+052.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611552417355164290" border="0" /></a>***As an example: We live in a home that we rent from relatives of a relative. This is a 3 bedroom ranch home with a full finished basement, two car garage, rear patio…in a quiet family friendly college town…so how much should this cost??? I would estimate at least $1200 per month. We could NOT afford a rent like this. It is difficult to really imagine how we would afford a large enough rental for the four of us to live comfortably based on the economy of our income. By the grace of God, we pay a fraction of the market price for this rental. This is just ONE example of how God stretches our meager income each and every month.***<br /><br />Still, yesterday as I was going over the new budget with Shawn, I was frustrated. “Why is it that every time we get ahead with our finances we are still at zero. What is God trying to teach us,” I asked? As Shawn encouraged me that it wouldn’t be like this forever (he finished his bachelors this summer!), a little bit of perspective popped into my head. I realized that our food NEEDS at this point stretch beyond the amount that we have been exceeding our food budget. I realized that my kids are EATING REAL FOOD – that in the months to come we would need to be buying enough food to sustain TWO MORE PEOPLE. Since the “million dollar formula” is covered by our insurance, there would be no money to reallocate to real food once they are done with the formula.<br /><br />Did I just say that…DONE WITH THE FORMULA????<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfODa6q2Cfzs7VZlR0JCW3m2bWJPfQAdDPAu6XoCU7w9fIDxGHyyA3m_8Pg31hzDtduL85V5oHP99suM6V2_fVLFmGJtmDiyeuvcANVN3_6-PO__WE2GnTh0ka1Uu4hZQ3YgjYopIXP6s/s1600/May+DINNER+001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfODa6q2Cfzs7VZlR0JCW3m2bWJPfQAdDPAu6XoCU7w9fIDxGHyyA3m_8Pg31hzDtduL85V5oHP99suM6V2_fVLFmGJtmDiyeuvcANVN3_6-PO__WE2GnTh0ka1Uu4hZQ3YgjYopIXP6s/s320/May+DINNER+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611552911018219602" border="0" /></a>Suddenly I was in awe of God’s provision for my family once again. Shawn and I talked about how if the car had been paid off earlier (we almost paid it off with last year’s tax return) that money would already have been reallocated to something else. In that moment it was as if we could SEE The Great Conductor’s hand gracefully moving his baton bringing a beautiful, timely, perfect symphony to our ears.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81PIubNdVIBiA7SWZ5VshGmnn9KDxrSsHUKWWXOfECP3Nr2ZJ1Y7GsV3sIuJdtBnUpBgDvHToFlTwCqoikg40DyyGQpIFcc3TQ2u9PNz8GVSIEotocqDQMwiOfV_RMXz3L6yV9zO7u30/s1600/May+DINNER+021.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81PIubNdVIBiA7SWZ5VshGmnn9KDxrSsHUKWWXOfECP3Nr2ZJ1Y7GsV3sIuJdtBnUpBgDvHToFlTwCqoikg40DyyGQpIFcc3TQ2u9PNz8GVSIEotocqDQMwiOfV_RMXz3L6yV9zO7u30/s320/May+DINNER+021.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611553300230106946" border="0" /></a>Suddenly we realized that $115 a month will probably feed a couple of 2 year olds on the GAPS protocol perfectly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-39503790056293298472011-05-16T14:04:00.001-04:002012-04-09T22:28:52.176-04:00Wait and Walk<span style="font-weight: bold;">Soup...It's what's for dinner<span style="font-size:78%;">...and breakfast...and lunch....and snack...</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3UQVVWNuawfvYUW5MO1kJc2XxXvro_ntJQ3rzMm4bDmJ0RHK3SVBWtL2vrPxGdXwImX1kC-MWCESfZpUgeA_BoOEv4ysWlcvWYpiMeQa_y3p9iEQPqNqv4gumW_FIU7yCX8hmmPhToc/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3UQVVWNuawfvYUW5MO1kJc2XxXvro_ntJQ3rzMm4bDmJ0RHK3SVBWtL2vrPxGdXwImX1kC-MWCESfZpUgeA_BoOEv4ysWlcvWYpiMeQa_y3p9iEQPqNqv4gumW_FIU7yCX8hmmPhToc/s320/014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607378789363460914" border="0" /></a><br />LittleM and LittleR have been eating soup and soup broth now for 7 days. My intention had been to cook the soup, but strain off the vegetables and give them the broth. This would include the nutrients and at least some of the proteins (the reaction causing component of any food) to remain in the food, while removing the fibrous part of the vegetables which can be too harsh on damaged gut walls. Apparently LittleR was not interested in that scenario. He begged for soup.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HA8p-bsc2bqoeFzrKd7AYw-Ys5jee92cJGNL-XQe-6jMmTm_mUx_QgHpKun4t5WgqAvsxSgqYu_NJxXK0X0XcN8NB3jVaGHBhuP5r2NCe_nJdxRwbw_Wp6GPieXYvjM4oDvJVDbnc9A/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HA8p-bsc2bqoeFzrKd7AYw-Ys5jee92cJGNL-XQe-6jMmTm_mUx_QgHpKun4t5WgqAvsxSgqYu_NJxXK0X0XcN8NB3jVaGHBhuP5r2NCe_nJdxRwbw_Wp6GPieXYvjM4oDvJVDbnc9A/s320/004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607377547575567538" border="0" /></a><br />So…at 10:15 in the morning that is what he got. Both of the little ones climbed up into their chairs and buckled themselves in and kept on asking until the food was on the table. LittleR asked for 4 helpings! LittleM was a little more conservative, but consumed at least some of everything.<br /><br /><br />Both of the twins enjoy chewing, but would rather get a new piece to chew than take the time and put in the effort to swallow. Not only does this cause a mess, and waste a lot of their very expensive food, but it also means they are not getting the calories from the food that they need (in order to transition from the formula). Within the next few weeks they will be seeing a new occupational therapist to evaluate the problem…is this functional/physiological or is it behavioral?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">So what happened?</span><br /><br />LittleM has not been all that interested in eating more of her soup so I have had to get it into her by using it to mix her formula (instead of water). Day 2 was a bit interesting as she insisted that she needed to go “poopy” many times throughout the day, but each time sat down to pass some gas and that was it. It was a bit nerve-racking to wonder if she was going to have an explosive poop reaction, but with each worry, I just handed it over to God and trusted that this was the road he wanted us to be walking on. We just had to wait and walk.<br /><br />LittleR has been VERY interested in eating his soup. He will ask for 3 or 4 servings each time he has it. At this point he has a yeasty diaper rash (caused by die-off of the bad organisms in his gut) but that is it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPWkuQKU72f0u30r5JiOJQp2sTOzzqCr5EBhuB-7r2pRLLKThK7y66749IH-Ha5kfuBvaTK0uEhiYqP7ue50S0e-AnHXlvgH76YfX0SKrfoi4DGE9F90pA4TKckP9Rqg-C3k9bkHAQP8/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPWkuQKU72f0u30r5JiOJQp2sTOzzqCr5EBhuB-7r2pRLLKThK7y66749IH-Ha5kfuBvaTK0uEhiYqP7ue50S0e-AnHXlvgH76YfX0SKrfoi4DGE9F90pA4TKckP9Rqg-C3k9bkHAQP8/s320/018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607378192636584322" border="0" /></a><br />I can’t say it has been easy to jump into this. This goes against everything that an FPIES momma knows. When we offer new foods we do it one at a time. We almost always see some signs of a reacting and have to determine the cause and decide if we will continue on or stop the trial. Trialing this many foods at once is just…well…crazy. Pushing through these “symptoms” that the twins are experiencing is counter-intuitive. All I can say is that I believe God has done some healing work in them and that He will be walking one step ahead of us preparing the way.<br /><br />We just have to wait and walk.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">So What's Next?</span><br /><br />We will be waiting for the die-off symptoms to subside and then introducing fresh egg yolk from pastured (non-soy fed) hens. I anticipate this will be sometime this week. Once they maintain baseline from any further die-off with the egg yolk we will add in raw yogurt or sour cream from grass-fed goats.<br /><br /><br />This is exciting – but handing the worry over to God is a moment by moment reality.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-75362548766515987612011-05-09T21:08:00.000-04:002011-05-09T22:34:45.915-04:00The New Plan<span style="font-weight:bold;"> “…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” </span><br />Mark 16:18<br /><br />A little over a week ago we brought the twins to a special church service where an evangelist with a ministry in deliverance and healing was speaking. Though he was not planning to lay hands and pray for individuals at this particular service, he granted my request (with a brief explanation of the twins condition) by saying, “That’s a big one. Let’s pray.” Just afterward, a friend asked me if LittleR usually “shakes” (he does not) and told me that he was shaking while he was being prayed for.<br /><br />Ok…what does that mean? It’s difficult to tell when you are talking about a toddler who cannot tell you what he is feeling or what he has experienced. I know that for me, the two times I have experienced healing from having hands laid on me and being prayed for, I felt some sort of power. Can’t really explain it – maybe I would compare it to a feeling of electricity. Unfortunately there is nothing the twins can tell me (at their age) to help me gauge what, if anything, had happened.<br /><br />As we left church that night it was hard to really feel much either way. It doesn’t take some special speaker at church for God to move and heal, but this was the first time we have had anyone (other than Shawn and I) lay hands on them and pray for healing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">THE PROOF IS IN THE POOP</span><br /><br />Still, since then, the twins have had the first NORMAL stools of their ENTIRE lives. Even LittleR, who was on amoxicillin for 2 days before and 2 days after and now the Z-Pack for the last 3days, is having normal stools. NORMAL. This is absolutely unheard of for an FPIES (E for Enterocolitis) child. Believe me – we FPIES mommas have more knowledge of poop than you could ever want, AND pictures to prove it!<br /><br />So…Coincidence? I just don’t believe in coincidence anymore.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">THE PLAN </span><br /><br />After a lot of prayer and discussion we decided that this week we would take the next step in the GAPS healing protocol, but we would NOT modify it for FPIES. We would make a soup with a bunch of vegetables all at once instead of trialing them one at a time. We decided to walk in faith – knowing that there was a chance that we had misread God and would be starting back at step 1 with the protocol. So yesterday I went shopping and bought all the veggies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">MORE PRAYER FIRST</span><br /><br />I was deep in prayer today and in my quiet time as I was just waiting for the Lord to speak to my heart, I heard some pretty amazing words. “I have delivered you. Now walk into the light.” This is really what I have been waiting to hear for a long time, but was it really God? Was it just my wishful thinking? I just kept praying. I went to some resources on healing and then into my Bible. I found myself led to a passage I had never seen before.<br /><br />Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you. Exodus 23:25<br /><br />This passage goes on into the details of God’s promise to go ahead of the Israelites and prepare their way. He promised to defeat their enemies and/or make them retreat. God also revealed that he would not do it all in a “single year” but that “little by little” he would “drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">DELIVERED</span><br /><br />So what does this mean to me? What does this say about this journey with LittleM and LittleR? I believe that the still small voice inside my heart today was in fact God talking to me. I believe that he has “delivered” the twins and that he will go “little by little” ahead of us in each step that we take – preparing the way – granting “his blessing [on their] food and water” – walking them into their promise land.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">THE NEW PLAN</span><br /><br />God has spoken to me many times and in many ways about a light at the end of this tunnel. The only thing we can do now is to walk in faith – into the light.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdbjFAxLVhMp-Qu1OKMS1ACmeUscSCAwZVGGfpyVALuackK7TphmJo2GIjW-tb4e7uw0twv8x_j60ENQfNw6VLG8r10pJzRNvDuljKVjP_gayn_iq_uecIjCsNzB61d-RJfRBwTY6ya4/s1600/gaps+004.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdbjFAxLVhMp-Qu1OKMS1ACmeUscSCAwZVGGfpyVALuackK7TphmJo2GIjW-tb4e7uw0twv8x_j60ENQfNw6VLG8r10pJzRNvDuljKVjP_gayn_iq_uecIjCsNzB61d-RJfRBwTY6ya4/s320/gaps+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604903157853284722" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1521562795288036806.post-54033260047108865412011-03-22T14:01:00.000-04:002011-03-22T14:15:53.164-04:00Humbled by His Provision<div>Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a time for everything.<br /><br />Concerning this journey with FPIES there have been clear seasons set before me. The order of these seasons has been clear (in hind sight). Over the past two years we have journeyed through seasons of searching (for answers), fighting (with the medical community), waiting (and seeking answers from God), and acting (in faith in the direction He has pointed us toward).<br /><br />Recently we came face to face with some difficult (yet exciting) confirmations regarding our FPIES journey. These confirmations didn’t come from the medical community or even from personal experience in treatment. To the contrary these confirmations were significantly personal and at times supernatural. An onlooker (or a skeptic) might just look at the evidence laid before them and say – coincidence. That is ok. I cannot pass my faith on to the onlooker. I can only proceed as God leads, share my story, and let HIM do the rest. </div><br /><div><br />Today find myself sitting in awe – in a different season (though I have been heading into this season for some time).<br /><br /><strong>Backing up for a moment…<br /></strong><br />All of these confirmations that I have received are leading us into an entirely different realm regarding FPIES. I am entirely convinced that God has led us to an alternative healing protocol for the twins. This protocol is a healing diet developed by a British Neurologist who is also a Doctor of Nutrition. Through her many years in practice she has found a link between psychological ailments and the gut. Her healing protocol focuses on healing the gut in order to impact the psychological symptoms of ADD, ADHD, Depression, as well as more serious diagnosis such as Autism, Bi-Polar, and Schizophrenia. So what does this have to do with FPIES or the twins? Honestly we will never truly know. Had we continued to feed them foods without proper healing who knows what symptoms they would have developed, but that is a different topic all together.<br /><br />At every turn we have had confirmation that this protocol is the path that we are to walk down. In faith we began this journey weeks ago. As a result the twins are consuming bone broth without incident. Praise God! Unfortunately because they have not been able to eat food, they did not develop normal eating skills. At two years old they do not know how to chew and swallow solid foods. This presents a problem with moving forward in a timely manner. Sure we could wait until they catch up, but at what cost of healing? And what good would it be to get them swallowing if they have nothing to swallow. In order to move forward we have a need for some special equipment. Thanks to the West Coast Nichole (also doing this protocol with her FPIES daughter) we are aware of a machine that can help with this issue. </div><div><br />The Vitamix…the $500 machine!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4I7G_N4pcxKm8HwzY66bLcJ69pXYjQsYEQ2bVVBXyw9yc67EEBsdhBbX27bjTDJYHTZg3Tdf_msgDyB9Ye9g-Xko0e92nbGRH74TsUVnMhuhoVjCO_UWF6zTTRgYDsqHHCF5Hdlfo0Q/s1600/Vita-Mix-5200.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 232px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 207px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586968850907548130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4I7G_N4pcxKm8HwzY66bLcJ69pXYjQsYEQ2bVVBXyw9yc67EEBsdhBbX27bjTDJYHTZg3Tdf_msgDyB9Ye9g-Xko0e92nbGRH74TsUVnMhuhoVjCO_UWF6zTTRgYDsqHHCF5Hdlfo0Q/s320/Vita-Mix-5200.jpg" /></a><br />How on earth would we afford a $500 blender? Thank God that HIS economy is not limited by the construct of ours! Without any worry I put this need into God’s hands. I just KNEW that he would provide if this was truly the path he was leading us down. I knew that we could apply for a grant from the Kelly Ann Dolan Fund to pay for the machine. Since we needed a medical professional to apply for us we brought the kids feeding therapist, Kelly (no relation to the fund), in on the plan. She was more than willing to help us apply for the grant and encouraged us to apply under both children in hopes that since it was for two children they would pay the full amount.<br /><br /><strong>Back to today and this new season…<br /></strong><br />Today Kelly came for therapy. The first thing she told me was that we had heard back from the fund. She happily reported that they paid $200 toward the machine AND that she had paid the rest and gone ahead and ordered it. I thanked her, took a deep breath, and asked what the balance was (so that I could start working on covering it). This woman who we have only been seeing since December looked at me and said, “Don’t worry about that, I am covering it.”<br /><br />What??? I looked at her with a “look” and said, “I can’t ask you to do that – We will figure it out.”<br /><br />“Oh no,” she answered, “It is covered and I will write it off at the end of the year for taxes…really.” Her tone was resolved and her non-verbal communication was firm.<br />In my humanness I wanted to tell her no, but when you are looking right at God’s provision how do you say anything but thank you. I thanked her several times – I was choked up. She smiled. What an amazing person.<br /><br />I think back to our doctor who decided to GIVE the twins their immunotherapy at no cost until we could pay (if ever) – and I think, “people like that just don’t exist today.” I think of the people who are friends (but NEW friends) who, in the name of God, gave us the entire amount needed to pay for those treatments ($2200) and I think, “people like that just don’t exist today.” There have been many more moments like this along the way. How could all of this be just one big coincidence? How could any of this be anything other than GOD? I have no doubts – none.<br /><br /><strong>Back to my point – there is a time for everything. </strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong><br />1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”<br /><br /><strong>This is the time to be humble. I am so humbled by His provision.<br /></strong><br />Thank you Lord. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1