Adventures in SAHM-hood!

I would have updated earlier but I forgot my blogger password. Yeah, my brain is gone.

In any case... let's see, where did we leave off? OH yeah, Margaret had her 2nd appointment with the naturopath on the 18th. We're trying to see if there's a food allergy that's the root of her ear infections and asthma. So this is the plan:

• We've had to eliminate these oils: sunflower, corn, soy, peanut, safflower, and canola. Most of those are pretty bad for you anyway (processing destroys the good stuff, makes them rancid, and there's hexane used often in the processing) but even many health food store finds have safflower oil, so that's been a difficult adjustment. This has resulted in me suddenly blossoming into Betty Crocker. More on that later...
  
• So next, we had to start focusing on foods that are high in quercetin - this is an anti-inflammatory that is purported to help ease allergy symptoms. These foods include: broccoli, apples, onions, garlic, squash, parsley, and spinach. Luckily, Margaret loves many of those and we haven't had any problems getting those into her on a daily basis.
• We have to ensure, in general, an adequate intake of protein. This is where the naturopath and I diverge because she recommends some soy products, and I feel those should not be given to anyone. Yes, we had Maggie on soy formula for much of her infancy. It was something I didn't want to do but it solved our problem at the time and so I chose to look the other way. Not smart, but that's what I did. Now, I do my best to keep soy out of her diet. It's only "healthy" when prepared properly (that is, naturally fermented) but I still avoid it because of the phytoestrogens. So instead, we focus on other healthy proteins and ignore the soy recommendations.
• I have to place her pillows in the dryer for 30 minutes on high once a week when I change the sheets. Yeah. I know I should have been doing that all along. I'm supposed to do that for me because I have a severe dust mite allergy. But I rarely find the time for it. Oh yeah, and when I change her sheets, I need to vacuum her mattress and window treatments. I actually managed to do this last Monday (in spite of her desperate fear of the vacuum) and am supposed to tomorrow. I guess I need to make this a routine for the sake of her health since Maggie very likely does suffer from a dust mite allergy as well.
• We're adding supplements. $65 worth of them. Woohoo, eh? Composition Essence (herbal concoction) twice a day in her water; HMF-Forte (probiotic), 1/2 capsule at bedtime; Nordic Naturals DHA Junior (Cod Liver Oil), 1/3 tsp daily with food (for immune function and as an anti-inflammatory); and lastly, a liquid Multi-Vitamin and -Mineral, 1 tsp daily with food (which she hates). I tried the supplement route with her before. It never went well. Yet somehow, she's settled into a routine and is willingly taking them now. She even likes the Composition Essence, as long as it's served in her Klean Kanteen.
• Lastly, chiropractic care. It turns out she had swelling in her neck, and a vertebrae out of place where asthma usually manifests. She's had 4 treatments so far and is doing very well with them. She has one this week (when we follow-up with the naturopath as well), and then they'll hopefully start spacing out a bit. The chiro did say that her spine is taking the adjustments well and that there has been progress made.

The next step is to remove dairy if she isn't improved, but I'm fighting that. I don't believe she is allergic to dairy and I feel that our recent introduction of raw milk is actually beneficial to asthma and allergies, if given a chance. But it could take a couple of months for her body to heal and for us to see a difference, so we need to wait that out first. I first learned about raw milk on a forum I frequent and it's turned into a huge learning experience about traditional foods and the Weston A. Price Foundation.

In any case, since we removed these oils from Maggie's diet and I've had to make food from scratch, it's really been a launching off point for learning more about traditional foods. I've tried out numerous recipes using whole foods in the way we should be eating them, and it's been fun even if sometimes only Maggie appreciates the effort (like the vegetable soup that I tried making, even though I've never even eaten just vegetables in soup before). Heck, I even have a sourdough starter on the counter in which I used a cup of rye flour and a cup of water to catch a wild yeast and let what should happen in nature, happen. I'm looking forward to my first loaf of sourdough bread in a few days! I've also really enjoyed what I've read so far in Nourishing Traditions. It really opens your mind to how the last century has dramatically changed the way people have eaten, and how those changes are much to blame for the health problems we have today. So I'm gradually incorporating what I'm learning into our daily lives so that we all will be healthier.

All this cooking means that I've been washing a lot of dishes...but not much else. The decluttering has sort of gone to the wayside for now. At least until I get into more of a routine with the cooking and baking. You don't realize how much convenience food is interwoven into our lives until you remove it entirely. Not that we used a lot of it before, and we always used foods that were free of white flour, refined sugar, and artificial colors/sweeteners. But this is a whole new ball game!

Maggie is probably pretty happy I'm not decluttering anyway. She hates it enough when I wash dishes, and I usually try to wait until she's napping (though she doesn't nap every day either). She's having a lot of fun requiring me to read the same book repeatedly, or playing with things that she shouldn't be playing with. She's learned some new signs now that I've had the time to devote to learning them myself, and while she normally does not watch TV, she has grown to love her 2 Baby Signing Time DVDs. She even signs "baby" when she wants to watch it. She also enjoys our frequent trips to the post office and grocery store. We haven't made it to many playgroups yet, but she has had a chance to hang out with some new kids a few times now.

As for the baby on the way, s/he's been kicking away. Growing stronger every day, and taking up more room. I actually lost 3 lbs since I became a SAHM (due to the lack of time to eat and not having convenience food available) but I'm definitely having more difficulties bending over and doing the things I was used to doing. I also no longer have the stamina to hold Maggie for a long time, which upsets her greatly. But she is, last time we checked, over 31.5 lbs so that's a lot of stress on anyone.

Money has gotten really tight, especially with few parties on my calendar, but we're making due. This was to be expected. Hubby is a bit disappointed because now he has to work at his part-time job (he works at a local ski area and often would get off early and ski for a couple of hours for free), but he's making up for it by going out to ski with friends once or twice a week anyway. I'm rarely seeing him these days. So far I've managed to not lose my mind, but I'm looking forward to the end of the winter and (hopefully) better financial times for me. We'll manage, one way or another.