It's been a while....

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Hello everyone,
It has been a while and I don't even have much time today to stop and chat!!  I just wanted to update you all...after two years and three months we have finally had an offer to buy our house!!  This just happened last Friday and we hope to finalize and close on April 21st.

So I am in the midst of packing up the other half of the house since I had half done from getting the house on the market in the first place!!

We are really excited to see where the Lord would have us to be next, we are hoping to stay in this general area of SC and would like to find a house with 4 bedrooms if possible and a minimum of five acres.  As of next month if we have not found a place we will move into our travel trailer until we find just the right place.

In the meantime, I am coordinating the Ladies Mother Daughter Luncheon for our church coming up in early May.  This details for the most part are taken care of, we just have two major projects left to complete.

This next Sunday we have our Teen Afterglow at church.  This is a the last Sunday of the month and one family provides the evening refreshment for all our teens.  I had volunteered for this before I had been asked to do the Mother Daughter Luncheon and I had chosen March in case we were going to be gone throughout the Summer possibly camping.

So my husband is gone all this week until next Monday, I need to pack, I need to teach Kings Kids this Wednesday, Teach Sunday School, prepare for the Ladies Choir performance this Sunday, watch the nursery Sunday and then prepare all the food for Sunday evening........deep breath.....the Lord will get me through this busy week!!!

I need to do another post about reading the book Trim Healthy Mama and how much success I have had, however, that will have to wait until another day.

I pray all is well with the rest of you!!!

Something besides a recipe….

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I am just waiting for Winter to be over this year.  Normally I don’t mind the change of season’s and the cooler temperatures that come with them.  This year, there has just been too many health issues and sickness.

It just seems like we get well for two days and then back to being sick again.  Last week my daughter and husband were sick to their stomachs on Monday and this week my son has the chicken pox.  My oldest son woke up today not feeling well and then sick to his stomach, I am hoping his bought with the chicken pox will not take too long to come to fruition.  The one son, who was the first victim, is having a hard time with the itching today but we are managing with Calamine and liquid Benadryl.

This week is our Missions Conference at church and I hate to miss it.  I missed our Baptist History week a few months back due to sickness and now we are sick again.  Thankfully, we can watch on the internet and still here the Word of God, it is just not the same as being there in person.  I am to bring several of the side dishes for the Lunch meal on Sunday, but I think we will end up having to stay home from service that day and just I will bring the food up.

School is taking a back page these last few days, I just feel like we are having a hard time this Winter period with trying to stay on schedule. I finally felt the timing was right to share with my daughter about Women’s health, she is 10 and will be 11 in April.  We have been using three resources so far.  The main curriculum I have used has been from Blessing God’s Way called Maidens by His Design.  I have really enjoyed the fact that it celebrates what God has created in us as Women. The curriculum gives us scriptures to focus on and shows us how to focus on the Lord each day of the month, how to not have a spirit of fear.  It basically takes a biblical approach and turns you to the Lord as opposed to a worldly view which would tend to point one towards thinking it is a curse and something to be negative about.

One of the other resources I have used briefly has been a book by Dannah Gresh Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl there are some good points in there about modesty and there are some ideas presented about how to keep an open dialog with your girls so that they feel comfortable asking you questions.

I have used both of these in conjunction with a great resource from Queens Homeschool The Standard of Purity.  I had started this study in 2010 and with the study on health opted to finish it up and it has lead to some wonderful conversations about what God’s standards are for Purity and Beauty as compared to the worlds standards.  We have been able to talk about whether or not we need to wear make-up.  How much make up to wear if needed.   We have been able to talk more importantly about our inner beauty and how that radiates out from within.

If anyone is looking for some great resources for either boys or girls on how to navigate through these conversations Queens Homeschool has some wonderful biblical resources that can help any one out.

I am getting ready to post our Monthly menu for February in the next day or so as well! I pray you all have a blessed week, make it through the cold and any storms coming across your path.

Dealing with Asthma….A lifestyle change for me.

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Figure A shows the location of the lungs and airways in the body. Figure B shows a cross-section of a normal airway. Figure C shows a cross-section of an airway during asthma symptoms.

The graphics in this post and brief synopsis below are from the National Heart, lung and blood Institute

Asthma (AZ-ma) is a chronic (long-term) lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning.

Asthma affects people of all ages, but it most often starts during childhood. In the United States, more than 25 million people are known to have asthma. About 7 million of these people are children.

Overview

To understand asthma, it helps to know how the airways work. The airways are tubes that carry air into and out of your lungs. People who have asthma have inflamed airways. This makes them swollen and very sensitive. They tend to react strongly to certain inhaled substances.

When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten. This narrows the airways, causing less air to flow into the lungs. The swelling also can worsen, making the airways even narrower. Cells in the airways might make more mucus than usual. Mucus is a sticky, thick liquid that can further narrow the airways.

This chain reaction can result in asthma symptoms. Symptoms can happen each time the airways are inflamed.

Sometimes asthma symptoms are mild and go away on their own or after minimal treatment with asthma medicine. Other times, symptoms continue to get worse.

When symptoms get more intense and/or more symptoms occur, you're having an asthma attack. Asthma attacks also are called flareups or exacerbations (eg-zas-er-BA-shuns).

Treating symptoms when you first notice them is important. This will help prevent the symptoms from worsening and causing a severe asthma attack. Severe asthma attacks may require emergency care, and they can be fatal.

Looking back over these last months I realize I have been dealing with this since October and possible even as early as August of this year and prior to that I am not sure.  And to say the least, I am on a terrible learning curve as to how to manage this disease.

While many Asthma attacks can be triggered by environmental triggers i.e. pets, smoking, dust, vacuuming, cold weather, the main culprit in my situation are bacterial infections—getting sick, and the cold weather…

My issue has been trying to figure out which is the cold symptom and which is the Asthma.  Both issues cause excess mucous to be produced and terrible chest coughing.

This past few days has been a roller-coaster and I am still trying to recover. I am running into a potential health hazard for me.  I will get sick, end up missing church services, get better, and then go back to helping out at church, get exposed once again and then end up getting sick.  My immune system is not strong enough to handle exposure to regular germs like most people.  It seems the slightest germ attacks me viciously.

On the 2nd of January, after having been healthy for about a week, I went back to church on a Wednesday to help out in our children’s program called Kings Kids.  I enjoy the program, we have on average about 80 students each week and then in my classroom we have about 10 students sometimes more sometimes less.  The class rooms are about 8’ by 10’ in my estimation.

By Friday myself and a few of my children were feeling sick and by Sunday we were a sinking ship.  Several children had fevers, one was throwing up.  Thankfully I had some medication left from a while back that my Dr. had given me to use in my Nebulizer breathing machine. I started taking some Monday and used two, Tuesday I used 3 and I had one dose left that I was going to use Wednesday evening.  I was having some difficulty breathing Wednesday evening, and took the dose that night after church.  That night sleeping was miserable.  So much coughing, having to try and stack up pillows to sit up and I was running out of my puffer inhaler.  In hindsight I see, based on having scoured the internet about Asthma episodes that my last dose of nebulizer was not having any effect because my Asthma had become so severe…I just didn’t know what was to come.

 Thursday was probably the worst day I have ever had.My breathing ability had gotten so bad that I couldn’t walk across the house without breathing heavily.  By heavily I mean like you see those people run the Boston Marathon and they cross the finish line and they bend over gasping for breath and collapse on the ground trying to get enough oxygen.  That would be me…..and then it became that way just sitting on the couch not doing anything.  I couldn’t talk to my children every word I would speak I had to stop afterwards and try and get enough air to say the next word. I have never been so scared that I was going to die as I was that day into night.

I had called my husband and told him I did not think I could make it through the weekend to get to the Dr.  I knew my situation was bad, I just didn’t know how bad…I didn’t know what the severe symptoms were to watch out for.  I am seeing an Intern Specialist(not that he is an intern…NO, he has been in practice for 25 years) not an Asthma specialist  He was able to get an appointment for Friday morning.  Now I just had to make it through Thursday evening.  I had my emergency inhaler, however, it is the only one that does not have a counter so I did not know how much was left.  The canister felt less than half full.   I was trying to not use it during the day because the night time is soooo much worse with all the coughing. I needed to go pick up pizza for the kids to eat about 3 min. from the house for dinner.  I made one of my son’s go with me and when we got in the car I told him how to call daddy on the phone in case something happened…this is how scared I was.

I used my inhaler once late in the evening prior to going to bed around 10pm.  You are supposed to use two puffs but I used one to save it for any attacks during the night.   I was able to sleep for two hours and then hit with a horrific cough attack.  I awoke at about midnight and Tim was still up working.  I went out and sat in our recliner hoping that sitting up would help and tried to lean on a pillow next to my head.  At about 2am I thought I would try again to lay down.  I had taken one more puff and the last puff from an older inhaler I had and was able to fall asleep until morning, praise the Lord.

Friday, yesterday, I went in and the nurse took my oxygen reading.  At rest the oxygen level was at 87% the normal, where it is supposed to be, is 94% minimum.  And my reading was at rest, it is only supposed to get low if you are active.  I can only imagine what my oxygen level must have been the day before when I could not breathe at all.  The Lord was truly watching over me. I should have been in the back of an ambulance heading to the  ER and them pumping me full of steroids and oxygen.

I was able to get prescriptions for my nebulizer which should last me easily two months, and prescriptions for two more inhalers.  Just in the nick of time if you ask me.  It just overwhelms me to know now how bad I was on Thursday night. It has me crying just thinking about it.  If you look at the picture below you will see this handy chart to help manage your Asthma.  You always want to be in green, that is ideal.

Then there is yellow caution, I guess if you will kind of like a traffic light.  Following next is red….you are in a serious state…and if you look below that is DANGER….this was me….If I had only seen this on Thursday, I would have done things a little differently. I can look at this now and see I have not been in the green zone yet and at least I now know what the symptoms are of the different zones and can take action immediately.  I think you only need to have one bad Asthma episode to know what a bad one is and never want to go there again.

So I am hoping I am on the way to actually managing my Asthma and in the meantime I need to make some decisions with my husband as to whether or not I should continue working in this capacity at my church and find other avenues to help minister to others.

If you would join me in praying that the Lord would continue to watch over me and keep me safe and turn this disease around so that I can have a healthy quality of life.  Thank you so much.

Veggies from the Farmer

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We are on our second week of collecting our vegetables from our neighbor farmer.  We signed up with a local CSA this year.  We wanted to have fresh vegetables, grown locally and with no chemicals.  We signed up for a half share and have really enjoyed the harvest so far.

The children get excited to go to the Farmer and we get to try vegetables we wouldn’t normally purchase.  It is expanding our horizons and broadening my cooking skills!!!  We like the fact that we are helping out are local farmers as well.  Since we are in the process of selling our house, planting a garden that we might not be able to harvest our vegetables was out for this year.  This option was a really nice substitute.   If you don’t have space or time for a garden but would like locally grown fresh produce you might check out the link for your local CSA and see if there is a local farmer near you!!

 

I posted the other day about having Poison Ivy.  Last Wednesday at church I expressed that I felt like I was starting to itch all over again, like it was re-erupting.  I was only one day away from my last dose of medication.  Thursday I told my husband my concern, I was feeling like it was starting all over and he thought it was always like this when I got poison ivy and it would be gone soon.  Friday evening, I was in misery again and by the end of the weekend, my left eye was re-swollen, my face was swollen, I had bumps everywhere and every original place I had been infected, it was swollen around all those areas.  I tried taking Benadryl, and that worked a little bit, but was making me drowsy.  As of today, my eyes are ok, my face is still swollen and the affected areas are drying out, but still itch, there have been a few areas that have been scratched raw and bleed…it is just unavoidable!  I cannot wait until it is finally gone!

 

This past Saturday, my daughter and I had a Mother-Daughter afternoon out.  We went to the next town over and visited an Antique store we have been wanting to browse through.  We found a pretty plate for her plate collection.

Years ago, we started a plate collection of dessert sized plates for when she is older and doing her own hospitality.  Each one has its own special design and I am sure they will look so pretty the day she hosts her own afternoon of tea and dessert with her friends.

We left the Antique store, headed to the pharmacy for itch lotion for me and then went to our favorite place for burgers.  We had a great time over our meal with just the two of us.  We finished lunch and headed to a Christian Bookstore and the Lord truly blessed us with meeting some wonderful friends that used to attend our church.  They were out on their own Mother-Daughter day as well.  We ended up having some wonderful fellowship for at least a half hour!!  We were both rejoicing that the Lord had brought our paths to cross as we had both thought about calling the other to visit but had thought better of it and the Lord found a way to make it all work out!!

We came back home and my husband had managed to just splendid with all five boys and they had eaten lunch as well!!

You can kind of see my puffy eye when you are looking at me it is the eye on the right, that whole side of the face is very red looking, I tried to hide it with foundation but it is pretty bad.  However, I still love the photograph of my daughter and I!!

God Bless~~

 

 

Entering the next change of life….

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I think the main thing that is on my mind and I feel lead to share with other women out there though is that I have realized this last weekend that I have started Perimenopause……

Yep, the young age of 44, 45 in October.  I knew all about Menopause, I thought, but didn’t really know anything about Perimenopause but boy have I read up on it this last weekend while away camping.

I think I have been in denial or just not wanting to acknowledge that something was happening for several months….I think at least since, November of last year.  I had just seen Dr. Oz’s new show one after noon and this was the topic of the show: Do you have Perimenopausal Rage? 

I have had some severe outbursts at my children, they come out of no where and are so extreme and are so unlike me…there has been impatience and irritability as well, the like of which I have never dealt with….I watched the show and saw, myself in the video and was astounded…there was actually something going on….It has been a hard road these last few months since my youngest was born, there are so many hormone changes that come with a newborn……

This last Thursday getting ready for camping, I lost it, I deliberately broke a plate in my kitchen by slamming it down on the counter….it was awful, it is awful every single time I have an outburst, it is a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when your children are scared of the way you look…you are just a two headed monster….I sat down crying my eyes out and went back to that video and watched it again….

I vowed that before I went camping this past weekend, I would get to the health food store and get myself some help, I need to get my body back in alignment….

It is frustrating to have all this come about so soon after the birth of my youngest and it made it so hard to separate and realize that there was something more going on…I have had the post partum feelings of no libido, just don’t even talk to me about being interested in intimacy…at least that is what my brain was saying, but my actions new better than to do that, I could not do that to my husband….

and there is also that post partum night sweating that happens….but that was at the beginning…I am actually having that again…so that is going on….Oh and lets talk about the insomnia…..my brain is just going and going and going…it just won’t shut off….  And to mix in all of this, I am up at 12am, 2am, 4am, and 6am, give or take 20-30 minutes on each one every night still….so that is not helping with my sleeping….

But when I watched the video again, I realized…AH HA!!!!  IT IS NOT ME!!!!  God is trying to get me to realize it is time to move onto my next phase of life…..so Friday I was mildly depressed as all could be…happy to find out what is going on, sad to realize that I am actually at the end of of those years of bearing children….not that I couldn’t get pregnant again in the coming years, but I had asked God to give me a sign if this was to be my last child, and this is becoming blaringly obvious that things are about to change for me….

I am so blessed to have come across the best sales lady at the health food store, it was her day off and she was there and she took the time to help a blubbering lady out who was distraught over the turn of events of her hormones and desperate to help straighten them out….

I left with a bottle of wonderful food based multivitamins that had the B complex series, the D vitamin that I need as well, the advice to take Evening Primrose Oil, which I actually happen to have had at home already from using during the end of pregnancies…that was recommended at about 1500mg 2x a day and then I could back off once I had a better control on things… I also left with progesterone cream. In addition she said to take the Fish Oil capsules that I had already at home as well. The sales lady, though said, with the evening primrose oil, I would be amazed within 3 days like a load had lifted off of my shoulders….

And here I am on Monday, feeling amazing, like this depression I have been walking around in has abated, that I am once again taking charge of my health, that I am not going to be this awful mom that my children remember.   The irritability, the edginess is gone, I just cannot explain it…I just feel somewhat back to normal!!! I cannot say how thankful I am that there was a program that I saw that made me realize that there was something else going on.  I praise God that he brought back to my attention to help me find the right direction.

The insomnia and night sweats, the lack of libido..turns out these are all symptoms of Perimenopause…it just helps to know that sometimes it is something you don’t have direct control over causing issues, it really is hormones and we need to take care to watch over them to make it safely through to the other side.

I am so ready to embrace this next phase of my life and see where the Lord will bring me, I know it is not going to be easy and may be a balancing act to get hormones in check, especially when I don’t have a doctor, but I have some great resources and by talking about it out loud with other Christian women we can all help each other have the best possible journey and still glorify the Lord.

If you have started this time of your life and have thoughts to share I would enjoy reading what has worked for you or if you have questions feel free to ask those as well!!

God Bless ya’ll~~

37 Weeks Midwife Update!!!

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August 16th 37ish weeks
Went to the midwife this morning. Blood pressure was up somewhat 105 over 75...I'm normally 90-95 over 60. I haven't gained any weight in the last month..for some reason I have plateaued. We did a check to see how I was progressing...I am 2-3cm dilated but could easily be stretched to 4cm...So she didn't want to start me on any herbs today as the Nurse is out of town until Thursday....she said if I go on my own all the better but next Tuesday at 9am Tim and I will go back and check to see if there has been progress. If there has, then we go to the health food store, purchase the herbs come back and take them with the addition of walking and pumping and see if we can get everything going consistently...if we do we just stay and have the baby later that day....if not then we come home and see if it starts up on its own.... So Tuesday is the target date!!!

Valentines Day

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This year was really low key for celebrating….Tim was just getting over sickness and working long hours to catch up on work at the office….I had been trying to catch up on work here at home that had not been done because I had been sick…Hubby called at about 6:30pm to say Happy Valentines day and I said don’t worry about getting me anything because I didn’t have anything for him!  He sounded slightly relieved ;D

So he arrived home about a half hour later and about 8:20pm or so was helping the boys all get ready for bed…which usu. means diaper changes for the younger ones first.  So my oldest son was trying to show dad, how he could climb or hang or something from the lowest cross bar on the bunk bed…My husband said he must have only been about a foot and a half to two feet off the ground and he fell backwards and hit the spine of the according closet doors….

Well my son didn’t cry immediately but said it hurt bad and turned around and then my husband saw the back of his head was all bloody…my husband wasn’t sure if he hit the hinge directly or just the spine of the door… All I hear is him in the bathroom with my son saying we have a split head in here!  I couldn’t get up off the couch fast enough!! Trying not to trip on the blanket and not run over my daughter at the same time!

I saw the gash and ran for a wash cloth, hubby says to grab the liquid glue, I come back and look again, there is no way that glue is going to close that gaping hole!  I put the washcloth on the head and held on as hard as I could…mind you I’m in my apron, barefoot…. Hubby grabs my shoes and off to the ER room we go.  Thankfully it is not further than 12 minutes on a normal drive!!

We get there and had to wait about another 20.  They gave my son two shots to numb the spot and ended up putting four staples in the back to close it up!  I joked with my husband on the way in that it was almost a one-on-one date…he joked back and said we could leave him in the ER and go get Ice-cream…lol….

I have to say of all my children, this child has the highest tolerance to pain…he never winced, flinched or said ow when they gave the shots to numb the area and almost had a smile the whole time, it never got to a grimace and he didn’t do anything when they put the staples in….the nurses were surprised as well and said they normally have to put the children in a straight jacket type thing so they won’t move….he just laid their on his side, I held his hand and he didn’t even squeeze it or anything!!

We left he hospital after about an hour and hit Chick Filet on the way home for an icecream cone and milk shake!!

First Baby Check up!!!

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Wow, I just don’t know what to say!!  Lets just start off with my excitement of seeing my midwife again and being there in her office We have such a great relationship and her office staff is so wonderful, the children love to go and visit as well.  My midwife and I are only 4 days apart in age so it makes it extra special.  We get to enjoy catching up with each other’s family and how her son is doing etc.

So first thing that made me happy was the fact that her scale read 145….try not to fall over laughing…according to my scale I started this pregnancy off at about 156…now I know I have been sick on and off since December but I honestly do not think I have lost 10 pounds and there have been several instances where my scale would be off by 10 pounds and I would have to turn the little nob to get it back in alignment….so I am taking the 145 and being happy with it!!!  I was somewhat discouraged with the 156 because that was the heaviest I have ever been let alone to start off a pregnancy…yet at the same time, I was accepting of where the Lord had me at and not going to beat myself up mentally.

So the next thing my MW said was, well lets see if I can even hear the heartbeat…usually these first check up’s it takes at least 5 minutes and you lay there anxiously awaiting to here that precious sound of that little life growing inside you…..and I pipe up and tell her…I know its alive I have felt it moving around for at least 4 days!!!  She said…are you serious, I don’t think I have ever had a client feel it that early   Well I am really in tune to what is going on inside there and I pay close attention to every little pop and know these were not just gas bubbles

 

So I laid down on the table and she took out the measuring tape and says hmmmph your uterus is here and you measuring here….but I never heard her say what I was measuring…..

Well next she puts on her 2mgh Doppler and within about a minute she had the heartbeat!!!  Woooooo Whhooooooo!!!! I said…I told you so!!!  So she spends about 2-3 minutes going all around trying to see if there is a second heartbeat but none was detected but it was still pretty early with the lower sensitivity of her Doppler.

So she then took my blood pressure which I totally forgot to ask what that was but I am sure it was normal whatever that is for me…lol…usu. around 92-95 over 65….

I said I was positive of my dates because I record those things like crazy more when cycle starts and ends and then any times of intimacy near those dates of ovulation….

I had two cycles when we found out we were expecting.  Here is the nugget…..I am currently 11 weeks 5 days…..I am measuring 15 weeks!!!  So I am either going to have this baby in the last week of July or first week of August or we have twins!!!

We took a moment to look at the wording of the regulations from the SC department of Health and something or other about being able to give birth at the birthing center…the wording states in order to give birth you cannot have had six or more pregnancies….I think that was not including miscarriages or abortions….So if we count our stillborn Corban then this would be our 7th…otherwise this would be the 6th and if you look at it that way then I am in the clear…..

So giving birth at home would not be an option due to how far we are to go to the hospital….if we are not able to use her facility then one possibility is to just go to the hospital down the street from her and she would come help be a coach and advocate for us.

However, before I left, I said I had mentioned to Tim, that we should just find a hotel near her office and try that….you see, it’s ok for her to me my midwife at my house or wherever I decide to give birth, just not at her facility… and she pipes up and says guess what….the hotel across the street just opened up!!!!  It is kiddy corner from her facility and she said she would be willing to do that, get a room on the first floor and she would bring everything over there that she would need!!!  Yahooo!!!!

So at this point, we are just going to wait and see what is happening next month and what I am measuring at….if we hear two heartbeats we will be in the Dr.’s office that afternoon for an ultra sound…. but I don’t think that is what is happening for us….but we’ll see if I am still measuring about a month ahead which is the first time this has ever happened to me before……and looking at my calendar and my notes….there is every chance that we could have been pregnant for a whole month and not known it and still had another cycle….but the thing is, I am 99.99% sure we were using protection every time until the one time I know we didn’t and we conceived!!! So if that isn’t a soap opera for ya, I don’t know what is!!!

Still here…

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Hello all,

I just had a few moments to pop in here…I am down to crunch time on a project I am working on for church on the 30th of this month.  It has occupied all my waking thoughts and now getting to that point of my thoughts when I am supposed to be sleeping as well!!  I am really excited about it and I can just see all the pieces coming together but there are about 5 projects related to this overall project that I am working on at home and I am trying to get them all completed by this weekend.

Sleep has finally arrived…well to a certain degree that I mentioned above….. My littlest son is finally sleeping through the night after 11 months….I think this is the earliest for any of them.  It started about a week ago that he was only waking up once a night…I had put a water bottle in the crib in case he woke up in the middle of the night a few times and then he was only waking up once and then he just started sleeping through.  This is wonderful because up until three weeks ago I was up four times a night.

Here is a pregnancy photo from the beginning of this pregnancy…

I had my hubby take this right before retiring for the evening one day that week….I always have to chuckle when my husband takes my pictures like this….my comments afterwards are usually…”hon….I have feet!”  I like to think it is helpful perspective wise to see the feet!!

I think this one is 5 weeks 5 days. We are up to 8 weeks now and I am at that stage now where my selection of skirts don’t quite fit…I have about 2 that I am alternating between until I get a little bigger where the maternity skirt with the stretch belly fits better.  I would switch right now to the maternity ones but the stretch part shows with my regular shirts and it looks a little funny hanging down so low…lol…

Overall, I have been feeling pretty good….very minimal morning sickness, I have had two small bouts in the middle of the night where I have not quite felt good but “breathed” myself through them and fell back to sleep and have had two small bouts during the day…where all of a sudden I didn’t feel quite right but that is all.

Other issues….last pregnancy, I had the itchies early on on the sides of my hips…I mean like itch to scratch the skin off…there was nothing there, just all of a sudden it would start itching…..well this time….the itichies are back again…but now right above my ankles…this past week was almost unbearable….I put Benadryl on but usu. have to apply a second time to do any good….Tim, if he is near me, will take my hands so that I cannot itch my legs! Combine that itchiness with the itchiness associated with my allergy to the cold HIVES…. and it is a major double whammy.

Tim and I are slightly concerned that it is getting worse for some reason….just cold water from the faucet makes my hands break out.  I can no longer drink my favorite ice cold water…each time I do, I feel the inside of me like constricting…kind of hard to explain…and then the latest thing…I had a milkshake the other night….instead of using the straw, because it tasted so good, I used a spoon….. I was just eating it and eating it like it was soup…after about 5 minutes…I happened to stop…the whole inside of my mouth was swollen…it was a really strange sensation….it went a way after about 10 minutest but quite weird!

I haven’t started my heartburn yet however, a lady at the bank has really bad heartburn with her pregnancy and she asked her Dr. and he said for to take the over the counter Prilosec so I will be getting that this Friday to have on hand…the last two pregnancies have been very extreme with heartburn.

The only thing that seems to be affecting me at this point is in the evenings my meals are creating lots of bubbles in my tummy and sometimes the gas bubbles aren’t gone even the next morning.

That’s it for pregnancy stuff right now….

This picture is mainly for my parents….they live in ID and they are always saying how cold it gets….well who would believe it was this cold at 8am about a week and a half ago!!

 

Yes, NINE degrees outside…AACCCKKKK…and that was not just a one time occurrence!!

Well….that’s it for now…I just wanted to pop in…I have perused a few blogs but have not been able to comment much and now you know why…I will post pictures of this project at the end of the month, it it turns out half as nice as I think it will I will be just glowing!!!

God Bless ya’ll!!

Prayer Request

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Hello all, 

We are falling one by one here...it appears my daughter and my husband are the only ones not sick with this awful cold. I thought we were getting better and Monday one of my little boys started having a runny nose, which went to the youngest one...it's nasty, horrible chest congestion...

Please just pray that it goes away soon.  I went to the store late yesterday afternoon and purchased 6 boxes of tissue with aloe in it, large jugs of orange juice and apple juice, 4 jars of vitamin c...Ludens cherry cough drops so I could use that in the middle of the night when my mouth dries out completely...breathe right strips to keep my nose open so I could breathe...which promptly got taken off because they were too small and I still could not breathe even with the mentholated flavor....

It can only hang around so long right....well I know I haven't been able to breathe out my nose since before Thanksgiving...I think part of that is the Winter allergies because anytime I would use a tissue, it was like egg whites..just tons of it...now I am back to seeing a slight infection..... I just don't need this being pregnant!  And doesn't being pregnant, swell your nasal membranes somewhat....

Anyhow, thank you for praying.

 

Pregnancy Update

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January 3, 2011...5 weeks 6 days
Feeling great. So far no morning sickness to speak of... there have been a few moments in the middle of the night where I might wake up and feel a slight bit uncomfortable but it is soon gone within a minute or two. I am being really diligent about vitamins this time around...I have been reading how extremely important they are and I realize that the lack of the vitamins has had an impact on my adrenal glands and that is part of the reason I have not been doing so well since Matthew was born.

I am taking 1 100mg Vitamin B6, 4 250mg Vitamin B12, 6 800mg Folic Acid, 5 Calcium Magnesium 500/250mg, 1 Pre-natal, and 1 Baby Aspirin.

I am starting early on my squats, taylor sitting, kegals, and tummy lifts...can't think what they are called but where you are on your hands and knees and lift your hips up to raise your tummy.

I talked to my midwife today....we are both extremely excited and we are both thinking it is probably a boy but we both know that God can do anything and He is the one ultimately in control.... I won't see my MW officially until Feb. 23 at 14 weeks which is normal for her mom's who have had multiples. I may stop by next week to pick up some more Cal/Mag. vitamins but that would be all and to have an official preg. test.

We do have a Prayer Request and it will be a long standing one until we hear from the state.... the prayer request is that I would be able to give birth at her birthing center. There seems to be some discussion between the state and the midwives as to whether or not it is safe for them to give birth to mom's who are either on their 6th or 7th pregnancy... it seems to be that historically there seems to be something that goes wrong in preg. around the 5-7th pregnancies and they are not wanting to take chances with the mom's or babies.... and there is gray area as far as is it the 6th preg. or if it is after 6 pregnancies...

The option would be to have this baby at home which she could do but we both feel this would not be a good option because of what happened with my last birth. If we are able to eventually birth at her facility then we would just auto. start with and IV as soon as I get there.... if her facility is out then we would most likely register at the hospital right down the road from her less than a mile away....and then have her meet us there. She would just then be a coach for me/us and not help with delivery per se..but she would also be a voice for me/us that we not have any intervention.

So please pray that we get to give birth at her facility.

That’s all for now

So what is on the Agenda….

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Well it’s Monday, the first one of the new year.  We had a great message in our Ladies Sunday School class yesterday.  Our instructor was talking about resolutions and how many of us have made resolutions but have inevitably not completed them.  With the track record being failure for all of us, many of us would then take on the thought process to not make a New Year’s resolution the next year because you knew you were just not going to make it again.

Our instructor gave us the example of a lady who had the goal of reading her bible everyday that year….and come the end of the year she was able to say…well there may have only been about 5 times that I did not read the bible.  While she was not perfect, she did not give up.  She kept on and was able to show how well she did do.  It is so easy for us in this society to just give up and move onto the next thing and not have that sense of accomplishment…or to just find some excuse to not start over again.  If we fall off the wagon so to speak we need to get up and get back on…

It is better to have a goal that was close to being achieved or half way achieved than no goal at all….If we, as a society, do not have any goals we are not going to be productive…. So why not just say it is a resolution instead of saying well I am going to purpose to do such and such….be brave be willing to put it in writing, on paper, tack it up so you see it as a reminder, even if you have missed a day, etc.  Challenge yourself!

My Resolutions…

To read everyday my bible…now currently, you will see a button on my side bar the bottom one for Fixing Your Heart on Titus 2….this week we have a challenge to read our bible 30 minutes everyday.  I have joined in and am going to do my best to get my reading done.  Whether it be in one solid time frame or in increments throughout the day…

I am going to try and do one scripture a month minimum for the next year….I was going to try and do one a week, but I know that was not realistic and that is what resolutions need to be, realistic…I can certainly do one a month and most likely more!!

I am going to parent with an awareness of my tone of voice….there is a need at times to raise your voice and to be firm and there are times to show love with our words as well.  Homeschooling can be very trying on the patience at times and I need to glorify God more in my efforts in this area to show more patience in my tone of voice and to be a better example.

I am realizing as well, that I am a very, very opinionated wife….hmmmph… so I am going to be tenacious about making sure that I am submissive when I should be and not balk at the simple things….I couldn’t believe myself over the weekend when I was just typing out a list of to do things from my husband and uggh, the attitude I had about the order…of all things… the order in which something was listed or the way it was worded…sheesh….it was just atrocious… so I need to work on that and do a much better job…just be submissive and do things without thinking I am always right or that my way is the best way, etc.

I am sure there are more things I can add to the list and even now I should put down exercising, but specifically those exercises that I need to do for the health of this pregnancy… squats, Taylor sitting, Kegals,  walking, etc.

As for the start of the New Year, my husband and I took a huge load of stuff to Good will.  We had set aside items over a year ago to have a garage sale and we never did it…..Well we have a long range goal to get he house fixed up to sell.  If we are going to sell we have to declutter, simplify and get rid of junk!  So we took out the back to seats of my Tahoe and filled that up and then we took my husbands work van and loaded that up as well…..Oh it felt so wonderful!!! Now we have a cleared spot on our garage again for a staging area to go through more items and sort what to keep and what to donate.

We have not decided how we are going to proceed.  There is a chance we could sell and rent a house for a short time while building a house or we could live in our travel trailer while we build…we have no idea at this point, but if we don’t get started, doing something….we’ll never move and this house is getting a little small.

There is always the chance of putting all the boys in the Master bedroom and us in the smaller room, which is fine, we’ll see what the Lord helps us out with!!!

We had talked a while back about turning the garage into a Homeschool Room…well we had a contractor out and realized it would be double the cost to transform that and build a new garage that was attached to the house….  Option two was to then push out the family room wall into the back yard and add another 15 feet onto the current family room…Essentially making two rooms split with glass french doors that could close off the school room….At that time we would replace the family carpet…10 years old, and the vinyl flooring in the kitchen…we would also move our gas fireplace…. Well that little re-do was a minimum of 30,000 and at a deal from the contractor…so I was figuring at least 40,000 because it always seems like there is something that arises when there are renovations that was not accounted  for…

Well I guess my husband has decided to not put the  money into this house but to have more land to have a shop for his tools etc. and to build a house….possibly….we’ll see what the Lord has in store for us this year.

Happy New Year’s everyone!!!

Anyone else allergic to cold…..No Seriously!!!

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Well, I first encountered this about 3 years ago.  We had gone camping and went to use the swimming pool.  As I waded into the water and stood at waist deep, my back had started to itch…

After about 5 minutes I decided to just sit on the edge of the pool but the itching got worse and I had my husband look at my lower back and it was covered with welts…kind of like tons of mosquito bites…

I wasn’t sure what the cause was and we actually thought I had been bitten by something…..

Then there were the times that I would just carry a few tubes of crescent rolls against my arm and I would get welts that would itch….

Earlier, this year I had gone walking in the morning and had on a pair of culottes and when I arrived home, my legs were itching…I looked down on the back side of my knee and there were welts like mosquito bites….I was surprised and a little perturbed that in my fast rapid walking the mosquito’s had managed to bite me…..sigh…..

I realized about an hour later that they were not bites as they had disappeared….

Well, now lets take you to Saturday evening…the weather here is about 42, overcast and feels like snow….Tim comes home and says one of his out of state clients needs a big favor…could we go to his lake house and take the jet ski’s out of the water and bring them up to the house…the impending cold front arriving today and tomorrow would permanently damage the jet ski’s….

I was excited…it is not often that I get to ride on a jet ski, and a super fancy one…well let alone in  what feels like the dead of winter….lol…. so there I was, my jeans which I haven’t worn in over 3 years….they are kept just for occasions such as this…good thing they are stretch jeans…ahem….anyways, my jeans, turtleneck, pullover sweatshirt, knit hat, ear muffs, scarf and then zip up sweatshirt over all of that and a pair of mittens….

My hubby had on a wetsuit but no gloves or hat!!!

Well we go for a ride across the fog covered lake, freezing cold to say the least, can barely see because of the rain hitting us and it is about 5pm so it is getting dark.  We find our way around to the campground with the boat launch…after we sit in the water for a while trying to find the person to pick us up…who could see us in the water but we could not see him because it was too dark….and me having a phone, Tim not having his phone, but he didn’t know the guys phone number off the top of his head that was at the boat launch..lol….

I wasn’t in the water at all, just in the cold weather…well when we got back to the house to put the jet ski’s away and I was able to go change into my skirt….from my waist down, I was covered in welts and huge masses of redness…. Not more than two minutes after I had gotten out of the nice warm truck and walked around the back of the house to check on the jet ski’s my legs had started to itch!!

So that finally got me to do a search on the internet for hives and cold….well sure enough….I have a cold allergy….Cold urticaria.

I did the ice cube test…you hold an ice cube against your arm for 5 minutes….normal people….might just have a slight red mark after they remove the ice cube….if you are like me…then you get welts….as seen below…

This first picture is before the ice cube is applied.

Next picture is after keeping the ice cube on for 5 minutes.

This next one is after the ice cube was off for one minute. There is a slight bumpy look over the red area, there is the start of the development of bumps on the upper edge of the red area and  the very bottom

Eighteen minutes after the ice had been removed this is what my arm looks like. The left side which you can hardly see is all raised up and the right you can see around the outline is raised as well. So you can kind of imagine what I must have looked like when I saw my legs were entirely covered!!!

An hour later, the welts are gone but there is still discoloration where the mark was.

This morning taking my son to speech therapy…from the time we walked from the car in the guest parking lot at the elementary school into the building…what a 30 sec. to minute walk….I had the hives…not like the other night, but they would have gotten worse had I just stood outside…..

So, anyone else allergic to the cold???

Is it really possible not to have Morning Sickness….

Pin It I came across this website by Dr. Karen Hurd last night.  She has several articles on many different health issues and how we can prevent these health issues by the way we eat.....So with that said here is her article on Morning Sickness....I read through it and it makes sense and if I am indeed blessed by the Lord to have another child I am going to follow this approach and see if I can be spared the Morning Sickness!!!

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Morning Sickness

You can beat this

The cause and cure for morning sickness has been shrouded in mystery for a long time. But it is really not that difficult to understand, neither is it that difficult to conquer. Most medical texts say the cause is either hormonal or unknown. The standard answer of eating several small meals per day, or coating the gastrointestinal tract with crackers or fruit, is usually not effective. Even worse is the recommendation to take vitamin B6. This usually exacerbates the morning sickness, not abates it. Also, I think most of you understand this already, but I think I should mention it anyway: you do not have feel nauseous only in the morning to have morning sickness. The nauseous feeling can come at anytime of the day or night.

A powerful ally with a sidekick

When a woman becomes pregnant certain hormones are produced in large amounts. One of these hormones is the hCG hormone (Human chorionic gonadotropin). This hormone is primarily responsible for maintaining the pregnancy. The measurement of this hormone is the most common diagnostic tool to confirm conception. Non-pregnant women will not have significant levels of hCG, in fact oftentimes it cannot be detected at all. The hCG hormone will keep a woman from spontaneously aborting (miscarrying) the newly conceived child. However, these high levels of hCG precipitate a response from the liver. The liver is stimulated to produce larger amounts of a digestive enzyme called bile. The hCG hormone is our powerful ally, working to maintain the pregnancy. The bile, whose release is stimulated by the hCG hormone, is the sidekick that causes the morning sickness. The encouraging news is that the more nauseous you feel, the less likely you will miscarry.

Why bile makes us feel nauseous

Bile is a digestive enzyme designed to break down the fatty acids that we eat. When we have no fatty acids in our duodenum (the first part of the small intestine and what most people commonly call “the stomach”), there is nothing to digest but YOU! This causes us to feel nauseous. We will feel a queasiness in the center of our upper abdomen, right under the sternum (the small bony extension where the front rib cage joins together) and above the belly button (umbilical cord site).

But eating fats is not the answer

Oh ho! You must be thinking now that if you put fatty acids into your digestive tract that this will solve the problem. It seems to make sense that if the bile is meant to digest fatty acids, all we need to do is give the bile the fatty acids it wants to digest. Then the bile will not bother our intestinal lining making us feel nauseous. But, when we eat foods with fats in them, it actually causes a further release of bile. Now we have the original bile making us feel queasy PLUS a new onslaught of this same nauseous-causing substance. Then there is more to the bile story.

Bile carries expended hormones

Bile is also the carrier of expended hormones. Because the liver is responsible for filtering fat soluble substances from the bloodstream, hormones (which are fat soluble) are collected by the liver. The liver has the job of expelling from the body these expended hormones. The only exit out of the body that the liver has available to it is the bile. Bile will leave the liver, travel to the gall bladder, continue its journey to the duodenum, thread its way through the rest of the small intestine and then the large intestine. Finally it will be expelled out of the body through a bowel movement. Well, that is the design of our Creator, but when we eat the way of the Western world, this plan can be thwarted. Before I explain that, I need to impress upon you this fact: the more hormones that are filtered out of the bloodstream by the liver, the more bile the liver will release for the purpose of disposing these hormones. When more bile is released, the probability of nausea increases drastically.

How the Western diet affects bile

In the West, we generally eat very high fat diets. The more fat we eat, the more we stimulate the liver to release bile in order to break down these fats. However, bile itself is a fat, and not all of the bile fats will exit the body. In fact, a large amount of the bile will be reabsorbed and recycled to the liver. The problem with the bile recycling is that these bile fats carry much debris. This debris has been filtered out of the bloodstream and put in the bile fat carriers to be escorted out of the body. But if the bile recycles, so does the debris that is carried in the bile fat. This means that there is more debris to be discarded in the next release of bile. The repeated recycling of the same bile creates a very nasty debris-laden bile that will make us feel even more nauseated.

Bile’s good buddy

I mentioned above how the Western high fat diet contributes to an elevated bile production. But even more significant is the lack of soluble fiber in the Western diet. If we Westerners would eat soluble fiber in ample amounts, we could eat all the fat we wanted and never suffer adverse effects. Soluble fiber is found in legumes (there are other sources but they are so minimally endowed with soluble fiber that it is not worth mentioning them for the cure of morning sickness). Legumes are pinto beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans (also known as chick peas), black-eyed peas, lentils, black beans, red beans, navy beans, white beans, great northern beans, crowder peas (also known as field peas), yellow-eyed beans, and the list goes on. They are also termed “soup beans”. Most Westerners will admit that it is not often that we eat beans, if ever. These beans are dense with soluble fiber. Soluble fiber and bile (or any fatty acid) have a great affinity toward one another. In fact, they will bind so tightly together that they cannot be parted. As no fiber (soluble or insoluble) can cross the intestinal barrier, all the bile that has been bound together with the soluble fiber will exit the body through a bowel movement. That means the bile will not recycle. That means the bile will not grow nasty with accumulating debris. That means you will feel less nauseous.

Less nauseous? Could I feel no nausea?

Yes, it is possible for you to feel no nausea from the blessing of increased hCG levels. I say “blessing” because the increased hCG means that you will most likely have a full term pregnancy. Eliminating the nausea does not decrease the production of the hCG hormone, but it just negates the hCG side effect of nausea.

The answer

I think you already know. The answer is to eat legumes. Now you must know to what extent you must eat legumes. If you are feeling nauseous, you must immediately consume your beans. You will need to eat at least 1/4 cup of cooked legumes. If you can eat more, it is even better. You will see relief in under 20 minutes. The nausea will go away. However, the nausea will be back in a period of time. That period of time is dependent upon the liver’s stimulation to produce more bile. If the hCG hormone is at high levels, it won’t be long (1-4 hours) before you are feeling that queasy feeling again. Then what? You eat your beans again. And so you go. You eat beans every time you have that nauseous feeling. If that means you are spending the majority of your time at the table with a bowl of beans in front of you, so be it! It will only be for a short period of time. As the bile is carried out of your body, the successive releases of bile become less potent with debris. After the consumption of legumes, each release of bile is less nauseating. Eventually (within a few days) you will not have to hang your head over a pile of beans all day. In fact, you will be able to consume beans just once or twice in the day to prevent the morning sickness from reoccurring.

Are there any side effects to eating legumes?

None, except the possibility of flatulence (commonly known as gas). However, if the gas is not causing you physical discomfort, continue on the legumes. The gas eventually will go away as the digestive system begins to produce the enzymes necessary to break down the beans. If you have gas to the extent that it causes you pain (not social pain, but physical pain), decrease your intake of beans at one setting. Instead of eating the 1/4 cup plus, eat a few teaspoons. Then gradually increase your intake until you can eat ample amount of the legumes. I would like to point out though that the majority of women who are experiencing morning sickness will not have much trouble with gas with the addition of legumes to their diet. There is so much bile present, the beans never really have a chance to become gas-producing.

Do not be fooled by simplicity

The answer to morning sickness, as you can see, is not that difficult. I urge you to try the solution. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that this is too simple of an answer. I am always amazed at how difficult we make things. Truly, we, as a medical community, have the tendency to turn mole-hills into mountains. Ladies, eat your beans! You will be surprised and grateful at how your pregnancy will become wonderful.

 

A Note about the Plans for Healing
 

You will notice that the Plans for Healing on my various articles as published on my web site include the use of supplements (in the majority of cases).  I have included them at this time because most of the people that access my web site, I never have the opportunity to speak to personally.  Therefore, I cannot address each person’s particular situation as it warrants.  The supplements will certainly help, however, be aware that food alone can cure, without the use of supplements.

 

In fact, it is my goal to be able to see healing with food alone.  In my private practice, where I counsel clients individually, it is only occasionally that I might recommend the use of supplements.  Food is powerful.  As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food.”  That is also my philosophy.

 

Back to Health Concerns

Birthing Naturally

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I first came across this site in 2005.  I had printed out a bunch of articles from it to help study for the upcoming birth at the time.  I happened to come across those papers just the other day when going through some miscellaneous paperwork to be filed!!  The site has since been revamped but still a wonderful resource.

The site is a Christian site with lots of information about being pregnant.  If you are interested in some biblical studies related to giving birth you might want to peruse the following link and click on Biblical topics....there is a .pdf file that pops open and there are a great many scriptures to reflect on daily to seek the Lord for His will for your birth. 
Here is a link: http://birthingnaturally.net/christian/studies.html
Enjoy!!

Above Rubies….Beat the Flu

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I received this in my email today and thought worthy of passing along...Enjoy

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BEAT THE FLU THIS WINTER!

Dear friends,

As we approach flu season, it is good to be reminded of ways to prevent it. There are better ways to prevent the flu than being vaccinated. Check out the following points to keep yourself and your family in good health during this winter season.

1.    AVOID ALL SUGAR

This means to not only refrain from sugar, but all foods containing sugar, which are most foods on the shelves of the supermarket. Read labels very carefully. In fact, when you read the labels first, will find that you will have to put most foods back on the shelf.

Sugar makes a perfect environment for viruses. Sugar completely destroys your immune system. It destroys the germ-killing ability of white bloods cells to kill bacteria and viruses up to five hours after intake. It interferes with the transport of vitamin C which is needed to fight the flu and robs the body of nutrients such as zinc that are vital for the immune function.

Sugar affects everyone, but has more serious consequences for children. Keep your children away from all sugar and especially when flu viruses are around. That means at Christmas time too!

Also, please reduce carbs as they turn to sugar in your body. Especially eliminate all whites--not only white sugar, but white flour, white pasta and white rice. Completely eradicate pop and sweet teas. I refuse to have sugar in my pantry.

2.    BUILD UP YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

The stronger your immune system, the less likelihood of getting the flu or any disease.

Here are some ideas for building up your immune system for you and your children. You can do what suits you best--or do them all!

My daughter, Serene, who has eight children, gives herself and the children the following once a day or more as needed.

COLD AND FLU FIGHTER
½ cup chopped onion
A whole bulb of chopped garlic
2 TBS chopped fresh ginger root
1 chopped jalapeño

Put all ingredients in a quart jar, cover with raw vinegar and let sit 4 - 6 weeks. Strain out vegetables and use 2 TBS. or more each day. If you do get a cold or the flu, take every hour. Serene gives her children 1 TBS. each day as a preventative.

VITAMIN C
1, 000 mg morning and evening

GRAPEFRUIT SEED EXTRACT
Give children three drops in water once a week. If you notice any signs of flu or colds in the family, give three drops in water once a day. Adults should take 10 - 15 drops in water at the slightest sign of a cold or flu. You can obtain this extract at a health food shop.

TODDLER MIX
To make it easier for toddlers to take these vitamins, mix the following:
1 TBS. or more of yogurt (no sugar added)
Crushed Vitamin C tablet, smaller dosage for toddler
Juice of ½ orange
2 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract
Stevia for sweetening
Mix together and give to toddler as needed.

VITAMIN D3
1,000 mg each morning to children
1,000 each morning and evening for adults. Most adults need much more than this. The consensus is that anything up to 5,000 mg a day is safe and beneficial for most people. After a hydroxyl test, most people find they need more than this. The optimum levels for the body are 60 - 90 ml.  Vitamin D builds the immune system and also fights cancer. 

COCONUT OIL
This is a marvelous food that builds up the body's own natural defenses against viral infections, disease and cancer. Take as much as you can each day. You can't take too much.  Use the Extra Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil for medicinal use. Put 1 TBS. or more in your smoothies. Use it for all your cooking instead of other oils. You can use Expeller Pressed for cooking.

If there are any signs of flu in even one of the children, Serene gets her children to take a banana and dip it into coconut oil (about 2 TBS coconut oil). This is an easy way for the children to eat it.  You can also get the children to put the coconut oil behind their ears and massage it into their lymph glands and also in their nose.

Use coconut way every way you can. Use it for all cooking instead of other oils. To try some delectable recipes with Coconut Butter (it is called butter when it is cold and goes hard, and oil when it is soft in the summer or heated) you can order COCONUT RECIPES by Serene Allison from the Above Rubies website: www.aboverubies.org

RED PALM OIL
This is another super oil. I only use Coconut oil or Red Palm oil for cooking in our home. Every other oil turns to Trans fat when it is heated. Not only are these safe oils to cook with, but they add many nutrients to your body. Both Coconut oil and Red Palm oil strengthen the immune system.

You can put a little Red Palm oil in your smoothies. My husband spreads it on his bread, but I have to admit, I cannot take it that way. But use it as much as you can in your cooking. The following is a smoothie recipe to try:

Ginger Sunrise
2 fresh oranges
2 lemons, peeled with knife, removing yellow rind, but keeping the white pith
1 - 2 bananas (great for children, eliminate for adults as fattening)
2 TBS. Red Palm Oil
1 large handful of flax seeds or chia seeds
2 TBS. Coconut oil
2 chunks fresh raw ginger (about 1")
Sweetening - Stevia
Ice cubes
Blend very well in Vita Mix or good blender until smooth.

TO ORDER COCONUT OIL AND RED PALM OIL:

Also www.TheHomeGrownFamily.com
Charity Callis, Toll Free: 1 877 841 2861

Go to http://www.rainforestcoconutoil.com/ and check out their website.
Email: rainforestmkt@gmail.com 
Toll Free: 877-558-5518

To find out more about these immune boosting oils, check out THE PALM OIL MIRACLE and THE COCONUT OIL MIRACLE by Bruce Fife.

3.    SLEEP

There is nothing like lack of sleep to run down your immune system. Sleep and a healthy diet are your best preventatives against the flu and colds. Make sure you have adequate sleep, especially during flu season. Try to get to bed early.

 

I grew up with the old wives' tale that the hours of sleep before midnight are the most beneficial. Science has now proved this adage, although I must admit I have broken the rule most of my life. I am now trying to go to bed earlier. The plan is to go to bed no later than 10.00 pm--9.00 pm is even better.

 

Staying up much later than 10.00 pm causes your adrenal glands to make cortisol. This is taxing on the adrenal gland and can lead to adrenal fatigue.  Does this sound too hard? It is actually better for your health, and you will accomplish just as much by getting up earlier in the morning. And remember, I am preaching to myself!

4.    OTHER PREVENTATIVES

I have a friend who uses the following for her family. The taste is wonderful.

ELDERBERRY COLD AND FLU FIGHTER SYRUP
½ cup elderberries (check the Internet for dried elderberries)
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 TBS grated fresh root ginger
2 cups water
Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes. Add ½ cup honey. Store in refrigerator. Take 2 TBS. each day to prevent colds and flu. If you have the flu, take every hour. This recipe only keeps two weeks in the fridge so you will need to make a fresh batch every two weeks.

CHOPPED GARLIC
Any easy fighter is to chop up 1 or 2 garlic cloves very, very finely. Pop in your mouth and swallow before you have a chance to taste the flavor or imbibe the smell. This is an easy and wonderful way to fight the flu. I find this simple and effective.

THIEVES OIL
Many folk use the following Natural Antibiotic Recipe using Young Living Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils. Here is the recipe from Quick Reference Guide for Using Essential Oils, compiled by Connie and Alan Higley, 10th edition.
 
12 drops Thieves Oil
6 drops Oregano Oil
2 drops Frankincense Oil
Put drops in a "00" size capsule and ingest one capsule every 4 hours for 3 days, then every 8 hours for 4 days.
 
To purchase oils, go to Amazon.com

BURIED TREASURE - ACF (Acute Cold and Flu Formula)
This is highly effective for fighting colds. You can purchase it as your local health food store or online. Our daughter, Pearl, always has it on hand for use at the first sign of a sniffle.

HORSERADISH

Horseradish root is a powerful antibiotic and useful for fighting the flu, as well as urinary tract infections and even cancer. I have just harvested the roots from m y garden and am getting ready to prepare it as a sauce and to use in other recipes. Check the Internet for all kinds of wonderful recipes.

Prepare the following to use as needed. Slice or chunk the horseradish root, place in blender and grind, adding small amounts of vinegar for a good consistency, about 1 TBS vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)  to 1 cup horseradish. The vinegar preserves the horseradish and enhances the flavor. Vinegar stops the heat-building enzyme activity that grinding causes. If you want hotter horseradish, wait before adding the vinegar. Adding the vinegar right away will make the horseradish milder.

Horseradish will take your breath away, bring tears to your eyes, but at the same time clear all your sinuses, help ward off the flu and make you feel great!

You can add 1 TBS. of horseradish to your coleslaw or even to your meat loaf you are preparing.

CUT AN ONION
This is another old wives' tale that I grew up with, but I still do it and believe it works. If someone gets a cold or flu in the house, I cut an onion in half and put it in a strategic place. Supposedly the germs go to the onion. If my husband has a sniffle, I cut an onion and put half by his side of the bed and half by my side of the bed. He complains of the smell but puts up with it!

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
A lot of germs come through the ears. As a preventative, pour a little Hydrogen Peroxide in the ear. I love to feel it bubbling in my ear. Do it once a week (perhaps on the weekend), one night in one ear and the next night in the other. I find it easier to do it this way as the peroxide doesn't run out from one ear when pouring it in the other ear.

THYM-UVOCAL
An herb which strengthens the immune system and fights off infections. Check the Internet for purchase. Adults only.

5.    WASH HANDS FREQUENTLY

Wash your hands frequently throughout the day, especially before eating. Wash under running water for 20 seconds or sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY while washing. It is most important to train your children to do this.

6.    DO NOT TOUCH EYES, NOSE OR MOUTH

I find myself doing this and am having to get into the habit of not rubbing my eyes, mouth or nose. Teach your children about this also.

7.    NETI POT

Check the Internet for a Neti Pot to clear nose and sinuses.

8.    AVOID FLU VACCINATIONS, ESPECIALLY THE H1N1 SWINE FLU VACCINATION

The H1N1 vaccination has many dangers. Check out more information before allowing yourself and your family to become a victim to these shots.

Squalene
The Swine Flu Vaccine, unlike other flu vaccines, contains squalene, an additive which when introduced into the bloodstream, causes crippling auto-immune diseases like Lou Gehrig's disease, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, polyarteritis nodosa, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
 
Squalene in vaccines has been strongly connected to the Gulf War Syndrome. The  H1N1 vaccine contains 1 million times more squalene than the vaccine given to Gulf War soldiers (which resulted in 140,000 veterans contracting the auto-immune disease Gulf War Syndrome). The use of squalene is illegal in the USA and UK but is being allowed under the emergency pandemic decree. Dr. Russell Blaylock states, "If you receive the vaccine, there is little you can do to protect yourself--at least by conventional medicine. It will mean a lifetime of crippling illness and early death."  
 
The US government has given vaccine manufacturers (Novartis, Baxter, Glaxo-Smithkline, CSL) complete legal immunity from any deaths or injuries resulting from their vaccines.

If you are interested you could check out some of the following sites which are listed below.

Blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

Above Rubies is a magazine to bring strength and encouragement to marriage, motherhood and family life.

Internet sites to check out:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8riAeGh48U
 
http://www.naturalnews.com/027222_swine_flu_flu_vaccine_swine_flu_vaccine.html
 
http://www.medicalvoices.org/en/vaccination/articles/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-vaccination-dangers-can-kill-you-or-ruin-your-life.html
 
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/01/Swine-Flu-Shot-Linked-to-Killer-Nerve-Disease.aspx
 
http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/h1n1-swine-flu.aspx

http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/08/Another-Shocking-Warning-About-Swine-Flu-Vaccine.aspx
 
http://www.medicalvoices.org/en/vaccination/articles/swine-flu-and-the-swine-flu-vaccine.html
 
http://www.medicalvoices.org/en/vaccination/articles/flu-vaccine-exposed.html
 
http://www.without-consent.com/
 
http://www.openureyes.org.nz/blog/?q=node/2280
 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14851
 
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/24/CBS-Reveals-that-Swine-Flu-Cases-Seriously-Overestimated.aspx
 
http://www.nvic.org
 
http://vran.org
 
http://www.PandemicFluOnline.com
 
http://www.vaclib.org
 
http://www.mercola.com

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