Three months after my food allergies were identified; I learned to live a life free of: apples, almonds, bananas, corn, all dairy including butter, all grains except rice, potatoes and soy. Although I had made these changes, I didn’t learn about them in time for it to make a difference in my pregnancy. There I was, back in the office of Dr. M, my Naturopath, the doctor who had helped me identify my food allergies and MTHFR genetic mutations, copies A&C. Keep Reading
One of my biggest challenges in my quest for delicious grain free & dairy free food is always dessert! Even when I was only grain free, most of my desserts used dairy; because who needs grain if you can have amazing homemade whipped cream? But after being diagnosed with an allergy to casein, the protein in dairy, I had no choice but to learn to make grain free, dairy free desserts! Continue reading
Sometimes I just can’t find the words to express all that is going on. One moment, I’m okay, the next moment I’m falling apart. With infertility, there were moments when I would tear up unexpectedly, and those still continue. Now, after miscarriage, there are moments when I just want to run away and hide.
The other night, my husband, Frank, and I were visiting friends at their campsite. We were having a nice time, hanging out, drinking wine, and eating delicious food. As we were getting to know the other guests, the dreaded question came up, “Do you have any kids?” Wow. There’s nothing that can take me back to that place of terror, fear, failure, and inadequacy like that question. It was a total “deer in the headlights” moment.Continue Reading
I am continuously surprised by the insensitivity of others. If there is nothing nice to say, the least someone can do is say nothing at all. Not in our family however. We kept the news about our pregnancy discrete deliberately because we didn’t want to have to deal with everyone knowing our sorrow and holding it up to our faces when we’d rather grieve in private. continue reading
The morning of our second ultrasound was almost like any other. To begin, I was a bit nervous because we had been told our baby’s date of conception had been miscalculated by 11 days. Our first ultrasound appointment didn’t go as we expected.
Instead of learning our baby’s heart rate, and leaving with a picture, we left knowing that our baby was in the right spot and that the baby was just “small” in comparison to the size of a typical 8 week old baby in the womb. We didn’t know there was a heartbeat. I had two choices: fixate and worry myself sick for ten days; or try to take my mind off the situation. Continue reading
Here I am, a month after hearing the news that our baby had passed away. There is no way to describe what has transpired, except to say it has been an unpredictable rollercoaster filled with ups, downs, and moments that I do not care to ever repeat again. This is without a doubt the hardest most draining experience of my life. In addition to the physical experience that is still occurring inside my body, there’s the loss of our child, the loss of the joy we had experienced, the loss of all we had hoped for this child, and the loss of all we had dreamed for us as a family. We always knew that there was a risk that we’d lose the baby; but with Christmas coming right around our six week mark, we decided that would be the time we’d share the news with our immediate family. This is the story of the most joyous Christmas I have ever had; thank you for allowing me to share this beautiful memory with you. Love, Catherine
At the moment, I’m in the middle of a miscarriage. This is quite honestly the most heartbreaking time of my life. There’s nothing anyone can do. Our baby had already passed away when we went for our ultrasound. At the moment I’m experiencing cramping, and spotting. It gets worse by the day, which in this case is a good thing. As much as my heart aches for the loss of this child, I dread hearing a doctor say that it won’t happen naturally and I have to undergo a D&C. As I grieve the loss of our child, I’d like to share some beautiful memories of my brief pregnancy with you. Thank you for sharing this experience with me.
Love, Catherine
The day we learned we were pregnant…
It was a Wednesday, the dreaded and blessed peak plus 17, the day that we NaPro ladies wait for. It had been 17 days since my identified peak day and despite a few hours of what could have been implantation bleeding, followed by days of very light brown spotting, I had not experienced a period. My husband, Frank woke me at 5AM, the time he usually wakes for work. He was aware of what day it was and wanted to be there when I took the test. I tested without expectation. We’d gotten countless negatives in the past and even once good old AF decided to show up mid test taking. I tested and I waited. When I saw that faint blue line make the plus sign on the test I was in heaven. We had done we had successfully conceived, we were going to be parents!
The next baby step on this road from infertility to conception is getting my food allergies under control. At my second appointment with my Naturopathic doctor, I learned that I have food sensitivities to apples, almonds, bananas, corn, dairy, oats, potatoes, and wheat. These foods are causing inflammation throughout my body and wreaking havoc, and most likely are related to our inability to conceive.Continue Reading
Whether you have been diagnosed with infertility, you’re trying to conceive, or you just happen to be a woman; knowing what progesterone is and how it affects your body is an absolute must. If you’re like me, you sat through years of health class looking at the diagram of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, hearing the same thing year after year, and not learning much.
Let’s start with the basics, the stuff they should have told us when we first menstruated, oh so long ago. During the first half of a woman’s cycle, the estradiol levels rise, the cervix produces cervical mucus which will allows the sperm to travel into the uterus and make their way to the ovaries, where they’ll fertilize the egg- if the ovulation is strong enough. Continue reading…
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So are you ready? We’re going grain free for a week. You can do this! You’ve already got your grain free staples on hand, it’s time to get started!
This week’s meals:
Roast pork with sweet potato casserole and salad
Roast pork stroganoff with roasted carrots
Grain Free Cheeseburger Pie with steamed broccoli
Stuffed Turkey Cutlets Wrapped in Bacon with salad and sweet potato casserole.
Creamy Spinach Bake with Ground Beef and Mushrooms
Grilled Tuna Melts with steamed veggies and salad
babystepsandtears 