Keeping On

Today I finally accomplished a couple of things I've been meaning to do for a week! I got my ghee ready - yeah! It was a little trickier than it sounded - either that or my hands just aren't steady enough. And - I finally peeled a tomato and added some to their soup. I waited awhile to add tomato because I've wondered if D reacted in the past. Hopefully there won't be any problems.

Robert brought home a couple of meats the boys haven't had since we started intro - leg of lamb and a pork roast. I'm not expecting any problems and I'll like the variety. I take that back - they had pork loin 3 or 4 days ago. I don't think they've ever had lamb, though.

D is still taking out his lower appliance occasionally, but seems to be accepting it better.

Day 17

I haven't posted in a couple of days. A combination of being busy and not feeling quite up to par. Hopefully I've turned the corner and will be back to my usual self.

Forgot to make the ghee, so I'll be doing that today. I also have some bone broth in the slow cooker to put into jars. I feel like we've been stuck of Stage 2 of Intro forever. I think it was a good idea not to add new things right before or after getting the boys fitted with appliances, though.

The boys had their appointment with the osteopath 2 days ago. She was very pleased with how they are doing. J is going through a lot of changes. Since the visit he has had fewer tummy aches. I think the visit also helped D with his appliances. He still takes the lower one out occasionally, but seems to be leaving it in longer. I talked with the orthodontist and she said he is removing it because it is in the way of his tongue. Apparently his tongue has not been resting up at the roof of his mouth like it should and the lower appliance is in his way. She also said his tongue might actually be getting tired/sore and he wants a break from having to lift it up. Having his tongue stronger and staying in the right place will help his speech.

Week 2

It's been 14 days since we started intro. Overall things are going pretty smoothly. I increased their probiotic this morning. J had a little tummy ache (possibly related) and we didn't notice any differences from D.

Tomorrow they'll get their first dairy in 6 weeks, ghee. Ghee is clarified butter which contains no milk proteins.

D is doing better with his lower appliance, but is still drooling a lot. We have a call in to the dentist to see about having her put a couple more little bumps on the teeth to help hold the wire still. We think the fact that his tongue can wiggle the wire is one reason why it bothers him.

The beginnings of straight teeth

We're back from the dentist. Both boys cooperated well with getting the lightwires put in, though J was only able to get the upper jaw done. The lower appliance will wait a month, hopefully his molars will erupt a little more and make things easier.

Since we got home, it has been a bit of a challenge. The lightwire appliance is removable, for cleaning, etc. and D has been removing his. Hopefully he hasn't managed to bend it so it doesn't do its job.

All adults in the house are a bit stressed trying to keep an eye on him - the last time he took out an appliance he tossed it in the garbage! I guess we know his opinion on metal in his mouth. The last couple of hours he's been leaving it alone, so hopefully the worst is over. If I can manage it, I'll take some pictures of their ALF appliances to post.

Another Day Another Soup

Day 10

No new foods today - just same old same old. I put a roast in the crock pot for dinner, and hopefully lots of leftovers for tomorrow.

We've held steady with diet and probiotics the last couple of days because tomorrow is likely to be interesting. The boys are getting their teeth fitted with ALF (Advanced Lightwire Functional) appliances. It's been pretty obvious for awhile that the boys were going to need to get their teeth straightened, but I really dreaded traditional braces - and I didn't think D could handle getting the impressions made. Lightwire was recommended by our osteopath, and since D has made great progress in self-control and tolerance of situations he doesn't like we went forward. Both boys had CT scans done so the orthodontist could see just how the bones of their skulls fit together and design the appliance appropriately. If you do a search on Advanced Lightwire Appliance you can get lots of information about the philosophy behind them and their advantages to traditional braces. We're hopeful that getting their jaws better aligned will help both their speech and their digestion.

Day 9

Great news today! I weighed J and he has gained 2 lbs back! When we first took out dairy he lost about 3 lbs. as I learned to compensate for that lack of calories. As we've been giving him food more often, and being more generous with the fat in cooking the weight is coming back. He still looking really skinny, but it seems we've turned the corner.

Another calorie source - After cooking up the chicken for broth I had Robert blend the skin, soft cartilage, fat and some meat together and I've been adding it to soup. They eat it fine (probably because they are clueless as to what is in it. I know another Mom who does GAPS puts the blended carcass into sausages. I think I might try that as well.

I'm getting into a routine making soup - now I just need to expand things a bit. As we add some more foods I'll be able to make some more interesting meals. Luckily the boys really don't care what is put in front of them. D has even stopped asking for foods he is not allowed. He did sneak some raw carrot the other day (probably while I was cooking) and it went through him undigested. Proof his guts need some more healing.

Week 1

Robert and I went out to dinner last night with our PSP Board. It was great being out with friends and not worrying about what the boys were eating, etc. Jen and Liz took care of things which was a real blessing.

Yesterday afternoon I started a new batch of sauerkraut, here's hoping it turns out. I found out it is much easier to get liquid from the shredded cabbage if you add the salt before you knead it. I also ran half the cabbage through the juicer, just to make things easier.

Today I've been a bit tired, so we've been using up the leftovers. It's cooking time again tomorrow!

We're at the end of our first week of intro. The boys have (mostly) stopped asking for foods they can't have. They seem a bit more tired than usual, but overall things are going well. I'm adjusting to the amount of food I need to cook, and learning to ask for chopping up help as needed. Robert did 2 onions and 2 green peppers yesterday.

The boys are eating: beef, chicken, carrots, cauliflower, broccolli, onions, peppers, butternut squash, zucchini, peas, green beans, garlic, eggs (raw yolks or soft-boiled). It seems like I'm missing a veggie, but that is quite a few things.

Day 5

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho it's off to the store we go. Went to the Natural Grocery Store in El Cerrito to buy meat today. I got 2 chickens, quartered, and 3 lbs of frozen, organic beef bones. While we were there I also got eggs and carrots. It's nice that they'll cut up your meat for you. They've also got some nice stuff there (pricey, but looks delicious!) that we might try when the boys are back to eating roasted and grilled meats.

So - chicken for supper, along with butternut squash, carrots and broth. I'm cooking both chickens, hopefully the meat will last a couple of days! I'll also have a couple more quarts of broth. This batch I'll get to freeze, since I still have some from the last batch in the refrigerator.

The boys got a soft boiled egg this morning, cut up in their soup. I increased the amount of sauerkraut they're getting and continued the probiotic at the same level. Reactions are staying mild and manageable.

I haven't written about the boys educational/theraputical program, mostly because I have been so focused on food. If I'm not cooking it, I'm planning or buying. My head only holds so much information these days. The girls have been doing most of the program getting done the last 2 weeks. They are ramping up the number of activities they can do - and will get a pay increase soon. I get my computer time while they are monitoring the boys Samona Sound Therapy. The sound therapy has really helped D's hypersensitivity to some sounds and J's ability to distiguish beginning and ends of words.

Robert and I have been reading to and with the boys. Their attention span is better and they are recognizing more words.

Eating Like Hobbits

General consensus in our house is that the boys have become Hobbits. They need to eat 6 times a day. I often leave a pot of soup/stew simmering on the stove so they can have something quickly. They have also decided that carrots, cut into sticks and cooked, are just fine cold.

I went to WalMart yesterday and bought some Pyrex storage bowls w/ lids. I also bought more wide mouth glass jars. Now I just need to get into the habit of prepping more in advance.

Today we'll include more sauerkraut juice and egg yolk in their meals. We've also added butternut squash to the foods they are eating. Hopefully that will help their bowels.

Starting Stage 2

It's Day 3 of our Intro diet.

This morning I moved into Stage 2, stirring a raw egg yolk into their hot soup at breakfast. They looked at it dubiously (yellow broth???) but ate. I also continued with the probiotic and sauerkraut juice as we have not had any severe negative reactions. The boys have been a bit tired and J has a slight rash on his arms. It's funny what you see when you're looking. I mentioned the rash to Robert and he said, "He's had that before. He just gets a rash sometimes." When he said that, I realized it was true. Since his digestion is poor, sometimes he has more toxins than he is getting out of his system the usual way and he ends up with a rash. So. . . an issue for J that the diet will hopefully fix - that I didn't even realize he had.

A couple of weeks ago I bought 4 lbs of organic, grass fed, beef femur bones from the Natural Grocery store in El Cerrito. I cooked them in the crock pot for a day, and last night Robert and I strained the beef bone broth and put it into jars. Next time I think I'll only cook it for about 12 hours. Since they'd been cut so the marrow showed it didn't need as long and the marrow didn't look as good. I'm going to need more small containers to freeze daily portions. At the moment it is in jars in the refrigerator. Bone broth is a good source of calcium, which the boys need as we are not doing dairy right now. They'll drink warm broth with encouragement as long as most of the fat is skimmed off.

Shopping is nearly a daily task. I'm still learning just how much they eat. I think the boys ate over 1 1b of carrots yesterday. So far they've had: beef, chicken, carrots, zucchini, onion, peppers (green & orange), broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and today green beans. I'm being cautious with the garlic as I know D reacts when he gets a lot. We'll need to add more garlic gradually.
They also had a little raw spinach yesterday - the girls forgot that for right now we're cooking everything.

Starting Intro

After many postponements (for various reasons, some valid some not) we have started our first day on the GAPS Intro diet. Briefly, that means the boys are eating vegetables, meats, broth and fats. They also had 1/2 t. of saurkraut juice in their soup this morning. I am hoping to be able to move through Intro fairly quickly since it is hard to get enough food into Justin and he doesn't need to lose weight.

The rest of us are not doing GAPS right now. I decided that too much cooking would be involved - and some people can have some pretty dramatic symptoms as their guts heal. I decided to wait until the boys have gone through the first several steps and stabilized before we girls join them. Based on my research I think we would really benefit.