We actually began this Monday morning. We haven't seen any amazing results come out of the first 4 days, but we are definitely noticing some die-off symptoms from the toxins being released (so far, only mild, but it's a good sign). Some upset tummies, slightly more eczema, a grouchy little boy, a really grouchy mama, some flushed cheeks.

I think this diet is really doing something, though. I couldn't really tell, until I cheated slightly yesterday. I was tired and emotional, and I caved and had 1/3 cup coffee with a tad of cream and unpasteurized honey. I paid for it. Oh, did I pay for it. My stomach reacted with the worst cramps I have had since I used to have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I will NOT cheat again. At all.

What did I learn from my experience? That you cannot interrupt a gut that is being healed. It is a slow and careful and fragile process. My gut has obviously been beginning to heal more than I thought, and this teeny amount of coffee threw it for an absolute loop. Learn from my mistake and obey the diet, whether you're hungry, frustrated, emotional, or tired.

Making the Food

The food preparation has not been as challenging so far as I anticipated. I spent some time last week making beef bone broth in preparation, and then more time on Saturday and Sunday cooking a chicken, making chicken broth and making a soup for Monday morning. It was well worth it to spend some extra time preparing to begin. Making food in large batches and utilizing my crockpot and leftovers has helped so much.

We did find that we had to quickly adjust and make a few small changes to the diet. I had been hoping that we could stick to the first stage of the Intro diets (blended meat and veggie soups, with a bone broth base) for a week or so, but we just couldn't do it. We lasted 1 1/2 days before we were all starving and frustrated and felt like we needed something else to eat!

We added in a couple of foods, based on the GAPS diet/SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is very similar). We chose to add in eggs (lightly cooked for the children and I, but hard-boiled for my hubby as he doesn't care for eggs very much at all). We also added organic, peeled and cooked apples, and small amounts of lacto-fermented liquids and some sauerkraut. Lastly, we've started eating some more stew or just meat and veggie type meals, but still ensuring that everything is very well cooked and that we all consume bone broth along with each and every meal. We will do this for the rest of the week, and then start to slowly add in other introductory foods.

A few of you have asked for recipes, but I don't really have any to share yet. I have been making soups and now some stews, but they are just out of my head. I'm going to share about soup making (without a recipe) early next week.

There were also two excellent questions from last week that I wanted to make sure I addressed:

lizzykristine asked: I am curious whether you are still nursing?

The answer is yes. In fact, Johanna is still exclusively breastfeed (meaning she does not eat any solids) at nearly 7 months. How does this affect me doing the GAPS diet?

For one thing, it means I need to eat and eat and eat. It's hard to stay full enough and eat enough calories on this diet while nursing a little chunky monkey of a baby. It also means that I need to control my toxin die-off and keep it slow.

That is why after feeling sick on Tuesday, I realized that I needed to add a few foods back in to help slow down the detoxification and keep me more full and able to produce enough milk. I have also kept my probiotic use very minimal so far, which is another way to keep the detox level low. For more on cleansing while breastfeeding, see this post.

Photo by everydaypants

Ali said: So when do you have time to fellowship with the body of Christ, or have a Bible study in your home? Do you invite unbelieving ladies in your community to your house and teach them your cooking skills and weave in the Gospel... I just think this takes it way beyond NT and cooking well and healthfully... It just seems to elevate our bodies and food to such a higher level than may be necessary (and I know our bodies are the temple of Christ, but I don't think this is a good example of applying that).

This is a really excellent question! I have a few thoughts on it. First of all, cooking healthfully does take more time, but I have found that the longer I do it, the easier it gets. I spend a bit more time in the kitchen than many of my friends, but I also enjoy cooking and nutrition, I do it with my children, and it is also a part of the ministry that I feel called to, both on this blog and sharing our lifestyle with those we know in real life. I don't spend my days doing much (if any) frivolous stuff or even hobbies that I enjoy. I'm busy, focused and try to be as intentional as I can.

I try to use my time wisely, and that includes making time for more than just church on Sundays. Serving and loving others has a definite place in our lives (though I wish it was even more prominent). We regularly have people over to our home, many of them Christians for fellowship, and sometimes unbelievers as well. I haven't found doing special diets to be incompatible with either fellowship or ministry.

When others invite us over, they are very often willing and eager to work around our dietary needs. If I think it's too much for someone, we might have them over to our house instead. I will happily cook up foods that we wouldn't normally eat to bring to others who eat differently than we do, when bringing a meal to someone. Just last night we had a couple over for dinner- I served them soup that we could all eat, and I made a batch of cornbread specifically for them (which we didn't eat). No problem!

Lastly, serving my family is one of my highest priorities. How can I focus my attention on others outside of my home when I haven't first attended to the needs of those whom God has specifically given to me to care for? If my family is in poor health, it impacts how we serve others. It is difficult to pour ourselves into Kingdom work when we are dealing with significant health problems. We want to be as healthy and whole as we can be, so that we can be fully available to the opportunities that God allows us.

More to Come

I will continue to share on some things related to GAPS. Next week I will post about how I make homemade soups from scratch, without recipes, a very valuable skill for doing this diet!

I have also planned another GAPS update later in the month, as well as some tips for improving your digestive health even if you aren't up for doing a specific diet like this one.

Anything else you would like to see covered the next time I write about GAPS? Has anyone else begun or planned to begin the diet?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• The GAPS Diet: Why Our Family is Doing It
• Q&A- My thoughts on birth control | Keeper of the Home
• Q&A: Homemaking and Mothering | Keeper of the Home
• Q&A: Blogging and Balancing Time | Keeper of the Home

I'm headed to Nasvhille, TN where I will be attending Blissdom '10 and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am! Myself and 500 other female bloggers will be gathering to meet, share, talk, learn, network, discuss, strategize, glean, laugh, eat... I have a feeling there won't be a dull moment.

Sadly, it means that for 5 days I will be leaving three of my most favorite people in the world:

Daddy playing with Abbie and Caden on Christmas morning.

Honestly, what will I do without my best friend in the whole world and the two sweet little faces I love to look into each and every day?

Abbie is one cool dude, eating her oatmeal.

My sweet Caden, surprised and thrilled by "too many Clifford" books on Christmas morning.

Fortunately, I'll be bringing one darling little package with me on my journey:

My not-so-little girlie, Johanna, who is still definitely too little to be left without me (she's 5 months old now). I'm glad to have her as a traveling companion. Someone needs to keep me in line.

I leave for Seattle tomorrow afternoon and will be flying out bright and early at 6am Thursday morning. I'll arrive in Nashville by the mid-afternoon, in enough time to get settled at the hotel, get gussied up and attend my first cocktail party where I will start meeting some incredible, inspiring, fantastic women... I'm absolutely stoked to meet the likes of Crystal (Money Saving Mom), Amy (MomAdvice), Amy (Amy's Finer Things), Tsh (Simple Mom), Jessica (Life as Mom) and so many others I can't even begin to mention them. Wow. Can you say way too much fun?

I'll be there for the conference all day Friday and Saturday, and then spend Sunday attending church and hopefully doing a little sightseeing. I'll fly home, weary but happy, on Sunday afternoon and evening, then drive back from Seattle on Monday morning. Phew!

If you're going to Blissdom as well and want to connect, please send me an email (stephanie (at) keeperofthehome (dot) org) or tweet me as soon as you can so that we can try to find a time to connect- I'd love to meet with you! Or if you live in Nashville and have some ideas for my Sunday, please get in touch with me as well.

While I'm gone, I will do my best to get up a live-blog post or two (and I will definitely be tweeting the conference- @keeperhome). I've also got a couple of wonderful guest posts scheduled for you to keep things going while I'm traveling and then back home recuperating/doing laundry/loving on my family.

I can't wait to share with you about my experience and some of the things I learned at Blissdom! And with that, I'm off to Nashville!

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• I’m joining in the Spring Cleaning Party! | Keeper of the Home
• I Tweet! (Oh yes, I do!) | Keeper of the Home
• My Experience at Blissdom ‘10 | Keeper of the Home
• No, you’re not going crazy | Keeper of the Home

Ryan is doing much better, though the health issue remains and no diagnosis was made or treatment given. We are pursuing his health further through alternative methods only, since conventional medicine does not seem to have anything to offer us in this regard. The doctors do not know what is wrong and claim that there is really nothing wrong, since they can't diagnosis it through their standard medical tests. We beg to differ, as there is most certainly something physically wrong that is not going away! However, we have much peace about it as we continue to trust God for His healing and grace in this situation, and we are just asking Him for direction and guidance as we pursue more natural avenues for understanding what is wrong and how to treat it. This is our usual inclination in times of illness anyways, but we felt this had gotten to a point of seriousness where we were willing to give conventional medicine a try. Well, at least we gave it a try, right? Back to looking at it from a wholistic point of view!

Our lives have continued to be a bit hectic since Ryan's return home from the hospital. Ryan's father's wife, whom I mentioned was in a battle with brain cancer, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday afternoon. We spent Thursday morning searching for a flight, then the afternoon driving Ryan to the Sea-Tac airport so that he can go be with his father and attend the funeral in Florida. The children and myself are staying with my parents-in-law in Seattle until Monday afternoon, when we will pick Ryan up and head back home to Canada.

We are all doing well in general. Abbie and I had the flu for several days, and the timing was difficult with all else that was going on, but God was faithful to sustain us and allow me to get done all that needed to be done. Thankfully the littlest ones didn't catch the flu from us. I am enjoying a few days of being able to rest a bit more, under the care of my wonderful mother-in-law, as I regain my physical strength and energy from all that has happened in the past couple weeks. I look forward to being home and back to blogging early next week, but for now, my focus is on recuperation and providing stability for my kids.

Again, thank you for your kindness and prayers! What a blessed woman I am!

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Quick Update | Keeper of the Home
• Seasons of Difficulty | Keeper of the Home
• Surprise Getaway | Keeper of the Home
• Pregnancy Update: 32 Weeks | Keeper of the Home

Reflection on a Difficult Year

Reflections on a Difficult Year, Part 2 (focusing on the body of Christ and how it functions)

Reflection on a Difficult Year- Practically Serving Those in Need

Any of your own reflections to add on walking through your own particular difficult seasons of life?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Family Update | Keeper of the Home
• A change of plans | Keeper of the Home
• Quick Update | Keeper of the Home
• A Grander Vision | Keeper of the Home

I wish that I had a wonderful update for you all, letting you know that the doctors know what is wrong and things are looking promising, but it's just not true. Every test so far has come back absolutely normal, and as our kind doctor said this afternoon, all that he has right now is question marks. Same goes for Ryan and I. Diagnosis, though difficult, can sometimes be easier than the not knowing or having no answers as to what will bring healing.

Today was also difficult in other regards. Around noon, we listened in disbelief and sorrow as one of Ryan's hospital roommates went into a code blue. His heart stopped, and he was not resuscitated, as his suffering was so great at the end of a long battle with lung cancer. We heard his adult children and his wife weeping openly, and then recite Psalm 23 as a family... "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...". It broke my heart.

It seems that illness and death are all around us. Last night while watching a video with our children in the hospital lobby we saw friends from an old church, and discovered that he, too, was in a battle with cancer. My husband's father's wife who lives far away from us is currently in her own battle with terminal brain cancer and is literally hanging on by a thread the last several days.

Life is fragile. We are like the grass the grows and then withers and will one day be gone.

And yet, we have so much hope.

God, in His absolute goodness, has already met our greatest need by saving us from His much-deserved wrath and instead flooding our lives with incredible grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. We have never been promised lives of ease, free of pain or sadness or loss. We are broken people, living in a broken world. Yes, God can absolutely heal, and yes, I believe that He is more powerful than we can even imagine. I don't doubt His ability to do great and gracious things among us during our earthly lives, and yet that is not what I hold out hope for. I've said it before and I'll say it again... our hope is not in physical healing, in perfect health, in happiness here on earth.

Our hope is in what's to come. In the One who saves and whose face we will one day gaze upon, most likely with wonder that we ever doubted His goodness at all.

Are you certain today of the hope that you have and your standing before this God, who though He is merciful is also pure and incapable of allowing the wretchedness of our sinfulness into His presence? If you are, praise Him. Rejoice in what He has done for you and remember once again how fleeting our earthly lives are and how eternal He is.

If you're not sure, I beg with you to visit this site and learn more about the 2 ways that we can choose to live our lives.

Our family would appreciate your prayers throughout this week. For my husband's healing, and particularly for wisdom for the doctors, and for tests and specialists to come through quickly. For our children, to be surrounded by the comfort and peace that only the Holy Spirit can bring. For their mommy, to continue trusting in the Lord and in His goodness, in ALL circumstances and ALL outcomes, as well as simply for strength and energy to continue to take care of all that needs to be done. And especially that we would all look to Jesus through this trial, without fear or anxiety, and bring glory to His name in the midst of it.

I will try to keep you all updated, if not through my blog, then through twitter (@keeperhome).

Thank you, my friends, for the support and prayers I know you always give. I may not know you in real life, but your kindness still touches my heart and your prayers affect my life.

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Family Update | Keeper of the Home
• A change of plans | Keeper of the Home
• Seasons of Difficulty | Keeper of the Home
• Hope in His Goodness | Keeper of the Home

Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas, as you celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. To Christ be all the glory this Christmas season. What a great Savior we serve!

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Giveaway winner! | Keeper of the Home
• Winner of the Hope Ink Print | Keeper of the Home
• Small technical difficulty | Keeper of the Home
• Butter Oil | Keeper of the Home

1) The picture you see above is Johanna's birth announcement. It may make some of you feel oddly comforted to know that I picked them up last week. Yes, she's 4 months old. I figured it was high time we let people know we had a baby! Just kidding. I'm pretty sure they know. But still, it would be nice to actually get her photo and thank you cards out the door and into the mailbox. They're set to arrive with the Christmas cards. Rather ideal timing, I'd say. She's definitely a precious gift. You may also be interested to know that I got them 100% free from Kodak Gallery and picked them up at my local Best Buy.

2) I am working hard to get to the Blissdom blog conference down in Nashville, TN this February! Not only would it be a complete blast and a chance to meet so many incredible bloggers, but I think it would also be such a help for me as I learn more about balancing family life with blogging, how to improve my writing skills, how to work more efficiently and effectively, and so much more. But I could use your help... we're trying to purchase my plane ticket using swagbucks (by buying Southwest Airlines vouchers). I'm definitely on my way towards having enough, but the faster I can earn my swagbucks, the better. If you haven't already signed up for swagbucks, would you consider signing up through my link to help me earn them a little faster and make my way to Nashville? (Pretty please?) To learn a little more about what they are and how they work, see this post of mine.

3) You may be wondering whether the Year of Herbs series will still continue since my announcement to cut back on blogging somewhat. The answer is a resounding YES but I will have to take more time to piece the posts together or they might just be a little bit shorter than the novel I wrote on garlic. Look for one on either Comfrey or Yarrow or Ginger (still deciding) in the first half of January!

4) Is it possible that I've really spent less time on the computer blogging this past week and a bit, despite having a post up every weekday still? As a matter of fact, yes! I have been stricter with my time spent online, using an online timer that I am loving and is really holding me accountable, and just trying to write a bit shorter/easier posts and learn to work more efficiently. I'm delighted that it's going so well! If I feel that I can continue to keep my blogging time more minimal, you will continue to see posts from me, and that would just make me happy. Thank you all SO incredibly much for your kind and supportive words, your encouragement, your accountability and your own vulnerability and honesty. You're such a huge part of the reason that I love doing what I do.

5) Wondering what's in the works for January? I am in the process of planning a month of posts centered around getting organized in our homes! Topics I'm thinking to include: organization in the traditional/whole foods kitchen (non-toxic food storage, what to do with all those jars of soaking/fermenting foods, bulk food storage, etc.), getting recipes in order and making meal planning more simple and efficient (as well as how to fit in food prep, remembering to soak grains, etc.), putting together a homemaking binder (this will probably be covered over the course of a week), making a workable daily routine for my current season of life, planning and preparing for spring gardening, and anything else that comes to mind and fits in. If you have any ideas or requests, leave me a comment and let me know!

6) It's vacation time for me and my hubby. It has been a particularly long and tiring month and we need some R&R. Starting tomorrow we are both taking almost a week-long holiday from our businesses (I'm thinking of putting a padlock on the door of our shared office, though that may be a little extreme- and then again, maybe not). We will be spending some time with my extended family on Christmas Eve and Day, as well as having our very first Christmas morning by ourselves since our oldest daughter was first born (so excited to establish some of our own family traditions!), and then Christmas night we will be driving down to Seattle for a few days with my husband's parents and siblings. I had hoped to put out one more Celebrate with Joy post, about Christmas Eve and Day traditions, but it just won't be possible. I will, however, be posting after Christmas about the holiday of Epiphany (Jan.6) and some ideas for celebrating those "12 Days of Christmas".

How's your online time going? Are you preparing to take some time to rest and stay away from the computer this holiday season?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Simply Celebrating Christmas! | Keeper of the Home
• Time to Get Organized! | Keeper of the Home
• Pregnancy Update: 32 Weeks | Keeper of the Home
• Enjoying my Kids | Keeper of the Home

I've spent the last 4 days on a computer fast, as suggested by my wise and loving husband. He knew that I was a bit burnt out and needed some screen-free time to just regroup and rest. I thoroughly enjoyed taking a break and was eager to come back from the weekend with lots of energy and inspiration for new posts. Instead, I'm going to spend the next day or two putting all of my herb and natural healing studies to good use, as I nurse myself and my daughter through a yucky cold and help everyone else to stay well!

Sometimes it is nice to see how others use herbs to promote healing, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse into what I'm doing so far:

• Got my daughter to eat a small clove of raw garlic with applesauce. Made a delicious piece of raw garlic toast for myself and my husband (I had 3 cloves, he had 2).
• Made a tea with comfrey and ginger. The ginger is especially good for circulation and warming the body, the comfrey is great for the immune system, and both are helpful for decongestion and to draw out the toxins (since a cold is one of the body's ways of healing itself and detoxifying). From what I've read, they work well together, as well as when used with raw garlic. We (my daughter, husband and I) drank our tea with just a bit of raw honey to sweeten it. Both comfrey and ginger are fascinating herbs that I've been studying, so you can look forward to a post on at least one (or both) or them in the next few months.
• I also added a few sprinkles of Cayenne powder to my tea, also excellent for decongestion and circulation. Not enough to make it hot, though. I'm a wimp!
• We took an extra dose of our fermented Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil from Green Pastures, for all the good fats and the boost of Vitamin D (helpful for immunity).
• Made a bed for our daughter on the floor of our bedroom and set up the humidifier (so that the 3 of us who need it- her, myself and the baby who has a mild case of the sniffles) can share it. The warm, moist air will help to clear our sinuses and chests so that we can sleep well, and I added a few drops of Eucalyptus essential oil to help us breathe even more easily.
• I'm about to take a Ginger bath before bed. The warmth from the ginger helps to relieve chills and aches, and speeds up circulation to promote healing, and will also help to clear my nose a little bit more so that I won't have too hard of a time falling asleep. Plus, it sounds relaxing.
• Tomorrow, I'll bring out the chicken broth and make a huge pot of steaming, delicious, nourishing soup for lunch (and maybe dinner, too)!

You can see this older post of mine for some other examples of what I do to naturally help myself get over a cold quicker, or at least feel better (without the use of medication) while I'm in the midst of it.

What types of herbs or other natural treatments do you use to deal with a cold?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Homemade Cough and Cold Syrup | Keeper of the Home
• A Year of Herbs: Garlic | Keeper of the Home
• Making good use of my dehydrator | Keeper of the Home
• Baking Day: Filling my Freezer with “Convenience Foods” | Keeper of the Home

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments, your prayers and your patience with me as I recover and get back to normal! It has meant so much to come on to my blog and read through each of your comments.

I promised to fill in more of the gaps of what's been going on so here goes...

Last Wednesday (a little over a week ago), I came down with a throat infection. It was pretty severe and painful right from the start, included some fever and chills, and I was a bit miserable in general. I started doing everything I could do to boost up my body to get rid of it, including eating oodles of raw garlic and taking Oil of Oregano (for their antibacterial and antiviral properties), lots of fresh vitamin C, herbal teas to boost my immune system, lots of fluids and as much rest as I could manage. The fever and chills went away after about 2 days, but the sore throat remained as bad as ever.

Over the course of the week, my throat remained extremely raw, sore and began to get swollen. Eating, drinking, swallowing and sleeping became very difficult. I started to rotate using Tylenol and Ibuprofen to take the edge off of the constant pain, so that I could attempt to sleep and consume enough fluids and calories to make enough milk for my baby. By Sunday, things were quite bad and I decided on Monday morning to see a doctor. He took a quick look and informed me that it was viral, not bacterial, and that there was nothing to do besides rest and get lots of fluids. He commented that my lymph nodes were a bit swollen but that it was fairly normal, and then he sent me on my way.

Thinking I must be overreacting, I tried to continue on with the things that I was doing to boost my immune system and just wait this virus out. But it was getting harder and harder to get fluids and food into me, as I was starting to lose my ability to open my mouth very wide to take bites, and each swallow as I ate or drank was agonizing. I knew that I wasn't producing enough milk for Johanna, who was acting hungry and fussy. The Tylenol began to not even take the edge off of the pain enough for me to sleep at night.

Early Wednesday morning, after tossing and turning from about 12:00-3:00 am as I tried in vain to sleep through the pain, I decided to call the local nurse hotline. I could barely speak on the phone because my mouth sounded like it was full of marbles. She suggested that I either go to the ER immediately or see a doctor first thing in the morning. Since I couldn't sleep anyways, and was feeling desperate, I opted for the ER. I woke Ry up, told him my plans, packed up Johanna, and went to the hospital.

After about 2 hours, I finally saw a doctor. He spoke with me and took a look at my throat, and told me that he knew exactly what the problem was and that he would have me feeling significantly better within several hours. I was so relieved I could have cried! He said that I had a peritonsillar abscess, which is a fancy way of saying that my throat infection (which was an acute case of tonsillitus) had created a secondary infection on my right tonsil, which had filled a pocket of flesh inside my mouth with infected fluid. It was no wonder I could hardly swallow and only with excrutiating pain- it was very raw and inflammed and nearly the size of a golf ball!

The kind doctor (who had once had a peritonsillar abscess himself, so he was very sympathetic!) informed me that I would need to immediately be put on IV antibiotics, as well as anti-inflammatories to bring down the swelling and reduce the pain. I asked whether the antibiotics were truly, 100% necessary. I am opposed to taking them unless it is truly a necessity for my well-being, not just a way to feel more comfortable or get better a little sooner. Antibiotics are very harmful to the beneficial bacteria in the body and are not something to be taken lightly as it can take months and even years to rebuild the body and replace the bacteria and digestive balance that they destroy! He said that unfortunatley they really were necessary since my infection was so severe, so I consented to receive them.

Before receiving the IV, I made the quick decision (something that I had already been contemplating because I knew this was a possible outcome of my situation) that I would not be nursing Johanna as long as the antibiotics and other medications were in my body. Putting antibiotics into her immature system would destroy all of the good bacteria and immunity builders that she had been receiving through my colustrum and these early weeks of breastfeeding. I am not willing to compromise the foundation for good health that has been being established. So I gave her one last feed, as much as she would take, and then received my IV.

I called my husband and asked him whether he could arrange for his sister to meet me at the hospital in a few hours in order to breastfeed Johanna, as she also has a young baby who is still nursing and she lives near the hospital. He said that he would, and also arranged for our brother-in-law to drive him to the hospital to be with me, and for his sister to watch the older children who had been sleeping up until this point.

While I was waiting for Ryan to arrive, the doctor came back to see how I was doing. The IV had helped to reduce the shooting pain (as the pain had been radiating up my jaw and into my ear), but it really hadn't reduced the pain in my throat. He said that we needed to do a simple procedure to drain the abscess. Honestly, I was really scared of it, especially without Ryan there, but there was no choice and I felt God's peace and comfort in the situation. Fortunately, Johanna slept as they transferred me to a private bed and prepared for the procedure. Basically, they first injected a needle with freezing medication (similar to what the dentist uses) straight into the abscess (ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!). Next, he inserted an emtpy, sterile needle into the abscess and drew out as much of the infected fluid as he could until I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't believe how much he got out, and I couldn't believe how immediatley I felt 100 times better and I could actually swallow. Wow. Mercifully, Johanna slept through the whole thing, beside my bed in her carseat.

Ryan showed up about 30 minutes later, with a cold smoothie in hand for me (sweet man that he is). We had to wait for me to finish receiving some fluids through my IV (they were also giving me several bags of saline solution since I was somewhat dehydrated from lack of fluids.) After that, I was free to go. They kept the IV in my arm and covered it up with gauze, because I am still receiving my antibiotics through my IV every 12 hours at the hospital. I had never heard of this before, but it is a more agressive approach to really severe infections, and in a day or two they will switch me over to an oral antibiotic to finish things up.

So where are things at now?

I am feeling much, much better. I am pretty tired, but that's mostly because I didn't really sleep for one night, so I am still catching up a bit. Other than that, my throat is still a little raw and sore, so I am only supposed to eat cool, soft foods, but it is getting better. I think that all those natural things I did to help with the virus actually did get rid of it, because once the abscess was gone I realized that my sore throat wasn't really there anymore (but rather it was the abscess that I had been feeling the last few days when I thought it was still the virus). I am sleeping well now, even with the IV in my arm, and in a few more days I think I should feel back to normal.

As for Johanna, she has been off of my breastmilk since that last feed before my IV. Since then she has been nursed by my SIL, given milk by a friend, and last night we got her started on formula. This is not my ideal. At all. I've always wondered what I would do in this kind of a situation and when it actually happened, I knew in a heartbeat that I would rather give my daughter inferior milk for a week or so, than to wreak havoc on her little system through the use of unnecessary antibiotics that she would receive through my milk.

In the meantime, I have several darling friends who are pumping for Johanna, providing her with up to 3 feeds a day of breastmilk, and I am going to try and see if I can get a little bit more. For the other feeds, we are using an organic cow's-milk based formula. It had the cleanest ingredient list I could find in a pinch, and included two ingredients (lactose and coconut oil) that the Weston Price Foundation specifies as being extremely important in their FAQ page on formulas. I am using their enriched formula recipe, by adding lightly cooked organic egg yolk as well as cod liver oil to the formula, and my own addition of Udo's brand of infant/toddler powdered bacterial cultures, which includes bifidobacterium infantis, an extremely important culture found in breastmilk.

I really wanted to do the raw milk homemade formula recipe (all of these recipes are also found in Nourishing Traditions), but on such short notice I could not pull together all of the necessary ingredients and sufficient quantities of raw milk to make it happen, and so we went with the stopgap method of using the enriched formula recipe. It is not a perfect option, but I feel at peace about it, especially as she is receiving some breastmilk every day in addition to the formula and it's a very temporary situation.

I am also pumping (and dumping) in order to maintain my milk supply for when the antibiotics are finished. I am also taking advantage of this short nursing break to do a mild cleanse, to help clean my body out a bit of any toxins that have built up. Since I am usually in the cycle of pregnancy-breastfeeding-pregnancy-breastfeeding, I thought that this was a perfect opportunity to do a little "housecleaning".

Right now, life is busy! My days are full, with hospital visits for IV therapy every morning and evening, having to prepare formula and wash and fill bottles, feeding Johanna by bottle (for some reason, it's taking her about twice as long to drink the same amount of milk), pumping to maintain my own milk supply, picking up donated breastmilk, and just trying to keep my head above water with simple meals, basic laundry and the children's needs. Phew! I will be so relieved when this is over in a week or so and life can get back to normal (whatever that is!).

Thank you for your continued prayers for a quick and full recovery and also for Johanna to be able to handle this change in the milk that she is receiving and that we would be able to re-establish breastfeeding quickly and easily when this is all over. I will post on my blog as I am able to and hopefully will soon be back to my regular posting schedule!

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Herbs for the New Mama | Keeper of the Home
• How to Have Natural Childbirth in the Hospital | Keeper of the Home
• Diary of Nursing a Low Milk Supply | Keeper of the Home
• Q&A- My thoughts on birth control | Keeper of the Home

Thank you all so much for your prayers! I know that God was using them this morning, as I was able to get into the ER with a relatively short wait time, and the doctor who was on call knew just what was wrong with me and exactly how to treat it (I'm not sure that every doctor would have known so precisely what to do with my situation. I will fill in the gaps later, but suffice it to say that I felt God's presence very much throughout the ordeal.

I am feeling MUCH better from the procedure that the doctor did. I am, unfortunately, on antibiotics and have to go to the hospital every 12 hours to receive them through IV because the infection was so severe. I truly feel on the mend, though, just as soon as I have a really good, looooong nap!

I'll be back in a day or so... thanks everyone!

With love,
Stephanie

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Family Update | Keeper of the Home
• Meet Johanna! | Keeper of the Home
• Please Pray | Keeper of the Home
• No News | Keeper of the Home