Disappointment

Thank you so much, Shannon! These tiny roses bless me everytime I look at them.

We lost the baby.

Friday, my midwife ordered a sonogram, so Kyle took me to the appointment. I was numb as I left the office and we both immediately started talking about having to tell the kids. That's when I cried. I couldn't handle the thought of having my children disappointed in this way.
Kyle gathered the four big kids and told them. Maya started bawling immediately. We knew she would. Then Elena broke down and cried on my shoulder for a long time. Isaac quickly busied himself washing dishes. Chloe watched everyone's responses with a stoic countenance. Then she started talking about what we were going to do that night.
I am hopeful that this will be a growing experience for my children, spiritually. I am praying that they will learn to lean on God in their sadness, and realize how trustworthy and merciful He is. He is faithful; He is my comfort.


P.S. For those who were concerned about White Willow Bark, I didn't take it while pregnant, but the baby stopped growing 3 weeks ago anyway.

Anti Antibiotics

So, what's so wrong with antibiotics anyway? I mean, there must be some good reason why you'd be willing to hole yourself up with garlic breath for something as serious as Strep, right?

If antibiotics have no side effects, why not? The problem is that they do.

Antibiotics disrupt the immune system, and kill beneficial bacteria along with the pathogens. * Antibiotics also tend to create resistant strands of bacteria so that they do not work effectively when they are really needed. ** A further complicating issue is that strep bacteria typically do not disappear from the throat after a course of antibiotics. The bacteria will persist even after signs of the infection have disappeared. If a throat culture is taken after some later date, the bacteria will still be present and another antibiotic prescription will follow even though there is no active infection. Finally, studies have shown that when antibiotics are given for strep throat, the infection tends to recur more often than when they are not prescribed.

-Taken from Holistic Pediatric Association.


* This is why many people who take antibiotics, also consume lots of Acidophilus, to counteract this. They're helping to avoid the common resulting yeast infection.

** Any doctor who tells you otherwise, is a doctor who should be replaced. You're in charge. Hire a new doc.

Brace Face

Elena got braces! Only six because those are the only teeth that are a concern, but she does have crazy crooked teeth. She knows, it doesn't hurt her feelings. To her, it just means she get braces. How cool is that?!
I wish I could have captured this moment better. Elena just had the braces put on and was asked to rinse the "yucky taste" out of her mouth. All 5 siblings are standing there next to her, swishing imaginary mouthwash. The orthodontist was laughing, "Look how supportive they all are!"
Elena is extremely proud of this new smile. And since she isn't out-schooled and won't be able to truly experience the name-calling that goes along with braces, Kyle and I have taken to calling her "brace face" and "metal mouth". She just giggles. 

White Willow Bark

I was totally giddy about finding this herb! Tylenol has been my last hold out as far as drugs I'm willing to take, even though I know good and well it depletes the body of Vitamin C. There's an herb for everything, and this one is much better than the medical substitute.
When I decided that there just must be an herb I could take for pain, I looked it up in my handy-dandy, favorite herb book. It never lets me down. I found some very interesting information:

In 1827, Leroux, a French Chemist extracted a substance he called "Salicin" from the bark of the White Willow tree. Salicin is the pain relieving, main active ingredient of White Willow. In Germany, in 1899, Hofman and Bayer created a synthetic form of White Willow and marketed it commercially as "aspirin".

Aspirin is simply a synthetic form of White Willow. It performs the same role in the body as aspirin, but doesn't have the side effects of aspirin.

The three major uses of White Willow Bark:
1. Reduces fever
2. Pain reliever
3. Anti-inflammatory

Sound familiar?

Thank You, Joshua!

My good friend, Lis, came over last night to do a book swap with me. In the bag of books that she left were these "Get Well" flowers made by her kids, Joshua and Candace. Isn't that a beautiful flower bracelet?  Candace made that for me. I love it and wore all evening.  

Joshua also gave me more Get Well flowers with long stems. I put them in my crystal vase. It's the fanciest vase I have. I wanted to show off my beautiful flowers. 

I absolutely love these, Joshua. Thanks so much to both of you for being so thoughtful!

Journal From One Quarintined, Pt. 2

Thursday:

Throat no longer hurting and swelling has gone down noticeably. I can talk again, without sounding like a have a golf ball in my throat. Great feeling. I'm not keen on embarrassing myself with nasal speak.

Still have a fever and serious sinus congestion. Boiled a pot full of water, added 2 tsp of Peppermint leaves, 1 heaping tsp. each of rosemary and thyme. That makes me want to sing a folk song, but I'm too tired to do that. Instead, I let the herbs steep in the hot pot of water for 10 min, then turn it to med-low heat and stand over the steam with a towel over my head. Takes a few minutes to break through all the congestion, but I start breathing through my nose again. An amazing feeling! I inhale the steam as long as I can stand there. It feels fantastic. Such relief!

I do that several times a day, in addition to the 6 cloves of garlic, and 10,000 mg of Vit. C. Also added GSE drops to my neti-pot, to kill any infection in my sinuses.

Feeling much better by now, just really weak. Awake a lot more, just lying around a lot. Kyle bought me kefir smoothies and greek yogurt. That was my first food.

Journal From One Quarintined

This is what took place last week, while I was puny.

Tuesday AM:

Woke up with a fever and dry throat.
Took one clove of raw garlic, set the kids up with a to-do list. Put Elena in charge, since she's the best reader.
Slept all day, waking only to take more garlic. Too tired to take any other vitamins. Not smart.

Tuesday PM:

Woke to discover that Elena made sure everybody got all their schoolwork done and chores too! I'm filled with gratitude. And a bit of wonder. I feel safe being sick.

Throat really hurting. Took two more cloves of raw garlic. One in the afternoon, one before bed.

Wednesday AM:

Woke with a throat on fire. Checked throat with a flashlight in a dark bathroom. All the tell tale signs of Strep throat. Oh crud!

More fatigued, but more motivated to kick this nastiness out of my body. Kyle set Maya up with a schedule and 6 cloves of garlic to crush for me. She brought me a spoonful of garlic every two hours. I wasn't thrilled to see her as she woke me up each time, but very thankful. Also, added 2000 mg of Vitamin C five times a day.

Again, Maya and Elena took charge of household duties. Kyle closes down school until I'm well. Maya cooks meals and keeps the littles in line; Elena made sure chores got done and the house stayed relatively tidy.

Wednesday PM:

I realize once again how blessed I am. But I'm fed up with this flaming sore throat. Start praying about it for the first time. Later that night, my throat stops hurting and my only symptoms now are fever, extreme congestion, and ensuing sinus pain.

Wishing there was an herbal substitute for Tylenol, but too tired to research it. Took 2 Tylenol to get rid of this throbbing whole-headache. (Turns out, there is an herb for pain, fever, and inflammation. But Tylenol is the synthetic substitute for it, not the other way around. White Willow Bark, sold in capsules in your neighborhood health food store. More later on this.)

To Be Continued. . .