Baking, quick update and the importance of a schedule

It has been hard trying to figure out what to eat in the mornings. I decided to do some baking yesterday and baked a loaf of carrot/zucchini bread. It came out moist, delicious and was pretty easy to put together. The recipe made so much that I cut up the load into 14 slices and froze half for next week's breakfast. For those who are interested, the recipe can be found here (I added carrots to mine and omitted the nuts. I also did half whole wheat, half unbleached white flour). It was fun to bake but not like it used to be. My hands kept seizing up both as I grated and then stirred all the ingredients. Earlier, I had told my husband that I wanted to bake an apple pie, but in hindsight, I don't think I would be able to make the crust without a food processor. We are planing to get one in due time (a food processor, not an apple pie).

I saw my rhuemtologist for the first time yesterday. She was very nice and we sat for an hour, going over symptoms and medication.  She is putting me on a new medication called plaquenil (anti-maleria drug) and has referred me to an ophthalmologist (yet one more doctor) as it can cause eye damage in some. They like to do an eye exam within 3 months of when you start the medication and then have you go for checkups every 6 months. Thankfully, most eye damage that it does cause it reversed in 6 months if caught early and the medication is stopped. I made my appointment today for the ophthalmologist and they all seemed very nice in there. The converstation when something like:

Me: I would like to make an appoinment for an eye exam.
Receptionist: Routine?
Me: No, my rhuematologist referred me.
Receptionist: Oh, you must be starting plaquenil.
Me: Yup

We then preceded to talk about my condition and then it lead to small talk. She was very friendly and I just hope that the doctor is just as nice. My appointment, however isn't until the end of October, which I find a bit annoying. It is nice, however, that their office is right down the street from home, and in the same building as all my other doctors (minus my pcp).

Something that I forgot to mention in my last blog post about Liam; He is trying to eat with a fork! I have been giving him toddler forks and spoons to play with at dinner and last night he had pasta, chicken and spaghetti sauce. He was stabbing the food (not really getting much on there) and then putting it in his mouth. I am not sure if he is mimicking what the other toddlers are doing at daycare but its super cute!


I just wanted to end the post on the importance of keeping a schedule.We have been getting into a great schedule over the past two weeks and it has really helped with both Liam napping as well as sleeping through the night. He knows that he gets a bottle when he first wakes up, then downstairs for breakfast. He starts to get antsy around  the time when we are suppose to be heading to daycare. After daycare, we get home late afternoon and he knows dinner is at 5. Then is bath, sippy, and bed by 6/6:30.

This schedule works great except on the weekends when there is no daycare. Last weekend he was all confused and kept running over to the babygate to get out. I finally decided that we were to do our grocery shopping and he seemed happy to get out of the house. Also on the weekends, he still wakes up at 5:30/6am, which means, we are up as well. This provides us with the opportunity to eat breakfast together and then go for a morning walk before the sun gets too hot. Once work starts, I hope to stick to this schedule. It will be a little different Tuesdays and Thursdays (I go in earlier) but hopefully it won't be too much of an adjustment.

Read More

13.5 months old! Daycare Update, First hair cut, 3 new molars

Ever write a blog post and it get lost in cyber land? Sorry for the delay. This will be try #2 for an update.

Liam is 13.5 months old and has been doing GREAT at daycare. He started out last Monday and was crying the entire time I was there with him. It made me so nervous to leave him but as the day progressed he had a great time. I didn't  even get a hug when I picked him up.

It is now into the second week and hes both eating and sleeping well. He gets excited to go to daycare but it still apprehensive when I leave. I treasure our mornings together which starts with him waking up any time between 5am and 6am, him cuddling with me with his morning bottle, breakfast, and then us listening to music while we either play with legos or "fold laundry" (which is really just Liam bunching clothes up in his lap or throwing them over the baby gate).

Our "new diet" has been going well and I did write a new blog post on it. This, too, got lost and so in due time I will write again about all the food choices we have changed to, as well as my new shopping routine and cooking strategies. But in short summary, we are eating well and I found a great new store: Trader Joes.

Liams lead levels came back and they are down another point! He now at a 9 (Steve's excellent post on our lead ordeal). As instructed, we are giving him fresh fruits and veggies along with a vitamin supplement with iron. I told his pediatrician that the vitamin was staining his teeth and we were instructed to brush right after he takes it. He loves his new Thomas tooth brush and once he starts his new daycare (September 30th), they will be brushing his teeth after lunch as well. (***Quick update on teeth... I just realized this morning that my little man has 3 more molars that have popped though! That makes the teeth count 11!)

My health is so much better and my nephrologist is thrilled. He says that I am a perfect patient and doesn't want to see me for another 3 weeks. I don't even have to have blood taken for another two weeks. My creatinine went down to one (normal range), and my blood protein is steadily increasing. I still have protein spilling out of the kidneys but he said that will be last thing that will resolve itself. I am also able to take less medication (1500 mg of cellcept, and 30mg of prednisone, half of what I was originally on when I started my medication). The only real complaint I have (besides the tremors, headaches, mood swings and palpatations) is that I have lost a ton of weight. I am down to 106lbs (from 135 I was when I was in the ER in June). He was not concerned and said that it was the prednisone that has increased my metabolic rate. I see my rheumatologist for the first time tomorrow and hopefully all goes well with that visit. I think the only real headache that I am dealing with is the insurance, which I feel I am on the phone to every day.

Work starts up again in two weeks and I am frantically trying to get everything done. We had a small issue with our garden (found an infestation of black nightshade growing by our house) but we are working to resolve that (See Steve's Blog Post). Liam got his first hair cut on Sunday and he now looks like a little boy (and not a little baby anymore).

Cloth Diapers: I finally found a good washing routine for our new washer! Before it was taking me HOURS to get them clean but now I have cut an entire hour off of the total time. Our machine is definitely a learning curve but what I have read, it is important to do a long pre-rinse cycle BEFORE you add the soap. This will ensure no ammonia buildup and no stinky diapers.

Cute moments: He has become very snuggley over the past two weeks, constantly climbing into my lap and sitting while we look at a book or toy. He "cleans off bubbles" in the bathtub if they are on his book and wiping and dipping his hand back into the bathwater until all the bubbles are gone. He even walks up to me, grabs my hand, and leads my around the room. He's growing up so fast but I am loving every new discovery he is making.

That is all for now. I am exhausted. Sorry for the short post. My posts will be getting less frequent as work approaches. I will probably start doing biweekly/monthly updates, unless something inspires me to write.

I will leave you all with a cute video of Liam walking around the park with Daddy.

Read More

Sleeping through the night, Daycare, Processed Food Challenge

Happy August Everyone!

Liam Update: I feel like he's changing every day! Yesterday he got up from a sitting position all by himself and today h'es been doing more and more. He's into EVERYTHING and loves anything that makes sound. His puppy (that plays music) is his favorite. He will press an ear, hand or heart and wait for the songs to start. He's very smart and if my computer is on the couch, with my legs up (to block him), he will actually crawl under my legs to get to the computer. He loves books, bags and "organizing" . He actually loves anything on a string that he can drag around.

He usually has pancakes and fruit for breakfast (or egg and toast) and he will either sit down while watching Veggie tales and eat his breakfast (all on his own!). The other day he was eating strawberries in a little cup. The cup kept tipping over so he moved it to the exersaucer (which has a cup holder) and angled it so that it wouldn't tip over but that he could still get the fruit out. So smart!

He is sleeping through the night!!!! I say this with a tear because I didn't think it was possible. We put him to bed any time between 6-6:30pm and he usually wont wake up till 4:45. I usually will leave him till 5:30 (unless he is hysterical). This morning I gave him a bottle at 5 and put him back to sleep and didn't go up to get him till 6:30. This sometimes works... and sometimes he won't go back to sleep = cranky baby. A couple of times he has woken up at 10 pm (usually if he doesn't finish his bedtime bottle). If he doesn't go back to sleep after 10 minutes I will go in and give him the rest of his bottle which does the trick. I am hoping that I won't have to do that for long. How did it happen you ask? Well, one night I decided that when he wakes up, I was going to wait 10 minutes and see if he would go back to sleep. Nine o'clock rolled around and he woke up crying. I waited. Three minutes later, silence! It was wonderful. So now, my limit to wait is 15 minutes. If he hasn't gone to sleep by then, then he usually won't.

As far as naps, we are down to 1 nap a day but it is a struggle. He is so cranky and tired by 12, hes not sleeping as long as he was when he was taking two naps. But I don't want to go back to 2 naps because we have decided to start him early at daycare. Monday will be the start of daycare and it will give me a chance to get ready for school for the fall semester. It's very hard to work with him around. When I am on the computer, he wants to pound on the keys. The only thing that distracts him is Veggie Tales (and I don't want to play that ALL day).

Cloth Diapers: We are back in cloth diapers and so far so good. Washing them has become a challenge as I am still learning how much detergent and water to use with the HE machine. Washing uses less water than our old machine but the process now takes twice as long. Drying also takes longer but I am letting them air dry outside instead.

Health Update: I had a doctors appointment this past Tuesday, and got my blood results back the next day. My creatinine is now down to 1.2 and my protein is down to 3mg from 9! He also said that my potassium is now low and that I need to incorporate that back into my diet (with pleasure!). I am to stay on my low sodium diet (which I will go into more detail below) and I am ok with that. I am feeling a bit better with all the medication and I have been trying to go for small walks early in the morning (when the sun is low, with a hat and sunscreen). Some days my joints hurt or seize up but I am seeing my rheumatologist in two weeks. They will probably put me on more medication to keep the lupus at bay but I will wait and see what he says. Besides the joint pain and muscle spasms, I am also experiencing heart palpitations and tremors. This is "all normal side effects" from the medication but it is rather annoying. I can't wait till they can tone down my pills.

One thing my doctor was concerned about was my white blood cell count. He told me that I was at 2mg, where as a healthy person is at 3000-4,500mg. I am not healing very well with any cut and I am very susceptible to getting sick. He told me to stay away from malls, busy stores and crowds. We did go to the library yesterday but it wasn't crowed and I didn't go near anyone.

Processed Food Challenge: Due to my low sodium diet, I have been a hawk at watching labels. Then this study came out: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/06/scientists-officially-link-processed-foods-to-autoimmune-disease.html. They have officially linked processed foods to autoimmune disease, specifically the processed salts in foods! So Steve (husband) and I have decided to change our diet. This change won't happen over night but as we learn what to eat, we are hoping to live a better, healthier lifestyle. We are not going to go completely raw (as we are both carnivores at heart). We also are not going to cut out all sugar or flour just yet. Baby Steps. We are going to make our own sauces, pancakes, bread, and stop buying boxed/canned foods. We are also going to try and increase our produce intake. Wish us luck!

Read More