Greetings, mes amies! It has been forever since I've done a "life update," so I thought I should check in, having a rare bit of free time (that is, time that I really ought to be doing something useful but will allot to blogging).
So, what's been going on around here?
Beats me.
Seriously, motherhood has messed with my mind. I am busy 24/7, around the clock, always-always-always busy. And yet I can never come up with anything when someone says "So, what have you been up to lately?"
I usually have to respond with a blank stare while my mind does an (unsuccessful) review of the recent past... coming up with nothing other than meals, childcare, housework, dishes, laundry, etc. etc. etc.
But life is full! Life is good! Life is a constant challenge, a constant stretch, as I continually pursue this new and foreign career of motherhood. Every day is a challenge in a way that I never could have dreamed pre-kidlets.
But in terms of specifics, you've got me there.
We have spent a lot of our time lately being sick. Our eldest missed his last two weeks of preschool being sick, and the two adults of the family had a cold earlier this week, the vestiges of which are still on their way out.
The most important and grievous event of the month was, as I posted earlier, the death of our dear friend Kay, whose terminal cancer prognosis of "eight months" became something like "six weeks," and who left us early last week. We miss her so much.
Kay's memorial service was today, and it was absolutely beautiful. It was definitely the largest I've ever seen - somewhere in between three and four hundred people. A reflection of the beautiful woman whose life was celebrated!
Being that we still had the leftovers of a cold, we sat in the back by ourselves and left right after the service, skipping the reception, but I was so glad that we got to attend.
In the car afterwards, DH and I both spontaneously started talking about how memorial services like these (those done for people who have lived their lives excellently) are so convicting and inspiring. They make us want to focus our lives more clearly on Christ, to live for the Gospel, to reach out to those who need love and care - rather than focusing on selfish pursuits, hobbies, self-interest, etc. It really helps to refocus and rethink the spiritual direction of one's own life when you see the end-result of the life of someone who has really "run the race and finished the fight" in such an excellent way.
After this big weekend, the coming week will focus on our upcoming trip to California... assuming that neither of the children comes down with our cold, in which case our trip would probably be moved or scrapped. Not that I would regret that at the moment - I'm so tired!!! But I know we'll have fun when - and if! - we get there.
Speaking of being tired!
One of my main yowls about motherhood is simply that one does not get downtime while sick! Can I get an amen?? Regardless of how sick one is, the amount of dishes, meals, discipline, playtime, baths, needs-needs-needs-needs stays 100% the same. And saying "Mummy is sick right now and can't play with you" is a sermon that falls on deaf and uncomprehending ears. I know it will get better with older children, but with the younger kidlets, it is exhausting.
Which actually, though unintentionally, brings me to a topic which I wished to discuss! (If anyone has made it thus far through this long and monotonous monologue.)
I have been wanting to write on the topic/theory/philosophy/etc. of.... (dum dum da da dum)..... TTC.
That's right. Fertility aficionados who are in-the-know recognize what I'm talking about.
For everyone else - TTC means "trying to conceive," also known as "being open to children." (In case I didn't make the topical connection well enough, it is that TTC = HG = being very, very sick.)
The question being, of course - Should we? Should we not? Do we even want to? (The answer to that one depends on the day.) Would we be idiots to even consider such a thing? (Yes, probably.)
(And I should say now that we are not really considering this for the immediate future - this is really for future reference.)
Over the past six months, as I've written, I have had four "life questions" in my heart which I have done my best to turn over to God (since He knows the answers!) and to stop thinking about, since I can run myself in circles tormenting myself with unanswered questions that I can't peacefully resolve. Those questions were (1) which church should we attend?, (2) should we school or homeschool?, (3) should we ever consider having any more children?, and (4) what eventual role should I play in the birth community?
Believe it or not, I believe that God has given us answers on #1 and #2.... peaceful answers, with agreement and harmony between DH and myself, and answers that we did not have to hack out with blood and sweat and tears (my usual method) but which were really "given" peacefully over a period of time.
(Aren't you dying of curiosity to know our answers? No? Ah, well. But I shall write on them anyway - another day.)
Question #4 is just as enigmatic and elusive as ever, but I believe that it will stay that way for some time, as it's probably years down the road.
But question #3.... Ah, question #3.
Here are three truths I have written out regarding question #3:
(1) I would love to have one or more additional children. (In fact, were it not for HG, I would probably be a Quiverfull mother and on baby #4 or so by now).
(2) Humanly speaking, it would probably be foolish for us to have any additional children, being that I am unable to cook, clean, discipline, or otherwise care for home and children during a large part of my pregnancy.
(3) As to what God would have us do, I am completely clueless.
I do know that God works in ways that are completely foreign to human wisdom, and that acting with human wisdom can be completely wrong. For example, someone told me once that a special needs child should be aborted so that he wouldn't be a burden on the rest of the family and cause "adverse effects" on their welfare. That is human wisdom at its worst. God can work through so many ways that are foreign to us, so I don't want to write that off. And I can say quite truly that having a second baby (surprise!!!) was a wonderful thing for our family, even though I was doubtful about that fact while I was nauseated and vomiting over and over and over.
Would a third baby be the same?
Or would it be wisest to stop here?
I really don't know. The thought of never having another child grieves me terribly, while the though of having another child scares me to death.
I think most HG mothers know the feeling.
Here's something (sort of) funny that happened a few months ago.
Sometime before Christmas, we had our first real postpartum pregnancy scare. Or rather, I had a pregnancy scare. DH was clueless! (He always is until I show him the positive pregnancy test.)
And here's how it went:
One moment, I would convince myself that I probably was pregnant. My thoughts would run:
Oh God, please, no. I can't do this. I just can't do this. Please don't let me be pregnant. How can I care for a high-energy four-year-old and a special-needs two-year-old when I'm so nauseated that I can't eat, can't move, can't do anything? Please, oh please, don't let me be pregnant. Oh God, I don't know what to do. Please, God, don't let this be true.
Then, the next moment, I would convince myself that I really wasn't pregnant. Then my thoughts would switch to:
Oh, okay. I'm not pregnant, I guess. Gosh, that's too bad. I really would have liked to be pregnant. I miss being pregnant. I'm sure we could have worked it out somehow. It wouldn't have been so bad. We could have pulled it off. I wish I had been pregnant.
Then I would switch back and forth between the two. Constantly. Twenty-four hours a day. Considering that I can go back and forth several times during a three-minute period, it was the quick way to self-tormenting insanity. And it stayed like that all week until the arrival of my cycle proved that I really had been fussing over nothing.
Sometimes I think that finding out that one is pregnant is easier than the waiting.... One now has to face the enemy square-on and fight him, rather than waiting to hear his knock at the door. "Is this it? Is it now?"
My goodness, I wish that I didn't have HG. I wish this problem would go away, or never have happened. I would happily have had ten children with nary a care, and I'd be on at least #4 by now.
Though I will say that HG has brought some incredible blessings into my life, and some lessons that I badly needed to learn. I've posted a bit on that in the past, and I'm going to post more on it when I have time. I needed the life lessons that HG had to teach me. (This isn't to say I'd like to learn them again! Nor is it to say that all HG women have the same life lessons to learn.... God uses individual circumstances to minister to individuals, and the purposes of HG in each woman's life can be incredibly diverse.)
But all that to say, that we do not have an answer to our question. Should we be trying to conceive, be open to children when we feel the Lord's leading, or just be completely done?
I don't know. But I am praying for a peaceful decision on this matter, with perfect agreement between myself and DH, so that we can move into the future and out of this "are we done? are we not?" limbo.
HG mothers of the world, how have you solved this dilemma?
I should add that I am completely in sympathy both with HG mothers who choose to end their ability to conceive permanently, and with those mothers who choose to continue having babies. I am on-board with both of you! So please do not read this post as a judgment on either side, because it is not.
As always, comments and questions are welcome, but only those which are civil, kind, and friendly. Unkind or rude comments are, as always, deleted without reply.
Have an awesome Sabbath, everyone! I am on Day 4 of my "no sugar for Lent" commitment, and have only cheated once! (And I was sick at the time.... I plead temporary insanity.)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Hyperemesis, Vitamin B, and Magnesium
I found this article recently and thought it was quite interesting:
THE MAGIC OF B COMPLEX-B12 AND MAGNESIUM INJECTIONS
Interesting because (1) it's simple therapy, widely available, and (2) it's written by a doctor who actually used the treatment with hyperemetic patients (i.e. it's not just vague theorizing).
Thoughts, anyone?
***
Over here, we are going through yet another round of illness - it's been insane around here this past month! I am victim #1, and DH looks like he's going to be victim #2. Fun stuff!
Have a great Ash Wednesday, everyone! I am giving up sugary stuff for Lent, so we'll see how that goes! I've already cheated with gummy vitamins (I could live off of those things!) and bread with honey, but I did give myself permission to eat honey and dried fruit and not to be too Nazi-ish about the whole thing. But the entire 40 days without dessert? We'll see.
***
Later note:
I am reprinting this article below, which I had THANKFULLY copied into a document, as the link is now dead:
THE MAGIC OF B COMPLEX-B12 AND MAGNESIUM INJECTIONS
Dr. George M. Wolverton
Early in my medical career, my family medical practice included obstetrics. During that time, I delivered approximately 1800 babies. Oftentimes pregnant women in the first trimester would get nausea of pregnancy, or morning sickness. Sometimes an even more unpleasant—and potentially dangerous—condition would develop.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum: “Extended Morning Sickness”
In those days it was not uncommon for a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) to develop. This is a situation where nausea with the first trimester of pregnancy continues with vomiting during the rest of the pregnancy.
The cause of HG is still not fully understood, but the condition is potentially dangerous for both mother and fetus. The pregnant woman often loses weight and becomes dehydrated, leading to nutritional deficiencies (including depletion of B vitamins) and other problems. Sometimes these women need to be hospitalized for up to a week or more to control the condition.
Treatment with Vitamin Injections
Though Hyperemesis Gravidarum was fairly common at Clark County Hospital in those days, my practice rarely saw full-fledged cases of the condition. At the first sign of nausea, I instructed patients to receive weekly injections of betaline or Vitamin B Complex with B-12. I gave them extra Vitamin B-6 in the form of supplements. In addition, I would give them shots of magnesium, which is the cation of youth and which makes intracellular function so much better that the nausea of pregnancy would usually leave.
I would also give these women zinc with the first nausea of pregnancy. Well over 95% of patients fail our zinc taste test to determine zinc deficiency, meaning that most people are deficient in zinc. Utilizing the injections and supplements usually helped women get over their HG relatively quickly, giving them an opportunity to enjoy their pregnancy without “tossing their cookies.”
Vitamin Injections for Fatigue and Other Ailments
I stopped delivering babies in 1983 and actually missed not doing so. As my practice began to age, people would come in with brain fog, chronic fatigue, and generally not feeling very well. I realized that the magnesium and B Complex injections, which had been so helpful for pregnant women, would also benefit many of my other patients.
I would show my patients how to give themselves injections of magnesium on a daily basis and also betaline and B-12 shots every other day, providing that they had enough internal fortitude to do so. Are the shots painful? Yes, but we teach patients how to use a local anesthetic called procaine in the injections so that the pain is not great. However, doing the injections does require you to be “captain of your own ship and master of your own fate,” as the old poem says.
Patients on vitamin injections would often come back to the office several weeks later, saying that they felt like they had dramatically improved. Much of the time, patients on this regimen will feel so much better that they are almost radiant when they come in, merely from “being their own doctor” and giving themselves their own shots.
Of course, I insisted that they follow our wellness program, which avoids chemicals in the food chain by eating organically. I also encouraged these patients to follow our Chelation Therapy program.
Specific Benefits of B Vitamins and Magnesium
Vitamin B actually consists of several separate but interrelated water-soluble vitamins that are important for cell metabolism. The B Complex mixture we use in injections is a combination of several of these: thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), dexapanthenol or pantothenic acid (B-5), and pyrodoxine (B-6). We also include Vitamin B-12, or cyanocobalamin.
B vitamins help improve energy and are often helpful for people with problems like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, anemia, depression, memory trouble, and neurological problems like polyneuritis, among others.
God (the Great Physician) knows all three trillion of the estimated biochemical exchanges going on in each cell of the body. Science only knows how to test approximately 1000 of these biochemical exchanges. B vitamins are believed to be effective in about one out of each five of the known biochemical exchanges in the body. I tell patients who come in with a battery of test results that are all normal—even though the patients feel horrible, with much fatigue and brain fog—that their biochemical deficiencies are quite possibly in the areas that can be corrected by these shots. We may not fully understand why they work, but the Great Physician does. We just know that they do work a large percentage of the time.
Magnesium is also vital to cellular functions. I call magnesium the “cation of youth” because it helps keep the body’s cells young and working properly. Deficiency in this important mineral is relatively common. Magnesium helps with feelings of overall well-being. It tends to have a calming effect and thus can be useful to ADHD patients and also people with high blood pressure. In fact, when a patient comes in to our office with dangerously high blood pressure, oftentimes one of the first things I will do is to give them a magnesium injection, which helps the blood pressure come down relatively quickly. Magnesium injections often help people with headaches and migraines, in addition to many neurological and other issues.
Sublingual B Complex and Magnesium
For patients who for various reasons are not able to take these vitamin injections, sublingual, or under the tongue, drops of B Complex/B-12 and magnesium are available. I believe these drops are not as helpful as the injections, which deliver the nutrients directly to the tissues. However, the drops are better than nothing.
The problem with taking the sublingual solution as opposed to the shots is that the shots deliver the nutrients into your body in 17 seconds, bypassing the “war zone” of the stomach and liver. It is the speed with which the nutrients get into the body that dislodges the “cation of aging” (calcium) from its intracellular place where it has replaced magnesium, which is supposed to be inside the cell. Calcium is supposed to be outside the cell. Chelation Therapy also helps magnesium and calcium stay in their proper places in the body.
It is my conviction that the real magic of magnesium and Vitamin B Complex/B-12 injections is that they help the body to better function the way it was intended to function. These injections helped me successfully treat pregnant women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum without having to put them in the hospital, even with 1800 delivery patients. The injections have also helped countless other patients with a wide range of symptoms and diagnoses. After all, we all need more intracellular energy so that we can live longer, better, and accomplish our impossible dream, as they sing in The Man of La Mancha:
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go […]
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
THE MAGIC OF B COMPLEX-B12 AND MAGNESIUM INJECTIONS
Interesting because (1) it's simple therapy, widely available, and (2) it's written by a doctor who actually used the treatment with hyperemetic patients (i.e. it's not just vague theorizing).
Thoughts, anyone?
***
Over here, we are going through yet another round of illness - it's been insane around here this past month! I am victim #1, and DH looks like he's going to be victim #2. Fun stuff!
Have a great Ash Wednesday, everyone! I am giving up sugary stuff for Lent, so we'll see how that goes! I've already cheated with gummy vitamins (I could live off of those things!) and bread with honey, but I did give myself permission to eat honey and dried fruit and not to be too Nazi-ish about the whole thing. But the entire 40 days without dessert? We'll see.
***
Later note:
I am reprinting this article below, which I had THANKFULLY copied into a document, as the link is now dead:
THE MAGIC OF B COMPLEX-B12 AND MAGNESIUM INJECTIONS
Dr. George M. Wolverton
Early in my medical career, my family medical practice included obstetrics. During that time, I delivered approximately 1800 babies. Oftentimes pregnant women in the first trimester would get nausea of pregnancy, or morning sickness. Sometimes an even more unpleasant—and potentially dangerous—condition would develop.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum: “Extended Morning Sickness”
In those days it was not uncommon for a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) to develop. This is a situation where nausea with the first trimester of pregnancy continues with vomiting during the rest of the pregnancy.
The cause of HG is still not fully understood, but the condition is potentially dangerous for both mother and fetus. The pregnant woman often loses weight and becomes dehydrated, leading to nutritional deficiencies (including depletion of B vitamins) and other problems. Sometimes these women need to be hospitalized for up to a week or more to control the condition.
Treatment with Vitamin Injections
Though Hyperemesis Gravidarum was fairly common at Clark County Hospital in those days, my practice rarely saw full-fledged cases of the condition. At the first sign of nausea, I instructed patients to receive weekly injections of betaline or Vitamin B Complex with B-12. I gave them extra Vitamin B-6 in the form of supplements. In addition, I would give them shots of magnesium, which is the cation of youth and which makes intracellular function so much better that the nausea of pregnancy would usually leave.
I would also give these women zinc with the first nausea of pregnancy. Well over 95% of patients fail our zinc taste test to determine zinc deficiency, meaning that most people are deficient in zinc. Utilizing the injections and supplements usually helped women get over their HG relatively quickly, giving them an opportunity to enjoy their pregnancy without “tossing their cookies.”
Vitamin Injections for Fatigue and Other Ailments
I stopped delivering babies in 1983 and actually missed not doing so. As my practice began to age, people would come in with brain fog, chronic fatigue, and generally not feeling very well. I realized that the magnesium and B Complex injections, which had been so helpful for pregnant women, would also benefit many of my other patients.
I would show my patients how to give themselves injections of magnesium on a daily basis and also betaline and B-12 shots every other day, providing that they had enough internal fortitude to do so. Are the shots painful? Yes, but we teach patients how to use a local anesthetic called procaine in the injections so that the pain is not great. However, doing the injections does require you to be “captain of your own ship and master of your own fate,” as the old poem says.
Patients on vitamin injections would often come back to the office several weeks later, saying that they felt like they had dramatically improved. Much of the time, patients on this regimen will feel so much better that they are almost radiant when they come in, merely from “being their own doctor” and giving themselves their own shots.
Of course, I insisted that they follow our wellness program, which avoids chemicals in the food chain by eating organically. I also encouraged these patients to follow our Chelation Therapy program.
Specific Benefits of B Vitamins and Magnesium
Vitamin B actually consists of several separate but interrelated water-soluble vitamins that are important for cell metabolism. The B Complex mixture we use in injections is a combination of several of these: thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), dexapanthenol or pantothenic acid (B-5), and pyrodoxine (B-6). We also include Vitamin B-12, or cyanocobalamin.
B vitamins help improve energy and are often helpful for people with problems like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, anemia, depression, memory trouble, and neurological problems like polyneuritis, among others.
God (the Great Physician) knows all three trillion of the estimated biochemical exchanges going on in each cell of the body. Science only knows how to test approximately 1000 of these biochemical exchanges. B vitamins are believed to be effective in about one out of each five of the known biochemical exchanges in the body. I tell patients who come in with a battery of test results that are all normal—even though the patients feel horrible, with much fatigue and brain fog—that their biochemical deficiencies are quite possibly in the areas that can be corrected by these shots. We may not fully understand why they work, but the Great Physician does. We just know that they do work a large percentage of the time.
Magnesium is also vital to cellular functions. I call magnesium the “cation of youth” because it helps keep the body’s cells young and working properly. Deficiency in this important mineral is relatively common. Magnesium helps with feelings of overall well-being. It tends to have a calming effect and thus can be useful to ADHD patients and also people with high blood pressure. In fact, when a patient comes in to our office with dangerously high blood pressure, oftentimes one of the first things I will do is to give them a magnesium injection, which helps the blood pressure come down relatively quickly. Magnesium injections often help people with headaches and migraines, in addition to many neurological and other issues.
Sublingual B Complex and Magnesium
For patients who for various reasons are not able to take these vitamin injections, sublingual, or under the tongue, drops of B Complex/B-12 and magnesium are available. I believe these drops are not as helpful as the injections, which deliver the nutrients directly to the tissues. However, the drops are better than nothing.
The problem with taking the sublingual solution as opposed to the shots is that the shots deliver the nutrients into your body in 17 seconds, bypassing the “war zone” of the stomach and liver. It is the speed with which the nutrients get into the body that dislodges the “cation of aging” (calcium) from its intracellular place where it has replaced magnesium, which is supposed to be inside the cell. Calcium is supposed to be outside the cell. Chelation Therapy also helps magnesium and calcium stay in their proper places in the body.
It is my conviction that the real magic of magnesium and Vitamin B Complex/B-12 injections is that they help the body to better function the way it was intended to function. These injections helped me successfully treat pregnant women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum without having to put them in the hospital, even with 1800 delivery patients. The injections have also helped countless other patients with a wide range of symptoms and diagnoses. After all, we all need more intracellular energy so that we can live longer, better, and accomplish our impossible dream, as they sing in The Man of La Mancha:
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go […]
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Really Boring Entry
Believe it or not, I spent a long time thinking about how to title this entry. You wouldn't know it to look at the end result, but I did.
The original title was "How to Prevent Hyperemesis." But, since I really don't know the answer to that conundrum, I didn't want to give anyone that burst of false hope, thinking that I have some wonderful news (which I don't!).
Then I thought that I would call it "Don't Get Excited." But what do we do when someone says "Don't get excited, but...." We get excited, of course! So that title was tossed out.
I finally settled on the most commonplace, boring title that I could come up with, and here it is: "A Really Boring Entry."
Because while the original title "Preventing Hyperemesis" is sensational, the entry itself has nothing much to say.
I have no answers.
But I do have... snippets. Leads. Lines of potential research for HG mamas to look into. And if you find something, for goodness' sake - let me know! I am just going to provide the links and the random ideas. I have no idea if any of them can lead to something concrete, or if they are all rabbit trails.
And, of course, I am talking prevention here. Not mitigation. If you look up "how to prevent morning sickness," almost 100% of the articles that will come up focus on "how to calm down the morning sickness you already have" - and I have blogged tens of articles on this site about everything from breastfeeding to herbs to chiropractic care - things that have helped mamas deal with morning sickness/NVP/HG when it presents. This is about prevention.
And all of these assume that you will be doing something pre-conception, meaning planning ahead.
(1) Detox
A couple of years ago, when we were thinking of starting to TTC (try to conceive), I went to a naturopathic doctor to see if she had any recommendations for preventing HG. She recommended a pre-conception detox regimen, which I did (however, we didn't conceive till over a year later, so it wouldn't have done any good).
There are hundreds of detox regimens out there, but they all follow the same basics - a very clean diet, usually with the elimination of sugar and/or grains and/or meat, along with various herbs and supplements for boosting your body's vitamin/mineral levels and overall health.
And I find it fascinating that two of the three "detoxifying herbs" listed in the Jan/Feb 2011 Sprouts Magazine - milk thistle and dandelion - are herbs also listed for treatment and/or prevention of morning sickness. Coincidence?
The magazine (p.8) notes that these herbs specifically support liver function. Pregnancy is said to put a stress on the liver because of all the additional metabolic by-products that are pumped into the mother's system. Perhaps the two go together? Healthy liver, easier time dealing with morning sickness?
This is one of those things that really can't hurt to try. Even if it doesn't do a thing for HG-prevention, it certainly can't hurt to start pregnancy healthier and with a cleaner, more energetic system.
(2) Diet from a Florida Doctor
A couple of months ago, this story broke on my blog... it was big news, at least for me! Bottom line: There is a fertility doctor, currently practicing in Florida, who developed a very-low-carb (VLC) diet that he uses to improve transfer-success rate for his IVF clients. He noticed that the diet had other unintended benefits - women reported that they had many health problems resolve, such as headaches.... and morning sickness. Even severe morning sickness. He told me, via email, that one woman who had aborted seven times for HG was able to successfully carry to term after using this diet.
Head on over to the above link to read both my article and the original article (hosted on another doctor's blog) to get the full scoop.
Only caveat is that the diet is extremely difficult. So far, it's been beyond me. But you are welcome to try it, and if you want the diet sheets, leave me your email and I'll email them over. Please note that you need at least a few months pre-conception to get settled into the diet and let your body stabilize.
And remember, there are no promises. Just because this has helped other women doesn't mean that it's entirely guaranteed to help you. Please don't neglect to make plans or prepare like you would normally.
(3) Alkalinizing Diet
Busca over at Birth Faith wrote a fascinating article on preventing morning sickness, which you can see here.
(This also links into the detox theory.) It is absolutely fascinating stuff, and I am trying to learn more. I have recently gotten through reading the two books she recommended, "The pH Miracle" and "Green for Life", and am learning a lot about alkalinization and the alkaline diet. Much more to learn, but there is a lot of potential. Check out her article, as well as the comments below it.
I find it interesting that one of the most commonly prescribed morning sickness remedies, lemon water, is also something highly prized in the "alkalinizing community" - it is a highly alkalinizing drink. (Am I the only one around here having trouble typing out the word "alkalinizing?) A possible coincidence, maybe not.
(4) Get Your Body Ready
This means make sure nothing's wrong, your vitamin levels are up, etc. Parts of this could include:
a - Blood Work: Quoting from "Island of Grief, Mountain of of Joy": "Get Full blood work done (addisons disease, H.pylori, thyroid, iron count, vitamin deficiency –especially B)"
b - Take vitamins/minerals/supplements: Omegas/Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Vitamin B, whatever!!! Here is a fascinating article about the efficacy of magnesium and B-vitamin injections for treating HG.
c - Take herbs, such as milk thistle
d - Cleanse/Detox per above
e - Clean up your diet. Unfortunately, "a healthy diet" means so many different things to so many different people. For me, it would look like all-organic, non-GMO diet that tried my best to avoid a number of unhealthy items such as sugar. Right now my diet, though relatively healthy and whole/clean-food, doesn't look like that... because I have huge sugar addictions! And I love to bake! And I love carbs! As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of giving up sugary foods for Lent to try to get a handle on that very thing. More later.
f - You can take a look at my protocol, which included a lot of pre-conception to-do items. And while it wasn't horribly successful, please remember that our baby was a "surprise!!!!" baby, so I did not have time to do most of the pre-conception items.
A few years back, I read Shonda Parker's excellent book "The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy." She is a wonderful woman and an amazing midwife, herbalist, author and health professional. She is also both a hyperemesis mother and what may be termed a Quiverfull mother, meaning that her family does not practice any form of birth control - with the end result that she has a large number of beautiful children!
Mrs. Parker experienced HG with her first baby, when she was not an experienced herbalist or health professional of any sort, and she wrote in her book (I think! Don't quote me, this was a couple of years ago) that she learned how to better support her body with diet and herbs and did not experience HG again until something like her seventh baby, and that was the symptom that tipped her off to the fact that her gallbladder was diseased and non-functioning (and her body thus couldn't handle the pregnancy by-products as well). Grab her book to read up on it (unfortunately, she does not give a lot of details).
To be honest, I don't have a lot of faith in any of these.... "Island of Grief, Mountain of Joy" wrote that she feels like her body has an allergy to pregnancy hormones, and I feel the same way. And the thought of getting pregnant again really scares me (more on this later) because it was so much quicker and harder the second time around - like my body is getting progressively more reactive to pregnancy hormones. With #1 I didn't get nauseated till sometime in late week 4 or week 5... with #2 it was somewhere around 3 1/2 weeks. I don't even want to know where it would go next time... unless one of the above worked for me, after which I would happily have twenty more.
But it's late enough, so I will quit for now!
Does anyone else have any other ideas, comments, leads, questions, things to throw? Please do let me know.
In the meantime, Happy Sabbath to you all! Prayers to those of you dealing with HG right now, and good wishes to all of you who are TTC or planning to TTC. May we be blessed with answers! And in the meantime, let the research begin!
The original title was "How to Prevent Hyperemesis." But, since I really don't know the answer to that conundrum, I didn't want to give anyone that burst of false hope, thinking that I have some wonderful news (which I don't!).
Then I thought that I would call it "Don't Get Excited." But what do we do when someone says "Don't get excited, but...." We get excited, of course! So that title was tossed out.
I finally settled on the most commonplace, boring title that I could come up with, and here it is: "A Really Boring Entry."
Because while the original title "Preventing Hyperemesis" is sensational, the entry itself has nothing much to say.
I have no answers.
But I do have... snippets. Leads. Lines of potential research for HG mamas to look into. And if you find something, for goodness' sake - let me know! I am just going to provide the links and the random ideas. I have no idea if any of them can lead to something concrete, or if they are all rabbit trails.
And, of course, I am talking prevention here. Not mitigation. If you look up "how to prevent morning sickness," almost 100% of the articles that will come up focus on "how to calm down the morning sickness you already have" - and I have blogged tens of articles on this site about everything from breastfeeding to herbs to chiropractic care - things that have helped mamas deal with morning sickness/NVP/HG when it presents. This is about prevention.
And all of these assume that you will be doing something pre-conception, meaning planning ahead.
(1) Detox
A couple of years ago, when we were thinking of starting to TTC (try to conceive), I went to a naturopathic doctor to see if she had any recommendations for preventing HG. She recommended a pre-conception detox regimen, which I did (however, we didn't conceive till over a year later, so it wouldn't have done any good).
There are hundreds of detox regimens out there, but they all follow the same basics - a very clean diet, usually with the elimination of sugar and/or grains and/or meat, along with various herbs and supplements for boosting your body's vitamin/mineral levels and overall health.
And I find it fascinating that two of the three "detoxifying herbs" listed in the Jan/Feb 2011 Sprouts Magazine - milk thistle and dandelion - are herbs also listed for treatment and/or prevention of morning sickness. Coincidence?
The magazine (p.8) notes that these herbs specifically support liver function. Pregnancy is said to put a stress on the liver because of all the additional metabolic by-products that are pumped into the mother's system. Perhaps the two go together? Healthy liver, easier time dealing with morning sickness?
This is one of those things that really can't hurt to try. Even if it doesn't do a thing for HG-prevention, it certainly can't hurt to start pregnancy healthier and with a cleaner, more energetic system.
(2) Diet from a Florida Doctor
A couple of months ago, this story broke on my blog... it was big news, at least for me! Bottom line: There is a fertility doctor, currently practicing in Florida, who developed a very-low-carb (VLC) diet that he uses to improve transfer-success rate for his IVF clients. He noticed that the diet had other unintended benefits - women reported that they had many health problems resolve, such as headaches.... and morning sickness. Even severe morning sickness. He told me, via email, that one woman who had aborted seven times for HG was able to successfully carry to term after using this diet.
Head on over to the above link to read both my article and the original article (hosted on another doctor's blog) to get the full scoop.
Only caveat is that the diet is extremely difficult. So far, it's been beyond me. But you are welcome to try it, and if you want the diet sheets, leave me your email and I'll email them over. Please note that you need at least a few months pre-conception to get settled into the diet and let your body stabilize.
And remember, there are no promises. Just because this has helped other women doesn't mean that it's entirely guaranteed to help you. Please don't neglect to make plans or prepare like you would normally.
(3) Alkalinizing Diet
Busca over at Birth Faith wrote a fascinating article on preventing morning sickness, which you can see here.
(This also links into the detox theory.) It is absolutely fascinating stuff, and I am trying to learn more. I have recently gotten through reading the two books she recommended, "The pH Miracle" and "Green for Life", and am learning a lot about alkalinization and the alkaline diet. Much more to learn, but there is a lot of potential. Check out her article, as well as the comments below it.
I find it interesting that one of the most commonly prescribed morning sickness remedies, lemon water, is also something highly prized in the "alkalinizing community" - it is a highly alkalinizing drink. (Am I the only one around here having trouble typing out the word "alkalinizing?) A possible coincidence, maybe not.
(4) Get Your Body Ready
This means make sure nothing's wrong, your vitamin levels are up, etc. Parts of this could include:
a - Blood Work: Quoting from "Island of Grief, Mountain of of Joy": "Get Full blood work done (addisons disease, H.pylori, thyroid, iron count, vitamin deficiency –especially B)"
b - Take vitamins/minerals/supplements: Omegas/Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Vitamin B, whatever!!! Here is a fascinating article about the efficacy of magnesium and B-vitamin injections for treating HG.
c - Take herbs, such as milk thistle
d - Cleanse/Detox per above
e - Clean up your diet. Unfortunately, "a healthy diet" means so many different things to so many different people. For me, it would look like all-organic, non-GMO diet that tried my best to avoid a number of unhealthy items such as sugar. Right now my diet, though relatively healthy and whole/clean-food, doesn't look like that... because I have huge sugar addictions! And I love to bake! And I love carbs! As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of giving up sugary foods for Lent to try to get a handle on that very thing. More later.
f - You can take a look at my protocol, which included a lot of pre-conception to-do items. And while it wasn't horribly successful, please remember that our baby was a "surprise!!!!" baby, so I did not have time to do most of the pre-conception items.
A few years back, I read Shonda Parker's excellent book "The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy." She is a wonderful woman and an amazing midwife, herbalist, author and health professional. She is also both a hyperemesis mother and what may be termed a Quiverfull mother, meaning that her family does not practice any form of birth control - with the end result that she has a large number of beautiful children!
Mrs. Parker experienced HG with her first baby, when she was not an experienced herbalist or health professional of any sort, and she wrote in her book (I think! Don't quote me, this was a couple of years ago) that she learned how to better support her body with diet and herbs and did not experience HG again until something like her seventh baby, and that was the symptom that tipped her off to the fact that her gallbladder was diseased and non-functioning (and her body thus couldn't handle the pregnancy by-products as well). Grab her book to read up on it (unfortunately, she does not give a lot of details).
To be honest, I don't have a lot of faith in any of these.... "Island of Grief, Mountain of Joy" wrote that she feels like her body has an allergy to pregnancy hormones, and I feel the same way. And the thought of getting pregnant again really scares me (more on this later) because it was so much quicker and harder the second time around - like my body is getting progressively more reactive to pregnancy hormones. With #1 I didn't get nauseated till sometime in late week 4 or week 5... with #2 it was somewhere around 3 1/2 weeks. I don't even want to know where it would go next time... unless one of the above worked for me, after which I would happily have twenty more.
But it's late enough, so I will quit for now!
Does anyone else have any other ideas, comments, leads, questions, things to throw? Please do let me know.
In the meantime, Happy Sabbath to you all! Prayers to those of you dealing with HG right now, and good wishes to all of you who are TTC or planning to TTC. May we be blessed with answers! And in the meantime, let the research begin!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Remembering Kay Williams
You wouldn't know it to read this blog lately, but I actually don't cry very often. It's actually really rare - I have to be super-joyful, super-angry, or super-grieving.
So with that in mind, I didn't expect - for the second time in two weeks - to be sitting in front of my computer with tears streaming down my face as I opened Facebook and learned of the death of a near and beloved friend, Kay Williams, this time from fast-acting cancer.
Kay Williams was a sweet, godly woman who has blessed our lives for the past six years. She was, to my best memory, the first person we met when we came to our church. I remember her standing in the foyer, holding a basket of visitor bread, smiling her sweet and welcoming smile while we bombarded her with questions. And that is how I always see her - with a gentle and serene smile, a calm in the storm, an ever-constant loving presence.
Kay was one of those who was truly a backbone to the church - providing help, supporting younger women, providing help to hurting families. I have heard it said that the modern church is suffering from a lack of godly older women to mentor younger women in the ways of home and family.... however true in general, this was not true of my former church (it was oozing with godly older women), and Kay was one of those wonderful godly women who mentored all of us younger women. She was an example, and her life was a goal to reach for. She inspired all of us to live the Proverbs 31 life.
Dearest Kay, we will miss you so much. But I am so glad that you are now free from the cancer which has plagued you off and on for years upon years, and that you can now rest in the presence of your Savior.
I have never thought of Facebook as a source of literature, but when I saw the post-after-post list of tributes rolling in from church family, I couldn't think of a fitter tribute, which I'd like to share:
Grieving the loss of a sister in the Lord that battled cancer, but inspired by her life and example. I will see you again Kay. (Karen)
Miss you Kay. You were always such an inspiration to me. You had such a servant heart. (Barb)
God asked one of the best and sweetest women to come home today. It is truly our loss and my heart is very heavy tonight. Bless you dear Kay, I am glad you are now Home. You will be missed, dearly missed, you wonderful woman. Thank you for being a light unto me and my son. (Angela)
We'll miss you, Kay. Thanks for being such a good example to all of the rest of us. (Jennifer)
(S)addened by the loss of a dear friend this afternoon. The timing of my trip to Arizona last month was no coincidence. Kay, I am so thankful for the few minutes we got to spend together. You will forever be missed. God took an amazing, beautiful woman but we are all comforted in knowing that you are now pain-free and we will one day see you again. (Miranda)
I know that Jesus wanted you home with Him, but you will be missed, Kay. (Kim)
The angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God. ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994 - Goodbye dear Kay, we will miss you! The world needs more Godly women like you! You were very LOVED by all who knew you! (Aurielle)
So, if you were with me tonight, I'd sing to you just one more time. A song for a heart so big, God wouldn't let it live. May angels lead you in, Mrs. Williams. (Amber)
One of God's sweetest women is now at peace and cancer-free, but I am going to miss her terribly. (Diana - me)
I am at a loss right now. I just found out via Facebook that the woman that was the closest thing I've ever had to a mentor has gone to be with Jesus. I have so many mixed feelings right now. I will miss you, Kay, and look forward to the day that I will see you whole and healed, standing in the presence of Jesus. (Kelly)
(G)rieving the loss of an incredible woman of God today - she was such a blessing in my life and to so many others, as well. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (Rebecca)
***
And to close, I wanted to share some of Kay's recipes which have blessed our families for years:
Cheese Puffs
Kay Williams, December 2010
One large loaf Wonder Bread or store brand white sandwich bread
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 container (5 oz.) of fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 small brown onion, minced
3 dashes of white pepper
Cut Wonder bread into circles with 1-1 1/2" circles. Place on cookie sheet. Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Spread lightly on top of bread circles. Bake at 400 degrees approximately 10 minutes. Tops should be golden brown.
Coffee Cake
Kay Williams, January 2007
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. buttermilk
2/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
Topping
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Mix all coffee cake ingredients together. Sprinkle with topping and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. After baking, drizzle a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, butter and vanilla for frosting.
Rum Cake
Kay Williams, January 2007
1 box yellow cake mix
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. rum
Mix together & pour into greased, floured bundt pan which has 1 c.
chopped pecans sprinkled in bottom. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
Topping
1/4 pound butter
1/4 c. water
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. rum
Boil for three minutes & spoon over cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Cool for about 20 minutes, loosen with a knife and turn onto a serving plate.
Kay Williams' Broccoli Salad
All amounts are approximate
2 bunches broccoli
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup raisins or craisins
1/4 cup minced onion
Sauce:
1/2-1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Mix salad; mix dressing and add. The recipe says to add the nuts just before serving, but I just add them with everything. Good if it sits a bit before serving.
***
We are so grateful for Kay's presence in our lives and the blessing she has been to our family and to our church. Go with God, dear friend. We will see you again.
So with that in mind, I didn't expect - for the second time in two weeks - to be sitting in front of my computer with tears streaming down my face as I opened Facebook and learned of the death of a near and beloved friend, Kay Williams, this time from fast-acting cancer.
Kay Williams was a sweet, godly woman who has blessed our lives for the past six years. She was, to my best memory, the first person we met when we came to our church. I remember her standing in the foyer, holding a basket of visitor bread, smiling her sweet and welcoming smile while we bombarded her with questions. And that is how I always see her - with a gentle and serene smile, a calm in the storm, an ever-constant loving presence.
 |
| With Husband Chris |
Kay was one of those who was truly a backbone to the church - providing help, supporting younger women, providing help to hurting families. I have heard it said that the modern church is suffering from a lack of godly older women to mentor younger women in the ways of home and family.... however true in general, this was not true of my former church (it was oozing with godly older women), and Kay was one of those wonderful godly women who mentored all of us younger women. She was an example, and her life was a goal to reach for. She inspired all of us to live the Proverbs 31 life.
Dearest Kay, we will miss you so much. But I am so glad that you are now free from the cancer which has plagued you off and on for years upon years, and that you can now rest in the presence of your Savior.
I have never thought of Facebook as a source of literature, but when I saw the post-after-post list of tributes rolling in from church family, I couldn't think of a fitter tribute, which I'd like to share:
Grieving the loss of a sister in the Lord that battled cancer, but inspired by her life and example. I will see you again Kay. (Karen)
Miss you Kay. You were always such an inspiration to me. You had such a servant heart. (Barb)
God asked one of the best and sweetest women to come home today. It is truly our loss and my heart is very heavy tonight. Bless you dear Kay, I am glad you are now Home. You will be missed, dearly missed, you wonderful woman. Thank you for being a light unto me and my son. (Angela)
We'll miss you, Kay. Thanks for being such a good example to all of the rest of us. (Jennifer)
(S)addened by the loss of a dear friend this afternoon. The timing of my trip to Arizona last month was no coincidence. Kay, I am so thankful for the few minutes we got to spend together. You will forever be missed. God took an amazing, beautiful woman but we are all comforted in knowing that you are now pain-free and we will one day see you again. (Miranda)
I know that Jesus wanted you home with Him, but you will be missed, Kay. (Kim)
The angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God. ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994 - Goodbye dear Kay, we will miss you! The world needs more Godly women like you! You were very LOVED by all who knew you! (Aurielle)
So, if you were with me tonight, I'd sing to you just one more time. A song for a heart so big, God wouldn't let it live. May angels lead you in, Mrs. Williams. (Amber)
One of God's sweetest women is now at peace and cancer-free, but I am going to miss her terribly. (Diana - me)
I am at a loss right now. I just found out via Facebook that the woman that was the closest thing I've ever had to a mentor has gone to be with Jesus. I have so many mixed feelings right now. I will miss you, Kay, and look forward to the day that I will see you whole and healed, standing in the presence of Jesus. (Kelly)
(G)rieving the loss of an incredible woman of God today - she was such a blessing in my life and to so many others, as well. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (Rebecca)
 |
| Last month with Arizona's Newest Snowflake Baby |
***
And to close, I wanted to share some of Kay's recipes which have blessed our families for years:
Cheese Puffs
Kay Williams, December 2010
One large loaf Wonder Bread or store brand white sandwich bread
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 container (5 oz.) of fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 small brown onion, minced
3 dashes of white pepper
Cut Wonder bread into circles with 1-1 1/2" circles. Place on cookie sheet. Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Spread lightly on top of bread circles. Bake at 400 degrees approximately 10 minutes. Tops should be golden brown.
Coffee Cake
Kay Williams, January 2007
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. buttermilk
2/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
Topping
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Mix all coffee cake ingredients together. Sprinkle with topping and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. After baking, drizzle a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, butter and vanilla for frosting.
Rum Cake
Kay Williams, January 2007
1 box yellow cake mix
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. rum
Mix together & pour into greased, floured bundt pan which has 1 c.
chopped pecans sprinkled in bottom. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
Topping
1/4 pound butter
1/4 c. water
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. rum
Boil for three minutes & spoon over cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Cool for about 20 minutes, loosen with a knife and turn onto a serving plate.
Kay Williams' Broccoli Salad
All amounts are approximate
2 bunches broccoli
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup raisins or craisins
1/4 cup minced onion
Sauce:
1/2-1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Mix salad; mix dressing and add. The recipe says to add the nuts just before serving, but I just add them with everything. Good if it sits a bit before serving.
***
We are so grateful for Kay's presence in our lives and the blessing she has been to our family and to our church. Go with God, dear friend. We will see you again.
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