GAPS Intro Stage 1

Day 1 -
Today has gone fairly well.  Felicity tried my squash soup and even drank some!  I thought the soups tasted great, but maybe after several days of this I will feel differently.  :)  I bought the book What Can I Eat Now? to guide me through the introduction stages, and it has been very helpful.  Today we ate squash soup, carrot soup, boiled broccoli, cooked onions and a whole chicken!

Day 2 -
More challenging than day 1 for sure.  The second Felicity woke up, she was asking for cereal.  After her first few bites of food, she threw up which concerned me a bit.  After that, she was fine and did eat a good amount of food today.  She would not try any soup, although she did eat a little of a popsicle I made out of the pureed squash soup.  We ate hamburgers cooked in broth, carrot/cauliflower soup, broccoli soup, leek and onion soup (I won't make that one again), and some roast.  Also I have been drinking ginger honey tea and plan to make a popsicle out of that tomorrow.  Really, I am doing fine.  Having been gluten-free for years, I am used to turning down things I know I would like, and I don't mind eating a small variety of foods for a while.  But this is very hard to do with a kid.  If they don't like something, they simply will not eat it, and that's hard on a diet where eating nourishing things is crucial.  There should be a "Doing GAPS with kids" support group!  Today we did survive a trip to Sam's Club avoiding the samples (I really expected a full tantrum, but she did great!), and I treated myself to some new Pyrex containers at Wal-Mart.  We have also been doing a lot of TV (or You Tube Veggie Tales songs) for distraction.

Days 3-5
These days have gone much better.   I don't know why I started with pureed soups instead of just going to normal broth/veggie/meat soup like we have had many times.  Felicity ate that kind much better than the purees.  I have started adding phase 2 things for her (egg in the soup) just to keep it interesting, but I will start phase 2 tomorrow.  She loved the ginger tea and honey popsicle, which is basically the only "treat" I am giving her right now, so she asks for one often.  I also have been better about involving her with making the food, and I think that has helped.  I let her put the egg in her soup, she "helped" me cook the chicken today, and she loves putting salt on our food with the new grinder I got.  Fortunately she doesn't seem to notice that all our meals are almost the same - or doesn't care!  Today I was trying to feed her some leftovers and she asked for soup instead.  :)  She hasn't followed all the "rules" like having broth with each meal, and she has probably had more honey than is recommended for stage 1, but we did our best and I'm proud of her for all the good food she is eating with a great attitude.

By day 3, I was finally able to take a break from cooking.  I had lots of leftovers, so I didn't need to make everything on the meal plan.  I cooked a lot on day 4, and today (5) has been rather easy again.  We went to a few garage sales, went to the park, and had a bike ride this evening.

Yay we survived stage 1!  I decided that doing GAPS intro, especially with kids, is kind of like having a baby.  It's not easy - it is a lot of work.  But it's also not impossible - you get through the hard parts, and you can do it!  Also, things don't always turn out perfectly, but you do the best you can in the moment.

Things that have surprised me about GAPS intro:

• How much time this takes.  Seriously, chopping and cooking this much from-scratch food is a full-time job!  Left-over days are a huge blessing.
• How many dishes I would have to wash.  I have used most of my pots several times, I have to wash the Vita-mix a couple times a day, and I am constantly running out of food storage (I try to use only glass but don't have enough) containers.  Also, since nearly every food contains broth, the dishes are very greasy and hard to wash.
• How emotional this would get.  I have been almost in tears several times today whenever Felicity was in actual tears over something she couldn't have.  It's hard to explain to a child for the 20th time, "No you can't have _____ . It's not a GAPS diet food."  With many things I can say. "We'll be able to eat that in a few days, just not today," but that doesn't really help.  I have explained to her the reasons we are doing this, but those don't mean much to a kid who JUST WANTS A BANANA!  Soon, honey!
• How much water I am using. Seriously, like 2 gallons a day!  I've already had to send Jeff on a late-night run to fill our bottles at the store.

So, the real question is: Is it helping?  Yes and no.  Felicity is already showing improvement, but I am not.  Her eczema got worse and new spots popped up.  But the stuff she has had for a long time is now visibly decreasing.  The new spots still look pretty bad (for example: we went to see my cousin and her new baby in the hospital, and I was afraid that if a nurse saw her neck they would immediately quarantine her for a contagious rash :), but her fingers, toes, and backs of knees look much better.  I am not feeling any different.  I still have a lot of pain in my stomach and intestines.  But I've heard that sometimes you feel worse before you feel better because your body is detoxing, so I'm going to hang in there.

On to Stage 2.

The GAPS Diet - Taking the Plunge

I have been eating gluten-free for about 4 years now.  Though I believe it has helped me, and greatly reduced the stomach pain I had at the time, I have come to believe that going gluten-free is not enough for me to be healthy.  I still have pain in my intestines, and I suspect I may have other allergies to foods.  So, I am starting a pretty difficult diet that is designed to heal one's gut (digestive system) and possibly cure some allergies and other health problems along the way.  Many mental conditions can also be helped by this diet.  The diet cuts out all grains and sugar, anything processed or artificial, and some diary products.  I have some friends already doing it who have been a big help explaining things, and I have read most of the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome that gives the reasons behind the diet and the how-to instructions.  If you want to learn more about the GAPS diet, you can click here. I don't know everything about it, or if it will solve all my problems, but I know I need to try something.  When you start the diet, you eat a very limited number of foods and gradually add back in things that could be hard on your body because of an allergy or sensitivity.  Then you stay grain- and sugar-free for a long time (not sure yet how long I can/will do this :) to give your body lots of time to heal.

Even harder than the decision to start the GAPS diet was the decision to add my extremely opinionated 3-yr-old to the mix.  Felicity has had eczema since she was a tiny baby, and it has gotten pretty bad lately.  I have never limited her foods to see if she has any allergies, so this diet for her is both to heal her gut and check for allergies.  I do think it's going to be hard.  She loves food, especially foods that would fall into the "treat" category.  I think she could get very upset when I tell her she can't have certain things  that she is used to.  I pray I can parent her well while asking her to do something that is difficult.

We're starting tomorrow, but I'm pretty nervous.  I've done what I can to prepare, buy the right foods, make lots of broth, etc...  It's time to just do it!

Felicity's 3rd Birthday

 Here's my big 3-year-old with Grandma Hubel blowing out her candles.

Felicity turned 3 on May 21 after weeks of asking "Is it my birthday now?" every single day.  She had 2 Cat-in-the-Hat birthday parties - one with Grandparents and one with little friends.  When she woke up on her birthday, Jeff and I dumped balloons on her in bed which she thought was pretty funny.  I guess she's officially a preschooler now!

Opening presents with Grandma Berglund

Isabel (second cousin) at her party with friends

Felicity and Cassidy

Cat-in-the-Hat cupcakes

Her favorite part - blowing out candles!