Treating Eczema and Leaky Gut with Diet

I was researching over the weekend and found reference to the fact that the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), can be helping in treating leaky gut and possibly eczema. It is believed, so I've read, that eczema can be caused by food sensitivities and leaky gut.

Has anyone tried this diet out? It used commonly used to treat colitis, crohn and it works well for autistic spectrum kids as well. If not for eczema, for other conditions?

here are a couple links:

PecanBread - site target at using SCD with kids


Breaking the Vicious Cycle - SCD Beginners Guide

We learned about emotion coaching in the parent-child class I took at our community college. I don't think I've read too much about it on the Ovusoft boards directly, though I think the book has been mentioned. It was really interesting to learn about the four different types of parenting defined by Gottman, that we all dip in to each of them at times, and to learn how emotion coaching works. I think just having awareness of the concept can really help with parenting of toddlers and young children.

Dr. Gottman discovered that children who had Emotion-Coaching parents were on an entirely different developmental trajectory than the children of other parents.

What are the five elements of emotion coaching?

* Be aware of a child's emotions
* Recognize emotional expression as an opportunity for intimacy and teaching
* Listen empathetically and validate a child's feelings
* Label emotions in words a child can understand
* Help a child come up with an appropriate way to solve a problem or deal with an upsetting issue or situation

In Dr. Gottman's research he has found that children of emotion-coaching parents had more general abilities in the area of their own emotions than children who were not coached by their parents. In other words, these "coached" children grew up to become what Dan Goleman has referred to as "emotionally intelligent" people. What are characteristics of these children?

Dr. Gottman's research demonstrated that emotion-coached children

* Are able to regulate their emotional states
* Are better at soothing themselves when they are upset
* Could calm down their hearts faster after something upsetting happens
* Have fewer infectious illnesses
* Are better at focusing attention
* Relate better to other people, even in tough situations like getting teased in middle school
* Are better at understanding people
* Have better friendships with other children
* Are better in school situations that require academic performance

from The Gottman Institute - Parenting Research



The Talaris Institute has more information about:

The 5 steps of Emotion Coaching

The four Gottman-defined parenting styles:
http://www.talaris.org/spotlight_parenting_styles.htm

The Dismissing Parent
The Disapproving Parent
The Laissez-Faire Parent
The Emotion-Coaching Parent

Has anyone got any opinion or experience with the book, Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child?

What have your experiences with Emotion Coaching been?

29 months - update/ Working on Potty Independence in a Toddler

As we proceed with post-EC potty independence I've been talking to Jonah more
about pottying, about wearing underwear, about how his cousins potty, singing
songs about going poop, offering more, etc. I haven't put a lot of pressure on
him, just tried to keep the dialogue going.

He just started to use the BabyBjorn Little Potty, the one that he has refused
to use since 7 months old. It had been sitting in his room where he could see it
the whole time, and I had talked to him about how he could use it for potty if
he wanted to and showed him how to sit on it but he didn't want to. Given his
lack of interest in using it I put it away in his closet as it was just
collecting dust. He found it in the closet a few days later and brought it out
again so we have been trying on that potty some before bed. Before that, and
ongoing, he will use the toilet with a seat reducer.

----

We've had a sudden big breakthrough this week. J randomly on Sunday started
saying "no dipe" and didn't want to wear one to bed. Sunday morning he had been
dry overnight and he was so emphatic about not wearing a diaper when he was
going to bed that night that I just put some cloth diapers under the sheet on
his bed (just in case) and let him sleep with just cotton knit pants on (his
choice). I had heard that they let you know when they are ready to have more
control.

Indeed he was dry when he woke up Monday morning. But then he refused to go
potty in the morning. He didn't want a diaper and no potty. Oh brother!
Eventually, while playing with his cars he started to wet and I was able to
finish him off on the BBLP.

The rest of yesterday, until evening, he resisted wearing a diaper. Yes, he wet
himself some, but not too badly. I think also, with the heat wave we are having
now in Seattle, that perhaps he just doesn't have to go as much as his body is
sweating so much to stay cool. At any rate, I'm thinking we are starting to
cross a line into potty independence. With no diaper on he is also happy to put
his pants on by himself, or try on his underpants -- but he won't wear both
together. If this keeps up we are just going to have to spend the week outside a
lot, to keep from having accidents in the house, until he gets the whole thing
figured out.


And then today, he was home with my partner this morning and three times told
him that he had to do pee-pee I(including once, while at the grocery store).
Today we got him into underpants and shorts. Though each time he had actually
already wet himself, each time he did want to get undressed and sit on the
toilet. The amount he wet himself was gradually decreasing each time and he was
able to pee more on the toilet.

It is really exciting to have it finally coming together.

---

Tips and Tricks

I talk to Jonah a lot about listening to his body, and that we don't want to
wait to poop until it is an emergency. Last weekend he started doing his little
poop jig, saying "no!" to his body of all things, as he tried to hold it in. I
told him again that he needs to listen to his body and his body was telling him
he needed to go poop. He still was resistant but then we talked about how we
couldn't go to the pool if he had to poop and he probably wouldn't want to poop
at his cousins' house (something we were discussing). Quickly he agreed and we
got the entire affair into the toilet. With my partner and our afternoon sitter
he will only go in his diaper.

I praise him when he goes for doing a good job of listening to his body.

He only poops every 3-4 days but it can really overwhelm him and he fights it.

We also sing a song on the potty that I made up. It goes like this:

Everybody goes poop poop
Mama goes poop poop
Dada goes poop poop
Jonah goes poop poop
Everybody goes poop poop! poop poop!

and then we run through all our family, his friends and animals.

Another song is this, to a mambo type rhythm:

poo-poo in the potty!
poo-poo in the potty!

When he's sitting on the toilet we do that song/game from camp called
Concentration... (you slap your knees and chant)

Concentration, are you ready?
if so, let's go
starting with, names of...
CARS (his preference)

Then we run through names of all the car brands and types. This has actually
turned into a big daytime activity -- wandering around the neighborhood,
studying cars (logos, hubcaps, tail lights, and types).

It helps to have something interesting to do while on the toilet (so I've
learned here) and that was the best I could come up with.

I hope this is helpful for others. I'll report more as we make more progress.

Researching diet to treat constipation and fibroids

On a related note, I was looking up information about diets for chronic constipation and came across (again) The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I've had some digestive issues for years, and since my delivery it has gotten worse. Why? I don't know. Is it hormonal changes due to nursing? The result of one more round of IV antibiotics during my c-section.

I feel my issues are due to an improper balance in my intestinal flora and I've been thinking for a while that I need to learn more about how to tweak things so I've got more favorable beneficial bacteria flourishing in my gut.

I've received IV antibiotics more than oral antibiotics during my surgeries and delivery -- I have had to remind myself that thing really could be thrown off by that.

Anyway, the SCD sounds interesting and I'm wondering if it might be worth trying out. I found the yogurt idea to be inspiring (I love to cook) and some of the dietary rules sound similar to what my naturopathic doc and acupuncturist have been telling me -- less simple carbohydrates, cooked vegetables, cut out sugar. I also found reference to this diet helping with eczema -- something else that is linked to intestinal flora issues and a leaky gut -- which might be helpful for my toddler.

BreakingtheViciousCycle.info - informational site for SCD that is based around the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, which seems to be a SCD bible of sorts.

PecanBread.com - a site about using SCD with children, with lots of info about using it to treat ASD kids


I've also got a Susan Lark book on the way called Fibroid Tumors & Endometriosis that includes information about nutrition to treat fibroids that had good reviews on Amazon. I haven't bought a fibroid book in a while so I might as well try this one.

TTC update

I don't think there's much to tell really. My last LP was super short, my ovulation this cycle is really late (which seems to be the pattern -- alternating cycle lengths). I've been diligent my prenatal vitamins, plus iron, plus a liquid calcium and I'm not feeling as poorly. Still, I was wiped a couple days ago, just after ovulation, absolutely drained feeling. I'm feeling better now again.

Oh, and in spite of using the fertility monitor, I ran out of sticks for one day and never saw a peak day. I was way sure the day I ovulation as I felt awful pain in my lower abdomen, like a particularly painful O.

We gave it a good try this month, better than normal. I guess we will just see what happens. I don't have my hopes up.

I do need to make another appointment for acupuncture treatment.

potty learning updates

We did part-time EC with J starting at 9 weeks, but then he fell off the wagon last summer as his ego emerged and he needed to have more ownership of his elimination -- but his body wasn't ready yet. Its been touch and go for the past year. I praise him when he goes for doing a good job of listening to his body.

He only poops every 3-4 days but it can really overwelm him and he fights it.

What I've been talking about with J, as we are now working on training again, is how he needs to listen to his body, and that we don't want to wait to poop until it is an emergency. Today I was with him and he started doing that little poop jig, saying "no!" to his body of all things[L]. I told him again that he needs to listen to his body and his body was telling him he needed to go poop. He still was resistant but then we talked about how we couldn't go to the pool if he had to poop and he wouldn't want to poop at his cousins' house. Finally he agreed and we got the entire affair into the toilet. With my partner and our afternoon sitter he will only go in his diaper.

We also sing a song on the potty that I made up. It goes like this:

Everybody goes poop poop
Mama goes poop poop
Dada goes poop poop
Jonah goes poop poop
Everybody goes poop poop, poop poop

and then we run through all our family and his friends and animals.

When he's sitting on the toilet we do that song/game from camp called Concentration...

Concentration, are you ready?
if so, let it go
starting with, names of...
CARS (his preference)

and we run through names of all the car brands and types. This has actually turned into a big daytime activity -- wandering around the neighborhood, studying cars (logos, hubcaps, tail lights, and types).

It helps to have something interesting to do while on the toilet and that was the best I could come up with.

No wonder I'm not pregnant

I just got done updating my TCOYF program and since I started using my fertility monitor again we have a clear ovulation date and luteal phase length.

The last cycle was 30 days, close to my normal non-nursing, pre-pregnancy cycle length. My ovulation date was CD23 however, about 8 days later than normal, and my luteal phase (LP) length was just 7 days. Well that sure isn't a recipe for success.

A normal luteal phase is around 14 or so days, which gives time for an egg to implant and get settled. With such as short LP my hormones are obviously not even close to the task of conceiving.

This next cycle I'm already on cycle day 12 and I'm still spotting (why is that?) and TCOYF is predicting ovulation to happen July 24, on CD 25. I'm sort of expecting this cycle to be longer, as I seem to alternate between long and short cycles. My acupuncturist said that sometimes one ovary can be more sluggish than another -- being as women's bodies typically alternate between ovulating from one side to the other from cycle to cycle.

I'll just keep taking my vitamins, going for acupuncture and doing qi gong and see if that doesn't help turn things around. I am feeling less sluggish since I bumped up my vitamin intake which I'm happy about.

J is also nursing a little less, he's dropped a session or two so we are down to 6-7 times a day now instead of 8-9. He just turned 29 months on Thursday.

tagging old posts

I've needing to zone out on something today so I've been going through more old posts and adding in tags so those posts are more available. I've still got a lot more to do but every little bit helps.

----

I'm so beat. I think I'm a bit sleep deprived and then my body is close to ovulation which seems to be taking every little bit of energy from me. I asked my partner to take the baby away for a while to let me rest so he drove over to his brother's house.

I wonder if my body might not be up to nursing much longer. I feel so tapped out.

I've been going to acupuncture for a couple of months now. I've seen some changes, nothing huge from the outside, but it is helping me understand what is going on in my body more. The qi gong is helping similarly. I can more clearly feel my deficiency, on top of the general fatigue that I was feeling before. My acupuncturists (I'm working with two at the same practice) see that I'm yin and blood deficient. Evidently breastfeeding requires a lot of blood and blood draws on yin, so it is all connected. They also noted that I've been yin and blood deficient before -- though I'm trying to figure out where that came from as it wasn't always my diagnosis. I need to check in with them more about that.

I was taking Chinese herbs but I've been having a hard time remembering and they are a bit gross after a while. I'm trying to get a cup in here and there. I have bumped up my vitamin intake as well. I'm taking two prenatal vitamins, a Floradix tablet and every couple of days I'm taking liquid calcium (with magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin D).

I have also been using my fertility monitor this cycle, in the absence of being able to take my temp consistently. My high has been 5 days long and finally after 20-22 days I've got a peak reading (my cycle started off with heavy spotting which made it a little confusing). Actually, it was interesting to see that I started breaking out the night before I got my first high reading and then yesterday, prior to this morning's peak reading, I started to feel a little depressed -- which I thought was probably due to a hormonal shift. Lovely.

I've been talking to J periodically about how when he's bigger he won't nurse any more and that sometimes we might need to not have ba-ba so much all the time. I see this as part of the progression towards fully weaning from the breast.

Oh, and J still has eczema, though keeping a food journal has helped point out some sensitivities to me (chocolate, nuts, shellfish, dairy, probably corn). My partner took him to the ped last week and they drew blood to look for antigens. Evidently the blood draw entirely overwelmed J's nervous system and he started screaming and cried for 30 minutes afterwards. I'm glad I wasn't there, I think I would have been sick.

Bumper Sticker

A new government report highlights health insurance disparities
between women and men.

http://www.HealthReform.gov/reports/women/index.html

I also read today that 46 million Americans have no health insurance
at all.

This as we go into debt further bailing out rich bankers from
their greed-crazed follies that brought the economy to a standstill,
on the verge of total collapse.

Five years ago I got pregnant for the first time.
Four years ago I had my fibroid surgery and got pregnant for the
second time.
Three years ago I got pregnant with my son.
Two years ago I was in the blur of taking care of a new baby.
Last year I increased my work hours and started letting a part-time
sitter watch my baby, soon after he learned to walk and cut down to
one nap.

As my little boy is growing and changing and discovering the world at
such a quick pace now, I can see how he is decidedly moving out of his
babyhood (well, eventually). I think back on the various stages of his
development this far: late night nursing and diaper changes; various
sleeping patterns; progressive motor skills; increasing communication
ability. The first two years are really remarkable in how quickly the
child grows to be able to a more autonomous person, albeit still in
need of supervision and training.

------
As my partner and I up the effort to have a second child we have
humourously noted that our son doesn't approve of the effort. While
having ongoing banter with a toddler you find that they arbitrarily
(at times) respond in the affirmative or negative to questions.

Yet each time we ask him, no matter how the question phrased, about
whether we should have another, he decisively answers "No."

"would you like to be a big brother?"
No.
"there's mommy, daddy and J. Should we have a new baby?"
No.
"would you like to have a brother or sister?"
No.

We have tried explaining that he would have someone to play with and
used his cousins and other examples of siblings but no dice.

At least if our efforts don't pay off we can rest assured that J
wasn't on board anyway.

I just stopped by to give a little update. I've started going to acupuncture again for regular treatment as I wasn't feeling that great and my cycles have been odd. I wanted to help build myself up for our TTC effort. They have me on a Chinese herb mix that is compatible with nursing to help build my blood. They diagnosed me as blood and yin deficient -- but having a child and nursing both require a lot of blood and yin.

I've also started going to qi gong again. We are doing Soaring Crane at school. I went last week for the first class and I felt my body working through some things.

Consider Heathcare Costs - Women's reproductive health the cost of various treatments and interventions

As the new Obama administration begin to take on trying to overhaul our health care system, it has brought to mind a few things that I thought I would share.

In reading the second volume of the Eleanor Roosevelt biography I was surprised to read how the United States had seriously considered implementing a national health care program but that it failed to get enough support. Whoa! Isn't that the same old tune we keep hearing.

At any rate, in light of my recent adventures in reproductive health and fertility I see the opportunity for savings. Here's how...

Fibroid interventions -- most American women seem to be offered hysterectomy as the ideal treatment for uterine fibroids. Regardless of whether the procedure is done with abdominal surgery or trans-vaginally, this is a major surgical procedure involving hospital stay, and with its inherent post-operative risks of infection, etc. Also, hysterectomy can be associated with physical changes which can lead to ongoing treatment with medication for pain, sexual side effects and more. Since most women have discussions solely with their ob/gyn about their fibroid related symptoms, and since ob/gyns are trained in hysterectomy that is what is offered. Yet, fibroid embolization is an appropriate treatment for women who are finished having families.

Abdominal myomectomy is the current standard of care for women wanted to preserve their fertility, and it costs are comparable, if not a little higher, to the cost of an abdominal hysterectomy (due to the longer length of the procedure as I understand it). Again, fibroid embolization (UFE, UAE) might also be appropriate for younger women as well -- further studies are needed to determine its affects on fertility post procedure. Also, I'm interested to see what ongoing screening and increased understanding of hormonal imbalances contributing to fibroid growth might uncover in the way of reducing the formation of more troublesome fibroid related symptoms.

Obstetrical care in the U.S. is a huge expense -- I saw mention that it might be a 5th of total health care costs -- and yet it isn't even a part of the discussion how unnecessary interventions and liability-based delivery management practices are driving costs much, much higher.

Check out some links on the subject:

Commentary in response to New York Times' November 25th Editorial on the High Cost of Health Care
Faith Gibson ~ December 31, 2007

How Childbirth Went Industrial: A Deconstruction

http://www.normalbirth.org/NYTimes_guest_opinion_Dec07.htm - mothering.com

Management of Suspected Fetal Macrosomia
Macrosomia is the medical term for a big baby -- noted in this article as "arbitrarily defined" at 8 lb, 13 oz. (4,000 g)
A recent decision analysis estimated that to prevent one case of permanent brachial plexus injury, 3,700 women with an estimated fetal weight of 4,500 g would need to have an elective cesarean section for suspected macrosomia at a cost of $8.7 million per case prevented.

Revealing the Real Risks: Obstetrical Interventions and Maternal Mortality
By Marsden Wagner - Issue 118, May/June 2003

A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth - Synopsis
This page links to interventions grouped as:
(1) beneficial forms of care;
(2) forms of care that are likely to be beneficial;
(3) forms of care with a trade-off between beneficial and adverse effects;
(4) forms of care of unknown effectiveness;
(5) forms of care that are unlikely to be beneficial;
(6) forms of care that are likely to be ineffective or harmful.


An Interview With Ina May Gaskin
by Stacy Fine - Web Interview - June 29, 2007
Both maternal and infant mortality are currently rising in the US. Maternal death rates have not improved, according to the Centers for Disease Control, since 1982. That's a long time to have had no progress, despite all of the technological innovations that have taken place since then. Part of the problem in this sector is that the US has never created a system of accurate reporting of the data necessary to find out what mistakes we might be making so that we can analyze them and then make policy that reduces the likelihood of mistakes being repeated. The United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) have had such a system in place since 1952, which is probably why their maternal death rate is significantly lower than ours in the US. I don't know of any European country in which maternal death classification is done according to an honor system, but that is exactly what is done in almost every US state. There is no audit, and autopsies are less likely to be performed here than in European countries.

CONFIDENTIAL ENQUIRIES INTO MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH (CEMACH)
Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) commenced in April 2003. We aim to improve the health of mothers, babies and children by carrying out confidential enquiries on a nationwide basis and by widely disseminating our findings and recommendations.

Immunizations have been back in the headlines again. It got me thinking again about why I have chosen to do a delayed schedule. Based on all that I've read the CDC vaccination schedule is a one-size fits all program that isn't based on research to clearly identify the most opportune time to administer shots based on the developing immune system. It also doesn't factor in exposure risk (day care or single caregiver at home) or what the combination of shots together do in the child.

There are a couple of pieces in the US News and World Report Health issue out now that talks about the it. They also talk about how finally the NIH is going to get some studies done.

Coincidently I decided to look up the thymus gland today and came across this interesting page about the role of the thymus in the development of the immune system.

The Immune System/ The Thymus Gland
http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/bodyimmune/961/

Cloth Diapering Info

It is sort of hard to weed through the information and figure out exactly how many diapers you will need and which types you will like. It sort of takes some getting used to in the beginning but then you catch on quickly.


How many will you need?

Babies nurse a lot in the early months and they eliminate very frequently – like every 20 minutes they can go pee and they poo about 5 times a day until 3-5 months. We were diligent about changing Jonah’s diapers and were using around 12-14 a day with a diaper service.



Most people typically recommend 2-3 dozen diapers depending on how frequently you want to do washing. I have 28 diapers and I wash just about every other day – we switched to using our own cloth prefold diapers a year ago because they are thicker and washing them didn’t seem like a big deal.



If you use prefolds then you will need to purchase covers as well, about 4-6 covers should be enough, you let them air out in-between uses and don’t need to wash them until they are soiled or smell. We also used a Snappi (http://www.snappi.co.za/) which helps contain poop and holds the diaper on better than just the cover – but you can just use the cover.



We recommend doing a little elimination communication because it was really nice to not have to contend with that many poopy diapers – he just went in the toilet or potty. (infant potty learning - http://www.timl.com/ipt/)



Diaper Care

To keep your diapers clean and smelling nice, mostly you just have to do an extra rinse cycle when washing diapers and then just follow the care instructions for the type of diaper you are using (for hot or warm water requirements).

Breastfed baby poo doesn’t smell that much and you don’t have to do anything special to the diapers, you can just keep them in a bucket with water until you are ready to wash – or even just toss them in the pail/bag with the other wet diapers.

Usually you will have the best results with a more ecological washing powder – no perfumes or softeners as they can cause irritation and make the diapers less absorbent.



Some Popular Diaper Brands

http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php

http://www.kissaluvs.com/

http://www.mother-ease.com/

http://www.blueberrydiapers.com/


Links

http://www.thediaperhyena.com/

http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/diapers.html

http://www.diaperpages.com/index.php - example photos using prefold diapers

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=221 – discussion forum

Fibroid Embolization (UFE/UAE) - Finding an Interventional Radiologist

I just did a search of my blog and couldn't find any info (though I know I researched it) related to how to find an interventional radiologist (IR) if you are interested in UFE/UAE. Here are some links to learn more:

ASK4UFE IR Locator

Society of Interventional Radiologist - Doctor Finder


Here's an informational link about UFE and fibroid treatment options:
Uterine Fibroid Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Why nurse past a year?

These are some of the reasons why I continue to nurse my baby, now 22 months old. I manage to do this in spite of working 3/4 time out of home.

-------

Human babies are designed to nurse until at least 2.5 years.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for AT LEAST a year; a year being the minimum recommended.

The WHO recommends for AT LEAST two years, noting that not doing so increases the health risks to the infant.

Some 80% of brain development occurs during the first two years. Recent studies are also pointing out the affect of nursing duration on behavioral development. Wouldn't you want to give your baby the best nutrition possible during this critical time?

Nursing is tied to decreased disease risk for women. The longer you do it, the more the benefit. A total win-win.

Here are some sites with helpful information for learning more about the benefits of extending nursing past the first year:

Handling criticism about breastfeeding

Nursing After the First Year

Not Just for Babies: 10 Good Reasons to Breastfeed Your Toddler

----------

Our nursing schedule at 21 months is:

bedtime
3am
6am
7am
9am
11:30
naptime
5:30pm
after dinner

He's dropped a couple sessions since earlier in the year. I'm always confused when women post online to say they are only nursing 2-4 times a day -- I don't see how that is possible without purposeful nudging but then again my little one does love nursing.

miscarriage as a process

I read someone's comment to my miscarriage tips post today and it got me thinking. In having been through two miscarriages, and recalling the fearful period between knowing it has failed and actually miscarrying, that it is important to understand the process.

I think miscarriage is something you have to go THROUGH. It isn't like pullIng out stitches while sewing, or hitting undo on the computer. The process of becoming pregnant and then unpregnant do not mirror each other. There are some hormones common to each, but chemicals and processes unique to each.

My diaper bags

We've used only bags we already owned for hauling around diapers and other essentials.

Bag #1 - Oilcloth bag bought in Amsterdam in 2003
Kitsch Kitchen Messenger Bag in Patchwork

Tote from LoveShine that was a gift from a friend (different pattern)

Eddie Bauer Backpack - purchased on sale (for $20) years ago, which I use mostly for travel

We have also used other various tote bags when needed. We never did the $70+ mothership route in this regard.