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I'm back to complain.

Something I very rarely do.

And I'm ready now.

I took my son {Zane} to our pediatrician about a couple health concerns I had regarding him. He's had this enlarged thing on the side of his neck for over a month now and I felt like it had been too long just to be a swollen gland.

And since the beginning of the year he's been experiencing changes {not good ones} in his BM's {gross, I know} and how his stomach handles foods.

See, he got picky and strong willed. I thought I knew how to handle that because I'd gone through it before with my oldest son, but I was in for quite the surprise with Zane.

And due to the changes in his diet, I now believe it has had quite the adverse affect on his little body. I went to my PED thinking he'd have suggestions for me, answers for me, be able to help me narrow down what he is eating that is causing the problems, or if he has a yeast problem or needs a special diet… and so on.

Even though my husband and I pretty much know that it's diet related, likely there is an imbalance of bacteria in his gut {that leads to yeast} and maybe even some food intolerance we were hoping to have a medical professional give us some answers or suggestions or thoughts.

My 3 year old has symptoms that go along with IBS. This. is. not. normal.

The PED completely blew me off. He was totally uninterested in what I had to say. He felt my concerns were invalid. He told me, "EH, I'm not concerned. Sometimes kids have problems with their BM's, but they'll grow out of it." and he literally said it with a shrug of his shoulder.

I kept on him and he would not give me an inch. I told him about the IBS symptoms, and how his tummy hurts after he eats and everything that I could think of to drive it home to this jerk that my son needed help. He wouldn't accept that anything was wrong or even admit that it was likely related to diet. He just kept telling me he wasn't worried and it wasn't hurting Zane. {I beg to differ man!}

And when it came to the swollen gland – he said it was an enlarged lymph node. And yet again he said he wasn't worried about it at all. He went onto say it was probably from a recent cold and that we all have lymph nodes in other places of our bodies too. I asked him to please check these "other places". He had another enlarged lymph node in his pelvis area. Yet again he blew it off as though it was no big deal.

I walked out of that office $ 35.00 down the drain, my confidence and trust in him shot to hell, and with no help or answers for my son. And this is our third PED since the birth of my first son 5 years ago. It just seems like most medical professionals are all the same.

So I've scheduled an appointment with my chiropractor this coming week. He was the one who confirmed my yeast problem – told my MIL that her gall bladder was in bad shape a month before she was admitted into the ER for her gall bladder … he knows his stuff. Not only is he qualified {obviously} to work on your back and neck and hips and pelvis {ahhh, it feels so good} but he is also trained in nutrition and lives on the holistic side of life himself.

What is frustrating is that I shouldn't HAVE to take my child to see my chiropractor to get answers. That is what his PED is supposed to be for. But unless my child just needs to get vaccinated or has something like an ear infection or a broken bone, he seems to be pretty much worthless.

I've not had the best experiences with traditional medical professionals in my own health and it only continues to be the case with my children, too. Now if only insurance would cover holistic professionals, chiropractors, naturopaths and so forth, I wouldn't have to deal with these frustrations in the first place. But no one in my area seems to be insured with my carrier.

Nonetheless, I'll scrounge up the money needed and bring my son in this week … At the very least I'll know that he'll take me seriously and do his best to help my son.

And when I find out what is going on with my son, and how to help him, you'd better believe I'll be letting my PED know about it. He shouldn't be so irresponsible when it comes to his little patients and their health.

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I'm not thankful for this "yeast beast" I've been struggling with. I wish like hell I didn't have to be suffering with it – going on and off the diet – having it come back after pregnancies, but I am. I will say that I'm thankful I know what it is. I'm thankful I used this opportunity to learn about food and health and how the two relate so closely to each other. I took a bad thing and am finding a way to put a positive spin on it and change my family's lives.

My Mom doesn't have a good relationship with food and hasn't all of her life. I don't blame her for my health in any way. You can only do so much when you don't understand food and health. But growing up with a Mom who often had a Pepsi in one hand and a 3 musketeer in the other no doubt rubbed off on me to some degree.

Knowing my own experience with watching my Mom's relationship with food, and not being "schooled" in how important food is, I now know the depth of my responsibility as a Mom raising my own children. All of my children were born with Thrush mouths and had all suffered with yeast infections as babies.

With my first two I didn't know anything about it. I didn't realize how bad it can get if left unchecked. Thankfully I now know and will help my baby get into balance before it gets out of control. But because of my babies being exposed to yeast, and then eating a very unhealthy (but very typical!) American diet, it has grown into a problem that's affecting their health.

I'm armed with tons of knowledge, and the faith that God wants you well (and does heal people), and the determination of not only ridding them of this imbalance in their bodies, but more importantly teaching them WHY and HOW to eat right, from this point forward.

One of the things I'm incorporating into our way of living is eating more raw foods.

Specifically raw vegetables, greens, nuts (not the canned, roasted, salted variety), and so forth. I'm not againts eating meat. Or cooked foods. But getting more raw into our diets is only a positive thing. I'm looking forward to making flax seed crackers, too.

It's an adventure… this eating thing. I won't say that it isn't overwhelming at times, especially getting the Candida under control, but I'm already seeing much progress with my 5 year old. He is eating whole wheat bread (not that white "whole wheat" bread, but he real deal stuff. And by the way, my husband is drinking green smoothies, eating whole wheat bread!), mashed up fruit or raw honey in place of jelly, raw/plain veggies, homemade trail mix, green smoothies, homemade veggie soups and so forth.

For the most part, he'll eat whatever I make him and he's growing a taste for it. Would he still rather have a shake than a green smoothie? yes. Would he rather have white bread and jelly? yes. If I'm being honest, I'm still in that place too. It will take time. And time I've got.

I'm responsible for setting up their eating habits. I'm responsible for their health. I'm responsible for their knowledge about food and health. It's daunting and overwhelming and exciting at the same time.

Over the coming weeks/months, and likely years, I'm going to share more about this journey. I'll share what has worked, what hasn't, what worked for awhile and so on.

I'm incredibly excited about starting my baby's relationship with food off on the right foot, I have to tell you. I'll get to see first hand what eating right can do for a person, because I'll have his health to judge againts my older two.

And hopefully my 2 year old will eventually come around. He's a huge challenge. Has been for a year. And his food choices have been showing up in his health more and more, recently. He is a real, big challenge… but I'm his Mom and I have to be up for the challenge even if I don't really want to be.

Here's to good health!

Have you changed your family's eating lifestyle? If so, how did it go?

I use

Vita Mix Blender – the blender I use every day.

Green Smoothies – recipes children and adults will love.

Go raw – raw food recipes for kids.

I want

Excalibur (if you know of a good cheap one, please tell me!)

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Since I got sick in 2006, and discovered I was struggling with an overgrowth of Candida, I've been trying to eat and live healthier. Not only for myself, but also for my children and husband. We all could stand to be healthier and live better lives.

One of the changes we made was our fruit smoothie drinks. We no longer juice the fiber out of our drinks. We blend them in our vita-mix, but the most important change has been the addition of greens to our fruit drinks. The entire family cannot get enough of the super tasty green smoothies. And I feel really good knowing my children and husband are getting kale and spinach and other greens they'd otherwise not eat.

I'm now making healthy homemade soups in the vita mix, homemade popsicles with greens and fruit, and soon will tackle healthy breads made with different types of grains/flours I've never used before.

In addition to the above, I'm also changing the way I cook foods. Or should I say, what I cook them with. Instead of the typical oils we used to use while cooking, I now use organic coconut oil. Not only does it taste really good, it's also good for you. I use it to help keep the yeast overgrowth under control, or to get it back under control when I've slipped off the yeast diet.

More info about coconut oil:

Nearly 50% of the fatty acid in natural coconut oil is lauric acid, which converts to the fatty acid monolaurin in the body. Lauric acid has adverse effects on a variety of microorganisms including bacteria, yeast, fungi, and enveloped viruses. It destroys the lipid membrane of such enveloped viruses as HIV, measles, Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), influenza and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Its usefulness in treating AIDS is currently under investigation. It is a main component of human breast milk and helps protect children from illness during infancy.

Capric acid, which comprises another 7% of coconut oil fat content, also stimulates anti-microbial activity.

In other words: not only does coconut oil not cause heart problems, it is good for you. To quote Dr. Mary Enig: "The research over four decades concerning coconut oil in the diet and heart disease is quite clear: coconut oil has been shown to be beneficial."(See endnote 4.)

Coconut oil is a "functional food," defined as a food that "provides a health benefit over and beyond the basic nutrients."(See endnote 5.) It is an immune-system enhancer.

source: thaifoodandtravel

I use coconut with every meal now. I cook our eggs with it, our turkey burgers, our chicken… even my cauliflower pancakes. There's something so physically and mentally satisfying about knowing you're eating foods, and oils, and drinks that are nutritious to your body.

Tropical Traditions has great quality coconut oil, if you're interested in cooking/using this oil I recommend buying from them. They've got a great deal going on right now..buy one 16 ounce jar of coconut oil and get two 16 ounce jars free! They're offering this until August 16th. That is an amazing deal! If I didn't already have a 32 ounce jar from them (and two other smaller jars from the store) I would take them up on that offer.

Resources I recommend:

Tropical Traditions – organic coconut oil.

Vita Mix Blender – the blender I use every day.

Green Smoothies – recipes children and adults will love.

Go raw – raw food recipes for kids.

Whole Approach – more about a yeast overgrowth.

It's been a two year journey of understanding our bodies and why/what we need to be healthy. There have been moments of complete overwhelm, and admittedly there have been times when I've slipped back into old habits. I simply take it one step at a time, one day at a time. Learning how to eat right is a process…be patient with yourself and take your time in making new healthy eating habits.

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If I didn't have a toddler pulling on me and a preschooler begging for play doh fun I'd write something beautiful about wearing babies…since I don't have the time I thought I'd just share my favorite pictures.

I can't wait to wear babyd in the new wraps and slings I've purchased!

Zboy and I hiking.

Daddy and Zboy hanging out.

Zboy and I wearing a metro mama wrap.

Zboy and I in the metro mama pirate wrap.

Zbpy and I in the POD by All Natural Mommies.

Zbpy and I hanging outside together.

Neenee and I wearing the POD last Christmas on the Plaza. He was 3 1/2 and it was still very comfortable for us both to use this with him.

(Seeing all these pictures has given me a bit of a twing to be skinny again. I know it'll happen again after the baby comes…I hope.)

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I read about the “Green our Vaccines” walk on Steph’s blog. This walk was put together with Jenny, her son and Jim Carrey leading the way. Walking for a cause that has been long over due. It’s about time this cause gets serious national attention. I would love to see these walks turn into national walks in each state.

I’ve never said I’m anti-vaccine. The idea of a vaccine is a good one. But the vaccines we currently have (and the insane schedule) is unacceptable. Those for vaccines and against should come together on this cause because don’t we all want whatever we put into our kids bodies to be the safest they possibly can be?

If you want to know the ingredients in these vaccines I recommend picking up the Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. He breaks down each vaccine and the ingredients. It will really open your eyes. And every parent should really know what is in each vaccine we give our kids.

It’s my and my husband’s opinion that the vaccines we gave our first born contributed to his learning disabilities and Autism like symptoms. Was it the only factor? I don’t believe so. I now know he was born with a compromised immune system due to my healthy problems passed onto my children. And when you inject toxins into a immune comprised kid you’re just asking for trouble…of course, we didn’t know that back then.

I guess my point to this post is that I’m beyond thrilled that there was an organized walk, that there are passionate celebs behind it (lets face it, that helps get press), that there was press coverage about it and I’m hopeful that one day they’ll green our vaccines. (Although I do believe it’s going to be awhile)

I purchased a shirt to wear when I’m feeling particularly passionate about this topic.

Again, this really is something all parents on both sides of this issue can and should get behind. I’d love to see the day when we can give our kids vaccines that are truly 100% free of toxins and the scary ingredients in them now.

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