For the Love of Vegetables :)

Someone pinch me....................I seriously think I am dreaming.  My little Hayden has become such a vegetable muncher!!!  I honestly never thought that he would get to the point of begging for vegetables.    The first words out of his mouth this morning was, "I want lorax brussel sprouts Mommy."  Music to my ears.  He then went to the kitchen and brought a red pepper to me.  I was getting ready for work so I whispered to Hayden to go ask his Dad.  Hayden took the red pepper and placed it in Daddy's hand.  He then said, "Cut up red pepper for me to eat."

It is hard to believe that less than a year ago the only vegetable Hayden would eat was green beans.  He only consumed green beans when I told him had to eat the green beans that was on his plate before he could have something else to eat.  Hayden's diet pretty much consisted of fruit and carbohydrates.  He would eat plate full upon plate full of fresh fruit.  I thought I was doing good getting nutrition in him because he was consuming fruit.  WOW.......I was so freaking wrong!!!  

One of Hayden's major medical challenges has been the yeast beast.  What does yeast feed off of???  You guessed it........SUGAR!  What is a lot of fruit high in........SUGAR!  What does carbohydrates break down into during digestion..........SUGAR!  AHHHHH!!!!

I made the decision that we were going to go on the GAPS diet.  I knew we needed to do something drastic and drastic it was.  My poor babies did not eat for 4 days.  Hayden (5 years old) got down to 28 pounds.  GAPS diet is grain free, refined sugar free, and lactose free.  We currently eat no casein, no grains, no refined sugar, no fruit, and no honey.  I found that Hayden could not handle fruit or honey.  We only eat nuts, chicken, beef, all vegetables, and coconut oil.  

I know that doesn't sound like we don't eat well.  I can guarantee you that we are the healthiest we have ever been.  Hayden has gained 12 pounds in 8 months!!!!  He has gained more weight in the last 8 months than he has in 3.5 years.  This is all from eating healthy foods :)

I have never made a huge deal about what I put on Hayden's plate.  I put the food on his plate and give it to him.  I let him have complete control of what he chooses to put in his mouth. (well maybe not complete control because I buy the groceries and prepare the meals).  We have modeled to him how much fun it is to eat vegetables.  I think Ruby has been super helpful in this process.  She is always munching on some kind of vegetable.  Whenever Hayden has choose to touch a vegetable I celebrate him, even if it is throwing it on the floor or putting it on my plate.  There have been times when Hayden has put the vegetable in his mouth, chewed it up, and spit it on the floor or on my plate.  I celebrate him for that.

Slowly but surely in the last 6 months Hayden has drastically increased his vegetable intake.  Pretty exciting stuff!!!  Here is the vegetables that Hayden currently eats.............

Brussel Sprouts

Butternut Squash

Green Beans 

Broccoli

Carrots

Peppers....red, yellow, orange, and green

Cauliflower

Peas

Asparagus

I also put the following in his juice which he watches me prepare.....

spinach

collard greens

celery

kale

It's such a delight to watch Hayden enjoy all of these fabulous vegetables :)

Ups and downs and all around!!

We have had an interesting week :)  We have added whole eggs to our diet and introduced "pancakes" today.  I have to report that the pancakes were super yummy and easy to make.  Here is the recipe if you are interested:

Melt a tablespoon of ghee in skillet over medium heat

1/4 cups butternut squash
1 cup walnuts
2 whole eggs

I pureed all ingredients in my Vitamix.  Pour the batter into small pancakes and cook like you would a normal pancake.  These were fabulous!!

We also increased the dose of biotic silver we are using to combat Hayden's yeast issue and increased the amount of probiotics.  We are almost done with the yeast protocol!!  I am going to leave Hayden on the biotic silver for at least 3 more weeks or until his dental work is done.  The probiotics he will continue to take for at least six more months.

Since we started Hayden's recovery from autism journey two years ago there has been a lot ups and downs in his behavior and mood.  When we started GAPS four weeks ago his behavior as pretty much been consistent and only progress has been seen.  Normally when Hayden is showing signs of regression I begin the freak out process of "what the heck is causing this" and "holy crap...what am I going to do."  This time not so much.

I feel this is because I totally and completely accept Hayden just the way he is.  I don't need him to recovery from autism.  I want him too!   On rough days I can still choose to be happy and go with the flow of the day.  This week was no exception to that.

It also helped that I knew in my heart that Hayden was stimming more and was more agitated because of the increase in the biotic silver.  We started the biotic silver in December and every time we increase the dose Hayden seems to regress a bit.

I am happy to report that Hayden seems to be back to his normal self.  We had a great therapy session tonight.  Prior to the therapy session Hayden played ring around the rosie and hide and seek with Ruby and I.  He is back to talking, giving great eye contact, and seems to be relaxed.

Oh, how I love my little boy :)

Hayden and Ruby painting

Gotta love the swing set

When God gives you rain splash is water puddles :)

Hayden's new playroom accessory :)

Ruby joining Hayden with legos.....going to have to work on her positioning!

What is not to love about a kiddie pool?

10 meatballs at 5am :)

Ahh.....I am breathing, breaths of relief.  We are rapping up our first week on GAPS Introduction diet stage one.  We are starting stage two today :)

I must say the first four days on this diet we hardcore for the kids.  They choose not to eat any of the food I prepared.  They were lethargic, pale, pitiful, and vomiting in the mornings.  I did my best to comfort them and keep them well hydrated with water.  I offered them all the GAPS legal foods, loved them, and stayed positive.  I knew in my mind that it had to get worse before it was going to better.  I must say though it was brutal seeing my babies like that!!

I had to work during this process and it was completely heart wrenching to leave them during this time.  I called to check on them Sunday and my husband made me feel like the kids were on their death beds.  I left work emergently.  I was so upset that I got lost on my way home and wound up in Grabill.  I think this was God's way of telling me to take a breath and chill.

I got home and the kids were pretty much in the same state that I left them.  This was day three of eating nothing.  I made the decision to juice a green apple for them to get some carbs in them (at the suggestion of a great friend).  I also mixed some vitamins into the juice.  Ruby perked up in about 30 minutes and started to eat.  Hayden regained some color but it took him about 4 hours before he really started moving around again.

I did an hour of hyperbaric oxygen with them, gave them each a syringe full of chicken broth (which they did not want), and all three of us took an epsom salt bath for about 40 minutes.

We got out of the bath and the kids were ready to EAT and have not stopped since :)  Grammie made so meatballs that had carrots and onions shredded in them and that has been the staple food for both kids.  Ruby is eating pretty much what I put in front of her now, but Hayden is only eating meatballs.  Little does he know what Mommy is putting in his super meatballs.

Here is a list of what I put in his meatballs: fresh garlic, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, liver, carrots, squash, beef fat, chicken fat, and today I heated them up with some homemade ghee.  I don't but all of this stuff in at once.  I rotate to make sure Hayden is getting all that he needs.

He ate 3 pounds of meatballs yesterday!!!  Woot...Woot...Woot!!  This morning he woke up at 5 am because he was hungry and wanted meatballs.  So at 5am Brandon and myself cheered Hayden on as he ate 10 meatballs.  The amazing thing is that Hayden sat completely still while eating his meatballs, gave us typical eye contact, and talked to us while eating.

Although we are only a week into GAPS I am seeing HUGE changes in Hayden.  He appears to be so calm, peaceful, and relaxed.  It's kind of strange to see this out of him.  I am so use to him zipping around the house every moment of the day.  Hayden seems now calm enough that he is really seeing things differently.  He had one of Ruby's Dora dolls this morning and was really looking her over and telling me about the dolls details.  For example, "Dora has bracelet on."  I don't feel like he say these details before unless it was on his CARS.

The next BIG, BIG, BIG change that I am totally loving drum roll please..........Hayden is sleeping 11-12 hours a night vs 8-9 hours that he use to sleep.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that he is sleeping well again :)

I am feeling pretty good on the diet and don't have any issues to report.  I did have a pretty bad headache the first couple of days.  I think this was due to sugar and caffeine withdrawal.  I feel pretty energized now.

We are moving on to Stage 2 of GAPS Introduction diet.  Bring on the Ghee, egg yolks, and fermented vegetables!!!

Our new diet.....GAPS :)

I have been thinking, researching, and talking to people about the GAPS diet for the past 8 months.  I finally worked up enough courage to start the diet.  We officially started the GAPS Introduction diet May 2nd 2012.

You are probably wondering what the GAPS diet is..................it is refined sugar free, lactose free, and grain free.  The diet is done in phases based on how you are feeling and what your stools are looking like.   Here is a link for more information about GAPS: http://www.gapsdiet.com/

Hayden has been on a very strict diet for the past two years and has made great improvement both mentally and physically but he still has a lot of ups and downs in his behavior and I feel that it is diet based.  Basically we just eliminated foods that he was sensitive to and allowed him to eat what we thought was healthy.

I use to let Hayden eat organic fruit with out any question.  I thought I was feeding him the best nutrition out there.  I was SUPER wrong.  Yes fresh fruit is better than chowing down a candy bar but, it is still loaded with sugar.

Sugar is an absolute enemy to Hayden's sick little body.  He has a huge problem with yeast over growth and what does yeast feed off of???  Yep, you guessed it sugar!!  In order to kill the yeast we have to make their environment in Hayden's body less then ideal.  That means getting rid of all sugar.  Which also means getting rid of all grains.  Grains (carbohydrates) when broken down by the body become sugar.

The GAPS diet will heal Hayden's gastrointestinal tract and all his food sensitivities will be healed.  I predict that we will be on GAPS for 2-3 years.  I am not in a hurry and want to make sure that we take our time and do the diet properly.

I have committed to this diet with Hayden and Ruby will eat it while she is home.  Brandon will eat the diet when he is home with the exception of having pop and cereal.  Which he eats the cereal in the garage and I have asked him to hide the cereal so I am not tempted by it.

I have not ate chocolate or consumed coffee for three days now.  I thought I was going to have a hard time giving up chocolate and coffee but I feel pretty good.  I don't even have a headache today and have my normal amount of energy :)  The kids on the other hand are not feeling so well.

Hayden has woken up the past two days vomiting (a normal reaction to starting the diet) and Ruby joined him vomiting at 5am today.  Hayden and Ruby are both pale today and just want to lay around.  I keep remind myself that I am doing this to help Hayden become healthier and to give him every opportunity in life.  It is harder than I thought to see my kids like this :(

What are we eating???   We are eating cooked broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash, garlic, onion, chicken, beef, and lots of broth.  That is seriously it!!  I have made some yummy squash soup and hamburgers that I simmered in chicken stock with cauliflower and squash.  Once the hamburgers were cooked I removed the chicken stock, cauliflower, carrots, and I purred them.  I poured the puree over the top of the hamburgers and it was yummy!

I have been making everything from scratch.  We are eating NO processed foods.  I will be making my own yogurt once I get some raw milk which I found a source to get it.  I am also fermenting foods.  This is a new concept to me and honestly kind of grosses me out.  Fermented vegetables are a great source to restore good bacteria into your gut.

I know in my heart that I am doing the right thing.  I just hope my kids eat soon!!

I'm Spreading the Word :)

WoW!!  What an amazing week I had at The Autism Treatment Center of America!!  Maximum Impact was all that I dreamed of and so much more.  I did some hard core soul searching and have a defined purpose now.  I am working hard on being nonjudgmental and a honest person.  So don't ask my opinion if you really don't want it ;)  I also learned some great tools to implement in Hayden's Son-Rise Program and made life long friends!!

Some pretty amazing things have been happening to me since I left The Option Institute.  The first being that my flight was delayed.  I didn't discover this until about 20 minutes until boarding time.  The problem with this was I only had a 40 minute lay over and was fearful that I was going to miss my flight.  I walked  to the intake area of the airport (not sure what it is really called) to find out what to do about my connection.  I had tears in my eyes and was shaking a bit.  I really wanted to be home when my kids woke up in the morning.  As I was waiting in line I took a deep breath and close my eyes to help calm myself down.  I said to myself in that moment that I was going to choose to be happy no matter what happens and that I will get home.  It was my turn and I told the attendant what happened and she looked at the computer to see about my connecting flight and if there would be other options for me.  As luck would have my connecting flight was delayed as well.  It was going to be tight to catch my connecting flight but was still possible.

I board the plane and we were headed to the take off area (don't know the name of that either) and the plane stopped.  The captain came on the intercom and said that we would not be taking off due to weather conditions at the landing airport.  Okay, deep breath!!  I decided that if I miss my connection than okay.  I pull out my Gut and Phycology Syndrome Book and begin reading.  GAPS is the diet we are switching to May 1st to help heal Hayden's little body.  The diet is grain free, refined sugar free, and lactose free.

The lady sitting next to me asked if I was a psychology student.  I said no, explained the diet and why we were doing it.  Amazing as is was the lady told me that she has a 29 year old son with Aspergers.  She asked me what kind of life I thought Hayden would have and the effect on my family autism would have.  She also told me to be prepared for a lot of heartache and stress.

Well if anyone knows me, you know this women got a ear full in a totally amazing way.  I told her what Hayden use to be like and what he is like now.  I let her know that there is not a doubt in my mind or anyone that knows Hayden knows that he is going to make a FULL recovery from autism.  I explained The Son-Rise Program and all the biomedical treatments we have been doing.  The lady then gave me some words of wisdom.....be really careful with how I address my daughter.  She felt that should put to much pressure on her daughter because her son had many flaws and that her daughter feels that she has to be perfect.

I kindly listened to her but I addressed her concern.  I told her that I am not worried about that at all.  I let her know that Hayden is not viewed in a negative way ever.  That he is just fine the way he is and so is my daughter.  I told her that I feel Ruby having a brother with autism is going to make her a better person.  She is going to love and accept people just the way the are.  That she is going to have a better understanding of people with special challenges.  I also told her that she gets more attention than the average two year old.

I chatted back and forth with this women for around 1.5 hours.  The conversation ended on a positive note and the lady said she was very happy to have met me.  I gave her a card from The Autism Treatment Center of America.  She said she would wish me luck, but I obviously didn't need it :)

The plane was preparing to land and the flight attendant came over the loud speaker to announce connecting flight information.  As amazing as it was my connecting flight was taking out of the same gate as my landing flight which means.......drum roll please..........I MADE MY CONNECTING FLIGHT!!!  Woot...Woot...and I was going to be home when my babies woke up :)  The lady sitting next to me smiled and said....you sure have a spark to you!

I got of the plane had time for a quick bathroom break and loaded on to the same plane again for my flight home.  This time I set beside a man that use to live where I flew out of.  He asked me what I was doing in Hartford and I told him about the training and he asked me questions about Hayden and the program and was taking in all I had to say.  He asked me what I thought cause autism and if you can all imagine I gave him an ear full )

I told him that we live in a toxic world and the food we eat is horrible!  He asked a lot of questions about food and I told him to watch Food Inc.  He then asked where he could get organic meat and produce from.  He told me we was sold on eating healthier.  We talked the entire hour flight about nutrition.

My journey home was a good reminder of why I am doing what I am doing and that people truly care :)  I do have the power to motivate people to make positive changes in their lives.  I am going to keep spreading the word!!!

XOXO,
Brandi

Reflecting back and new happenings

I continue to be impressed and amazed with the progress that Hayden is making :)  I watched a video of what Hayden was like a year ago to what he is like today and it is pretty mind blowing.  The biggest change is how happy he is :)  He laughs and smiles non stop these days.  These are not the drunk / high I am in my own world laughs that he use to have.  I say drunk / high because that is what food does to him.  He gets an optiant release from foods that he is sensitive to. The laughs now are appropriate and genuine.

I love seeing Hayden so happy.  In the playroom the majority of the time is spent playing with him.  Instead of just joining him in what he wants to do / stim we are playing games, and signing songs TOGETHER :)

I think he finally has a grasp on emotions.  He can tell when someone is hurt, sad, mad, and happy.  Today at the playground a little boy fell and got hurt.  Hayden was very concerned looking the boy over.  He said, "ouch, it's okay," and then made a sad face!!!!  This is HUGE!!!  He is relating to people and trying to comfort them :) I had to truly fight back the tears of joy on this one.

There are some big events coming to Hayden's Son-Rise Program.  The first being that Gerd Winkler, a professional teacher for Son-Rise is coming to work with Hayden and his team April 9th and 10th. (to Hayden's team members I will get with you more in detail about this once I know the exact schedule)  Then on April 15th-20th I will be traveling back to The Autism Treatment Center of America for more training.

Hayden's current goals are:

1) To inspire Hayden to look at us while listening for appropriate amount of time based of the activity.
2) Motivate Hayden to speak using nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, articles, and conjunctions or more.
3) Invite Hayden to interact for 9 minutes or greater during an activity.

There have been a lot of ups and downs with Hayden for the past several months and I think it is largely to the yeast treatment protocol he is on and his diet.  We are in the final phase of the yeast treatment protocol and I am hopeful that by the start of May we will be 100% committed to Hayden's (ours) new diet.

We are going to the GAPS diet.  GAPS stands for The Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet. What I know is that we will be eating a lot of broths and fermented vegetables.  Who wants to come for dinner?? This diet has me intimidated but I know it is what needs done.  I am going to be 100% committed to this diet along with Hayden. Brandon and Ruby will cheat outside of the home away from Hayden.  I will be giving up chocolate, coffee, and pop.  I will for warn everyone so you can stay away from for a few weeks while I detox.  The great thing about this diet is that it is done in phases and generally takes 2-3 years.  When we are done with the diet Hayden should be able to eat normal foods again with out issues.