Another week has gone by!
This post will probably be pretty short, but there is some news so I wanted to go ahead and update.
Last week when we left off, we just learned that my oldest son (the one with a severe egg allergy and the main reason we started the GAPS diet) had just passed the sensitivity test for egg yolk twice with absolutely no reactions. (This was after he had failed the test immediately, two weeks prior.)
Well, a week had gone by and I was still too chicken to give him a drop of egg yolk in his food. But today he asked, so I went ahead and placed a drop of raw egg yolk on top of his mashed carrots.
You see, he has passed the sensitivity test for raw egg yolk, but we haven’t tried the egg whites yet, so we have to carefully separate them. You’re probably familiar with how gooey raw eggs are – it’s tricky to fully separate the yolk from the white.
So I crack the egg and pour it into a mug. I grab one of our sharper-edged spoons and lift up the yolk. Most of the egg white will fall off this way, but there is still some surrounding the membrane holding the yolk. So I grab a toothpick and poke a hole into the sac. Then I just place a drop from the toothpick onto his food.
He asked if he could mix it all in together. I told him that was okay, but in retrospect (and for any others reading this who might be introducing eggs) I should have had him just eat the bite with the drop on it separately. That way, if there was a reaction, at least the whole plate of food wouldn’t be wasted.
Alas, it wasn’t necessary.
!
He ate a drop of egg yolk and there was never any reaction.
Did you hear?
He ate a drop of EGG YOLK and there wasn’t any reaction!!!
You’d think by now I would be able to believe it! I’m still in shock. Only three weeks ago when a drop of egg yolk was placed on his skin, he immediately broke out into hives, redness, and itchiness. But no more!
What a cause for celebration! After giving him the egg yolk, I kept bugging him about how he felt. I had to explain to him how scary it was for mama to give him a food like eggs and I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I told him I wished I was as brave as he was! Because this was all no big deal to him. I had to remind him all day long about how he ate a drop of egg yolk.
But it’s a big deal to me.
We’re still moving slowly. I am fine with a drop of egg yolk for now. It’s a big deal in our house, and in my heart.
Life After Two Months of GAPS Intro
When we started Intro, it was so difficult. I didn’t ease us into the diet by first going Full GAPS and working our way down to stage 1. I am wayy too impatient for that! So, it was hard on us. The kids were crying, tired all the time. The grown ups were, too. All they would want to talk about was where they wanted to eat, at what restaurants, and what they wanted to order.
They balked at the food, they cried at what I placed in front of them. It was tough for them. They have really been troopers.
But this past week, I’ve overheard some of the most amazing things. Like,
“Thank you for this delicious food, Mama.”
“Thank you for always feeding us healthy food, Mama.” (Be assured, I did not always feed them healthy food until we started the diet, when I had no choice but to feed them according to the protocol.)
And I hear their prayers before meals: “Dear God, thank you for this wonderful food we get to eat. Thank You for this healthy food. Thank you for these mashed carrots. Thank you for sauerkraut. Thank you for hamburger meat…”
And during nighttime prayers: “Dear God, thank you for the GAPS diet.”
I look at my husband and shake my head in disbelief. WOW. Food really can change so much about how you’re living your life.
But even more so, we thank God from the bottom of our hearts for blessing us with these changes. We’re in the process of a dream come true, and it’s all because of Him.
Things have gotten so much easier. We have moved on to Stage 5 of Intro, and it’s a good feeling. We have been able to introduce raw vegetables like carrots from our garden, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, onion, and even raw garlic in our guacamole with no problems. It is so refreshing!
I still haven’t introduced juicing. I think I will this week, making sure to take it super slowly with our second son who has eczema. His eczema has been slowly improving over the past few weeks, but we still have an itchy, bloody night here and there, unfortunately. 🙁
By the way, the youngest two children are taking the diet very well. They have put on a nice layer of baby fat that was missing before and it makes this mama pretty happy. I’m hoping my two oldest will do the same, but I’m happy to say they all have regained the weight they lost from the beginning of the diet. I know it’s healthy weight that they are gaining and I am all for it. Bring on the chubbiness!
I’m starting to feel more energy and not so drained. That’s a good feeling. There is some chronic pain that is still present but it seems to be getting better slowly.
So things are easier, two months in. Life has returned to a new normal and although I’m excited about making it all the way to the Full GAPS diet, for the time being, we’re pretty happy as it is. I feel like the worst part is over.
Things are looking up!
Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us, with us, and for those who have prayed over our family. We are indebted to you for your prayers. We bless you a thousandfold for sowing into our lives.
To put it succinctly, you ROCK.
Love,
Dandy
Danielle, this is so very wonderful! I can only imagine what it’s like to have such a severe allergy as your sons was to eggs; what a wonderful mama to protect him so well and stick it out, and now you’re seeing healing! I’m so excited and happy for you all making it to stage 5, that has to feel SO good! The end is in sight:) (And Thank the Lord for fresh garden veggies!)
Thanks Maggie!!! I still have to pinch myself to believe it! I am still so timid with advancing too quickly on intro, but we’ll get there eventually! How are y’all doing? What stage is your littlest one on now? And how’s your daughter?
It’s sweet of you to ask; we’re doing well thanks! My little guy is still stage two; his eczema FINALLY seems to not be increasing (at least not by much) so I think I’ll keep here awhile longer for deeper healing and then try some avocado for dipping into stage 3. My daughter is doing tremendous; She’s moving right along through the stages. I am SO thankful we didn’t go through the tremendous food rejections/intense die-off reactions I read of some having; she’s been tolerating increased ferments very well and her palate has broadened greatly. Broth is still somewhat of a battle but I hide as much as I can by reducing it and mixing it into things. I’ve been holding back so she could catch up to stage 4 with me; now we’re about to dip into stage 5 with some lettuce tomorrow; so excited for some fresh raw veggies!
Oh that’s great Maggie! I’m so excited for you! It sounds like you are doing a terrific job! I’m so very glad to hear that your son’s eczema is not increasing. That’s great that you’re keeping him on Stage 2 for intense healing. You’re doing great, Mama!! <3 <3
How wonderful!!! I am so happy for you, Dandy, and for your oldest son!
I do have a question, though. Why are you holding off on juicing because of your 2nd son’s eczema? Does juicing exacerbate eczema? We have been juicing carrots once a day for a little over a week, just adding celery to the mix starting yesterday. I ask because my son has eczema pretty bad on his hands, and if juicing could be keeping it from healing, maybe we should back off. (BTW, we just started Stage 5 over the weekend, but all we’ve added so far is the cooked apples–still nothing whole and raw).
Thanks, Jennifer!
When we started Stage 1, my second son’s eczema almost completely cleared up. We worked our way up to the juicing part, and then I guess I increased it too quickly – his eczema flared, pretty badly. His eczema is different than my first son’s eczema was. My first son’s eczema was mainly caused and irritated by foods he was allergic to. But this eczema is a little different. His liver is apparently overtaxed by something and so it’s trying to clear things through the skin. When I introduced carrot juice, a food that is a strong detoxifier, I gave him too much too soon and his body just couldn’t handle it. We’ve been working for weeks to get it back down, and it’s just finally starting to clear.
Just based on my personal experience, I would take it very slowly with the juicing. It’s super-healing and therefore can produce a strong detox in certain individuals. My three other children did fine with it. Each one is so different!
Congratulations on Stage 5!!! You’re almost there! I’m hesitating on the cooked apples, just because they sound so…sweet. LOL. Maybe this next week. Thanks for stopping by again! 🙂
Very inspirational post you are a fantastic mother for all your efforts and positivity I hope your success continues! Do you or your family take any suppliments such as digestive enzymes and betaine Hcl? I found my progress increased a lot as soon I added these suppliments to my routine along with probiotics.
Lewis
Thank you so much Lewis for your suggestions, and kind compliments! I personally do take Hcl, probiotics, and enzymes daily, but when we were on the diet we took probiotics and ate fermented foods, and had morning drinks of ACV added to water. I bet we would have been helped by the supplements, though! <3
Were you able to introduce egg whites? And if so, when. I tried soft boiled eggs and my kids were up most of the night. Also this is day 9 and we are starting stage 3 and may be on it for 10 days without egg whites. My son looks very thin and it takes him two hours to eat his soups because he doesn’t want to. Did that ever get better for you? How long until they liked it? What made them gain weight?
Eventually they acclimated to the diet and got quite chubby. I loved it, even though it was terribly hard at first. Keep in mind, it’s been years since we did the diet so my details are fuzzy. At some point, not sure when, my three youngest were able to have the egg whites, but not the oldest. He was able to have the yolks which was still a big deal for us. So yes, they eventually ate well and their guts began healing which improved their appetites and decreased their pickiness. It got to the point where they were eating us out of house and home. We were only on the diet for six months and not the recommended two years because I just wore out.