Crazy

We ran out of zucchini. We had two shelves of a huge upright freezer crammed full of bags of zucchini because we bagged and froze in advance for months. It lasted us until now. And we ran out. So I spent two days with Daddy's help calling stores to find organic zucchini in bulk, until I finally found some at a nearby Raley's (supermarket).

When picking up our case of zucchini, I felt compelled to say thank you and explain their importance.  The result was some seriously uncomfortable Raley's employees, and the 'LOOK'.  

It had been awhile since I received that "are you just a crazy lady or should I feel bad for your child" look.  Perhaps I just haven't been venturing out much lately, or perhaps I am getting really good at going about my business and not caring about the stares.  Regardless, that 'crazy' look is hard to miss when you are paying attention.  I get it all of the time with the 'my child is allergic to food' explanation.  Then I get it all the time with the 'my child eats broth, meat and a little zucchini' explanation.  And on occasion I get it out in public when I pour a brown steaming liquid from a thermos into a bottle and hand it to my toddler. (someone even asked me once if is was coffee?!)

After we transitioned to a real food family I began to get it in places that included my 6 year old.  Sometimes I think people figure I am just one of those homeschooling moms.

And these days I am beginning to wonder myself, because I certainly did something crazy.  We have been plugging along with Ellie doing fantastic. Aside from corn and soy, the girl loves her meat and does fantastic on it.  Her eczema is clear, her growth is great, her milestones fantastic.  And if I forget about what she can't eat, or the fact that she is still eating from a bottle, we trudge along fairly nicely.  We are in a broth-making groove.  Until now.

The reality is that she is not progressing because her body bacteria needs more support.  And as much as I am loving things being 'easy', we can not continue to sit in this place without pushing forward.  So....we started her on a new probiotic.  Big deal you think? Not really.  We gave her BioKult - the probiotic I have been fearing for almost a year. 

This probiotic is known for being powerful stuff, and include traces of soy and dairy as well. EEK!  Holy cow- she wears a medical alert bracelet for soy and dairy.  The box of BioKult has been sitting on my counter for at least a month while I built up the courage to dose her.  Perhaps I was waiting for a well rested day so that I could be ready for a long night. But that never came. So I just did it. Whamo!

And guess what? She didn't explode. In fact, she has had some great progress from it. We think. So far. Since it is still the beginning.  But she has also had some pretty bad side effects.  The first couple of doses were incredibly scarey as the toxins in her body crossed the blood brain barrier.  Her eczema is also the worst it has been in many months.

Healing is a process.  Her's will take lots of time, and lots of finesse. This mama only wishes it didn't have to sometimes get worse before it got better; but those are the cards.  Unfortunately for Ellie, sometimes she has to wait for her mama to get over the crazy, and get up the courage to help her move forward.  Fortunately for us, we are nearing the home stretch!  A microscopic dose of BioKult, means an incredible amount of healing already done!