Journey to Health

Our house has gotten a little healthier in the past month. We have had to flush out all gluten, dairy and refined sugar. With that comes a healthier lifestyle.

The reason we have changed our eating habits is Clark's recent MS diagnosis. 

It started over a year ago when Clark lost vision in one eye. We were concerned at that time, but none of the tests they ran were conclusive, so we were hoping it was just a random incident. The doctors called it optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve that could cause a complete or partial loss of vision. We were satisfied with that. 

Then it happened again; but it was much different this time. He was now experiencing double vision, a numbing of the entire left side of his body and a lot of pain, especially when he was tired. So he went to the doctor again. After this MRI, they found two lesions on his brain. From this, they determined that he has a 95% chance of having MS. 

So we will have more testing and more appointments, but at least we have an action plan. 

For now, until we have more information and have more tests done, we can be changing our lifestyle to be a little healthier. Clark has been going to the chiropractor, which seems to be helping immensely, as well as changing our diet, managing stress and visiting a naturopath. This episode he was in is over now and we are hoping that all these changes can keep the next one from happening as soon or being as severe. He has definitely felt better with the way we eat now and can feel the pain return any time he eats dairy or gluten. 

I'm starting to look at Clark's MS as a blessing, in a way. It is really forcing us to get healthy; to look at labels and take a deeper look at what is in the food we are eating. So far this is working for us. We are learning to cook and shop differently.

It is really only by God's grace that we have such peace about this diagnosis. I was talking to a friend today about how much God can teach us when faced with difficult situations. I can't really speak for Clark here, but I am feeling much better about this whole situation and I appreciate that we have our Saviour to rely on. 

The Story of Brynlee's Birth: Part 3

By 6 that night, my water still hadn't fully broken. I was already about 9 cm dilated and my body was telling me to push. So I spent the next 4 hours breathing through the urge to push and telling myself that if I gave in I could do some real damage to my body. The nurses told me that if I allowed myself to push, my uterus could tear. So after dealing with this for far too long, they finally decided it was time to get things going by breaking my water.

This is when things got interesting. When the nurse broke my water, I immediately went to 10 cm and started pushing. Although this is also when she found out there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. So when I got closer to having Brynlee, the NICU team came in. With the doctor and the two nurses I had in my room, I think there was about a dozen of us in that little room.

It was 11:39 when Brynlee finally entered the world at a whopping 9 lb. 2 oz. and 22 inches. What a long day, but the most amazing day of my life! I had my little girl in my arms.

They only let me hold her for a minute before whisking her away to get all the meconium out of her lungs and do a bunch of tests. This gave me a chance to talk to the doctor about how everything went while she stitched me up, only 3 stitches though.

Clark came back from the NICU to tell me how everything went and grab a bit of sleep. It sure wasn't easy sleeping after all that. I got about an hour of sleep before they brought Bryn back to me. I fed her and cuddled her. I just couldn't believe this was my baby!

The Story of Brynlee's Birth: Part 2

We got to the hospital and I was 3 cm dilated. They checked me out, got me on antibiotics because I had just found out the week before that I had Group B Strep. They wanted me to be a bit further before admitting us, so we went for a walk, big pole for antibiotics and all. We were stopping every few minutes for a contraction, of course. By the time we went back to triage, I was 4 cm, so they got us in a room. At this point, I was ready to try anything to ease the pain of the contractions. I guess I should say, anything but drugs. Clark and I came into this pregnancy and labour convinced we were going to have a natural birth, and that's exactly what we did.

This picture shows just how tired I was

I tried a warm shower, a jacuzzi bath and eventually the birthing ball. I think I spent 80% of my labour on that ball. Eventually I wanted something to curb the pain, so I started on nitrous oxide. This stuff was great, but only for about an hour. I was so loopy and tired while taking the gas, the nurse was in and out of the room and I had no idea. I remember asking Clark if the gas would hurt Brynlee, and the nurse answered; that was a little surprising. 

So I got a bit of sleep during that first hour of using the gas, which was good because the hardest part was yet to come. 

Part 3 yet to come...