Taco Bell

June 6, 2018 · Filed under Dairy free, Gluten free, restaurants · Tagged

If your a mom you know you live life in your vehicle. Which for me is fun because last year my husband finally caved to my begging for a Ford F-150 King Ranch. “Darla” is a 2012 model and I love her.  I feel like one tough cookie driving around town.

So Darla gets eaten in a lot while I drive my daughter around town. She loves fast food despite me carrying around snacks to help hold her off till we can eat at home. But sometimes we just have to due to time constraints and us smelling like horse poop. Now that I am trying to cut out gluten and dairy that really limits me. It’s tough to eat a salad and drive. So I am usually stuck with french fries (not totally GF) and water. My daughter loves Taco Bell and will chose that 1st every time. So I said OK, let’s give it a shot, thinking I would be eating water for dinner. It turns out they have a yummy GF rice bowl that I can eliminate the cheese from.  It was pretty good, y’all and now I have Taco Bell on my restaurant list. I know it’s not a great option but, if it’s that or eating water for dinner, I will make a run to the boarder.

Leave a comment »

By Golly I Think It’s Working

May 22, 2018 · Filed under Gluten free

Well I have now completed my typical week of endometriosis. The cramps started on Monday, 5/14 and were gone by Tuesday, 5/15! When they started I was like, poo I gave up a lot of yummy food for nothing. But now I am like hot damn let’s keep this up.  Plus I have lost a couple pounds. My belly was still bloated for a few days and continues to be after I eat for a little while.

belly

But I will take bloated over days sitting on the toilet or crying because I want to ripe out my uterus. So I am going to keep kicking endometriosis ass by cutting out dairy, gluten, soy and as much refined sugar as I can.

Leave a comment »

Let’s do this

May 15, 2018 · Filed under Dairy free, endometriosis, Gluten free, infertility

My cramps started creeping in yesterday and for me they start slow and then ramp up. I suspect when I ovulate but I have never fully tested that theory.  It’s a factor that played a part in my conception issues. Who wants to have sex when all you want to do is poop and pee. Or be doped out on Midol Extra Strength.

My brain is so use to food enraging the cramps causing them to get worse. Then all I want to do is sit on the toilet for the next 4 days. It will be interesting to see if the food elimination is going to make any difference. Though I am hungry right now I would rather go without then have to piss off my Endometriosis. Have you found any foods you focus on when your in the middle of your cramps?

Leave a comment »

Zoes Kitchen

May 9, 2018 · Filed under Dairy free, endometriosis, Gluten free, paleo

I am still on the road of elimination eating. I am actually having fun trying to find foods to try and enjoy without bloating. One of the side effects of endometriosis is bloating. I look pregnant most days of the month because I am bloated. Now I already ate pretty(maybe)  good before but I didn’t pay any attention to gluten, diary or sugar. I ate it all in moderation but now I am doing my best to cut them out.

Today I stopped at Zoes Kitchen for lunch. They are a chain so they might be in your area. I asked the cashier what options she had for gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. She said, “Hold on a minute we have a menu for you.”  She handed me a menu designed for vegans, vegetarians, paleo, Whole 30, etc. It was AWESOME SAUCE! I ordered the grilled chicken kebab, rice and white beans. Sadly I couldn’t order the limeade because it had sugar in it, but oh well. I have my yummy paleo truffels from Living Raw at my desk.

zoes almondgood_grande

Leave a comment »

For the love of Rachel

May 1, 2018 · Filed under Dairy free, endometriosis, Gluten free

My sweet 6 year old daughter loves having mommy come to school for lunch. Due to lots of school rules, I almost have to eat the cafeteria food. So today I fell off the wagon for Rachel. We had cheese pizza and baked apples. I told Rachel, “Next time I go off my diet it won’t be for school cafeteria pizza.” It could be worse I know but let’s be honest it’s not good either.

cafeteria

Well 3 hours later and I am not doubled over with cramps or in the bathroom. But I am more bloated, super tired and want to take a nap under my desk. Since eliminating “bad” food I have had more energy in the afternoons. So I guess one positive side effect so far is more energy and not feeling so bloated.

Leave a comment »

You never know unless you ask

April 30, 2018 · Filed under Dairy free, endometriosis, Gluten free

Happy Monday! I am on day 9 of the endometriosis elimination diet.  So far it’s going pretty good and I am actually having fun getting creative with food. As a mom, wife, pet parent and working full time it’s been a bad week for cooking at home. Most of our meals the last few days have been at restaurants. My company has a great cafeteria so it’s been easy following the plan for lunch and breakfast. I emailed our cafeteria manager and asked her to add gluten free bread to the menu. She responded with “We have gluten free bread and pizza crust on order!”  Today I was excited to go get a sandwich but they were SOLD out of gluten free bread. It was their 1st day offering it and it sold out.

This weekend we ate at a couple sit down restaurants including a sports bar. I asked the server if they had any gluten free options.(There weren’t any on the menu) He said “Yes we have buns and personal pizza crusts.”  Well how about that? I am quickly learning to just ask because most of the time they do have options.

I also had to find a new alcohol for my occasional drink because I love Blue Moon Beer and Corona Light.  I know alcohol could be a trigger but, I am not eliminating everything and from what I read it’s not as bad as gluten, dairy, or sugar for endometriosis.  Well I am learning to like Ciders now. I had a couple different kinds this weekend and they were pretty good.

Have a great day!

Leave a comment »

Domino’s pizza

April 23, 2018 · Filed under Gluten free

My daughter wanted pizza for dinner tonight from Domino’s and I thought oh great let’s see what mommy can have. Well guess what Domino’s has a gluten-free pizza and feta cheese is low in lactose so I actually get to have my own pizza for dinner. It is quite good and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on her yummy dinner.

Leave a comment »

Start line

April 22, 2018 · Filed under Gluten free

It has been a long time since I have journaled the happenings of my life. I forgot how much I missed and needed my journaling process.

I started this blog years ago to help me navigate the infertility waters. Seven years ago I became a mom after three years of infertility treatments and two in vitro treatments. For seven years I have been loving being a mom to my one and only healthy embryo out of 45 retrieved.

I was forced down the infertility road because of endometriosis. For almost 20 years I have been dealing with the monthly cramps, bloating and bowel issues. During my treatments and pregnancy I got a reprieve from this shitty disease. But it came back within a year of having Rachel. I have finally had enough sitting on a toilet for days each month. But will not go back to laparoscopic surgery because it was the most awful experience surgically I’ve ever had. I know there are other surgical procedures that might not be so bad but after all the fertility treatments I wanted a break from doctor appointments, needles and drugs.

So I have read enough about the endometriosis diet and I am ready to take the plunge. I will be attempting to cut out gluten, dairy, alcohol, red meat, caffeine, and refined sugar. Which sounds like I pretty much get to eat nothing except fruit and vegetables. There are enough of us out there that are attempting this journey so I don’t feel alone. There are so many great products out there and recipes I feel inspired to give it a real girl.

I am heading to the grocery store today to start looking for products that can replace my love of milk, ice cream, steak, pasta, bread, and the list goes on and on.

This new blog will be mostly my journey with products, the diet and hopefully a reduction or illumination of my endometriosis issues.

Comments (3) »

5 Year Anniversary

October 7, 2011 · Filed under god, marriage

5 years ago today I married my handsome, fun, smart husband.  I am biased but think our wedding was beautiful and our honeymoon to Spain was amazing.

Our first 3 years were rough with year 3 being the worst.  I couldn’t wait for anniversary #3 to get over with because we spent the entire year fighting over our path to children. I wanted to adopt he wanted to do IVF.  Midway through year #3 I handed my marriage and path to children over to god.  Well only god knew that year #4 would start out with an amazing positive home pregnancy test.  Then before we knew it our amazing Rachel came into our lives.  We finished out year #4 loving on a 4 month old baby girl. A baby girl, that has brought Mark and I together stronger then ever. I know it’s not her job to heal us of the hurt, anger and resentment we felt in year #3. But her love is working wonders on our marriage and love.  We share an intense love for this little girl.  That love is helping us work together and learn together. Tonight we are going out to dinner to celebrate making it 5 years.  But this year our dinner won’t just be the 2 of us.  We find it only fitting to bring along our little miracle and toast to our future. 

Here is our latest family photo from Rachels baptism in August..I love saying our family!

Leave a comment »

What a Difference a Year Makes

September 19, 2011 · Filed under god

This time last year I was:

Preparing for my 3 day transfer (again)

I was holding out hope that 1 of the 2 embryos that made it would be our forever baby

I had given up my journey to motherhood to god

I was hanging out with the in-laws completing my 3rd round of IVF

I had finished injecting powerful drugs into my body

I turned to bee pollen, CQ10, Wheatgrass and acupuncture to help grow healthier eggs

Here is the link to my post from September 20, 2010

This year I am:

A MOM!!!!!!!

I kiss little toes and fingers

I breastfeed a beautiful little girl

I read story books and say bedtime prayers

I say “I Love You” many many times a day

I praise god nightly for his masterpiece

I haven’t taken much time to look back on the painful years before Rachel. I am living in the moment of being her mom. I am enjoying every second of it. I don’t mind the sleepless nights, I cherish every breath. She is my perfect lamb and I will never forget what it took to get her here.  But the painful times are still there.  Mark has mentioned a couple times “Maybe we should try for another.”  For me I can’t even go there, I don’t want to walk down that difficult road again, not now anyway.  The joy and love I feel shouldn’t be taken away by the fear of miscarriages, drug induced mood swings, embarrassing surgeries, needles and more needles.  Rachel has earned the right to have a happy and hopeful mom. 

If you are still on that difficult road please read my story as inspiration.  I know it can be hard to believe that your dream will come true but it can.  When I realized that my path to motherhood could come in many different forms, adoption, fostering, etc that’s when peace took over my journey.

Leave a comment »

« Previous entries
Next Page »