Finally, some really great news!

Kaelyn has a new job. Selling Juice Plus+!!  Just kidding.  But she loves her "vities" as we call them.
You all know how much work Mike and I have done with changing our eating habits and our lifestyle. We take these changes very seriously and know they are saving our lives. I don't ever want to be a preacher, but it is amazing to me how many people now ask us for our advice, our opinions, and our healthy resources. That said, we do consider ourselves somewhat "advocates" of better health and last week, I got the confirmation that we are in fact on the right track. Let me recap our story.

April 1: changed our diet to 70% fruits/vegetables, and very little packaged goods - our focus became what is known as "whole food nutrition"...eating things in their pure form, not their refined or "packaged" form.

May 15: I had a nutrition test (www.spectracell.com) and was found to be deficient in serine, choline, vitamin a, zinc, and borderline on quite a few other nutrients. So I started taking Juice Plus+ (www.miglioreliving-juiceplus.com) and supplementing the nutrients I was deficient in.

Mike and Kaelyn also started taking Juice Plus+.

Oct 1: I had a re-test on the nutrition test and all of my deficiencies are not just normal, but above normal. Through WHOLE foods, my nutrients were restored!

Why is this such a big deal? We can be walking around with deficiences and not even know it. In the end, they cause chronic illness. By restoring our nutrients, we can avoid disease and illness. But we can fix this just by eating more fruits and vegetables. We should be eating 9-13 servings of fruits and veggies a day.

In my case, each of my specific deficiencies is linked to miscarriage and later term-baby loss. They are all involved in the processes of RNA/DNA and cellular growth. We will never have a direct link between these nutrients and my miscarriages, but it's a definite indicator. I could also have had later life implications by not fixing these deficiencies.

I do feel grateful for this opportunity to look at my body's chemistry and I realize that most people do not have the ability or the impetus to do so. That said, we have found Juice Plus+ to be such an great option for supplementing our vegetable needs. Since they provide nutrition from 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains in a convenient and inexpensive capsule form, on the days when you don't eat enough of your fruits and veggies at least you know they've got you covered.

Needless to say, I decided to become a Juice Plus+ distributor since I believe so strongly in the product.  Stop by my website and check it out www.miglioreliving-juiceplus.com.

And I, for the first time in a while, have a glimpse of

hope...

Two Pumpkins

We should have had a new little pumpkin in our family this year and we do not.  Sunday, October 4th, was our second unfulfilled due date this year.  I guess I'm getting kind of used to the passing of these dates - I wasn't even planning to do anything for this one.  But once again, I was struck with the idea of  how best to recognize the day at the very last minute...a visit to the pumpkin patch.  I decided that forevermore, our pumpkin picking day will be on October 4th.  Of course, who wants to pay pumpkin patch prices, right?  So we just picked out a small pumpkin each for Maya and Liliana.  Luckily these pumpkins will double as our pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving since they are the special "sugar" pumpkins just for that.  And our BIG pumpkins will come from the cheaper Trader Joes market!
Here is Kaelyn with her sisters' pumpkins...

And I would like a tshirt that says "I wanted a baby and all I got was this stupid pumpkin".... 

That's the sarcastic side of me.  But don't worry, there is the other side that looks at Kaelyn and sees how lucky we were to get this little miracle.  She is so much fun.  I've tried to concentrate on enjoying her as much as I can.  It is sure fun to have her birthday so close to Halloween and in the fall.  It would have been nice to have two fall birthdays.  In general, October is a sucky month now - a birthday that never got to be and an upcoming 1 year anniversary of our first miscarriage.  Last year on October 4th we were having Kaelyn's 1st birthday party and I was still pregnant.   The first few weeks of the month is tough, but it has a nice closing with Kaelyn's birthday - and that is where we will focus our energy. 

A Fall Meal!

The chill is in the air, the rain has been spitting at us...finally we're in the mood for fall.  The decorations are coming out, pumpkins are all around...and it's time to eat...SQUASH!!  I used to love Squash growing up but I rarely make it for us.  I am going to make it all fall long this year. This meal was a giant hit.  Kaelyn AND Mikey liked it!  Kaelyn practically ate all the asparagus too. And let me tell you, you "knew" when her diaper was wet instantly.  When we went in to get her the next morning...phew what a smell in that bedroom! 

Recipes

This whole meal took me a total of 5 minutes to get into the oven.
Salmon:  sprinkle with thyme, garlic pepper, and celery salt and bake for 15 minutes
Squash:  half, put open side down in dish with 1/2 inch of water and bake for 45 mins.  Throw in a pat of butter, a tablespoon of RAW maple syrup, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Asparagus:  place on a cookie sheet, spray or rub down with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and myzithra or parmesan cheese and bake for 15-20 mins

Miscarriage Humor

I'm not sure if everyone who reads this blog will get the humor in this "joke" of a Hallmark card. My friend Bree (who I met thru a support group) sent it to me from another blog (http://www.lifeandloveinthepetridish.blogspot.com/) and we thought it was HILARIOUS. The main point being that it did make us laugh - so that is a good thing. It is probably humor that only those who've lost babies can understand...but I think there could actually be a business in making these cards. The trouble is, it's a card you'd only want to get from those who have also lost a baby. It just wouldn't be funny to come from someone who has not lost a baby - especially because they are the ones who seem to think that yes, the fact that we can now drink again will make us feel any better for losing a baby. Sorry guys, but wine is not a good trade for a baby. Turns out nothing is.
It is hard that our life has changed so much in the last year.  It's always hard to want something you can't have, but it's even harder when you thought you had it and then it was taken away from you. It makes it especially hard to see everyone around you getting what they want and not having to go through the same pain. It's also difficult to lose the sense of happiness of pregnancy. I'm not looking forward to being pregnant again. I actually told my doctor I want to keep my head at home and send my body for the ultrasounds. But generally, I just don't want anything to do with the entire process. I find that sad - to have lost the joy of the experience.
So don't be looking for any "news" from us anytime soon. Even when we do decide to cross that bridge again, we certainly won't be sharing the news. It will be hard enough to try not to stress about it all every moment of every day - knowing others are thinking about it too would just be too much. Especially when no one else is thinking about what we don't have in our arms right now.  That's the other sad piece - how completely isolating this experience is.  Friends and family stop reaching out after the first month or two - and then they think you should be over it and back to your old self.  It's never over...it just takes different shapes and forms.  You always lost a baby. You've always had more pregnancies than children.  And you are NEVER the same as you were before this experience.  So the only people who can even be a part of your new life are the ones who can recognize that you "need" to be different.  That you're going to have some shi**y moments and times and they'll accept you for that.