It's weird I know, but I'm trying it out.

Yesterday I was talking to one the sisters at our little chapel. I was describing how bad the morning sickness was (I threw up three times while we were there) and how I think it's caused by the excess mucus and drainage, but also when I eat any dairy I get sick pretty much ASAP. So she says, "Don't have milk products and don't have any wheat. Do this for 90 days." Well, 90 days would pretty much bring me to the average stopping point of my morning sickness (19 weeks gestation) so I said to myself, "Why not? I don't have anything to lose, do I?"

Here I am, day 1 of this new "diet" and I woke up in fear of the bathroom. I clung to Larry (who had to use the bathroom really badly- oh the things he puts up with from me) and basically said to him, "if I let go I'm going to throw up." Thankfully I haven't and I'm feeling much better and I'll tell you the reason. Now, my usual wake-up routine contains a cup of chai tea with 2% or skim milk and yesterday's chai came right back up and I felt awful for the rest of the day. This morning I put the chai mixture (from a box) in half a cup of rice-milk that I made last night with the vita-mix my awesome mother-in-law let me borrow for a few weeks. It didn't taste the same, but tada- I'm not rushing to the sink/toilet/trashcan. It didn't taste bad- just different. THEN I made myself a "veggie drink" in the vita-mix with red bell pepper, celery, spinach, and apples. It tasted like a veggie drink (the bell peppers are very powerful!) but I'm on here and not in the bathroom. My verdict... vegetables and rice milk help ALOT! Yesterday morning I had milk and eggs (not that protein isn't important because it IS!) and I threw up four times before noon. If I can make it to noon without throwing up I'll know it's because of the lack of milk (and veggies and fruits don't hurt).

I don't feel nauseated right now! This in and of itself is miraculous! With Phoebe I gained almost 40 lbs. and with Stephen (after losing 10 lbs and gaining it back) about 50lbs. I know the reason I gained so much weight (at least I think so) is because in the first trimester I only ate what would stay down or make me feel better for a few minutes or frankly what would NOT taste awful coming back up, but this meant that I was putting chips and salsa in my body on a pretty much constant basis- sad but true. And after the first trimester (and some of the second) my body basically went into "give me everything in sight" mode. I made huge mistakes in the first trimester that cost me in the second and third trimesters. Not this time! This time is going to be different! This time I'm going to start off right! This time I'm gonna make sure I learn the hard lesson of "it does matter what I eat in the first trimester, even if it comes back out!".

Okay, tomorrow starts week 8. My morning sickness with Phoebe lasted until week 17 and with Stephen, week 22. This means I have about 3 more months of nausea. This means the 90 days that I'm going to try this "diet" out are going to mean a huge deal. No milk, no wheat. A friend of mine has told me that she has a great spelt recipe that she's going to give me along with some spelt flour (it's actually quite expensive in the stores- so THIS is a huge blessing!) Yup- you guessed it... I will be baking my own bread from now on. Spelt bread in the stores is more expensive and you have to look at certain stores since it's not sold everywhere. Thankfully the same friend gave me a BOSCH as a wedding gift. :-) This also is a chance to start baking with Phoebe and give us the opportunity to do some homemaking together. :-)

My hope is that the nausea will subside earlier with Shiloh and that my body will be a healthier "house". If you believe in prayer- please pray for me. I'm an average american who usually eats the average american diet. I will have struggles in this journey to change what I've known for so long and the transition may be harder than I expect, but hopefully not. Be praying for little Shiloh too. My goal is a healthy baby and everything I do to my body will be for that purpose. :-)