Tag: health

ROUX’S ANATOMY

Posted on by Lynzie · 2 Comments

feverishroux

This week, it’s as though we’re starring in our very own medical drama, not just players of supporting roles in someone else’s story arc, but the central characters themselves. That sweet baby of mine can’t quite catch a break recently, having been to the pediatrician thrice plus a visit to the lab at Rady’s in the last three days alone. Not to mention the collection of a urine sample, which required a catheter, and a blood test that took one whole hour and two different phlebotomists just to find his vein. I’ve cried many mama tears in my day, but the kind that come from the eyes of a mother watching her baby suffer are the most painful ones to shed.

The good news is that we have a diagnosis, one that is common and relatively mild, a childhood virus that isn’t preventable by any vaccine thank you very much. That doesn’t ease the trauma of the last few days, but it does eliminate the worrying that comes with not knowing what is wrong, but knowing that something isn’t right. I managed to get a little sleep last night so I was much less bleary eyed at this morning’s doctor visit, what should be our last in this particular saga. As the anemia persists, he’ll have yet another blood test next week. And we’ll go from there.

I mentioned on Instagram that in a dozen years of motherhood, I’ve never had to consult a pediatrician on behalf of a sick child. My big kids have been remarkably, uncharacteristically, amazingly healthy. Of course I credit this with the attention we put into the food that we eat, and the fact that we do not ascribe the conventional paradigm of Western Medicine, which is to prevent illness. Instead, I believe in preserving wellness. Even having a baby as sick as mine has been these last few days, I believe in the healing power of the body more than I do any other treatment. Our doctor was so impressed that with fevers as high as his were running, he wasn’t dehydrated. He had maintained his sodium and electrolyte levels strictly through breastmilk, having nursed constantly throughout this whole ordeal. Extraordinary machines, we are.

He’s finally resting more comfortably, sleeping for longer stretches of time. He’s still very clingy when his eyes are open, which had his doctor a little concerned until she took one look at him today and proclaimed him to be in possession of a well honed flair for the dramatic. Wonderful.

This has been challenging for me, I don’t do well when I feel helpless or ineffective, which is about the only way I can describe the agony that is having to restrain your own baby during painful and invasive medical procedures. That stubborn Huckleberry has wanted only to be held + walked or bounced, not worn, not cradled, not cuddled, not perched on a seated lap, nothing other than his head on a shoulder in motion, testing my patience and tapping my strength til there’s not much left.

Oh, but how I grateful I am that he is well, that we all are well, and that things are finally finally starting to settle down for us. In general, across the board, which is quite possibly the biggest relief of all.

I’m really, really ready for it to be Spring.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Posted on by Lynzie · 2 Comments

rainbowsunset

The winds of change are blowing strongly through our hillside palace by the sea, and lots of things are bubbling and simmering, chickens included, and the next few months are sure to be educational and transformative in equal measure.

I spent the morning in an Introduction to Ancestral Cuisine class, led by the lovely Annie Dru of Lard Mouth. I laughed, I cried, I cried some more, and mostly I did a lot of nodding my head. I scribbled notes furiously in my notebook as I sat there and listened to her tell me the reasons why consuming animals is essential to not only human health, but the very health of the Earth herself. For a person who has lived nearly her entire life as an eater of plants alone, this can be very unsettling. And yet, for me, as unsettling and icky and sad as it is, it is also primitively true.

But it is sad, which is why I cry. Often.

As I was driving home from the class, I was on the phone with my ex-husband coordinating today’s pick-up, and I couldn’t help but enthusiastically repeat to him some of what I’d just absorbed. And he said to me, “I’m proud of you for having an open mind to hear these things. Because sometimes when you strongly believe in something, it can limit you from your own personal growth.”

I’m not sure where exactly I am dietarily other than that I am on a journey to learn as much as I can about feeding my family as nutritiously, sustainably, and compassionately as possible. For as long as I can remember, I have believed in what Hippocrates said, that food is medicine and medicine is food. This is why my eldest child, going on twelve, has never been on any sort of medication. Even for a cold! I rely exclusively on the healing forces of plants and herbs in various forms and methods of delivery to keep our health as robust as possible, and this includes, most importantly, the things we eat.

I have been lucky in that we have always been of strong constitution. That is, until this last year, when suddenly I found myself and my brand new infant in the middle of our very own health scare. And after trying virtually everything else, I’m changing the one thing I haven’t yet. Our diet.

All of this to simply say, I’m learning as I go.

Also, I’ve noticed a few things on this site of mine are not working, some link and sidebar functionality issues, as well as a couple other things here and there that need addressing. Bear with me as things are tinkered with and updated.

ALL HEARTS FOR FEBRUARY

Posted on by Lynzie · Leave a comment

peonyinside

I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s slightly relieved to see January come and go. This January, especially.

I’m happy to report that all is quiet on the western medical front, knock on wood. I made another batch of stock yesterday of which my tiny guy heartily slurped up two bowls, and wouldn’t you know it, but he slept so well last night he forgot to wake me up on time for school this morning. He’s my little chicken lover, and I’m slowly coming to terms with this new lifestyle we seem to have adopted. But if it’s chicken that’s going to make that baby of mine finally get some sleep, so be it.

I did think it very interesting that a person I admire who’s dietary journey is very much guided by her health shared her own story of reincorporating animal products into the food she eats last week. She wrote two really funny, honest pieces which can be found here and here and are each worthy reads.

Someone is 50 (FIFTY!) weeks old today, and is just about the sweetest, most angelic, gumdrop of a baby. I can barely wrap my head around the fact that we are actually planning his first birthday party.

But first, Valentine’s Day! It’s not so much that I love the holiday itself, but I’m positively head over heels for love. And hearts. And crafting! And chocolate!! AND FLOWERS!!! Not to get carried away or anything, but I’m pretty darn excited to celebrate this year. I’ve got myself the four sweetest valentines a gal could ever want, plus there is something about surviving a personal crisis that makes me all gooey and sentimental inside. Maybe it’s the drugs they gave me, but ever since I woke up from anesthesia, I’ve been extra giddy and overly optimistic. I’m certainly not complaining, and I don’t think my family is either.

A good mood is like a fresh start, all shiny and bubbling with possibility. I’ve parlayed this particular burst of creativity into making plans for new + exciting ventures with my husband-to-be. To start to put into action something that we’ve talked about since the very beginning of our relationship is like turning a little once upon a time dream into our current reality.

I look forward to sharing more soon!

BEFORE THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE

Posted on by Lynzie · Leave a comment

halloweenowl

my little owl on halloween

This time last year is still so vivid to me, the way it felt to have a baby in my belly and the anticipation of what it would be like to have a new little person join our family.

On Monday, that little person, one Roux Huckleberry Baker, turned precisely 39 weeks old. 9 whole calendar months, exactly. And as cozy as it was to be pregnant during the Holiday Season, it is that much more delicious to have a squishy baby with whom to enjoy all the festivities. Especially a baby as magnificent as my tiny guy.

Practically overnight, he had a massive growth spurt. He woke up one morning last week and actually fit into onesies I didn’t think he’d wear until well after his first birthday. And the scooching! All of the sudden, he’s everywhere. Under the couch, next to the ironing board (the iron wasn’t on, but still!), one minute he’s playing happily under his gym and the next he’s all the way wedged between my desk and a basket of silks. I have a lot of baby proofing to do!

We have experimented with Baby Led Weaning, which is both fascinating and terrifying. On the one hand, it makes complete sense to me, and on the other hand, it’s challenging and risky. While I have been really pleased with the success we’ve had with foods like broccoli and sweet potato and even these little baked lentil quinoa cakes, a small hemoglobin test at yesterday’s check up showed that Huckle is rather anemic. We’re introducing fortified cereals and a liquid supplement with the hope such remedies will increase the iron in his blood.

To think this is the only hiccup we’ve encountered since his birth is a reminder how blessed we have been. He really has come so far. And he is so darn cute, it’s almost silly. On Saturday mornings, I’ve been taking tap classes in Balboa Park. I wear Roux in my Solly Baby wrap, easily one of the highlights of my week, and oh how the sweet old ladies in my class adore him! They kiss his sweet cheeks and fawn over him and all I can think is how lucky I am that this incredible creature chose me to be his mama.

Our days begin well before the sun rises, my Huckle likes to get up early. Once I resigned myself to our predawn routine, I came to cherish those quiet hours when nearly everything is still asleep except us two. We keep all the lights off and snuggle under covers on the couch, babbling to each other before I have to begin my duties for the day. As much as I love my job, and am grateful to have work that is fulfilling and meaningful, it’s getting harder and harder for me to head off to work each morning, feeling like I’m missing out on so many little moments that I can never get back.

Time is passing by faster than ever, we’re heading into the part of year that seems to happen at warp speed, and all I want to do is stop here for a little while. Be with my baby before he’s not a baby anymore, to enjoy my home and my family and this season. To somehow remember all the tiny details – the nuances of his voice and the myriad of sounds that are beginning to emerge, to capture exactly the way it feels when his eager little fingers reach up to explore the landscape of my face, the way he smiles at me when he nurses – because honestly, it’s as if it’s all happened in an instant. And yet, as I plan next week’s menu, I know it’s been a year, a whole entire year, since I prepared a feast in my kitchen with a bump tucked under my apron.

I’m going to try my best to take it slow this season, to live in to each experience, to treasure the time and marvel at just how bittersweet its fleeting can be.