Hiatus.

I've been absent for awhile, to be honest I needed a break. I started feeling like a failure. I needed some time to sort things out myself, turn off my Facebook notifications and really reflect on bringing some joy back into my life. Truthfully, since we noticed the tooth problems progressing, I haven't truly felt happy. Sure some days are better than others, but for the most part I have a constant pity party and the phrase "why me" is always floating around my mind.

Well a break is what I needed and now I know "why me" and have answers. Real life answers. A lot has gone on the past few weeks so bear with me as I tackle our trip to the chiropractor and kinesiologist, added supplements, holidays out of town and finally discover the BIG issue we're battling...candida!

This little superstar turned two right before Christmas. Originally we were going to get sedation and crowns when she was twenty months, then told to pull instead. So it is now February and things are going great! She is thriving, meal time is beyond easy, she never complains of tooth pain and eats like a horse. Originally I had too high of hopes. When we started this journey both teeth were cracked and chipped/chipping. I had a friend tell me that her daughters teeth grew so I was hoping for a miracle. Well, the last bit of loose enamel has chipped off and I'm so glad. Every single time she ate/brushed I worried about that tooth. You could literally push half of it back, there was no fixing that. So now the goal is keeping the baby teeth until they fall out on their own or at least until she can sit without sedation with Dr. Gardner. We got the funds together and finally saw a naturopath and chiropractor! What a blessing! 

Dr. Sunshine was referred to me by my farmer and raw milk co op. He is in Knoxville and has cured allergies and offers kinesiology. He is Christian as well so I was very excited to visit him! At our first visit I explained what our issues were and got muscle testing done. Mold allergy? Dairy intolerance? Leaky gut? Celiac? No no no. I was getting frustrated. Something was wrong with my baby and I needed answers! Then her little arms held the vial against her belly and my arm was stuff as a board. "It's candida", he said. And just like that...I knew. 

He started us on Prostatin and I took it upon myself to start GAPS as closely as possible. One thing I made sure we kept up with was dairy. Rami and Dr. Price really push butter and raw milk for tooth decay so I made sure I put it in EVERYTHING. I even started hoping to wean and offer her milk when she asked to nurse. She ate butter by the spoonfuls as well. But the candida wouldn't go away and her face rah was as prevalent as ever. Constant red pimple like dots all over her face! I put derma on them, clay, coconut oil...I started putting coconut oil on my nipples before nursing. Still there. Then we got stranded in a snow storm without our milk. I was so stressed out. Here I am trying to wean and we had no milk for three days! Well, guess what? The bumps went away. Praise God I have an answer!

Testing concluded no dairy allergy and her face is very mild when she has her kefir, so I think the dairy aggravates the candida too much. I have read from a few moms in the tooth decay group that killing the candida also cured the intolerance. So for now I will cook with coconut oil and ghee instead of the massive amounts of butter. I'm skipping my milk share for the next couple weeks too. We see Dr. Sunshine again Tuesday morning and I can't wait to talk it over with him. If you can't seem to find the root issue of your child's rash/tooth problems I highly suggest finding a chiropractor that also offers naturopath services and kinesiology. So we are now dairy, gluten & sugar free and it feels AWESOME!