Monday, December 30, 2013

Lets talk poop!!

Oh yes finally a poop blog ive talked about writing one and put it off for far too long. lets face it with crohns poop tells you alot and you can tell alot about how you health is by it. For me just a glance I can tell how my crohns is acting if im bleeding if im backed up ect. to be honest most people dont give poop much credit after all its that nasty smelly leftovers of food that comes out of your butt. but like everything with our bodys it has a purpose and it is actully quit helpful in helping tell you how you body is doing. I know with my crohns poop is a big thing am I having to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes, can I even leave the bathroom, am I stopped up, is there blood??? lets be honest we have all stared at what comes out most not giving it any thought at all think eww gross and hurrying out hoping we dont have to go again. but think how much about poop do you know??

Think about the color of your poop
  • Brown:  any shade of brown is normal.
  • White: can be a sign of pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.
  • Clay-colored: indicates a lack of bile in the stool which indicates gallbladder disease, cirrhosis, hepatitis or gallstones.
  • Black:  may be indicative of bleeding in the esophagus or stomach.
  • Green: can indicate Crohn’s disease. Green stool often indicates that food has passed through the intestines faster than normal.
  • Bright Red poop may indicate bleeding in your rectum, lower gi tract and the presence of a polyp, diverticulosis or hemorrhoids.
  • dont get all jumping by this info foods you eat can effect the color as well!
How food, supplements and medications affect poop color:
  • Beets: dark red poop (not bright red)
  • Carrots: orange colored poop
  • Greens: dark green — brown poop
  • Iron supplements: black poop
  • Peptobysmol: black poop
Making you say hmm righttttt. well think how much easier life is when you pay attention to all aspects of your body. yes yes i am talking about looking at your poop.

Poop is one of thing that you can rely on well kinda everyone poops and if your not pooping you need help take a laxative and sit back and learn a little about you bady and poop us crohnies seem to have a love hate relationship with our poop!! heres more thing to look at when staring at your poop.... 

Normal Frequency: Every day, one to three times per day. Occasionally, if you eat a lot of fiber containing foods, you might have a fourth bowel movement.
Normal Amount: Depends on your weight: you should produce about one ounce of poop for each 12 pounds of you body weight per day.

Not Normal:Every other day or even less frequent. If your poop stays in your intestines too long two things can happen: the body reabsorbs toxins that were supposed to be removed with your stool and pockets may form in your colon leading to diverticulosis.
Not Normal: More than 3 times per day. If your poop move through you too quickly, the body does not have time to absorb all the nutrients it needs.

Consistency, Shape & Smell:

Food and water intake make the consistency, shape and smell of your poop vary to some degree; some days your poop may be slightly firmer or smell stronger than on others. Having diarrhea for constipation for a day or two is no cause for alarm, your body may just be trying to get rid of something (diarrhea) or you may not have had enough fiber or water (constipation).  However, any prolonged, persistent abnormality in your stool consistency or shape should be discussed with your MD or a well-educated nutritionist. The same holds true for the smell of stool; though the smell of poop can be unpleasant, ongoing smells that are particularly strange or foul shouldn’t be ignored.

Normal: smooth texture, S-shape, like a snake, sinks slowly.

Not Normal:
  • Pellets, marble-shaped, like bird or deer droppings, sinks very fast = constipation, can be an indicator of more serious diseases.
  • Watery, shapeless = diarrhea, can be an indicator of food allergies, Crohn’s,IBS and more serious diseases such as certain cancers.
  • Soft, floating stool that is difficult to flush = can be an indicator of too much fat in the stool and more serious diseases such as pancreatic problems.
  • Mucus in the stool = can be an indicator of inflammation in the GI tract and more serious diseases such as Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis.
  • Pencil thin = can be an indicator of polyps, IBS or more serious diseases such as colon cancer.
  • Foul or strange smell = can be an indicator of too much fat or blood  in the stool and more serious diseases such as an infection.
for now I leave you with a picture of the mythical unicorn poop....

Friday, December 27, 2013

pregnancy update!!

Ok so I go into my lovely o.b's office she is currently on vacation in costa rica. So I have to see a midwife which a dread. this one I saw with my last pregnancy she is an anti medication nazi from hell so I wasnt happy that she was the one I was seeing and she trys to dr block me from seeing my dr. So I get in there fill out new paperwork yada yada yada no biggie spend forever talking to a new nurse there who updated my history well kinda I think she was out of her mind going through it all. then I wait forever untill she comes in and asking me about all my medication and why I have to take them praising all natural and even ot into a breastfeeding conversation. I dont knock breast feeding but damn if it comes to a point where it is my health or breast feeding I would rather spend my years seeing my kids grow and learn and know that I am somewhat healthy than be bed ridden and unable to do things with them. I.e having crohns and needing my medication to continue with my daily life. I explain to for more than once that I was on birth control at the time I got pregnant and after 3 times of her preaching that once you quit taking it you get pregnant she finally gets the point that I was one it when I got pregnant. I wanted to walk out right then. But I knew I needed to find out how far along I am. This woman should be a spokes person for annoying uneducated wanna be drs who need to realize they do not have enough education to be preaching to someone who has spent years dealing with crohns and actully knows what there talking about. after a female exam she swears up and down at most I am 6 weeks well I know damn sure I am further along than that but then again what do I know even though this is number 4 and I know my body. So she send me for an ultrasound where I am told I am 8 weeks and two days ok sounds better to me. im already counting down the time untill we know the sex(fingers crossed I get a boy) I have two wonderful giirls but there big brother deserves a boy around and girls are drama from the get go. I got my mamas girl and I love it to pieces she is always good for a cuddle. and Ive got my little bruiser who is all daddy all the time I swear she hates me unless im the only one around then in that case well she will use me for a bottle or food. anyways the rambling needs to stop I am over it im done I want this thing grown and out ive done this every freaking year now for the past couple of years and I know what to excpect im praying it doesnt effect my crohns like the lasttime. but then again who knows what will happen. and im hoping that it takes more after me than hubs the world isnt ready for another one of him.

Thing 4???

Ok everyone IM PREGNANT! Now before I go on this rant of hating drs and wtf is going on let me just say somewhere deep inside im hoping it is a boy. Lets start from the beginning well I started the challenges as well as landing a job I love in october!! Oh yeah I was sooo happy I was making a good amount of money and planning to find a new place to live ect. Then I noticed I was getting more tired it was harder to workout. lifting at work was getting extremely hard and my stomach was killing me more than the usual crohnie pain. I had had issues with my birth control making me bleed and had switched to a diffrent one before all of this started and still I kept bleeding. Fast forward I am taking pregnancy text like mad wondering wtf is wrong there all negative but everyone around me knows im pregnant which is how it goes. My mom always misses periods and gets pregnancy cravings, puking ect when anyone close to her is pregnant. I went to the drs and they kept telling me I wasnt yet I had quit bleeding and was at the point of a break down because I couldnt figure it out something was off and we all knew it!! Finally we got it confirmed im pregnant well if you ask my family dr I am not pregnant! he seems to think that i need a blood test everyday to check the levels and all that. never going to him again! Now I sit wondering how far along I really am because we have no sure way of telling untill the first ultrasound. I have been through the hoops with drs and endless calls trying to get n and yesterday after calling my ob over and over again I finally get ahold of someone who actully looks at my file and sees that I am extremely high risk and sets me up for an appointment today. I am scared and worried and wondering how far along I am. I am tired of drs and there bs ive delt with alot because of drs not understanding crohns and not realizing that I actully know what im talking about when it comes to my body. I havent worked in a few weeks and I miss it, I miss my residents and miss being able to be there for the ones who dont have family to come see them. I went in the beginning of the week to get my check and got soo many hugs even more when I let them know I was expecting they want me back theere like an extended part of my family. I know that when I am there my job is to care for them and make sure they are alright and when I went in seeing there faces light up I knew I had been doing a good job and it hurts me knowing they miss me. but hopfully soon they will have me back on shift!! untill then I am focasing on my 3 little monsters and trying to make it through this pregnancy! this afternoon im hoping my ob will do an ultrasound so we can see how far along as for right now were estimating july 2014!!!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

crohns meets christmas meals!!!

We all know it. we all say it. But when it comes down to it us crohnies cant help sometimes but to indulge in some good ol' nasty food!! yes you know what im talking about and we are all guilty of it at least a few times! So yesterday after opening gifts I should have headed home made a soup. damn anything but no I want to kids to enjoy this day and we head with the family to a buffet, feeding our family is a job theres just too many soo this is my moms answer to it! Who doesnt love a buffet righttt. I know I do in my pre crohnie days I coulda put away the whole thing and then some I could eat. But those thoughts of what I use to do get me in trouble! I was good well as about as good as a hog in a fresh mud pile, if you get what im saying. we waited in for what seemed like forever. come on guys we come there every holiday a party of 13 this time not that many we could have brought everyone.  so here we are at the table the kids excited to eat and hurry up to get sweets. Me and hubs go to get the kids plates while he is just worried about finding things they will eat( which isnt hard our kids have grown up around a lot of food diversity, and can put away some veggies) I am looking around finding foods I can eat. as soon as we give the kiddos there plates its on. bad momma is out and im coming for the food not thinking clealry at all about the fact that I am in a crohns flare or that I should eat but a small plate I fill up my plate not once not twice but three times, this all in less than 30 minutes. I enjoyed every bite and wills tick with that story. then can time to survey the sweets well the kids were having some soo why not righttt. big mistake i got a piece of carrot cake i remember eating that vividly because I was in shock at how good it was. Im a foodie so finding a gem like that it amazing. soon after I must have givin hubs that look. You know that look like omg I gotta poop/ fart ect. because he asked are you gunna fart. i told him flat out noo I gotta poop got up and walked across the resturant to the bathroom. I did this camly although i wanted to run like mad. So here I am waiting for a stall in soo much pain and finally one opens up and my nerves about going in public are gone because well this is the first time ever in public i walk into a bathroom and everyone is going poop. I didnt hold it back at all I was at ease. then I realized the other coughing and hurrying out fast! OMG really people I have crohns its ok for your stink to be in here but damn mine is too much really??!!!  Ok well I will admit I am bleeding and you know that rotting flesh smell you can sometimes get with having an attack is was quite bad. but at this point I cant stop so I sit there and finish up while mothers who bring in there kids hurry them up. I heard a poor little girl ask her mother what died i felt soo bad but again its not my fault. as I walk out I notice my family waiting at the exit and I am relieved not to have to sit there any longer. I get to leave!!!! Im not sure if they were done or if they knew what was going on but I was sooo happy!! I got my sweater and purse from my mom and took off out the door! by the time was made it home here I am in pain and feeling starved SOOO because I didnt get my heavenly hash on thanksgiving I made a small plate of it and took a couple bites before feeding the rest to thing two. my baby girl is my helper when it comes to getting my food away from me she is my go to girl! i spent the rest of my time at my parents laying in bed wishing I didnt eat. And wondering if maybe I could handle a salad. I know bad thoughts but I am only human and a salad sounds good. everyone else ate one but hubs, he wanted to but got lost in the sea of food while there. now here I am today feeling worse than the last few days. i know cleaning should be done but I am couch ridden. Every so often thing one comes up and ask me mommy are you ok??? with a big hug and as soon as I say I am he sighs and says yeah right liar. mind you he is 3 but he knows mommy is sick and he trys to take care of me. thing two likes to come up and kiss my forehead before saying she needs my blanket. all morning we have played this game where I give her my blanket thing one takes it from her covers me back up tucks me in and then he tells her she is bad. She dont care she does an evil laugh and comes back to get the blanket.

ITS FINALLY OVER!!

YES thats right im talking about the overly hallmarked holiday known as christmas. No im not a grinch I just dont really car for it. I dont get all the fuss over it at all. With that being said I made sure my children had a wonderful christmas even thought sunday ours is finally over i get a few days break from it . sunday we did ours here and the kids were in love they got soo many new toys " i.e feet killers" and they were set not even realizing that on christmas they were going to grandmas house! my dad got in this week and got to enjoy christmas with us all. i love the kids but i dont love how many new toys are all over our place becasue they cant deside on what they should play with. christmas day they were soo happy waking up to me and daddy telling telling them come on we gotta go to grandmas. Thats the key word grandmas and they hop to it. they enjoy going over there but throw fits when it is time to leave! we got there right as they puled back in perfect timing for little ones who cant resist opening whats under the tree!! bad grandma bought thins two makeup!! yes play makeup but I had been dreading her getting any of it. she is a messy child already that just helps it along faster!! but all in all they are good gifts that they all love! hubs still not use to holidays at my parents is thrilled to get one gift with his name on it!! he was soo happy with all his gifts they got him things he would have picked out himself. Now here I sit today with 3 monsters playing with everything in site. Little balls of energy when I can barely keep my eyes open! I want/need sleep but they wont budge they have desided that they can still go strong!!!! Now ive got to get back to my childrens endless questions and the smell of dirty diapers cause there is always one going poop!!! hope everyone had a wonderful christmas!!!

Friday, December 20, 2013

my first vox box!!! ( jolly vox box)

So I have been on influenster a few months now doing task grading products as well as reviews questions ect. Finally yes finally I got my first vox box thinking nothing about it i went in and checked my email and saw one from influenster saying i quailifed for the jolly vox box!!! Needless to say it resulted in jumping around in excitement and telling hubs all about it and im finally getting one!!!! I had qualified before but got my email too late to get it! So i hurried and did the quiz and game them my address all excited. Then the waiting game no email with my comfirmation i had completely forgot about it untill coming home yesterday to see a voxbox sitting at my door again the excited started and i was ready to open it up!!!!


 
Oh yeah I am in love who doesnt love free stuff righttt!! ok so heres the run down......
Skinny cow candy!! oh influenster you know my weakness!

Duckling mini roll!!! we all know the saying if you cant duck it..... well this not only excited me but it got stolen hubs called dibs!

puffs to go!!! perfect for this horrid weather were getting!!

 
NYC new york color hd color eye trio eye shadow!!

 rimmel london show off lip lacquer


Needless to say I am one happy girl!! thanks influenster!!!
"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Friday, November 29, 2013

Im Backkkk! :)

So I made this blog with intentions of at least blogging 3 times a week and then within a week of starting it I found myself in a severe crohns attack combined with a brand new job that I had been wanting! between the attack and trying to get use to a highly physically demanding job I have been worn out to where when I am home all I have done is sleep which sucks. In this time I have had alot go on I had gone in with a new dr for a colonoscopy which it turned out after wasting time money and gas that he not only didnt know anything about crohns but he didnt even preform it right only going in a few inches. I have been working a job I love despite some faults that I hope will soon be taken care of on there end. And a couple holidays have passed halloween/ thing 1's birthday, and most recent thanksgiving ( well kind of we have hubs familys dinner tomorrow). It stands to reason that my life is crazy but I love it and would hope that when I am older I can look back with wonderful memories. With all that being said This damn blog has been on my mind for weeks now and I need to get back on the saddle so to speak and keep up on it! I hope everyone have a wonderful thanksgiving I will be updating and adding more blogs asap!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Squat/crunch challenge!!!

First off people I am in no way shape or form a fitness freak but i do however feel like regaining my pre-baby body! after 3 pregnancy back to back I feel drab and i look like a old bag lady or atleast that is the way I feel! I have crohns so working out is more difficult becasue there are days I am in too much pain to move let alone get up and work out. but i am wanting this and I know I have the will power to reach my goal. but if my crohns happens to flare bad and i miss a day i will make it up working harder the next!


I have desided that instead of just a normal work out I will include two challanges just to give myself something more to think about kind of a mental step up i want to breeze though squats and crunches at the end of 30 days, as well as start losing some of the baby fat. i plan on doing a weekly update on this so you can follow the progress. I think that this will help keep me motivated doing it in such a public form!!! ok so here it goes , here are my meaurments taken just moments before writing this out. 
waist: 36 inches
hips:36 inches
thigh:19 inches
bust: 37 inches
upper arm 11 1/2

and lastly here are my before pictures please do not be harsh these are mearly added so you can see the progress .


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

crohns medication and me

So I went threw i tiny bit of me having crohns and recieved a request to talk about my medications and diet. It worries me someone reading my diet and thinking oh well she does it so I could too. no this is at this point a disclaimer please do not take anything i write as medical advice. each person body is diffrent and everyone has diffrent triggers. I know mine well and know what I can and can not tolorate. I would say take your time and elarn yours and dont follow a fad crohns diet just becasue someone says it will work you know your body better than anyone else even your g.i, only you can say what can and can not work for it. it takes years to know yourself and all of your trigger but it is well worth it. with this being said i will write about my diet and do a part two for my medications!!

Ok so first off i have for straight point diet i can not have milk, anything spicey or with a lot of acid, nothing with a lot of fiber, no pork, beef very rarely, and most veggies are a no no! but i eat healthy im not perfect and some times i eat unhealthy food but mostly i eat very organic and natural i do canning with fresh local fruits and veggies so i can eat that way all year long i stay away from startches as much as i can. and processed foods. as well as fast food. it is a rare treat to eat out, or have some chips!!! i love boiled eggs they dont hurt me. i hate fish so that isnt happening at all yuck!! i try to eat as healthy as i can and watch how much i eat i try not to over eat but hey it happens I will be in some pain but feel better again and move forward. what helps is what I eat everyone in the house eats they have adopted a healthier eating habit and my kids will sit aorund and snack on fruits and veggies all day long. we do have quite a bit of fruits and veggies I cant eat here butthe rest of the family eating healthy makes me happy. they do get mcdonalds every so often I dont deny them what most of us what have grown up with. we simply choose to make it rare and show them that you can make a home cooked meal and it taste good without being frozen or in a box. and yes you can enjoy your food without it being smoothered in grease for every meatl. and it helps that our kids know how to eat healthy even at there young ages they are allowed to make decisions on what they eat and they make the right ones. they even know what I cant eat and will call me out if i am eating one of my triggers! they grew up with me sick it is a normal for them. they are allowed to be included in making some meals and thats what makes some meals better than others when they can help out or sit and watch us. we have adopted this clean eating life style and we love it! i know this isnt a cut and dry i eat this and not this. but the way we eat and prepare our food isnt cut and dry and me listing it out like that will not help anyone we are all indviduals and our body react diffrently!
here are some jams i made i love our jams i could eat them all day long and be just fine!

a smoked brisket with just picked greenbeans something about smoked meat it never hurt me!!!

nuts!!!

hey everyone! let me guess the title got you didnt it lmao. bu bu but its true i love nuts we recently began doing a long missouri tradition of collecting nuts like this time everyone people gather up hop in there trucks and go on the hunt for black walnut trees. It is suprisingly fun and when your looking for them you realize you have been around them everywhere you go without even noticing. the kids all have been in this little adventure with us and they have enjoyed them selfs just as much as us!! its been a couple days and we have filled a trailer not much for an expert nut collector. but that is just fine for us. we have found them all over on ditches in peoples yard with permission of the land owner all over. but it doesnt stop there. we found hickory nuts and hazelnut as well i am excited to see what i can make out of these!!!
this top pic is a few of the hickory nuts we got


thing one and thing two are amazing little helpers they adored it

just a small amount we actully have now this was before we went out today

Sunday, October 13, 2013

cave hollow day trip!

so as a parent I am lucky to have kids that enjoy the outdoors and hiking as a last minute decision lastnight i desided that today we would go to cave hollow and let them explore climb around and have some fun! we met a nice group of amish there enjoying the beautiful day and the kids got to have some fun!



he swore he was going to climb it to the top








after seeing steven take off climbing around thing one was hooked he had to climb too



he thought he was soo big climbing around and telling random ppl hi!

butt scooting all the way down!!


 
waving hi 





a wonderful woman who had her girls there offered to take our picture so we could all be in one!


Saturday, October 12, 2013

time for eyes!!

ok girlies i went and got covergirl lashblast and maybelline 24hour tattoo eye pigmant. let me just say i am a minimalist with makeup i look to look as natural as possible so me doing a review on makeup is hard I dont like flashy!!







 i really liked the mascara and the eye shadow  it worked amazing and held them the day. I would recommend them both. if your like me and feel naked without something they are great! these are must haves for anyone at all who wear make up! but dont take my word for it try them out yourself and see why I am raving on these two!! have a great night ya'll!!