My Highly Sensitive Child... 7 Years Later

Way back when I started my blog, I shared a little about life as a mom of a high-needs, highly sensitive child.  Owen has been sensitive to smells, colors, sounds, and other stimuli since birth.  For a bit of background, read this article that I shared on 5 Minutes for Mom in 2008.  I reworked that article for my own blog in 2010. You can read that version with updates here.  

One of the hardest parts of parenting a child with sensitivities is feeding them well.  Because Owen had a strong gag reflex, making him eat vegetables or meat or things with color was not simply a matter of insisting that he swallow what was on his plate. His pickiness was not a battle of wills (though it sometimes came down to that) or even a matter of preferences, but eating engaged all five of his highly-trained senses.  Owen was the child who could identify what we were having for dinner by what he could smell from his bedroom.  I'll never forget the day he asked if we were having peas because he could smell them.  Who knew peas had a distinctive smell?  The color of his food and they way it felt in his mouth affected whether he wanted to eat it.  (I wrote about our philosophy for feeding picky eaters here.)

Other people often took Owen's fear of crowds and people personally.  They assumed that if he wouldn't talk to them, he didn't like them.  They didn't realize that he did the same things with people he knew and loved.  Being in a group was an external stimuli in which he needed help to adapt.  We worked extensively with him on learning to make eye contact and answer when someone spoke to him, but those were difficult issues for him to overcome. (I have other children who are shy, but this went beyond shy.)

a photo from my sister's birthday 6 years ago:

All the kids posed except for Owen who could not look at the camera.

Seven years have passed since that original article from 2008. So how does life look with a highly-sensitive 9-year old?

Owen has learned to adapt to his own needs.  He cuts the tags out of his own shirts, leaves the room when I vacuum, and sleeps all night long without getting up.

He still feels things deeply.  He can be happy one minute and down in the dumps the next.  He has high highs and low lows.  He can be in a group setting, though, or attend a party, without a breakdown.  If he knows all the details like who is going to be there, what he'll be eating, and how long it will last, he thrives. 

Food can still be challenging, but he has made epic strides.  The boy who once liked only white or tan items (potatoes, bread, noodles, etc.) eats a variety of foods.  He shocked me last week when he said, "I LOVE carrots."  Yes, that's coming from the boy who ate no vegetable by choice until he was seven!  He takes far longer than the rest of us to eat his dinner, often because he is chewing slowly and picking specks (pepper or perceived "burned" areas) off of his meat.  (We insist it be done discreetly.)  He is open to trying new foods now, too.  He discovered  a few months that he likes coconut.

We eat dinner at church many Wednesday nights.  There is always a main dish and an alternate "kid-friendly" option.  More often than not, Owen chooses the adult main dish over nuggets or macaroni which would have been unheard of even a year ago.  He's sampled chili, alfredo sauce, and pork with no coaxing from me.  He doesn't  like everything he samples, but just the fact that he wants to try it is improvement.

Owen at age 9, gladly smiling and posing for the camera

Parenting Owen can offer challenges, but patience and time has proven to be just what he needed to become the vibrant boy that he is today.

By the way, he's not afraid of ceiling fans or flamingos (or much of anything) anymore either!

Pickles and Ice Cream and Pancakes

I've never been a fan of pickles, and ice cream is only mildly tempting right now, but I have had another pregnancy craving this week: pancakes. I've resisted for two reasons.  The first is that even though it turned out I do not have gestationsl diabetes, I still try to limit my simple carbs.  The second is that I wake up hungry so protein or complex carbs best keep me satiated through the morning.

My go-to breakfasts consist of things like overnight oats with whole milk Greek yogurt, crockpot steel cut oatmeal with chia seeds, hard boiled eggs, or these delicious sweet potato banana muffins that my friend, Allyson, gave me over the weekend.   So white flour with butter and maple syrup don't often make the cut.

Lest you think I deprive myself, Maddie and I made a s'mores cheesecake yesterday, complete with white sugar, butter, hot fudge sauce, and marshmallows.  We took it to share at our fellowship dinner at church this evening because the two of us are the only ones at our house who eat cheesecake, and we couldn't eat that much cheesecake alone if we tried!  It was divine (and that is not too strong a word).

Back to my pancake craving...when I saw a recipe for these cottage pancakes that were high in protein and low in carbs, I knew I had my answer.  The ingredient list was short and simple and things I often have on hand.

Except I didn't.

I was out of cottage cheese.

Enter Brian.  Yesterday he had a rain day from work and when he decided to head out to run a few errands, I asked if he would mind going to the grocery store to pick up only one thing.  Understanding my pregnant cravings (as well as a man can!), he obliged. 

While the cheesecake was cooling on the counter, I made a full batch of these.  I did all of my mixing in the blender. 

One batch of batter made 16 pancakes.  Some went into the refrigerator for my breakfasts today and tomorrow.  The rest I put in the freezer in individual portions.

This morning I enjoyed a delicious...and protein-packed...pancake breakfast!

So help a pregnant woman out: do you have a breakfast recipe that is high on protein or complex carbs? Share in the comments!

Pride Goes Before the Fall

Two weeks ago I went to my midwife for a routine prenatal appointment and to do my 1-hour glucose screening.  I wasn't worried at all because I knew I was eating well and exercising regularly.  I haven't had a soda in almost 3 years and I don't crave sugar so my indulgences in sweets are intentional.  I eat kale as a snack, much to my family's amusement and I limit my bread intake, aside from homemade sourdough toast for breakfast 2-3 mornings a week. 

(If you want to go down a rabbit trail, read this article on  the best breads for a low glycemic index or this one about sourdough bread and blood sugar.  On the glycemic index, sourdough bread is a 54 compared to 71 for non-sourdough white bread, making sourdough bread a low GI bread.) 

So I was doing it all "right" and I assumed I would breeze through the screening!  But pride goes before the fall.

Pride aside for this photo of me post-run: sweaty with dirty hair and no make-up

Last Friday morning, I got the call that I had "failed" the 1-hour screening.  While all pregnant women develop a degree of insulin resistance due to hormones, an hour after ingesting the glucose solution, my blood sugar should have fallen to 135 or below, yet mine sat at 143. 

In all my angst and stewing and fretting after the phone call, I settled on two things.  The first was medical. Despite preconceived ideas that gestational diabetes is fully preventable, there are risk factors for developing the condition and I had several of them:

• Age greater than 25. Yes, I crossed that line a decade ago.
• Previous baby over 9 pounds.  Two of my five kids weighed over 9 pounds at birth. 
• Family or personal health history. I did not have pre-diabetes.  My blood sugar in pre-pregnancy is well within normal range, but my dad suffers from Type 2 diabetes. 

Gestational diabetes is hormonally charged and can affect the fit and the unfit alike.  Yes, the sedentary woman who eats a poor diet increases her chances of developing this condition, but any woman can have gestational diabetes.  

(For more reading on this topic, I found an excellent and informative article about the condition: The Truth About Gestational Diabetes {and Why It's Not Your Fault! )

The second realization was that despite my striving to eat well and exercise frequently, I was not in control of my health.  God knew my situation.  He had a reason and knew the cause.

Plus, the fact remained that the glucose screening is just that...a screening.  It is used to weed out low-risk mothers-to-be and find the smaller sub-set of women who could possibly have gestational diabetes.  That's where the 3-hour glucose tolerance test comes in.

28.5 weeks

My 3-hour test was scheduled for a Wednesday, 1 week after my 1-hour screening.  In the days and hours leading up to the test, I did a few things to help my body prepare to handle the influx of glucose that would be entering my system.  First, I upped my water intake.  (With the cooler weather, I have slowly and unintentionally started drinking less water.)  Before fasting 8-12 hours before the test, I made my last meals heavy on protein and vegetables instead of carbs. I made sure to include fiber because fiber helps prevent blood sugar spikes. I also prayed that I would be calm and not worry. (Stress causes blood sugar levels to go up as your body "prepares for action.")

The morning of the test I woke up hungry. I felt shaky and wondered how I would feel after a few more hours without breakfast. When I got in the car to drive to my appointment, I started guzzling water and tricked my stomach into thinking it was full. For the rest of the morning, I felt fine.  No nausea, no shakiness, no hunger pangs.

I had four blood draws: one when I arrived before drinking the glucola (100g sugar in a 10 oz. solution!) and then one at the end of each hour for three hours.  I made the best of my time alone.   I read a book, thumbed through magazines, and texted my husband at work with whatever was on my mind.  When the phlebotomist released me to go home, she said, "Now go get something to eat!"

I honestly felt as though I could drive the 45 minutes home before grabbing lunch, but I thought it wise to eat right away and not wait for yucky symptoms to catch up to me.  I bought a fiesta chicken wrap, filled with grilled chicken, beans, tomato, and a chili sauce (which satisfied my near-constant cravings protein and spicy foods).  The second I started eating, I realized I had been suppressing my hunger!

The ending of my story is that 48 hours later, my results came back normal.  No concerns. Nothing to worry about.  No gestational diabetes. 

6 Tips For Taking a Meal to a New Mom

These ideas apply to any situation when you bring food to someone in need: a family in the midst of a move, an individual post-surgery, someone who has recently lost a loved one...

All photos are mine, but the pale blue links lead to the original recipes.

1: Don't assume you have to bring the meal at dinner time.  Instead of arriving when everyone is already hungry, it might be more suitable to come right after nap-time or even in the morning. 

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

2: If you are not the only one bringing a meal, consider contributing breakfast or lunch items instead.  Any mealtime can be crazy time, but everyone still needs to eat.  Muffins, hard boiled eggs, cheese sticks, pancakes, fruit, soup, sandwiches-- great choices to help make the whole day run smoothly. 

Sauteed Apples

3: Bring a pack of paper or foam plates along with your food items.  Even the environmentally-conscious mom or the mom with a dishwasher, appreciates an easy meal clean-up during a time of stress or transition.


4: Deliver the meal in disposable containers or containers you don't need to be returned. You can purchase foil pans for less than $1 a piece, perfect for baking casseroles or cakes, and also large enough to transport slices of bread or a batch of muffins.  I recently picked up 2 large plastic containers at Walmart, also $1 per container, each large enough to hold the contents of an entire pot of soup.  I don't care if I see the containers again...and I still have my soup pot available for my own use!

Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

5:  Instead of a whole cake or an entire batch of cookies, bring a smaller portion of dessert.  This is especially relevant if you are not the only person delivering a meal.  While dinner leftovers can be reheated the next day, dessert leftovers sometimes spoil before they can all be eaten. And of course, if you deliver only part of the dessert you made, your own family can enjoy the surplus which is an added bonus!

6: If you don't like that idea, consider a dessert that doubles as breakfast, like muffins or a coffee cake.

 Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins 

Bonus tip: Get your kids involved!  My kids love being involved, it helps to share the workload, plus it teaches servant-hood at an early age.

Do you have any tips for bringing a meal to a new mom? 

Has anyone ever delivered a meal to you?

Pregnancy Update {27 Weeks}

This is the last week of my second trimester! I feel like I'm moving into the home stretch, even though I still have 13-ish weeks to go.  I'm expecting the time to go quickly with the upcoming holidays approaching.  I'll mark 7 months pregnant on Thanksgiving Day and 8 months pregnant around Christmas so the busy-ness will keep me from ticking down each day.  I have no desire to push this pregnancy along anyway.  It's been my aim from the beginning to enjoy each day, difficult in the early days of morning sickness, but much easier now.

I have my glucose screening today.  Because of family history, I've worried in the past about "failing" this test, but I'm confident that my current eating and exercise habits will help me pass with flying colors.  I'd prefer to avoid drinking that sugary concoction but excited to have an hour alone in the waiting room to read my book!

How far along? 
about 27 weeks

Gender:  

Girl.  And if there was any doubt, there isn't any now.  In September, I had blood work done as part of some genetic testing. Along with eliminating some serious concerns, it also confirmed 100% that this baby is a female.  

The next step was deciding on a name.  We had a short list of 5 names, but when we realized Brian's favorite name was my least favorite and vice versa, we scrapped the list and started over.  For fun, I asked for name suggestions on my Facebook page and we enjoyed sifting through your many ideas. And then suddenly one day, we settled on a name out of the blue and we haven't looked back.  We're keeping the name a secret until she is born, though.  We did choose to share it with the kids, and they have been amazing secret-keepers!

Maternity clothes? 

I wrote a whole post about this last week. 

Sleep: 

I'm sleeping well, but have noticed that I dream more often, and more vividly, than I do when I'm not pregnant. I need at least 8 hours every night to function during the day.  Our schedule is so busy this school semester that I don't get as many naps as I would like so that nighttime sleep is vital! 

Feeling:
I'm currently feeling better than I have during any of my previous pregnancies.  I had expected this pregnancy to be harder because I'm older (you know, the whole 35 thing), but I feel wonderful!

Movement: 

This baby is a mover, especially in the evening. She also has hiccups at least once every single day. 

Food cravings:

I wrote all about what I'm eating here.  I'm also craving oatmeal in any form.  I'm planning to put this in the crockpot tonight to be ready for breakfast in the morning.

What I miss:    

I miss bending over from the waist.  It's a bad habit, though, and my growing belly is training me to bend my knees and squat instead.  

Exercise:

I missed the 5K I had planned to run in September, due to predicted bad weather.  Instead, Brian and I were able to attend a 5K two weeks ago when I was 25 weeks pregnant. My only goal was to run my best to the finish because I don't have it in me to push hard anymore.  I didn't look at my watch, but ran totally based on feel.  I was pleased to see I ran the 3.17 mile course in 33:32, a 10:35 pace. 

I still run about 6 days a week.  Because I head out before breakfast, I need an energy boost to tide me over until I can eat a meal. My go-to are these energy balls. I actually prefer them without chocolate chips (which is saying a lot since I am a confirmed chocolate lover) and I like to double the cinnamon for best flavor.  I also added chia seeds to the last two batches I made. 

From the beginning, my plan has been to run as long as I'm able.  I'm nowhere near needing to stop, but my body is starting to drop hints that it won't be easy to run in the third trimester. 

Getting Ready For Baby:

While Maddie was at book club last week, I hit up a yard sale and found all these baby girl treasures for only $3! On a whim, we also put the baby's bed together on Saturday afternoon.  (And by we, I mean Brian.)

Contractions:

I've started experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, one or two per day.  They are never painful but often uncomfortable.  Yesterday, I had my first mid-run contraction.

Nesting:
I'm a compulsive organizer, even without the pregnant urges. This month we did a deep cleaning of the kids' bedrooms.  We ended up with two trunk-loads of stuff for the Goodwill, plus multiple bags for the garbage.  Seeing the new clean open spaces were good for my peace of mind.

A Look Back at the 2nd Trimester:

Weekend Links {Study Helps}

Popping in on this perfectly autumn Saturday morning to share 3 links that we are using in our homeschool.  Perhaps you'd like to use them, too. 

{P.S. These are great links, whether you homeschool or not!}

Punctuation and Capitalization

We found this chart especially useful. My older kids each printed a copy to keep in their Daily Grams {affiliate link} workbooks.

The Periodic Table of the Elements, in Pictures
Sometimes having a visual makes remembering so much easier!


Bible Reading Schedule for the Gospels
My three oldest kids started with John since that's what we were studying on Sunday mornings in church, but now they've moved on to other books of their choosing (Matthew and Proverbs, obviously not one of the Gospels!).

My Guilty Pleasures

Dark Chocolate Peanut M & Ms'

 

People magazine

Podcasts (like this one)

SURVIVOR
  scary movies

reading in the bathtub

***

What are yours?

Pregnant Food

On Sunday, my mom reminded me of the question that went around Facebook a few weeks ago.  It said:

If you had to name your baby after your biggest pregnancy craving, what would his/her name be? 

With this pregnancy, my baby girl would be named Chipotle Burrito because that has been my most intense single craving.  The steak, the cheese, the veggies...  it's a wonder I've indulged less than a handful of times over the course of the past 25 weeks! 

On a practical, everyday scale, though, what I crave is protein and vegetables.  I even crave foods that I don't love in my regular, non-pregnant life.  Take tomato soup, for example.  Not a fan.  

But I am pregnant and this recipe for creamy tomato soup looked divine.  I cooked an  even-less processed version by making my own tomato sauce with a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, but it still took less than ten minutes from start to finish.  I made a small batch, enough for 2 lunches.  This was Day 1: 

 

The second day, I made  a grilled cheese sandwich on homemade sourdough bread to dip into my soup.   Be still, my heart!!

Since vegetables aren't exclusively for meals, I made a big pan of roasted veggies to keep in the refrigerator for snacks.   I used turnips, onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet peppers, and celery, seasoned with garlic, thyme, and rosemary. 

The kids and I went on a picnic the next day. While they looked forward to eating fun food like cheese sticks and PB and J,  I was more than-a-little excited to open up my little container when it was time to eat! (That wasn't all I ate, but it was the most delicious.)

I crave a wholesome breakfast now, too. A quick grab-and-go breakfast can't handle my appetite. On Saturday, I made slow-cooker apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal, then put it in the refrigerator for the rest of the week.  In the morning, I can reheat a portion with a handful of raisins, a few splashes of milk and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.  It keeps me full all morning.  In fact, I ate a bowl before church on Sunday morning and it staved off my hunger through the entire service! 

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that even though I am not craving sugar, I haven't stayed avoided it altogether.  I picked up 5-Minute Mug Cakes: Nearly 100 Yummy Microwave Cakes{affiliate link} at the library and we've sampled three recipes in the same number of weeks. The kids tried funfetti cake, we made hot cocoa cakes together as a family, and Brian and I sampled flourless chocolate cakes on an at-home date night.

 
Sometimes family memories and bonding...and cake...come before nutrition.

Another Fishy Tale

Once upon a time, I told the story of Maddie's pet fish and how we did not achieve a happily ever after.  At the time, were living in a small townhome so she stuck to mothering plants for awhile.  In the spring of 2011, we we bought our house and Maddie again asked for a pet.  Within the year we welcomed a dog and in another year, a cat.

Early this year, Maddie wanted to be a plant mother again so she started a catnip plant from tiny, tiny seeds.  It sprouted and grew and began to thrive.  She had to transplant it to larger pots three times!  It even won first place at the county fair this summer.  

In July, a friend asked if she could gift Maddie a fish for her birthday.  I hesitated initially because our original fish project had ended so sadly, but we decided it was time for Maddie to try her hand at fish mothering again.

Maddie was surprised and delighted.  She deliberated on a name for her new betta and settled on Pipp (to compliment our dog named Finn, and our cats, Dott and Tigger).  The afternoon after Pipp came to live with us, Maddie spent hours in a bean bag chair in front of the tank, reading pamphlets and information on how to care for her new pet.  

Pipp is a well-loved, well-cared for fish.  And we are hopeful for a happy ending this time.

The End.

This Year's Bible Memory Work

We began using the memory box system over three years ago to help us memorize Scripture, and to aid us in continuing to remember and meditate on it.  This year, we are adding a few new passages to our box.  We started with Matthew 5: 3-12. While Ben and Owen took to it right away and can fire off the whole thing in their sleep, the rest of us are having a bit of difficulty keeping all the verses straight!  Thankfully, we'll be coming back to it frequently as we review it every odd day of the week.  

Our current daily scripture is Romans 12:12 and later this year, we will begin I Thessalonians 5:12-24.

These new passages join the many other passages we have learned over the years: 

§  Psalm 23 
§  Psalm 100 
§  Isaiah 30:21  
§  Daniel 7:9 
§  Matthew 5:44 
§  The Lord’s Prayer 
§  Luke 2: 1-20 
§  Luke 6:31 
§  John 3:16-17 
§  John 6:35 
§  John 10:10 
§  John 15:1 
§  Ephesians 4:32 
§  Philippians 2:14-15 
§  James 1:12 
§  James 3:17-18 
§  Revelation 1:8 
§  Revelation 22:16 
§  The Books of the Old and New Testament 

In October 2013, during my 31 Days, 31 Printables series, I shared a set of Scripture memory flash cards which included some of the above verses.  Use the free printable 3x5 cards to begin your own memory box!

Bonus: Check my Facebook page tomorrow to watch Alaine, age 5, recite Revelation 22:16.  Update: To view the video, click here.

Does your family memorize scripture together? 
Have you found any ways to make it fun or methods to aid in memorization?
Are you like me in that you struggle to remember while your kids grasp it right away?