Gall Bladder Cleanse - Round 2

So a quick little bit of back history. While pregnant at about 24 weeks into pregnancy I had my first gall bladder attack. I had no idea was it was and it was a one time occurrence that didn't happen again for a month. Due to it not happening again for such a long time I just thought that hey it must not be anything crazy. Well then I had another attack and mentioned it to my Mother in law who said it sounded like gall bladder. I went and did some research online and sure enough it did sound like it was. Well after the second attack I mentioned it to my Dr. who sent me to a specialist and an ultrasound. Sure enough my gall bladder was full of small stones. One problem, by this time I was into my third trimester and they weren't going to do surgery so I was going to have to live with the attacks.

Since I'm really not a fan of the idea of surgery I decided to see what I could learn about doing a cleanse.

~ First off it's not possible while pregnant or nursing. I'm going to stress this point because it's not something you want to consider due to the amount of toxins your body will release by doing a cleanse.

So with that option out of the way what could I do. Basically not much other than changing my diet, this was the hardest part, but if I cheated then I paid for it by having a severe attack.

The list of foods I cut out of my diet go as follows:

- All dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt etc)
- Fatty meats (beef, anything that had fat on it)
             - I basically ate chicken breasts, and fish
- Corn
- Eggs
- Onions
- Cabbages
- Spicy Foods
- Coffee
- no dressings on salads

What it comes down to is you need to figure out what is causing the attacks, what I've mentioned above it a big trigger for many people who have gall bladder attacks. I lived on eating Salads, with nuts, fruits, and meats.

Several other things I did:

1st thing in the morning, and before any meal, and before bed:  I drank a glass of pure unfiltered apple juice with about 2 TBSP to 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2nd I took some homeopathic medicine: Chelidonium

3rd I took a herb: Milk Thistle

By the time I was 36 weeks along I managed to avoid having more attacks, I still stuck to my diet and taking the herb and homeopathic medicine because I didn't want to have more episodes if I could help it. I feel that because I changed my diet and took the herb, drank the juice etc. I was able to get my gall bladder functioning to somewhat of a reasonable point that I didn't have attacks all the time anymore.

After my daughter was born since I had a c-section I was still very cautious and didn't go back to eating whatever I wanted until she was at least 7 weeks old. When I did so I was very cautious and slowly tried little bits of different foods. I haven't had another attack at this point yet and she is now almost 2 years old. I wasn't able to do a cleanse prior to her being 20 months old since I was still nursing her which is the only reason I've put it off for so long.

A month ago I did my first cleanse and I passed a LOT of stones, in fact several that were fairly large and lots of pea sized ones. The cleanse results didn't surprise me, and it wasn't surprising that if the size stones I passed is what caused all the problems to start with. Due to the amount of stones I passed I'm actually doing a second cleanse to hopefully either pass no more stones which at least lets me know that I managed to clean out the worst of it, or pass a much smaller amount.

The Cleanse: 

48 Hour Liver/Gall Bladder Cleanse

This is a 24 hour cleanse with a rapid cleanse of the Colon. It can be very effective but it is important to remember that some individuals systems may not be able to handle it. If completed you will likely see a large volume of (light) green stones passed, ranging from small bb size to small marble size.

What You'll need:
- 6 level TBSP of Epsom Salts
- 1 bottle of liquid magnesium - I couldn't get liquid but found powder that you add water too and it worked just as great. Ask for help at your local health food store if you can't find the liquid form. (Only take the amount that is recommended below, if you take more you won't be leaving the bathroom for a while)
- 4 oz. Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil - Put in the refrigerator it tastes better cold
20 oz. Organic Pink Grapefruit juice or Lemon Juice(not from concentrate) you can also squeeze your own fruit for the juice.
* you should be able to get this all at your local health food store.

24 Hour Liver Cleanse Protocol

* Eat your last meal at 6:00 p.m. the day before starting the cleanse
* The day of the cleanse you will fast until 6:00 p.m. (only filtered water)
* At 6:00 p.m. on the day of the fast, drink one cup of Epsom Salt Mixture, which is 3 level TBSP of epsom salts added to 8oz of water &  4 oz of Pink Grapfruit or Lemon juice if you prefer (I mixed it with the juice)
* At 8:00 p.m. drink 4 oz of liquid magnesium and 4 oz of Pink Grapefruit or Lemon Juice for taste. (stay close to restroom)
*At 10:00 p.m. Drink 4 oz of Extra Virgin Olive Oil with 4 oz of Pink Grapefruit or Lemon Juice.
        - Stir together well then drink quickly before it get's a chance to seperate. Lie down for your nights sleep. It is okay if after several hours you feel the need to get up and vomit and to use the restroom.

Day 2: (you will start your Gall Bladder Cleanse Protocol this morning and continue with the Liver Cleanse)

Liver Cleanse continued:
* At 8:00 a.m. drink another cup of Epsom Salts mixture, which is 3 level TBSP of epsom salts added to 8oz of water & 4 oz of Pink Grapfruit or Lemon juice if you prefer
* At 10:00 a.m. drink 4 oz of liquid Magnesium and 4 oz of Pink Grapefruit or Lemon Juice for taste. Hunger will not be a concern. Watch stool for stones

24 Hour Gall Bladder Cleanse Protocol

This is also a 24 hour cleanse and starts on Day 2 of your liver cleanse. Hunger is not a concern. You will need 1 Gallon Organic Pure Unfiltered Apple Juice(no sugar added) and 4 oz of Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil and 4 oz of organic Lemon Juice or Grapefruit Juice, not from concentrate. Drink lots of water as well.

* At 7:00 a.m. Start drinking Apple Juice (do not eat food), you must consume full gallon before bedtime. Aim for 16 oz every 2 hours.
* At 8:00 a.m - see Liver cleanse
*At Bedtime drink 4 oz of Olive Oil, with 4 oz of Pink Grapefruit or Lemon Juice. The next morning you will pass completely different colored stones than before (darker green, and most likely bigger). You will also want to take one more dose of the Epsom Salt mixture and Magnesium to help clean out your colon, as you don't want to leave stones behind as they are full of toxins.

Eat when you feel like it. - You'll want to start with foods that are easy to digest for the first few days, apples, salads, and light soup broths with veggies.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way a certified health professional and don't promise anyone the same result. I found the information for this cleanse online and spoke to my chiropractor prior to attempting this cleanse. Who is also a certified health professional.  I'm not responsible for what you do if you try this cleanse.

Are You Wishing Childhood Away?

I read an amazing blog post today! One that really made me stop and think how often haven't I done this?

As a Mom it isn't always easy, and there are definitely days that are frustrating. Days you wish that your little one would be able to do more themselves. Not demand so much of your time. The list could go on. If you are a Mom to (a) little one(s) you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway this blog post I read put it all into perspective so I wanted to share it with all of you!

http://paigeewingministries.com/2014/02/04/are-you-wishing-away-what-someone-else-is-missing/

Natural Birth - turned C-section

This isn't an easy subject for me but I wanted to start out with it since after having my daughter it was the most difficult experience I have had to learn to deal with.

Sometimes I feel like my entire pregnancy experience and then birth experience is jaded after having expectations and things turned out completely different with birth. First weeks of morning sickness which medication didn't help much for, then a few weeks of feeling great and then I started having gall bladder attacks. At first the attacks were spaced further apart but soon I was having an attack per week, which turned into multiple attacks in a week. The Dr. we saw talked about surgery but since I was into my 3rd trimester at that point it wasn't an option. I ended up changing my diet completely to almost no fats, and taking different supplements to hopefully help. I ended up not having any attacks since 4 weeks prior to having her. Either way not much fun!

Many of you who have also had a c-section know all to well the saying "at least you have a healthy baby". In fact it get's said regularly coming from Mom's who haven't had a c-section. I know it is meant well but sometimes it hurts a lot!

So first things first, yes I'm super thankful that I have a healthy child. Emotionally and physically though I felt broken. The hardest part was the pain after surgery, while it wasn't bad it was a constant reminder that I hadn't had my baby vaginally and that is what I'd hoped for. As well as the constant thought "what could I have done differently if I had known she had flipped back to breech". I felt like I should have known and yet being a first time Mom I had no idea she had flipped breech 4 days prior to having her!

I think I cried more than I had in a really long time those first few months after I had her! Just thinking about it made it all come back and tears would be shed. Then I'd hear of Mom's who would just opt to have a c-section since they were tired, or it was easier and I'd get really upset because all I had wanted was a natural birth and I ended up having a c-section. I've had to learn to let it go, after all there is nothing I could change about

If you've had a c-section and have had your questions about it I highly recommend doing research, talk to your medical provider who did your delivery about reasons why and if they could have been prevented. One other thing that finally helped me cope with the reason why I had mine was going to see what my hospital records stated. There are still days I struggle with it but I've learned that information is powerful!

With that being said I'm currently in the research and reading stage again. It seems to go in phases, but once I start it's hard to stop for a while. I like to know what my options are and if at some point we may be blessed with another little one I hope that I may be able to have a better experience!


Some great sources of information I've found are:

http://spinningbabies.com/

http://www.improvingbirth.org/

http://www.amazon.com/Ina-Mays-Guide-Childbirth-Gaskin/dp/0553381156%3FSubscriptionId%3D04FYKDC4BW6PJ6HFG002%26tag%3Dinamaygaskina-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0553381156

http://ican-online.org/

There are obviously lots of other sites out there so feel free to share what you've found in the comments as well! Or feel free to ask questions :)

Update on Stampin' Up!

Sadly I've dropped selling Stampin' Up! Some day I hope that I'll be able to do it again but right now it just wasn't working out for me. So as a result I've removed some links and you'll see more changes in the coming while on my blog..

I know I haven't be super faithful in blogging here but hopefully I'll be able to post some more soon.

Right now I'm considering what my options are and what type of topics I want to blog about.

With that all being said, I still plan to use Stampin' Up! products for my projects (obviously since that is all I own for the time being and probably won't switch to other products anyway, it's still a huge part of my life, and crafty projects!) So feel free to stay and read anyway :)

Carving my Own stamps

So thanks to Stampin' Up! introducing a new stamp set now you can carve your own stamps if you are so inclined. After all who doesn't have a stamp that they wish was out there but you can't seem to find it anywhere? Yesterday I got my carving kit out and carved my first stamp. It was definitely a little more involved that I recommend for a first time carver but I'm still super happy with how it turned out!

If you are curious and want to see what "Undefined" is all about check out Stampin' Up!s Youtube video: Undefined - Stampin Up!

I didn't take pictures of all the steps but here it is after I finished carving out the image in the rubber:

 

Once this step is completed you take your craft and rubber scissors and cut around the image
You can see the rubber image and what the image looks like stamped as well. (sorry for it being sideways but blogger wouldn't cooperate)

 How do you like the idea of creating your own stamps? Head on over to my website and order yours today: alisescreativity.stampinup.net  - http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=133402

Tractor Card - punches

I have made a few cards here and there but most of the time I've been way to busy with work and my family as well as house work that I don't have time for extra's such as stampin'. Sad fact of my life.. I hope to fix that soon though!!! Before that though, here is a card I made for a 2 year olds birthday today. A tractor - New Holland one, with punches. I realize that some of the punches may no longer be available from Stampin' Up! but I still wanted to share this cute card with you!

Birthday Card

It really feels like a long time ago that I've posted something on my blog that was scrapbooking/cardmaking/digital related. I guess really it's been a long time since I've posted at all. A few weeks ago I made this card for my sister who had her birthday just before Valentine's Day, and I want to share it with you now.

Digital Downloads

I haven't done this in a while but here is the link for this weeks digital downloads. Not sure about what you think but I know that pretty much every since one of these is on my wish list!

http://api.ning.com/files/Kmd9nT1FlrLrgRt8HVFqQXaA8YD1NUttNs20PpacQdQFVuPqSd0LbSh*DgWupKg0J7ySl6GEtZkDdTkGcV0ZX1zvJMnaaX2l/21913MDSDownloads.pdf

Another cool fact that I want to share with all of you. Digital downloads can now be included on workshop orders :) This is something that I was wanting to happen for a long time, Stampin' Up! never disappoints.

Blogging absence

So sorry that I haven't been posting lately. The honest truth is since having a baby + working full-time = little extra time for blogging + crafting/creating. Since I don't have time for any extra's sometimes the least important things have to go. Which for me is the extras such as blogging, family is definitely way more important and takes a lot more of my time now that I'm busy with work as well. Hopefully as T get's older I'll find more time for fun things such as blogging and crafting again and I'll start posting projects again!

I have made a few cards since she has been born and as always taken a picture of them I just never seem to find the time to post them so that you can enjoy them as well :(

I'm going to leave it at this for now and we'll see what happens here in the next few months! Hopefully you are still all creating and crafting away!

Digital Downloads

Just thought I'd post a link with the latest digital downloads again.

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryID=882

There's some super adorable ones in there this time.. I'm totally in love with the ribbon/bows and they are going on my order asap! Which ones do you love and just have to have? 

Digital Downloads!

It's Tuesday again which means more new digital downloads!

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryID=884

or check out all the latest downloads that have been made available here:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryID=556

A few other reminders:

- if you want to receive your digital print projects before Christmas the last day to order them is December 6, Or, if you need a little extra design time, take advantage of expedited shipping and order by December 10 for US Second-Day Air and by December 11 for US Next-Day Air. That being said I would recommend getting them ordered prior to December so you don't have to worry about it arriving on time!

- we also have reduced prices for our print products, some as much as 50% off: http://mydigitalstudio.net/page/print-product-pricing

Now last but not least you definitely want to take advantage of the Digital Scrapbooking Day promotion:

There are also 3 free downloads so make sure you download those as well, after all who doesn't love FREEBIES! :)

If you are in Canada make sure that when you go to order you enter me as your demonstrator, and if you live in the US you can order through my website: alisescreativity.stampinup.net

Happy Shopping and Downloading!

Digital Downloads

I'm a few days late but I've had a lot going on this past week. We were gone on a quick trip to visit family in the Mid-west this past weekend and didn't get back until late Monday night. Then between work and a few other things I had scheduled this week I've been to busy to get around to updating my blog :( As usual.. better late than never!!

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryID=556

Digital Downloads

Here is the link for this weeks digital downloads!

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_Downloads_-_October_9.pdf

I hope to find some time in the next day or so to post some more digital scrapbooking. :)

Digital News

As usual we have our digital downloads that were released today. Here's the link:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_Downloads_-_October_2.pdf

I also have some super exciting news to share about MDS pricing for projects!! When this was release I was so excited and happy! As a demonstrator it has never stopped me but I know I've heard comments from others before about our pricing. Guess what prices for a lot of different items have been decreased by 50%... now who doesn't love getting a price decrease! I think it's safe to say that we all do! Find the new price list here:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_pricingList_US_0912.pdf 

Along with the pricing change we also have an update to our MDS 2 again, now making it possible to do the following, so make sure you go ahead and update to the latest version of MDS2 if you haven't already! http://mydigitalstudio.net/page/updates-2

New Design Features in MDS 2Along with lowering print prices, we added four more of the MDS 2 design features:

• CROP PUNCHES: Show off part of the punch and hide the rest
• PAPER RIP OPTION: Create torn edges with Designer Series Paper, card stock, and photos
• IMPORT FROM OTHER PROJECT: Toggle between projects to import elements onto current project
• MULTIPLE PAGE VIEW OPTIONS: View your page with trimmed bleed areas (in addition to viewing in single pages and spreads)

For a list of all the changes made from our Original MDS compared to MDS 2 check out this link:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/75_New_Features_of_MDS_2.pdf

Scrapbooking - Vancouver 2011

Here's a digital scrapbook page that I'm working on. I still need to do some journaling but for privacy reasons I didn't want to post the page with all the info I wanted to add to the page. So you are seeing it without... and I may very well be changing it as well. :) If I do I'll post a "take 2"of the page!

Digital Downloads.. a few days late

With things being so hectic at work I totally forgot that I hadn't posted the link for this weeks digital downloads until today. Ooops.. anyway here it is:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_Downloads_-_September_25.pdf

Digital Downloads

I'm pretty excited about some of the digital downloads today... more for my ever growing list. Some days I think the list grows faster than it shrinks. Really it's getting to be high time that I do something about it instead of just adding to it. Hopefully soon, when life settles down a little and I don't have a garden to deal with I can start sitting down and doing some digital scrapbooking again! Anyway here is the link for today's downloads:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_Downloads_-_September_18.pdf

Birthday Card - Bird

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do for the card so I decided to just grab a few different items and start stamping and see what happened.. the end result was this card:

I'm quite excited about this stamp set in general I love the bird, and the leaves that are in the set! If you are wondering what it is called it is: Papaya Collage. I'm going to leave it at this for tonight, if you have any questions about what I did for any of my projects feel free to leave me a message and ask :)

Finally stampin again!

So now that life has kinda found a bit of a regular rhythm again I hope to get back to creating more often again. Last night I found some time to create a bag topper and then this evening I made a birthday card. I plan to share both projects with you. I'm not promising that all the stamps I used are current - I usually try really hard, but with baby I haven't had a chance to look through my stamps to see which ones are retired yet.

So here is the bag topper:

and a closer look - blogger doesn't like me tonight and won't post it the right direction.

So there you've got my first project. Now on to the card :)

Digital Downloads - 2 days late

I know I'm 2 days late this week but I figured I'd still post the link for those of you who want to check them out! :)

So without further ado here they are:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/MDS_Downloads_-_September_11.pdf