What Motherhood has taught me about The Father's Heart

Motherhood certainly opens your eyes to a whole new world. A world where getting your eyebrows done drops to the bottom of the priority list under 10,000 loads of laundry, cupcakes for a fundraiser and research on an organic cotton fair trade snuggie. As a believer and follower of Christ, motherhood has opened my eyes to a completely new way of understanding God the Father's heart.

1.He knows the Big Picture

As many of you know we have been through a bit of a journey with Shyra-Beth over the last few months, call it terrific twos or attention seeking since getting a baby brother, our mornings have become a battleground. At the moment, with the help of a personalised sticker chart we are currently winning the battle but I recall one particularly trying morning when we were meant to be going out and she absolutely refused to get dressed. I grabbed her by the shoulders and said to her "if only you would listen to me we would do so many more fun things and go on many more adventures." And then it hit me like a tonne of bricks. How often have I been the toddler wanting to stay in my pjs watching DVDs  at home when God wanted to take me to the movies, to watch it on the big screen and buy my ice cream. How often have I held on to what I think is right and not given God a chance to move in my life and show me much bigger or better things, much more than I could ask for or imagine? How many times have I cried out in anger about a current distressing situation without stopping to listen for an answer. Who knew such conviction could come from getting your child dressed right? 

2. We are happiest when we are close to Him 

Jeremy is what you would call a Class A snugglebug. When he is happy he will look at you with his gorgeous big eyes, his face will erupt in a smile and then he will throw his face straight into that nook between your collarbone and shoulder and just snuggle in. That is his happy place. Since being sick and cutting his first tooth straight after that it's been a bit fun trying to transition his back into his own bed, we are getting better nights but Jeremy always sleeps the best when he is in our arms, in our bed or in the frontpack. He is settled, content and just happy. I look at him sometimes while he's asleep in my arms and I think even if World War 3 broke out right this minute he wouldn't care because he is in my arms. Just like Jeremy, we are happiest when we are close to our heavenly father. When we are close to him we hear what his heart beats for, we walk in the direction he is going and if things start going pear shaped He is always near to hold on to

It's amazing because although this blog is called Surviving Domestication and what one my first "Mum Life" posts were about a New Season, in the past few weeks God has been challenging me about being fruitful in every season- Psalm 1:3. What does fruitfulness look like in this season of my life? I'll be sharing more about that in the next wee while but this is definitely a start. My relationship with God is definitely going to be more fruitful as I can now understand what it is to be a child from a parents point of view. So all my lovely Christian mumma's out there, how has your relationship with Christ changed since becoming a mum? 

JJ's Journey to a healthy gut

Disclaimer: I am not a health professional. The following plan was made under supervision of my GP and discussion with a registered Chiropractor. 

I guess the main reason for sharing this journey on here is because over the last few years I have been introduced to this whole world of holistic health and treating the root of a problem. I would love to tell you that I only eat organic and use 100% natural products all the time, but I don't. However one step in the right direction is still one step. I know so many children with bad digestive systems and when Jeremy started showing signs of what my doctor refers to as a "sluggish gut" I knew I wanted to help him heal rather than get used to using medication to deal with his poop problem. A few years ago I would never have even considered thinking down this route, so if this post helps just one mum consider an alternative method to medication as a first resort, I would be stoked! 

Can anyone guess what's happening here? 

Jeremy was a once a three week pooper when he was just breast fed, which is completely normal for an exclusively breastfed baby however once he started solids he got so blocked up he would sometimes cry while he pooped, which was just heart breaking. I tried a variety of different food with not much progress and then I started doing some research which sent my head in a tail spin. What if my son has something really wrong with his digestive system? What if he is constipated because he is dehydrated? What if my breast milk isn't enough for him? What if... what if...what if? In the last few weeks I have been researching, trialling a few different things and today I spoke with my doctor and chiropractor and for the next few months I'm going to be putting the following plan in place to see if we can heal Jeremy's gut naturally under the supervision of my GP. 

1. More Breastmilk 

When my head was going down the, what if he is dehydrated route? I considered giving him formula. Again I researched and breast milk is going to be the best medicine for this boy to help him heal. That means I have to up my boobie game. Which includes the following

a// Weleda Nursing Tea- to boost my milk supply
b// Raw Energy Snacks with good fat- to increase the quality of my milk
c// Food and drinks high in probiotics- Miso, Kombucha and Keffir
d// Women's Multi Vitamin- to increase the quality of my milk and boost my energy. I can't have most breastfeeding support vitamins as they have fish oil in them and I'm allergic to fish

2. Probiotics

We are on week two of probiotic drops at the moment and we have seen some improvement with his tummy. Hopefully with me having pro-biotic rich food and drink he will be getting it through my milk as well

3. Bone Broth Based food 

This week we have started bone broth based baby food. This week he is having spiced pork bone broth with spinach and sweet potato. He loves the taste of it and has been a lot more settled and less gassy. The bone broth itself tasted so good we actually added salt to half of it and had it with our dinner last night! I'll be sure to share the recipe soon

4. Chiro 

Jeremy had adjustments from about 6 weeks and responded really positively to them. Since his last adjustment he seemed much more comfortable. We will continue on with monthly adjustments until his bowel movements are regular again. Here in Rotorua we go to Funnell Family Chiropractic who have just been so awesome. Jeremy absolutely adores his chiropractor Francesco, who is just so gentle and patient with him! If you are in Auckland make sure you contact Dr Shannon Ganesan from Dynamic Family Chiropractic 

5. Kiwi Herb Kids Calm

When I saw that this syrup was an emotional and digestive soother I was incredibly curious as to how it actually worked. The first time I used it for Jeremy I got a 2 hour day nap! Prior to this we had been getting no day naps as 20 minutes after putting him down he would always wake up with wind that needed to come up. The day nap journey is still a battle but we are currently winning! Most days I will get at least one good nap and one short nap with the help of Kiwi Herb Kids Calm. It really is amazing at helping to bring up that wind after he guzzles his feed. The best part is is is 100% natural, it tastes really so he really enjoys having it and it is such a reasonable price for such a quality NZ made product

So this is my plan. Plans do change, and if he does a bit of medication to help him in a few weeks I am not opposed to doing what's best for my baby. But as it states above this is a journey and so I'll keep you all updated as to how he is going!