| We were blessed with 6 children. The youngest of the six was born by Cesarean, and I made the mistake of having my tubes tied when she was born. Several years later, the Lord provided a way for us to have a reversal. We were thankful, but then I didn't get pregnant! Months went by, and it seemed like God wasn't in the same hurry that I was in! We moved the next year to a place that had no house, no well, no anything. We had to camp while getting a place set up for ourselves. During that time, I gave up the idea of having a baby just then. We weren't set up for a little one, anyway! At the same time, I still wanted one, but was at peace with waiting. With the idea of improving my mucous, I took an over-the-counter medicine called guaifenisen a couple of days before, and right at the time that ovulation would occur. It tends to thin and increase mucous somewhat. I knew, from going to the doctor, that I had "hostile mucous," and that it was keeping me from getting pregnant. Amazingly, I did get pregnant that month! We then had Joy, and a set of twins (Ben and Peter), then Melody, and Ruth, all within the next 7 years, making a total of 11 children. When Ruth was born, she had many health problems. To make a long story short, she had a terrible case of cystic fibrosis and reflux disease. Folks at the hospital genotyped me, and found that I also had a very mild type of CF. Imagine, we had 11 children, and were both carriers of CF, and only had one very sick child - the 11th one! I'd never even worried about our children having CF during all of those other pregnancies, and I had it myself! The medical people didn't know why I wasn't sick; they figured that maybe some ionic factor was over-riding the defective genes. They said that I was "lucky." I said that my God wasn't "Luck." I have not really had digestive issues, though I was the thinnest in my class while growing up. But, at 50, I definitely don't have trouble putting on pounds now, unfortunately!!! I weigh about 132, and am 5'3". I don't HAVE to take enzymes, but they seem to make me feel a little better nourished. Only recently have I started taking one "Gestazyme" tablet with some meals. It helps to digest fats and proteins better. Gestazyme is under $9 for 100 tablets from Azure Standard (they have a website) You might try looking them up. They are in Dufur, Ore. I�ve also had a bit of anemia, but none that couldn't be cured by taking extra Vitamin C. Vitamin C breaks the iron down more so that you can absorb it better. I�ve had a couple of sinus infections that needed antibiotics. I've had pneumonia a few times, and had to take oral antibiotics for it. Our youngest, who had CF, did pass germs to me, and it took more than a year to get rid of those lung problems. I often take garlic if I get a cold, and it usually keeps me from having any other trouble. If my lungs are feeling too "dusty," it helps to go on a long enough hike to make me breathe hard (and drink lots of water along the way). That helps to clear my lungs, though I can't complain! I've never been hospitalized for pneumonia. My lung function is only 11 percent less than average for my age. Drinking extra water and eating extra salt are quite helpful to me. I guess that not processing chloride quite properly makes a body more acidic, so taking dandelion root helps to neutralize uric acid. Perhaps being a little too acidic gave me a more easily irritated bladder, but after I took just a little dandelion daily during the last 2 pregnancies, I had no infections. Every other pregnancy, I had bladder infections... On the other end of the spectrum from me, our baby, Ruth, had the worst of every kind of CF problem, I think. She also had reflux disease. When she was 5 months old, she suffered severe brain-damage as a result of deep-aspiration. She lived for several more years, but was sick and unable to do much. She had an incredibly hard life, but a lovely spirit. We miss her, but know that she is no longer suffering. Most of the family caught pneumonia from her, and it has taken up until this last winter for everyone to have healthier lungs. She would have been close to 7 years old, now. Ruth is part of our family, but we will have to wait a while to see her again. The issues I had during my pregnancies consisted of: Morning sickness during the first trimester for most of them A prematurely separated placenta during labor with our 6th child (resulting in the only caesarean) Usually a nasty cough during the last trimester with most of them Some angina with the 7th and the twins (cured with hawthorne and extra magnesium) Bladder infections with all of them until I learned about dandelion root Actually, I wasn't sick with anything for the last one at age 43. We'd learned about things that helped. The uterus was stretched out after Ben and Peter, so the next 2 babies tended to lie in a transverse position until almost the end. Whenever they were head down, I would put a pillow against my tummy while sleeping at night to help keep them in the right position to be born. My labors got quite short and predictable- only a few hours. I avoided eating much sugar during pregnancy because it tended to cause yeast infections. All of the children nursed for at least a year and a half except for Ruth, who was unable to feed by mouth very well after her brain damage, until she was almost 2 years old. (She eventually learned to take a bottle, but got most of her food via G-tube. I pumped for her until she was about a year old, and ground food for her in a VitaMix so it could go down the tube.) The 4th child was 7 lb, 7oz (our largest), the 5th child weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz.(but was healthy), the twins were 4 lb 11 oz and 4 lb 12 oz (but healthy), all of the rest of the children were in the 6 lb range. All of the children were born within 5 days of their due date except for the twins, who were born 10 days early. They were almost born 6 weeks early due to my bladder infection. I had no trouble gaining weight, no infections or blood sugar problems during my pregnancies. I have had children at the hospital, our midwife's home, a friend's home, and our own home. All of their births were natural except for the one C-section. Actually, my pregnancies have been pretty unremarkable. How wonderful God has been to allow us to have these children! For a while, I tried to manipulate my hormones, but it seemed like, after a while, they just got more and more messed up until I was bleeding for weeks. I quit all of my hormone manipulating efforts, and my cycle returned to normal. My cycle is starting to be slightly more irregular, but I'm 50 years old. It has to happen sometime! It would be lovely to have another little one, but maybe God has something else in store for my life. My whole identity was so wrapped up in having another baby, and hanging out in the nursery at church, and having a baby under my arm at night, and nursing. I was so used to everything that goes into being a mother of young children. My attitude wasn't so good when the Lord took Ruthie, and 2 daughters went off to Pensacola Christian College, and 2 more children got married- all in 2 years! You can't believe how I complained and fretted about not having more when the Lord had given me so many! God wanted me to look to Him instead of just grasping my children for happiness. I needed to let go of them in my heart, and yield them to Him. The children are all doing well, thank the Lord. And the 2 girls are back from college, 2 more are getting married, and 4 grandchildren have been born to the married ones! At the moment we still have 8 at home, but after the 2 girls get married that will be only 6. Our youngest is 8. We live in a rural setting, so, if I'm ambitious, I may grind up some alfalfa with water in the VitaMix and strain it, and take some kelp daily. I've never gotten sick while taking those things daily. We can't afford to buy expensive supplements. We buy things like kelp in bulk. You might check out Azure Standard for supplements and bulk foods. They are much less expensive than many places for many things (but not everything). In a nutshell, nutritional aids: alfalfa, dandelion (you can grow both of them), hawthorne, magnesium, and kelp. Two morals of my story: God can do wonderful things, even if we have "defective" genes. And, maybe guaifenisen might help you to have a little better mucous. I would suggest only taking it during your ovulation time, because I don't know how your body would respond to having more mucous on a regular basis. by Gail Thurman 50-year-old with CF, mother of 11 children. |
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