An update on us…and about 3 stories rolled into 1. :)

As for an update on us…we’re doin’ what we’ve been doing. J  Justin still works runs work for a local road construction company and I’m here at home doin’ my thang: raising kids and homeschooling.  We love to garden and enjoy the great outdoors.  We love to have people over and we love date nights, when we get them.  It seems like “family dates” have become more common.  The boys and Justin love to deer hunt, and just this past winter, they learned how to trap.  They caught some fierce looking coyotes and some mean raccoons.  They said every morning was like Christmas morning—never know what you’d find!  🙂  They also caught a few neighborhood dogs.   Madeline and I like to have “girl time” when we can get it.  My girl likes to shop and eat out. 🙂

I stopped blogging a few years ago, mainly because I just got so busy.  Homeschooling and a larger-than-normal-family size is quite the lifestyle.  I feel like outside of schooling, I feed people….and I do mountains of laundry.  Haha.  I’m not complaining…that’s just my reality.  I could seriously hire a full time maid, I’m convinced.  And I’d still be busy. 🙂  My house just isn’t as clean as it once was.  My younger self would be appalled.  It’s funny how life changes us.  Anyway…back to why I quit blogging…a few years ago…I started to have health problems.  I was feeling pretty crummy…I suppose details aren’t all that important, but I was losing weight (while eating a TON), having cycle problems, my hair was falling out, and while I was happy, I felt awful.  I had anxiety and just couldn’t cope with normal stressors.  I had ZERO energy and couldn’t exercise without being extremely fatigued and shaky.   I was praying, praying for answers.  I did uncover a lot of health answers through researching.  God led us to find out that we had a MAJOR water/plumbing issue under our house in the crawlspace.  It maybe wouldn’t have been that huge of an issue, except that our HVAC system had some problems and was pulling the moldy/toxic air from down there and circulating it around our house.  It seems I was the most affected…probably, b/c the kids pretty much like to live outdoors and Justin was here mainly in the evenings and through the night.   Long story short, we had to move out of our house for 3 months and moved in with my parents.  We had the underside of our house remediated and a few closets gutted and a roof leak fixed.  We took out all the carpet and replaced most of it with hardwood floors and repainted the entire house from top to bottom.  It was one of those projects that we figured we’d do it now while we were moved out.  We got rid of a lot of stuff.  Everything that came back in our house had to be cleaned.  Yeah, it was a BIG job.  I don’t think most people had any clue how upside down our life was for a few months.  It was one of those “well that’s just life” type things…dealing with stuff.  We were so very thankful to my parents for hosting us for that long.  It was like an extended sleep-over…and was actually pretty fun.  We’d put the kids to bed, and then stay up late and chat every night and drink tea and/or watch a movie. We moved out in November and moved back in at the end of January.

About 9 months before we found out about all the mold, I started having really weird hormone/fertility issues.  I went from Dr. to Dr. trying to figure out what was wrong with me.  At that point, I just knew my bizarre symptoms were affecting my quality of life. I was told by my Ob Dr. that I was heading into early menopause and was experiencing hormonal decline.  Yeah…I was 30.  I KNEW there was something else wrong!!  I know anything is possible, but the women in my family have babies into their 40’s, ya know?! Pregnancy just wasn’t happening for me, which was also weird, since that had never been an issue for me (obviously! Ha!).  I went down several rabbit trails and dead ends, and finally ended up with a wonderful Dr. who blends naturopathy and conventional medicine.  She helped me SO much!  She was the one that thoroughly tested all my thyroid levels.  As it turns out, I had swung into hyper-thyroid mode and was diagnosed with Grave’s Disease. (it’s an auto-immune thyroid issue)  I also had a TON of food sensitivities which I had never remembered having.  With that also came other digestive issues.  I got on plenty of supplements and a VERY strict (and expensive) diet.  I slowly detoxed (also with the help of a friends’ sauna) and healed my body.  I truly believe that God heals through knowledge.  That’s what happened to me.  My Dr. (and ultimately God) healed me through diet and supplementation.  My thyroid issue has remained in remission. **Sidenote:  It was during this time that I also found out about the “Trim Healthy Mama” book–that was another aid in my health journey.  Huge help in eating to stabilize blood sugars.  **key**!!

All this time, we had on our hearts that God would bless us with another baby.  Justin felt that right after we had Benjamin God told him specifically that we’d have 5.  After a few years of crazy female issues…I was starting to doubt!  I was also very upset about my diagnosis.  I was so VERY thankful for the 4 healthy, beautiful children God had given us, but that’s a tough call when someone ELSE tells you “no more”….it’s “impossible”.  I felt kinda bad for being so upset about the thought of not having any more babies…I knew most people just wouldn’t understand that.  I just LOVE having babies.  I love pregnancy, birth (afterwards—haha), and the whole nursing thing.  The thought of “being done” was a sad thought.  That was a decision I wanted us to make…not for a Dr. to tell us we were done…especially since we didn’t feel like our family was complete yet! Justin and the kids definitely had WAY more faith than me.  My kids were praying all along. J  I had been told I was heading into menopause and my hormone levels were way low and my AMH levels were almost non-existent.  (…apparently those levels refer to how many eggs are left remaining)  I continued to eat extremely carefully and continued to detox.  Being out of a fungus-infested house was SO very helpful in my healing process.

To make a long story shorter…at the end of February of last year, we found out we were expecting baby #5: Daniel!  We were fully expecting to have a little girl….after all, Madeline had been praying for a few years for a sister!  Haha…well, I guess the Lord knows my pretty lil’ girl needs lots of protective brothers.

I had an amazing pregnancy and all of my symptoms resolved.  I did write a blog post on my other blog about how I learned to eat really affected how I felt. (eating to keep blood sugar stable is HUGE!!)   I am amazed at how simple things like diet and exercise DRAMATICALLY affected how I felt in this last pregnancy.  (lots of protein and veggies and water!…and my supplements)  My birth went well (as far as labor goes) and Daniel was born on Veteran’s Day (9 hours after his due date)…my first “on time” baby.  (I’m still planning to write out his birth story—I know I promised that on my other blog)

After about 6 weeks postpartum, I noticed some of my food sensitivity symptoms returning.  I also noticed excessive sweating and unstable blood sugar levels (extreme lows).  I felt like I couldn’t eat soon enough in the mornings and couldn’t eat enough to get the “shakes” to leave.  When your blood sugar is low, it’s also hard to concentrate and remember anything!  Ha!  Kinda hard when you’re homeschooling 4 kiddos!

Well, in February I started Plexus.  Have you heard of it?  It’s a health and wellness company that I had heard of a few years ago through Shoshanna at Bulk Herb Store.  A few of my friends on facebook were sharing about it and ears were starting to perk up!  They were talking about “leaky gut”, “Candida” and other issues I had heard about for years, but wasn’t sure exactly how to heal.  I hopped on board in February of this year, and I’ll say I’m just amazed.  The “gaps” in my health that were left, even after healing my thyroid naturally and eating carefully, was filled in through a few of the Plexus products.  After 3 months of Plexus, my remaining symptoms have left.  I no longer have blood sugar issues, I’m energetic, my food sensitivities are vanishing, and I just feel well, stable, and balanced!!!  Justin and I have both lost 7 lbs. God has led me on quite the journey, but for me, healing has come through knowledge.  I now realize that FUNGUS has been my enemy and threw my body out of balance.

I am sharing all this, because I now know, there are SO many people suffering.  Their bodies (and maybe yours too!) are toxic from stress, environment, and unhealthy food. I am willing to share my story because I don’t want others to suffer . I am sharing about Plexus because the products have helped me SO much.  It has been a “game changer” for my friends as well.  I know I’m not the only one who has struggled with hormone imbalances.  You don’t have to suffer in silence!  There are answers!  I’ve been searching for years, and have found a few.  My ears perk up when I hear of women getting OFF their bioidentical hormones and thyroid meds!!  I read testimony after testimony of auto-immune issues resolving, simply by using a few Plexus products.  (Balancing insulin (blood sugar), healing the gut, and reducing inflammation are HUGE when dealing with disease)  Plexus targets those 3 things.  When the gut gets to working properly…watch out!!  You may just be amazed.  Wow.  The time is NOW!!  Start healing, before bigger health crises loom!

So, that in a nutshell is my story of the past 3 years.  I am here to help…please let me know if you or someone you know needs healing.  I am happy to share my story, what I’ve learned, and share about Plexus.  You can reach me at:  goffandfamily@yahoo.com

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!  ~megan

My sister and I once again had cousin “twinsies”: Daniel and Lydia (5 weeks apart)