My journey with essential oils all started with Eden, my beautiful first baby girl. We knew something wasn’t right almost immediately. Plunket told me it was “just colic”, but from 2 weeks old she had also developed eczema all over her body and used to cry constantly and arch her back violently when we tried to comfort her. It was hard as a brand new mum with no idea of what was normal, only able to trust what those around you said. From 6 weeks we tried a chiropractor, as Eden had been born by c-section. After another 6 weeks she said there was nothing else she could try and Eden hadn’t improved, but a nutritionist at the practice had mentioned dairy could be causing her discomfort, so maybe try cutting it out. I was sleep deprived and would have tried anything! Little did I know that in 24 hours Eden would already have turned a corner. I guess from there our journey began! It hasn’t been an easy journey. While Eden improved without the dairy in my diet she went downhill quickly when I introduced solids. I couldn’t stand to see her in so much pain – in her abdomen, usually from wind or food reactions – still arching her back, clenching her fists and pushing away me and her daddy, hitting her head. It was like she didn’t want either of us and that hurt. We would spend hours and hours pacing with her in our arms, unable to soothe her. She would pass mushy, smelly, green, mucousy, bloody stools. She slept only an hour at a time at her worst point and would spend 1-4 hours crying at a time. An elimination diet revealed to us the root of her problems and support from Pediatrician Dr Leila Masson finally when Eden was 1 revealed signs and symptoms of an abnormal gut flora, which can cause intestinal permeability and food sensitivities.
Today Eden is well on the road to recovery. She still eats a diet free of gluten, dairy and soy. We were able to successfully reintroduce higher fructose fruits (not dried though) and higher fructan vegetables and very recently eggs, but after continuing issues we have recently discovered that refined sugar is a no go and she reacts to citrus fruits and sulphites. Healing has centred around healing her gut, boosting her immunity and soothing the symptoms that kept her awake at night – probiotics, other remedies and of course essential oils that have all been natural. As hard as those early days were, Eden’s journey has changed my life. I have always slanted towards a natural approach to health, but I never knew its real capacity to heal and I certainly didn’t understand the importance of gut health, the impact of diet or how many toxic ingredients there are in the things that we use every day – soap, toothpaste, creams, lotions, washing detergents, air fresheners, candles; I could go on!
As all mothers, I sought to do what was best for Eden. I assessed the things contributing to our “toxic load” as a family, and one by one I cut them out and replaced them with things I made myself, using essential oils.
This is where this blog was born! I share what I know and what has worked for us. If you have stumbled across this blog in search of a lifeline for your own personal challenge, I hope that you can see a light at the end of the tunnel! Browse my Mummy Munchies, website pages and feel free to contact me to talk directly
Much love,
Clare x x
Essential Mum 