From Bloody Sheets to Sleeping Through the Night

Introduction and Jessicau2019s success story 0:00

Hey friends, welcome back. If your child is waking up scratching and bleeding and you feel like you've tried everything, this episode is for you friends because what you're about to hear is from a real mom exactly where you are. And her son had full body eczema, open wounds and bloody sheets and no sleep. They cleaned up their home and they changed their diet and did testing and allergy shots for a year and a half. And nothing worked until they found the eczema elimination method. And today, Jessica's son has clear skin and he's sleeping through the night.

Their life looks completely different than it did just a little while ago. If you're in this right now, I just want you to really hear this. This does not have to be your forever or your normal. We can get your family and your child out of this itch, scratch, flare, no sleep, total misery cycle. And if you're ready to get you child of that cycle, you can book an alignment call with me through the link in the show notes or at eczemakids.com. We'll look at what's going on for your children right now and what it's gonna take to turn this around.

Okay, let's hear from Jessica today, friends. I'm so excited for this episode. You're going to love her and really resonate with her story. And I am just so exited that she was willing to share so openly and vulnerably with you all about their struggles and about they're turnaround and where they are now. So let get into it. Is your child struggling with itchy nights and endless flare-ups? I'm Andra McHugh, mom of four and host of Eczema Kids. Here, you'll find natural solutions that actually work so you can heal your children's eczemat without steroids, without the overwhelm, and finally see calm, healthy skin again.

Let's get into it. I am so honored to have Jessica here today. She's the mom of six-year-old Blake, and when they joined about four months ago, Blake was dealing with full-body eczema and sleepless nights and a constant skin breakdown. And fast forward to now, his skin is clear, he's sleeping through the night, the bloody sheets are gone.

Blakeu2019s severe eczema and sleepless nights 2:00

Jessica, thank you so much for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. Before we talk about your transformation, I want people to meet you. Can you just introduce yourself and tell a little bit about you family? Of course. Yeah. So my husband and I, Brandon, we have been married for about seven and a half years and we got four kids. We are from South Louisiana and our kids are the four, kids or six and under. And so we actually moved to San Antonio, Texas after we got married. And our first two kids, our boys, were born in Texas.

Like Andrew said, the six-year-old, or oldest, is the one that suffered with severe eczema. We noticed that around six months old that his ectoma started really flaring up, and I was breastfeeding at the time. We just thought that it was coming from food allergies and so we got him tested and kind of figured out like which foods he needed to avoid. And so I started avoiding those foods since I was nursing and we just really weren't seeing much benefit from avoiding what we thought those food allergy were causing.

So fast forward, we moved back home to South Louisiana when Blake was about a year and a half old. And yet we had just had our stuff done at that point. And so we came home and, you know, I wasn't nursing anymore, but he was avoiding those food allergies that we thought would cause eczema. Again, like I said, not really helping by avoiding these foods. So just waking up with blood in his sheets every morning, scratching, itching, oozing, open sores, all the things. This went on for a year and a half until recently, until we met you and dove into your program.

And we, you know, would get comments about how his skin looked. And for my husband and I, it was almost less of like what it looks like from the outside. It was more of just like moodiness and the lack of sleep, really. Sleep deprivation is almost like a form of human torture. Like it's terrible to not be sleeping. And he was miserable. He was absolutely miserable and he's a happy kid. You could just tell during the day his quality of life was just lacking because Yeah, he was irritable, frustrated, moody, and he would just act out and we knew it was because he wasn't sleeping.

And so, although the open wounds looked terrible, it's more the lack of sleep that was hard for us to see him living that way. Yeah, that's what wrecks you. I just remember that feeling so vividly. It's like when it just hurts to be alive because you're just not getting any rest. And it is. That's the best way to summarize it. torture. It's his craziest state to live, and that's why I do what I because I just want people to truncate that experience as much as possible. Because it isn't. it's not the way to life.

Like, you're poor kids, right? I mean, I know he missed school activities, social stuff. Talk more about that. Yeah, and he was a trooper through it all. And his teachers will tell you that. He never complained about any of it. But yeah, I mean, he would have to miss things and have open wounds and sores, things that people really couldn't be around at times. We had to push through. The dagger, right? It's like your kids are so miserable. Everyone's so tired. It is just taking up this condition.

Taking up so much mental space and your daily activities. day to day. I mean, I want to know like when was the moment that you were just like, this can't be our normal anymore. So a lot of people would like throw out different like suggestions, you know, like you need to try this, to to this. And so we did like we were open to so many different things because on top of the eczema, it was our first child, we are first time parents.

Trying creams, allergy shots, and other treatments 6:00

We were open to just trying different things because we knew how miserable he was and so we tried everything under the sun, every type of cream that anyone would recommend and it would like work for a little while. And so, we try all the creams and then of course like dupixent was something really big that was being pushed by just different people around us and settling for us. Like it just never felt right. We didn't have peace about it and we just didn t want to do it. And so someone introduced us to allergy shots.

So for whatever reason at the time, that made a little bit more sense to me than Dupix said because they were telling me that you inject in him what he's allergic to to build up his immunity. Okay makes a little bit more sense like let's try it and so we did we tried the allergy shots and once a week for a year and a half he went to the allergist after school and got two shots one in each arm I think it was for like dust and Dog and pollen maybe or grass and so, you know sweet little Blake like we just told him, You know, this is gonna work like this will help your eczema and he's like, okay And so he did it and my mom would have to take him because like I said, I have four kids under six the once a week my Mom would take them to the allergist and you get those shots and we were very patient my husband and I just like We're like, maybe it'll take longer to see results.

Let's just wait it out. And we waited and we didn't see any results and so yeah, a year and a half and it was expensive too to pay for those shots. So we just decided to stop. It was funny because we decided stop without knowing what was next. We really didn' have an answer. This is when we began like a deep dive into prayer and just like, or what can we do? Like there's gotta be something out there. And the whole time during this period of like stopping the shots and before we found you, my husband always had like this deep peace and trust that there wasn't an answer.

He really did like knew that they were something more natural out that could heal Blake. I was a lot more like losing hope at this point in that one. Like, should we just try to fix it? He's so miserable, I don't know what to do. And typically in our fair life, like in marriage, there's always been a pattern where the Lord will first put it on Brandon's heart and then He'll affirm it and confirm it with me. It's just like this pattern that He's used with us. And so like I said, Brandon had always felt like there was an answer.

One night I was googling how to help kids with eczema and thankfully your whole mission is called Eczama Kids. So it wasn't too hard to come up on Google and I found it. I listened to the trailer of your podcast and then I started reading the website. And I stayed up late that night. Brandon, I think I found the answers. He's like, right. And so I sent him the link to everything. The next day at work, he looked into all of it and he was like wow, this is really awesome. I remember texting my mom the podcast and she was on board and excited.

So I guess for the next week, i just started listening to the podcasts over just different episodes and the clients that you have and like the success stories. I was trying to like write down bits and pieces of like tips that you were giving through your podcast. And so I like slowly started implementing things like we took out, he was drinking milk every morning, like whole milk. So we put that out and just little things. okay this is worth the investment to just go all in and like buy the you know the program the 90-day method and so we decided to do it we had so much peace about it both of us just had this like unspoken interior piece that this was it and even through like the really hard times of the ninety days we just persevered because we trusted that it was going to work out and it's funny i just i find so many like correlations with my prayer life and my spiritual life, and this program, like having to work through the really hard times.

And like, at one point, I remember telling you that he had got impetigo, it was like a little over halfway of 90 days. We were seeing results, not completely clear yet, but we were improvement and then he got impotent and it wasn't like related to the diet or anything but he had just caught it and his siblings caught and so he has open sores all over his face and at first I thought it was just an egg in the flare-up and I had sent him to school and i'm like driving back and im googling and like okay this is contagious this not ectimus so I rushed back to schoo and checked him out and he just stay home for like almost a week it's horrible it is horrible And so that felt like a major setback in how far we had come with me

Finding the eczema elimination method 11:00

learning to cook all these things from scratch and everything. I was working, I felt just as hard as you. and so yeah that was really tough and I think again like in the spiritual life you feel like you're going so far and then you have this like the enemy you know on the other side like wanting to not get you there and telling you like this isn't worth it like, you should quit. You know you, should give up and i definitely felt like that at police but my husband always just was like keep going, you know.

Yeah, that's why you're here. That's way we're speaking. You cross the finish line, so to speak. I mean, it doesn't mean that the work's not done. And he's a healthy, happy kid because you are consistent and you maintain that hope and maintained that vision and that inner knowing that he wasn't sent here to live like this. Like, no kid was sent to be miserable and live in this itchy, scaly, bleedy skin. Like that's just not a life, right? Like in the hierarchy of needs. If that is not well at the foundational level, there's no room for joy and happiness.

And fun. I just resonate so much with your story. Every myself and every single person I've worked with has seen multiple specialists. They've done the immunotherapy They've done the acupuncture. They're considering dupixin. If not, haven't like just started it. And the craniosacral therapy. I mean, homeopathic. There's so many things that you can do, right? And it all costs so much. We're in it for... thousands of dollars, tens of thousands, and we weren't necessarily any closer to actually resolving that issue.

And I just, I know that experience as well. It's like you really have to balance this real need with a knowing and also a real bank account and a lack thereof. Man, it's just really unfortunate that this isn't just a wealthy person condition because Other things are really being pushed. You know, you turn on the T and there's like commercials about all of these different eczema solutions and stuff. And I find that the program that you're offering is rare, like it's not very out there. So you have to do your own research and you look beyond what's kind of being like thrown in your face and almost like My husband always says, like, if the world is doing it, it's probably not the right thing.

Like, you almost go against what the word is offering. It really is. And to be able to maintain that hope, I just remember telling my babies every night, we will get through this. Absolutely. gonna fix it and it still makes me tear up because like oh my goodness like just you can just re-envision it just staring in their eyes and I just remember you know looking at Blake's face when especially when he was going through impetigo it was like, oh, my, goodness and just to have to deal with that on top of everything else I know just the intensity level was at a 10 for you and he had to stay at home but you You still manage it with this smile on your face and like this upbeat tone and I just have to commend you for that.

And once he started to get over that, when did you feel like things were starting to actually shift? So I would say the very beginning is when we first started seeing improvement just from the trio, the comfort trio from like the pre-existing excellent that he started with. We saw results within like weeks, maybe even days using just the skin comfort Trio. And then the sleep really started to get better after the whole empatigo situation. we continued through and he was. Finally sleeping and I remember telling you this story when so Blake never really had Accidents when we were potty training him like once we switched from pull-up to underwear at night for the first time I don't remember Blake ever having an accident and six years old, you know We started this diet and he woke up one morning and you sort of embarrassed about it.

He's like mommy this is weird like my pajamas are wet and he had an accident and I was so excited that he's eating in his pants because they're sleeping at night like you didn't even realize that you had to go to the bathroom you were sleeping so hard that is like unheard of for him and so we made we make it a positive story it was kind of funny but yeah the sleep was definitely the next thing that we started noticing And then, yeah, I think at about 91 days is when I sat down and I pulled up the little pick collage app and put them side by side.

And I just started crying. Like I knew that it was working, but when you're in it, you can't see it from the outside. So when actually put the side-by-side, realized like how far we had come from day one. I remember like sending it to first like immediate family. Then I started sending to friends that are like, like walk this journey with us and then I realized that I wanted to like just send it to everyone on my contact list like I was so excited and like it was hard for me too it wasn't just Blake I remember the first morning trying to make these like pancakes

Early improvements, setbacks, and clearer patterns 16:00

from scratch and I'm like, I can do this and Blake the six-year-old will come up to me and he's like okay look you can't do that like he was the one comforting me No, I grew just as much as a person that he did throughout this journey. I think it really pushed me further in my vocation as wife and a mom and helped me just bring order back into our life. You can't just wake up five minutes before the bus comes and grab a Pop-Tart and run out the door. Like you have to be ordered and structured and have routine and that it has really helped a lot as mom throughout the program.

And like another little correlation with my faith life I find is that like when you It's much easier to spot, I guess, like the enemy, you know, in the spiritual life. And so before Blake was living in a flare-up, so we never knew what was causing it. But now that he was getting clear, one story that I also shared with you was he had a Christmas play at school in December. when the kindergartners had to wear Santa hats. And so he put a Santa hat on to go to school and the teacher called me right before the play and was like, he's red and itchy everywhere.

I knew right away, the Santa Hat, I know because he had been getting so clear, it was easy to spot the trigger once your life is more like ordered. Yeah, that correlation was cool too. So now we know right way what's causing it if he does have a little finger up. Right, right. And we're still building resilience like we know, you know in the future, that won't be the case. Like he can wear a polyester hat for a little bit of time and not freak out like that and his immune system will be more regulated so that that doesn't happen.

But yes, for the time being, and I remember that conversation very much, it's like, That's exactly it. As soon as he moved, he started to calm back down and that's amazing. I just do have to echo what you said about It's empowering as a mom. Like, honestly, you know, that's our number one priority. And everyone has a lot going on. Everyone's working and everyone's CEO of the house and has other kids. There's all these blessings. I know that when you're really going through it, it sometimes doesn't feel like that because it just feels like more things to manage.

But once you start taking on these things, like nourishing your family, you know, relegated elsewhere, like to take out or just faster foods or you, know like pop tarts, things like that. When your head hits the pillow at night, you just feel different. You feel better. you're like, You just know wow, I really showed up for my family today. And that's what gave my heart solace, when things weren't better yet, but I was doing my very best to make sure that they would be. It's like jaws. It just feels better in your heart, in you're soul to show up like this for your family.

And it doesn't even require that much, right? Like it does. Yeah. Before we figured out the strap for filtering the bath water, I had to hold it. I remember my speech director telling me like, well, offer that up for Blake. You know, just like hold that and Small things with great love can go a long way. And so it was just like those little things throughout the day that I started to stay consistent with. It all was worth it. Oh, that's the best way to sum it up. Small Things with Great Love. I love that line so much.

A lot of parents assume that they have to do extensive testing to see results. Did you end up having to any of that for Blake? We did not. We didn't. the 90 days and then you'll know if you need it or not. There was no doubt in my mind that we did not need to be so clear now and just so happy. And I remember at the beginning of your program, you know, diving into the classes, one of the things you said was that the result that were working towards is not just clear skin, but a happy, thriving child.

and that's what we are most excited about. Like we feel like we have a great bath. Yes, his skin is clear. Now, and of course, like I said, the outside world is noticing and they're excited But me and my husband are just like, he's so happy now. He's goatee and sleeping. You can actually be a kid. Yeah, it just makes me so Happy. How would you describe his skin and his mood now? Oh my gosh, It's like night and day. It really feels like a new kid, He is so clear, like I said, in pictures. I've never seen him like this before.

And yeah, not scratching anymore and just happy. And he knows that like the hard work that he's put in and the sacrifices that's he has had to make because he spent at birthday parties where the kids are all eating pizza and getting ice cream and he was sitting there eating like his chicken and vegetables or whatever. But he knew that that work, that you put it in the sacrifice he made is why like he is looking the way he now and why he feels the he understands.

Clear skin, better sleep, and family transformation 21:00

Yeah, they're on board. They don't want to feel like that. Absolutely. What a beautiful lesson that he will have with him for his whole life. Yeah. I think it's taught him so much. He's grown so in virtue of the prince. you know, like if he had his little yum or candy for a treat, he knew that I could only, I would only give him two. He would say, oh, have one now and I'm gonna save this one for later. Like he, knew how to like balance things and that whole, and he just grew a lot in virtue throughout it all.

And actually think about how does this affect me? How does it affect my body? how did this effect my goals like growing or Clear skin or sleeping I just you know I Just think it does so much for their maturity and and that really is the silver lining It's like otherwise if you continue down the path that you were and you you're eating a lifetime of pop tarts in the morning like you are going to have to deal with this at some point right like nobody gets a pass on this Nobody gets to just eat, process junk and make it without some severe issues.

And honestly, we're the lucky ones. Eczema on the continuum of things is fortunately reversible and something that can absolutely not just be managed, be eradicated from your life versus there's some other things down the road when you leave that systemic inflammation going on unchecked. worse and worse things start to happen. And so I like to think about that too. It's like, luckily this happened, you know, when they're young and this obviously affects your whole family. You know the tide rises all ships and everyone upped their nutritional game.

Everyone's getting more nutrients and vitamins and minerals in every single bite that they take and that's all because of you. Because of all the, the changes that you've implemented. So kudos to you. I think the suffering appears to be a roadblock, but it really was like a blessing in disguise because we've grown so much from it. If you could talk to yourself. three, four months ago, what would you say? Oh my goodness. I was thinking about it because I feel like your program is such like a mission.

Like you were called to do this, you know, it's your passion and your desire. And so I would just tell any mom that like, I don't know just to get on board with this mission and for you to always like keep doing it so passionately because you are changing lives and I'm just so thankful that the Lord brought me to you at the perfect timing. So kind. Thank you. I love it. To see the transformations and to have these conversations and I send a free 16-ounce product to anyone who's quote-unquote crossed the finish line like you, just as a congratulatory.

You're amazing. Like we said, everything is just these lifelong benefits will continue to unfold and you know the the parents that are listening now are in the shoes that you were wearing last year and they're exhausted and They're scared and their missing sleep. What do you want them to hear? I would tell them to jump in and just be all in with it. It's funny that whenever we started, I wasn't going to slowly implement one food at a time. I feel like you and Brandon were like, it's all right now.

Like I said, before we jumped into the actual program and I was listening to the episodes, we were slowly eliminating things. But as soon as we got those classes, you went almost like the cold turkey with the food. So I'd just say jump all-in and don't really look back. And being on the other side, yeah, it gives me just so much hope and just to know when anything's hard in life. Like you just keep persevering because it's worth it. I wouldn't say this was easy at all. That's not the word I would use, but I'd say it was possible.

You just have to persevere. Fair enough. But compared to how you were living before, would you consider the way you're living now easy? Yeah, I mean it is night and day. I guess now, what does clear skin actually represent for you now? I think it's just a new life in him. A new child, a happy child. Like you said, resilient child and I don't think there's a going back. Like, I'm excited to, well, we will reintroduce foods eventually. I am excited just to continue this healthy eating. And he jokes, he's like, mommy, i'm the healthiest kid in kindergarten.

His teacher says to you, like I wish I was eating your lunch. She always talks about that. So, im excited, just continue forward. That's what it means, the healthiest kid in kindergarten. I mean, that's everything, right? Like you said, it's so much more than clear skin. That is just a reflection of the intestinal lining and all the things that are going on right on the inside versus all of things going wrong. So Jessica, thank you so for your time here today.

Encouragement for exhausted parents 26:00

Just know that hearing you and hearing about your transformation and your words will really help people see what's possible and know there is hope. That's the path. That the only way to healing is just knowing that it's possible and continuing on for there. So thank you. Thank you! Isn't she amazing? Her story is so powerful and I'm just so proud of her and i'm so happy for her, and her family. She's now pregnant with a big child. Things are going so well for here and their family and If you were listening to this and thinking, this is exactly where we are, don't ignore that.

I know you've tried so many things. If this was about effort, you would have resolved this already. There's nobody that could try harder or think about this more or research this or care more than you already do. But at some point, it's not about trying more things, It's about following a method that actually works. Jessica didn't piece this together on her own. followed the eczema elimination method and her son's skin cleared. We created a clear holistic plan having to do with every single aspect of their lives that she followed and got support around.

WEVOXR all the time. She is living it and doing it, and breathing it. And the results speak for themselves. And if you want that same outcome, you just need a clear plan and the right support. You need somebody who understands what it's like to be up in the middle of the night, night after night at their night to send your child to school with itchy scaly skin to manage the day to day things and then to also supplement them correctly to work yourself out of this hole. So you no longer have to live like this.

So you can book an alignment call friends through the link in the show notes or at eczemakids.com. We'll look at your child, what's been missed, What you've tried, and whether this is the right step for you, because it isn't for everyone. But for some people, it really, really is. And I'll let you know, clear skin is 100% possible friends. Just hold that and keep that with you. More than that, a calm, happy, thriving child is possible. Nobody was meant to experience life in itchy, scaly, uncomfortable skin.

Certainly not your child, certainly not you family. This doesn't have to feel like the weight that it is or the burden that is on your heart inside your family, we can change the entire trajectory of your children's life. You just have decide that you're done living this way. So, if that feels like, the right next step, I encourage you to apply for a call. eczemakids.com and I will talk to you next week, friends. Take care. Thank you for helping with my eczema. Love you. Thank You for listening today, friend.

I know healing your child's skin isn't easy, but you're doing it one smart step at a time. If this episode gave you a little hope or a better night's sleep, leave a quick review so more exhausted parents can find exima kids and finally rest easy too. Follow, share and let's help more kids heal. Take care.