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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Miss Doodlebops 1st Gluten Free Birthday

We recently realized that our soon to be 7 year old most likely has a gluten intolerance & I was immediately intimidated by the lack of access to healthy & different foods in our present location. One night last week Miss D was sitting on the floor of the tub crying when she was supposed to be washing her hair & I asked her what was going on. She tearfully replies that she is tired of her tummy hurting every time she eats & just wants it to stop. As most mothers will understand my 1st decision after comforting a soaking wet child, was to do some online research. I really believe that God has been trying to key me into this for a while now but as usual I tend to put things off because no one wants to be the crazy, paranoid parent that drives the medical community crazy but everytime she complained of a tummy ache I would hear a soft voice say "she needs to be on a gluten free diet". I couldn't even tell you what gluten is! After I put the kiddos down that night I got online & started researching this allergy & was actually amazed at what I found. After looking at many of the symptoms Miss D fit at least half of them one of which was being labeled Failure To Thrive as an infant which she was & although we were sent to a GI at Children's Hospital, she was never actually got to the point of diagnoses with anything, she turned a corner health wise & we let it go. Of course I felt like the big fat loser mom after realizing that she has been most likely suffering for years & is just now being able to really vocalize the minute things that make her daily life miserable.
     So after all this we made the decision to try the gluten free diet & see if there was any improvement, I checked with our ENT who also does allergy testing & after we were informed that testing would include a colon biopsy & the only change would be diet we decided to skip that invasive step & go straight to the fix. I am actually very impressed with the options that I have found in our small hamlet, expensive yes but when you're talking about the health & comfort of your child who cares! We started our gluten free diet on Sunday & by Wednesday her hard little distended belly that she's had forever was suddenly flat & soft, success! Now we are almost one week out & other than a slip up at G-Maws where she enjoyed a can of Chef Boyardee, we have been very strict with this thing & so far not one stomach ache! There are many other intestinal symptoms that are improving & I am so thankful for each one.
     We will be making adjustments for a while but it is getting easier each day. The 1st grade went to the part this week on Miss D's Bday & the teacher's provided pizza which she couldn't have so I used a GF Bisquick mix & made my own crusts & we took fresh GF pizza to the park, for her bday dinner we made rice pasta w/ marinara sauce, cauliflower, watermelon & GF Devil's Food Cupcakes w/ Mocha Cream Icing. It was all delicious! I can't believe how normal most of these foods taste, impressive. And thank goodness she loves CHEX! My sis also found a GF bread from UDI'S that she really likes & I understand that is one of the major obstacles in feeding a GF child.