…and finally growing!
I couldn’t get smiles this time around, but I love the first picture so much because it showcases those gorgeous eyes! We can’t go anywhere without someone commenting on her beautiful blue eyes, and this is the best they’ve ever been captured.
Things are going well for Lorelai’s gluten free diet experiment. She has great energy, takes only 1 good nap each day, and just in general seems like a healthier, happier baby. I took her to the doctor on Thursday to be sure her cold wouldn’t become an ear infection while we were out of town. It included a weight check and she has gained 4 ounces in her first gluten free week!
It looks like gluten free will stick around for awhile. Her 1-year checkup will include a referral to an allergist, who will tell us what else she may be allergic to. I’m already guessing strawberries, after the rash she got when the girls ate them. Yesterday, my sister accidentally gave her a poisonous strawberry kiss. A rash appeared a few minutes later.
This week I’ll be experimenting with some gluten free cooking. Ordinarily, I would have been starting a baby on some table foods by now. Lactose intolerance, and now a wheat allergy, have delayed that. I am looking for a good flour substitute for breading and thickening. That really should eliminate gluten in most of our meals. Anything on bread or buns would be off limits anyway until she’s much older. Then I can purchase gluten free breads at Wild Oats. It helps that I cook with a lot of fresh foods already.
Food allergies are a new experience for me, but I’m great at research. While challenging, it’s going to be just fine. She’s young enough to make it easy—she’ll never know what the “real” stuff tastes like. On the other hand, her sisters do know the difference so it will be hard when she wants what they have. We’re learning as we go.
Today was Lorelai’s 3rd full gluten free day. It came with improved health, more energy, and excellent news from her doctor. Her lab results came back today and doc reports she is not celiac. Because she has shown improvements on gluten free, we—which includes her doctor—are keeping her gluten free for at least the next couple months.
At her 1-year checkup, she’ll be weighed, measured, poked and prodded. He’ll then refer her to an allergist who will poke and prod some more to determine what [other] foods cause allergy symptoms. For now we’re thinking dairy and wheat, but it could boil down to something more specific or completely different under further testing.
I’m happy that it is not the lifelong disease that is celiac, but I don’t like not knowing what is causing her problems. It’s become obvious over the last few days that going gluten free is beneficial to her, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter what the official cause is. At least now there is still the slightest chance that whatever it is could be something she’ll outgrow.
Today was Lorelai’s second day on her new gluten free diet. I don’t know if it is my wishful thinking or discernible results, but I actually think I’m seeing improvement.
Her naps were much less erratic today than they ever have been. Normally, she takes 3-4 naps of around 1-1.5 hour each. Today she took 2 good naps, totaling about 3.5 hours. Plus, hubby reports that she wasn’t overly tired at bedtime, though she did go right to sleep.
Her diapers have never been a real issue, which is why the celiac disease discussion was set aside at first. However, it has always been incredibly obvious when she was filling a diaper. That crap takes a lot of work! Today, she was dirty twice and we didn’t even notice until she suddenly smelled bad.
The last notable change could be an utter coincidence. Her development is not too off, but she is on the tail end of most milestones. However, there is no way to tell when she would have pulled to standing on her own anyway, though there is the chance that she was able to stand in her crib today because she has more energy than usual.
Still no word on her labs, but I’m encouraged by the progress we’re alredy seeing.
