Six months ago had I read the title of this post, I would have thought that we were planting a new tree in their front yard. Isn't that kind of what it sounds like!?! I would now consider myself somewhat of an expert on this topic.
Here's the deal. Let's just say that neither of the older boys have ever had a problem with constipation. EVER. I asked the doctor about it
numerous times with Elijah and always heard the same thing "It is toddler's diarrhea and he will outgrow it by the time he is 5." When he was about 4 1/2 I started to seriously doubt that and we did some blood work, cut out dairy (again), I fretted a bit, and sure enough.... a few months later everything worked itself out.
(Aren't you glad to know these details about my young kids? When they are older, they will be so upset with me... but I want to remember this journey, so they will have to deal with it, I guess.)
So, as Gavin ventured down the same path, I didn't think a whole lot of it. We avoided dairy half-heartedly but since he didn't seem bothered, things were all hunky-dory. Until the end of March. He got RSV, then he got some other bug, and another bug, and something else..... he was sick constantly and couldn't seem to get over these colds. His doctor had recommended we do some food allergy testing since a food allergy can really weaken your immune system. We started with a 2 week log of everything he ate and the reaction- we had it narrowed down to milk & wheat. Skin testing = negative. I requested the allergist also run blood work for Celiac disease = inconclusive. The allergist told me that Gavin likely did not have Celiac disease, but could avoid gluten to see if things got better. Well, I didn't really believe the allergist and I knew that in order to test positive for Celiac disease you have to continue eating gluten.... so I wasn't sure what to do next.
Somewhere around that time we learned that Elijah does indeed have asthma. Like "not a little breathing issue here and there".... more like "an overnight hospital stay type asthma". Whoops. Mommy fail and now we know when he says he can't breathe he actually isn't kidding.
Anyways, then Gavin started waking up at night - 3 times or more. Sometimes as often as every hour - literally. He was snoring a lot so we took him to an ENT who recommended getting his tonsils out.... and said that could be causing other issues if he wasn't getting good sleep at night. So, we debated on that for a bit.
Then he got a few stomach bugs.... he would throw up, but no one else got sick. At one point I took him to the pediatrician's office feeling at a complete loss and she said he likely had rotovirus. Uhmmm... in retrospect, I had been feeding him the BRAT diet (lots of toast.... not good for someone who shouldn't eat gluten).
Then came "the night when everything changed". June 7th. It was just me and the kiddos that night. I had just gotten to bed when Elijah had an asthma attack - got him taken care of. Then Gavin was awake, so I brought him into our bed hoping to get some sleep. He snuggled in and we slept for a bit.... only to wake up a few minutes later to him throwing up all over our bed - and then promptly laying in it. Yuck. (I know, it was gross). Owen picked that moment to be ridiculously hungry.... and needless to say, I spent the rest of the night awake.... cleaning up vomit, cleaning up a two year old.... it was not good.
The very next day I decided Gavin was going to go gluten free. I just didn't know what else to do, but I knew something was wrong. Now that we are nearly 3 months into this journey, eating gluten free does not seem like a huge deal. But on Day 1; HUGE deal. I walked into Natural Grocers, stood in their snack aisle and teared up. I made myself pull it together and when an employee walked by asking what I needed help with I muttered something about needing snacks for a 2 year old who can't eat dairy or wheat. He went into the back of the store and returned with a list of all their products that are gluten & dairy free - sounds good, but not a huge help when trying to find snacks for a 2 year old. I came home with a variety of packaged things that I hoped would be as enticing at future play dates as the ever-coveted-Goldfish-crackers.
Three DAYS after eliminating gluten, Gavin slept through the night for the first time in MONTHS. Within a couple weeks, he was talking more than he ever had. He stopped wanting to be rocked and/or held constantly. He wasn't sick with colds constantly and he didn't throw up randomly. He started actually EATING real portions of food which he had never done. We were still having some tummy issues, but things were SO MUCH different.
We didn't get the final Celiac Spruce disease diagnosis until August 10th. It is not easy to diagnose, but it was a bit of a relief to finally know for sure. Even though we had been gluten free for about 2 months at that point, we hadn't been concerned about looking for trace amounts of gluten because we weren't certain he had Celiac Spruce. Turns out, his daily multi-vitamin has wheat. And his shampoo (it's only an issue if he ingests gluten, but since he is 2, bath water still ends up in his mouth). He reacts if he eats jelly out of a jar that had previously touched wheat bread. We are still learning all the intricacies of managing a mostly GF house, but we are getting there.
**A quick explanation of Celiac Spruce: for whatever reason the body decides that gluten is the enemy. Whenever it is consumed, the small intestine is damaged. The result can be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.... OR it can be completely silent and have NO symptoms whatsoever. Most importantly the body is unable to absorb necessary nutrients. In a huge way, it is such a blessing that Gavin did get so sick. I have since read studies about the detrimental effects that Celiac disease can have on people who remain untreated through adulthood. Untreated Celiac disease is linked to different cancers, mental health concerns, and malnutrition. It has a strong genetic component and is estimated to affect nearly 1% of the US population - but most of those individuals are undiagnosed. **
Back to Gavin - he is doing A.MAZ.ING. Really. He has grown 3/4 of an inch in less than 2 months. (Now he is up in the middle of the night because he has growing pains - I'll take that!!!!) He no longer has any issues with diarrhea or vomiting. He will not come near Goldfish crackers - or any crackers- or really even any food without first verifying with Marty or me that it isn't going to make him sick. The kid is not even 2 1/2 and he will ask if something is going to make him puke before he will eat it. It is so amazing and just verifies how miserable the poor guy was feeling.
I love to bake, so that has been a big change. I used to bake all our own bread, but I haven't baked a single loaf since the end of May. I have tried some gluten free baking.... but so far it has not been amazing unless I use a mix - but I really prefer to bake from scratch. I will figure that part out. All of the condiments in our frige are labeled "GF" or "NOT GF". I have called companies to find out if products are manufactured in a way that there is gluten cross-contamination. I have spent COUNTLESS hours researching Celiac disease, connecting with the local support group, reading company websites to find their individual policies for labeling GF foods, checking to see which brand of hot dogs are GF.... and forgetting and checking again 2 weeks later...... We wash our hands after using Play-Doh because it contains wheat. I read, then I inform Marty. We both watched a great informational DVD about raising kids affected by Celiac disease. So helpful. That was when we checked all our medications - did you know many contain gluten!?!
It is all SO worth it to see this little guy smiling more. And feeling happy. And not throwing up all over my bed at 2am. :) I am so happy that Gavin is in our family and that we get to love on him. He is great. Just seeing his cheesy grin makes me smile and makes my heart feel happy.
