Oh my heck! It's March! Wait, it's almost over? Where have my days gone? I have absolutely no idea! I have been busy for the last 10 months dealing with our little mexican jumping bean. Things got off to rough rough start. My thyroid was too low so I wasn't making enough milk, on top of that even though he has a great suck, the roof of his mouth is severly arched and so stuff wasn't positioned correctly to get milk. I could put my finger in his mouth behind where his front teeth were, and go up and up and up!! All the way up to my middle knuckle!!! That is a high palate! Not a good thing.
Bugga has never ever stopped moving. Even while pregnant he was always moving. He would never relax while nursing. Something always moving, a foot kicking, and hand squeezing. He would scream unless he was on the breast. Pediatrician says reflux... meds.. the meds were terrible!!! I smelled them, and they gave me an asthma attack! Couldn't get them down the baby, so we saw a different ped and she ordered meds through a compounding pharmacy woo hoo grape flavor. OK, this took a week to start working... kind of.. not.. eventually he went off this medication because his reflux was gone.
He only slept through the night for a week!! No naps, unless being held.. let me tell you.. I love the snuggles, but I do need to get stuff done ... still not napping in his bed.. YET..But he sleeps in his crib at night.. See, when we went on a trip, I started giving him formula. Ya know, trying to wean him a little. Plus he ate veggies, fruit, oatmeal, yogurt.. yup. and he loved it. BUT, something was not right. He was struggling to poo, he was up most of the night screaming, he was biting like crazy!!
I got online and did a search for "how to get my 10 month old to take naps"... an article came up about how dairy and gluten cause reflux and the symptoms are: irritability, asthma (yup he was a wheezing monster), constipation, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, arching and more.. he has all but one symptom ! AHH HAAA I feel like an idiot. No one told me! My poor baby boy was in pain! We immediately took him off formula and gluten. No more dairy for him or I, as he is still nursing.
So yup, Bugga and I are gluten free (gf) and dairy free(df), our house is also sf and cf (corn and soy free). It took 5 days, but last night was the first time he slept almost the entire night! He woke for a dream feed at 11pm, but then slept until 6 am..amazing! BUT, still napped in arms. Hey, I am not complaining! He was so much happier and nicer today.. well until he got hungry and started biting my leg. No I am not exaggerating, he was biting me. So into the high chair he went to have some rice, peas, bananas and mango. yummy.. then some blueberry coconut milk yogurt. YUM!
Since being gf my migraines are gone. I had a headache yesterday, all day, but it is normal the first week or two to have headaches from withdrawal of gluten. Other symptoms of withdrawal include nausea (which I get when eating gluten!!), skin eruptions, stomach cramps... and more.
I also found while researching gluten.. People diagnosed with gluten allergy or celiacs usually are diagnosed with thyroid problems with in 5 years of diagnosis. AND people diagnosed with thyroid issues usually are diagnosed with celiacs within 5 years of diagnosis! AND people with these conditions are also usually diagnosed as diabetic with in 10 years!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Most diabetics have thyroid issues.. Do you see the vicious circle here?
My symptoms for gluten allergy were: dizziness, nausea, stomach cramps, dry skin, exhaustion, irritability, joint pain, muscle pain, the bottoms of my feet felt like I was walking on needles!, diarrhea and constipation.. Guess what the most dangerous of those was???
The dizzy part. Why? Because it means my body was attacking my cerebellum. Yup, my brain was under attack, and if not caught soon enough, the damage is permanent! I started getting dizzy 13 years ago! Fortunately it would get bad then better. Why? Because when I was dizzy I was so nauseous that I was vomiting, and so I wouldn't eat anything except chicken broth (no gluten there!!).
So, my daughter was getting dizzy too. Glad I found out about the gluten thing. She has been sneaking gluten, and well.. paid for it.
Out of 10 people in our home, 6 of us are gluten free now. The rashes, cramps, dizzy, and more are disappearing!! hurrah!!!
