There I was holding the key that could potentially save my sanity and help my sweet little girl. The years of unanswered questions, fears, sleep deprivation, behavior problems, intestinal discomfort, and parental heart ache have come down to this. A child who can not tolerate gluten and dairy.
I question if this really could be so simple? Simultaneously my stomach hurts at the thought of changing our entire family’s diet. Besides do I even fully know what gluten is? There seems to be a dairy issue too. Is she lactose intolerant or is it a protein issue? As fast as I feel comfort on this new path to healthy living; I’m equally overcome by the anxiety of those questions left unanswered.
Out of complete desperation and a certain confidence that I’m onto something; I begin to empty our pantry. I make a few phone calls to some gluten free family friends: I’m absorbing, learning, and reading at lightening speed. I was determined to never experience the tantrum I had the day before. The helpless feeling of not being able to help one of your children is not something any parent wants to experience; and, for once I am hopeful. We are doing this regardless of what others might think or say. I trust, follow my mom-instinct, and believe that God is holding my family in His hand through all of this.
I proceed with our pantry transformation; in less than 24 hours I managed to rid the house of most everything that could be to blame. The ways of our past regardless of how healthy were no longer: as I prepared countless bags of noodles, unused cereal, cans of soup, and baking supplies to donate. I knew exactly what needed to be done. In order for this to work and really be tested we needed to give it our all: we would give it an honest shot one to three months of living without.
After only 3 days of being gluten and dairy free this child I had birthed three years prior had been reborn. She was anew. She was sleeping through the night, extreme tantrum free, potty issues had subsided, and the fire she so often tried to start with her feet had been put out. She was playing pretend and being a kid. Imaginary play and interacting in new ways as if she was embracing a newly discovered world. Tears of joy, happiness, and relief flow from my eyes. We have been blessed with the opportunity to meet our daughter again for the first time and guess what; she, is pretty darn amazing!
If you missed it…..My Special Note and Thanks.
Are you considering an extreme diet change; gluten free, dairy free, paleo, vegetarian, etc.
1. Consult your physician. {I was extremely confident in our family’s decision and that our pediatrician would be fully on board with this choice. I called her 1 week post K.Bears diet change and she was completely supportive and in agreement with all of the choices we had made.}
2. Start small; you do not need to take the same extreme measures we did. I just happened to have enough nutrition knowledge and experience with this to know in order for us to see a significant result everything needed eliminating and then at a later time could be reintroduced. I also knew that with the high risk of cross contamination and potential increased hereditary links it was important for the entire family not just K.bear.
3. Find a community, support, a friend, or I invite you to even rest here knowing you and your family are not alone.
Join me tomorrow as I begin to break down the technical terms “what is gluten”, “what is casein and whey”….
