Allergies

As you know if you've read my posts before, Nolan is gluten intolerant. He does not have celiac's but he definitely reacts to gluten. Carter is doing great on the weight gain front which is much different than his brother. He was, however, having some issues.

He started projectile vomiting almost daily. No fun for either of us. He was also very gaggy most of the night. You'd hear him grunt and grumble and then choke and wake himself. I quickly thought reflux but was hoping it wouldn't be something he'd need daily medication at such a young age for. We also experienced body and diaper rash and congestion.

After a few days of the projectile vomiting, I took the doctor's suggestion and cut out dairy. Two weeks later though, he had improved a bit but then was starting to decline again. Last Friday we had an impromtu appointment to discuss everything  and get baby some help.

At 5 weeks 1 day C weighed in at 9lbs 6 oz. That was up from 8lbs 3 oz at 2 weeks 5 days. It turns out he likely isn't having reflux from over acidic stomach acid but from positioning and overeating. To combat that, we purchased the Fisher Price Rock n Play sleeper which lets him sleep safely at a 45 degree incline. I'm not sure if it's a fluke but the first night he slept 6 hours straight! Second night he did all 4 hour stretches. That's much better then the two hours he was doing. We are also trying out pacifiers hoping he'll suckle those instead of always me! He would want to suckle then get upset when milk came out and he was already full. Crazy baby!

As for the rashes, our doctor suspects some sort of allergy/intolerance to something I'm eating. Since dairy doesn't seem to be the issue or possibly not the only issue, I'm doing a full elimination diet for him. This means no corn, soy, dairy, nuts, eggs, or gluten for the next three weeks. Then I'll slowly add one in at a time every week or so. I'm keeping a full journal of everything I eat/drink and charting his reactions, symptoms, and sleep habits. Hopefully I'll see improvement at the end of the 3 weeks and be able to figure out what is going on. All I can say is dairy elimination was hard but removing all of this is torture!

Gluten Free Saga continues...

So back in December when Nolan's IGG results came back showing a high reaction/intolerance to gluten and wheat (pumpkin and parsley too) we started on the road to gluten free with him. It wasn't too difficult at first but as with anything and a two year old eventually there were tantrums and tears over not being able to have what his friends have. Our pediatrician had high hopes that once his gut continued to mature we'd be able to reintroduce these down the line. They suggested eliminating them for at least 90 days. Because 90 days flies by in the blink of an eye and our petite little man didn't suddenly become a bruiser, we continued gluten free for a full 6 months. Last week we decided to reintroduce gluten and see if we noticed a difference.

Nolan's issues aren't easily noticeable to the outside world. He doesn't swell or develop a rash. What exactly happens to him on the inside is a bit of a mystery too because he can't yet verbalize it to us. What we do know is this. After a few weeks off of gluten my picky, non eating little boy started eating full meals, drinking quantifiable amounts of food, sleeping through the night for the first time in his life, and having more regular stools. Last week with a day or two of the reintroduction of gluten, that all changed.

His first sandwich at a picnic in the park.

My usually happy go lucky little boy became a whiny miserable little terror. I know that's not my baby and he must not be feeling okay. We had gone months without him skipping a meal and in the last week he has skipped more than he has eaten. It started out well, he ate a whole sandwich at our picnic in the park but each day became progressively worse. Tim would get home from work just in time for the meltdowns and dinner time issues to begin.

Nolan is of course only two and any two year old can have a bad week so I didn't want to rush to judgement. After over a week of the issues getting worse and our baby not eating though, it's pretty clear we need to go back to gluten free and be determined to keep even small amounts from him. If large amounts have this sort of effect, even small amounts are doing some harm. So we'll be back to avoiding the bakery counters at every grocery store, shooing away anyone trying to feed him random things, and leaving playdates early when he just can't cope with the fact that he can't have exactly what someone else is eating. At least I'll have my happy little toddler back!!