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Monday, March 11, 2013

On the road to a gluten-free, artificial-coloring free, dairy-free life

Goodbye, Wheat Bread! 
I've known since E was 2-weeks-old that lactose was not a friend of his stomach. For the first year of his life I abstained from any lactose digestion for the sake of nursing and my desire for sleep at night without a screaming baby with a squalling stomach.

But in the last year, it's become apparent that E's stomach not only doesn't like lactose, it doesn't seem to like processed, gluten-filled anything or artificial colors and preservatives. I think in the last month, we've had maybe 2 days where he hasn't complained about his stomach.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

I guess our time has been coming for a while now. E never gets sick. He's never had the flu, strep-throat, or even an ear infection.

So it's not surprise that his issues come in the form of food allergies and their influence over his ability to have a happy stomach and to be calm.

I won't complain about it because I've been reminded so recently about the fragility of life and how thankful I am for a healthy, capable child.

However, we will face challenges as we enter into this new era of dietary restriction, and I'd be lying if I said I looked forward to it, especially when it comes to going out to eat and dining with other families and friends. Don't forget the lunch box. Packing a lunch box can be a difficult thing on a gluten-free diet.

Any suggestions? I've been scouring the Gluten Free Girl blog and A Girl Defloured blog.
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2 comments:

  1. christineclawson@gmail.comMarch 11, 2013 at 2:18 PM

    Starr and I have been Gluten Free for 8 months and love how we feel! Your son may just have a VERY HAPPY BODY with all the foods you are feeding him and may be rejecting some things that are not on the 'pure' scale. Our grandson is 10 and he developed a hurting stomach and my daughter cut out milk for a month and somehow that seemed to do the trick. It was a miserable month!! He seems to be fine how. I think most stomachs go through similar times of not processing well. We adults ignore it more because there are more foods we like to eat. Keep me posted and I will try to keep my ears open. BTW.....we substituted some fruit flavored icey desserts that seemed to satisfy him.He didn't lack for sugar that month! Not a good alternative but remember sugar is used to equalize the lack of electrolytes when we have digestive problems.

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  2. Kate DabbsMarch 11, 2013 at 2:56 PM

    Hey Melissa -- I read your blog, love hearing what you guys are up to! I have Celiac Disease (as of 2009) so I have been gluten free for four years now. If you would like to chat sometime, I would be happy to give you a run down of what weekly meals look like, the sneaky ways gluten gets into things you wouldn't expect,good resources, etc. Just shoot me a Facebook message -- I'd be happy to help!
    - Kate

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