Say it's not so...

Dearbhla AND Lisa Grace both tell me that Bay is probably allergic to gluten, this is BAD. The wheat allergy can be just a wheat intolerance... but the gluten allergy is a much bigger deal. I need to head to the health food store today and stock up on some alternative food for her. She is going to really miss Graham Crackers.... That will be the hardest thing for her. I imagine I can find some kind of bread replacement... Sounds like Costco has a good one. Nicole says it's not too bad when you get in to it. (Ellie is allergic to dairy). I know that I really just need to get my head around it.

Wheat

I think I have finally admitted to myself that we need to cut wheat out of our diets for a month to see if it is the cause of Bay's eczema. For the longest time I wasn't adding up all the different symptoms... she would complain of a sore tummy and I would ask her if she needed to go to the bathroom or if she needed to eat something (she doesn't eat much so I figured she might often be hungry), she doesn't have a big appetite, she has purple shadows under her eyes AND she has eczema. When I put it all together... these are not a bunch of random ailments... They are all on the list of potential symptoms of a an allergy... specifically a wheat allergy. Dearbhla tells me that it probably is NOT a gluten allergy which is great, because gluten is way harder to keep out of your diet. Oh HOW am I going to live without BREAD!! I LOVE TOAST!! AND PASTA!! The kids will miss flour tortillas... (I'm not so worried about THEM... more about ME!!!) The surprising thing is that Trent, who does NOT have flexible eating habits (to put it mildly) is all on board and was the first to say that if it is going to work then we all have to do it. There is some hope that we will only have to do it with zero wheat for a few months, then we can introduce small amounts of wheat (especially unsprouted... whatever THAT means....) and she may be fine. I don't know how I am going to wean her off Graham Crackers.... it's one of the few foods she WILL eat.