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I'm so glad you've stopped by! In June 2010 I left a great job to be a stay-at-home momma to my three sweeties. Join me as I explore the joys and sorrows of leaving work, staying home with the little people who matter most, as well as the trials of living on one income, marriage, life, and living by faith. I'm learning so much about myself, my husband, and my kids by writing here and I hope to continue learning to sing praises to the One who gave me this blessed life!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

All Things New (Part 1)

Wow.  It's been a while.  This last summer we had some major changes, and I forgot about you, little blog.  Well, not entirely.  You've been remade 17 times in my mind, and when I logged in today I discovered that none of those changes had been made!  Amazing how things don't get done if I don't do them.  Hmm.
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This last summer I decided to take the fight for our boy to a new level.  My middle child (who is becoming the second of four, come Feb 2013), the one who fell off the bed in his sleep and split his lip, has been having more troubles.  I had tried to write it all off as just 'boys are like that sometimes'.  But there was still the nagging feeling at the back of my mind, and the more issues that sprang up, the more I talked with our doctor, the more I started to hear, "Oh, he'll grow out of (insert symptom)," the more that little nagging feeling became a suspicion.

Since he was 6 months old our guy's had eczema.  Now, at almost 4, he's had digestive issues, major tantrum issues, communication difficulties, is refusing to toilet train, he self-injures, sleeps very little (which results in ME sleeping very little), is obsessive about certain toys and videos, runs in circles waving his hands . . . I could go on and on.  We've tried 6 or 7 OTC lotions, creams, essential oils and bath additives, 2 or 3 prescriptions, and nothing gave him much relief from his eczema.  In fact, most of his bed sheets are blood stained from his scratching. 

I read about trying an elimination diet to see if he had food allergies, tried removing gluten and things improved a little:  his eczema was less severe, he was sleeping better and his mood and cooperation had improved.  I took him back to the MD with our findings and asked for a referral to an allergist.  After two negative IGA screens and one negative RAST test, I felt so frustrated.  That doctor said, point blank, "I don't think his issues are food related." 
"Bull****," I thought.  "This HAS to be food related."  So I kept on reading.  Some friends had been posting info on Facebook about the Paleo diet, and so we tried that.  One article caught my eye:  these parents made major changes to the way their family eats, and found that health improvements were dramatic and started immediately. 

We started a modified Paleo diet (included rice and gluten-free oats) and saw dramatic improvements in everyone's health in just a few weeks.  It didn't completely resolve the eczema issue, but after seeing the behavior improvements in our boy, I thought we were on the right track. 

**I feel at this point it's important to say that I am SO grateful for a gal named Kim.  If not for her, listening astutely to the complaints of a confused and sleep-deprived momma and offering her opinion (despite the fact that it could make me mad, she said), we wouldn't be where we are.  Thank you, my dear, for helping me put the puzzle together, and for caring enough to speak up--even when it might be uncomfortable.**
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TBC