Improvements

The boys are beginning to show extreme improvements.

Zach:

He's up to 31.7 lbs, just over a one pound gain. His eczema has almost disappeared completely. He is sleeping way, way better at night. Unfortunately that means he wakes up earlier, but better that than 3 or 4 times up crying at night. Presumably the bad dreams have stopped.

Gabriel:

Temper tantrums have all but vanished. He is still two, but the random meltdowns have stopped and his attitude has evened out. He no longer collapses in rage when he's hungry and I am proud to report that the pound he gained, then lost again from giardia, has made its way back onto his skinny little physique. He's 26 lbs!

I forgot to measure them today; I'll have to do that this week.

Since going gluten free has been so easy we're now starting to lower their carb intake altogether. Their sugar was already pretty limited, but now we're cutting back on grains in favor of fats and proteins. It's along with the philosophy of the Paleo diet, which John is on and I loosely follow.

Praise the Lord for my healthy boys!

Progress

It's been a while since I've posted. It's way too easy to get bogged down in routine. I have a couple pictures to share, but for now I'll just say the gluten free is working.

Gabriel is so healthy and strong; he's like a different child. He gained a pound 6 weeks after starting gluten free and his binge eating has come down to a healthy, steady appetite.

He lost his pound due to a gorgeous case of giardia last week, but we've killed that nasty parasite and we're back to work on weight gain. The challenges are a little different here in India than they would be at home.

We're using lots of butter and the boys get a cup of carnation instant breakfast about an hour after their normal breakfast.

I don't think the boys have even noticed the change in diet aside from the banning of their weekly Embassy pizza run.

Managing Birthdays

Managing your child's own gluten free birthday is easy, but going to another's child's birthday party presents some difficulties. My boys were invited to a combined birthday of a 5 year old girl and a 4 year old boy. Thank God for my darling husband who reminded me about two days before the party with the question, "so what are you going to do about cake?"

I started by emailing the mom's and asking for the menu. It was to be snack foods like goldfish and animal crackers at the beginning and then a cookout with burgers and hotdogs.

I panicked a bit at the idea of wheat-filled snacks set out on the table for kids to graze; I envisioned myself as the wheat Nazi, standing guard in front of the table and depriving my children of normal childhood treats. I had to remind myself several times that I was doing the best things for my kids. So, I bought a special treat of fruit snacks (a rare sight in our home) and packed some cashews and crackers. So, what to do about cake? I had no GF cake mix on hand, so I made cookies instead. John pointed out the morning of the party that I should have frosting, but it was too late to get any, so we'll remember that for next time.

I had a distinct feeling that cookies were not going to cut it when the boys saw that cake. So, I spent the whole morning talking about the awesome, super special cookies that they got to have. Zach said he wanted cake, but seemed satisfied with the answer that cake would make his tummy hurt. So I kept talking up the cookies and special snacks and prayed.

The day went over great! The boys were mostly distracted by the giant bouncy castle. Zach and I got into one tussle over goldfish, but I pacified him with the fruit snacks. Burgers and hot dogs are easy, just leave off the bun. I had a surprising task of keeping Gabey away from the cake. He hates cake; never touches the stuff. But he saw everyone else eating it and wanted a bite. So I managed to snag some frosting from the side and he was happy with one bite of that and went back to his cookie.

All in all gluten control was a very successful endeavor for another child's birthday party. I'm glad they're too young for sleepovers just yet...

Notes on Progress

Zach has seen little to no change, except, perhaps, a little easier time going to sleep. Both boys had minor bouts of diarrhea two days after the diet started. Purging?

There have been some noted changes in Gabriel:

1) Improved behavior. He suddenly and dramatically entered the terrible twos a few weeks ago. The child who never cried and never said boo went through emotional roller coasters and pretty big tantrums. He was defiant and unmanageable. His behavior is not the angelic perfection it used to be, but it has improved since the diet began.

2) More energy. Gabriel loves his quiet play time, but ever since the diet he has been eating less and playing harder. He used to stuff his face with anything put in front of him, but that just didn't help his growth. The kid could eat 3 hot dogs, 2 servings of mac and cheese, and a whole apple without batting an eye. Now he eats more appropriate for his age. He still has a healthy appetite, but he seems to be satiated more easily.

3) His belly has gone away. Every time he ate his tummy would swell up. I always attributed this to a full stomach. But now, even after a very large meal, his stomach has stopped doing this. In fact, you can see every line of his perfect abs.

It takes 3 weeks for gluten to exit the body completely and we've gone 1 1/2 weeks. Halfway there! Let's see if improvements continue for Gabey and start for Zach.

Gluten Free Lunches

Who says gluten free has to be tough? Here are three simple lunches that are gluten free, easy, and little boy friendly.

Quesadillas with mangos and broccoli.

Seriously, easy-peasy. Just steam some broccoli and slice up a mango. The quesadillas are nothing but plain corn tortillas, salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese fried on a skillet with sunflower oil. Sometimes I throw in some chicken or lamb to add texture and protein.

It's a huge hit with my little guys every time.

Macaroni and cheese with strawberries.

Always a fan favorite and even easier than the quesadillas. I use Annie's gluten free mac and cheese. It takes all of 20 minutes. Follow the box instructions, slice up some strawberries, and you're good to go.

PBJ and peaches

This one took a little more preparation because I had to make the bread the night before. I used Gluten Free Pantry bread mix, which is extremely easy to use and even comes with a package of yeast. This batch was made with egg, as the recipe calls, but next time I plan to try without eggs since I am allergic. Thank goodness my boys can eat eggs or I would be sunk. This particular PBJ is made with apple jelly. Slice a little thin because this bread is pretty dense, as GF tends to be. The peaches are, unfortunately, canned since peaches are out of season here in India and tough to come by even when in season.

See? GF isn't so tough.

Gory Details

If you know any Celiacs you know we're not shy about the horrible details of how gluten affects us. So, warning to any readers right now, these posts will contain some fairly stomach turning details at times. Like right now.

The boys have some minor diarrhea today. It isn't full blown liquid, but it's runny and difficult for them to control. Gabriel has made it safely to the toilet for both of his episodes, but Zach had a couple small accidents. Now, given that we live in India and diarrhea is a fact of life, I can't be 100% sure this has anything to do with gluten. But this diarrhea isn't the pure watery, volcanic mess that usually results from the boys getting Delhi Belly. I'm wondering if this is the beginning of the purging process. It's only been one day, but the body can clear itself out pretty quickly. We'll see how things develop this week.

Yesterday was GF pancakes and an apple for breakfast, GF mac and cheese and another apple for lunch, dried fruit and cashews for a snack, and GF pizza and salad for dinner. Who says you GF eating isn't awesome?

Today the boys are currently snarfing down bacon and eggs. Lunch will be peaches and GF PBJ; dinner will be crockpot chicken, potatoes, and carrots.

The kids are loving it so far. Gabey was tantrum free yesterday even without a nap.

Gluten Free Starts Today

The boys started their gluten free diet today. I have been gluten free for about 5 years, with a few notable accidents here and there. John has been gluten-reduced for the past couple weeks and has been feeling great.

For breakfast we had gluten free pancakes and an apple. Each of the boys wolfed down three pancakes and the three of us split a huge pink Indian apple - I'm not sure what the name of this apple is, but it's very large, sweet, and delicious. We get it at the local market.

The plan for lunch is PBJ on gluten free bread. Our aayah, Angel, and neighbors have been briefed on the boys condition, so I hope to avoid accidents with sharing friend's snacks.

So, to start the experiment I am recording the boys' physical condition as of 1/31/11:

Zachary:

Zach is 30.6 lbs. and 38". This puts him in the 21st percentile for weight and 31st percentile for height. He is a very strong, energetic little guy. His appetite has been voracious lately, probably due to an impending growth spurt. His sleeping has not been good - he skips most of his naps, wont go to sleep until after 8, waking up long before 7 most days. He has been very gassy with bouts of diarrhea. This could be due to gluten or simply living in Delhi.

His skin is terrible. No amount topical treatments do the trick. His eczema covers his entire lower legs. He is extremely intelligent and good tempered.

Gabriel is 25 lbs. and 33.5." He is in the 7th percentile for weight and 5th for height. He is also very strong and energetic. His behavior has been difficult lately, but this could be due to a long business trip by daddy and the fact that he is two. He has also been gassy and switches between constipation and diarrhea almost constantly. He has struggle with constipation his whole life, so I doubt it's from Delhi. He has no overt eczema, but he has extremely dry skin on his upper arms and back that lotion will not take away. He is also generally very, very sweet tempered and intelligent. He is very calm and patient.

Gluten Free - Let the Games Begin!

The gluten free goodies have arrived! We're starting with the little boy basics. We have crackers, bread, mac and cheese, pancakes, cookies, and pizza:

I started the process by gathering everything gluten-ous out of the pantry and putting it in a box. This stuff will go to the neighbors. Let's poison our friends! ;-)

My job today is to make bread to have on hand for PBJs. I have mapped out lunches for the week. I plan to supplement the gluten free carbs with boy-friendly good fat foods like peanut butter and nuts. My kids are bonkers for peanut butter and cashews. Other supplements will be fruit and white meat and I plan to try to break them into veggies a little more using peanut butter, hummus, and possibly ranch for dipping.

Tomorrow I will log the boys' heights, weights, skin condition, and overall health and the great experiment begins!

Resolved

All right, I'm returning to this blog for once specific topic: to track the progress of a gluten free experiment. After watching my 27 month old play with two 18 month olds this week I realized it was time to do something. My little guy stood a good inch shorter than his munchkin companions. He just made it into 18 month clothes this month. He had growth problems in the womb, which was a big reason for his 2 weeks early induction and has had growth troubles ever since. It's time to go gluten free. I have strong feelings that this will work because, at 18, I grew 2" after going solidly off gluten (5'6" to 5'8"). Imagine what it can do for someone who is supposed to still be growing!

So, I'm not sure exactly when the gluten free diet will begin, but today's assignment is to find gluten free kid foods online. We need bread for PBJs, snack foods, and mac and cheese.

Today my little Peanut is 31" (2nd percentile) and 25 lbs (5th percentile). Although his weight percentile has improved from being under the growth charts, his height has dropped from the 20th.

Zach will also be going gluten free to see if his eczema improves. His poor little calves are completely covered and he complains of pain if I try any topical treatments. Sometimes he even asks for bandaids. His size might also benefit, but he is not so much of a concern. He is in the 49th percentile for weight and 35th for height, which is a huge improvement from his size when he was younger. He used to hover around 5th percentile in weight and 15th in height.

SO I will track our progress on this blog including diets, skin status, and growth progress.