Unexpected Results

[Poppi 101]

I have 3 bio children and 2 Vietnamese girls who live with us 10 months a year and go home to their Vietnamese family in July and August.

I wanted to have my 3 kids tested for celiac before the whole house went gluten free but my doctor didn't want to do it, she refuses to acknowledge my celiac despite the strong family history (my Father, my maternal grandfather and my mom are all celiac or at least gluten intolerant, my mom never had a biopsy). I tried to do a gluten challenge to get tested but was so violently ill half way through the first day that I couldn't continue so I have no "official" illness.

So we went ahead and made the house gluten free without testing the kids, it would have taken months to get a referral to a pediatrician and I was constantly getting glutened so I couldn't wait that long.

I was sure that my oldest and youngest were gluten intolerant but also sure that my middle son was fine. Boy was I wrong!

The oldest and youngest have had no change on the gluten free diet. My oldest is still an insomniac and my youngest still eats dirt. Her pica is getting better but I've also been cooking on cast iron for her every day.

My middle son who I thought was fine is a totally different kid. He is 6 now and has always been difficult to handle. Near the end of the year he was referred for evaluation by his school to see if he was autistic or if anyone could figure out why he was so unable to control his emotions.

2 weeks into being gluten-free he is calm for the first time in his life. He doesn't lose his temper, he is able to deal with disappointments and unexpected schedule changes, he's quieter and nicer to be around. It's amazing. He's sitting on the couch watching TV with his little sister right now (she's 2) and nobody is crying. They always fight but they've just been getting along so well lately. I love it.

Yesterday we had to leave a moms' group outing at a local cheese farm because all the other kids were getting ice cream cones and my 2 year old was getting really upset that we couldn't have ice cream too. Surprisingly my 6 year old was the one who gave her a hug, calmed her down and convinced her that it was okay to go home because mommy would give us ice cream there. Normally I would have been literally carrying them both kicking and screaming to the car.

Yay!