More Allergies

Today we had an appointment in Waterville with our naturopath/homeopath/nutritionist/nurse practitioner (she wears many hats). We brought both kids and they honestly couldn't have acted much worse. It's been a couple of days of them being utterly horrible, and our patience is just about non-existant. At what age can we send them to summer camp? Insert exhausted frazzled face here.

We have been going back and forth about doing testing for Charlotte. We were graciously given money to complete a few series of tests which may give us a more accurate picture of what is going on inside that little body. One of the tests we actually can't do until Charlotte is potty trained because we'd need to collect her urine for a certain time. Another test is a stool analysis which may tell us how well she is digesting foods, whether her yeast balance is off, how well she digests fats, what enzymes may be lacking, whether she has parasites or if she has a lot of bad bacteria in her gut. It sounds very helpful, but since she's not eating a "normal" diet right now, we're not sure how accurate this may be and we really want to use this money wisely. The idea of GAPS is that healing comes through food- so in theory, even if she does have issues that may show up on that test, GAPS should heal it in time. So, for now, we haven't done this test. Not sure if we will or if we'll put the money towards a side of beef or her supplements, etc. However, after today's blow, we might opt to do it just so we won't be spinning our wheels. If we do the test maybe we can help her heal faster, with less headache/work? Pray for wisdom, please!

Anyways, we chose to do one test so far, an allergy test. This tests different types of allergies in the body- not as quick of a response as typical anaphylactic allergies but more of a slow-response allergy, which can damage the body over time. We have had her tested previously for many typical allergic responses- and she has 15 IgE allergies. There were 17 different allergies showing up on this new test. The biggest surprise was that chicken was rated as a very high allergen for her. We both eat a lot of chicken and chicken broth. Also walnuts, bananas, salmon, cocoa, cashews, and many other things I eat on a regular basis which can pass to her through my milk.

So, this was both helpful and frustrating information. This could be the reason it seems that Charlotte's not been progressing well through the stages of GAPS. It also could be why she's had more sleepless nights and re-occuring eczema lately. It was helpful since now we know that we need to cut all of these foods out of our diets. Maybe then Charlotte will start healing. But unfortunately, this limits our diets even more.

Of course, this is making me wish even more I could just wean her. I'm struggling to not feel resentful and irritable nursing a 19 month-old. I know many other families breastfeed well through the toddler years, but this was something I hadn't planned on. I hope soon her diet will expand so I can wean her and have the peace of mind that she will be able to get the nutrients she needs on her own.

We've also been learning about histamine responses and sometimes that can be a problem. We need to stick to lower histamine foods for Charlotte- this is complicated, but for now, this means a lower simmer time when I make her broth- only 2.5- 3.5 hours, and freezing broth immediately, only to take out what she needs when she needs it. Leftovers can become a problem since the histamines increase the longer food is cooked, or it sits. So, yet more work is in order- the freezer is full of chicken broth we now cannot eat, and the beef broth may be too high in histamines in order for Charlotte to eat it.

We would ask that you just pray God will buffer us. I'm feeling overwhelmed lately with just trying to keep up with everything. It seems every day I learn about things which I ought to change, learn, or do. GAPS is a try it and wait and see approach, and honestly, I just want a quick fix. But that is not possible.  Strike that thought. With God, all things are possible. I need to trust that in HIS time, He WILL heal her. I need to do the best I can and take one day at a time. As always, we have much to be thankful for. We appreciate the prayers and love! THANK YOU!