Going Gluten Free

...well, not all of us. Just Annabelle. We think we have found the culprit to her sleeping/illness/digestive problems.

We're basically done with the diet, and have re-introduced everything except for corn, wheat/gluten, and added processed sugars (she has had raw honey and organic maple syrup in GF oatmeal). After meeting with her doctor for her 18 month well-baby visit on Thursday, we're pretty much leaning towards gluten being the main problem, despite the fact that Annabelle's sleep improved, then worsened, then improved again without ever reintroducing gluten.

After speaking with her doctor about food sensitivities (have I mentioned that I LOVE our doctor?!), and reading more about gluten sensitivities, I found out that it can take weeks and even months for gluten to completely leave the body. It's not uncommon for people who are "detoxing" gluten to have good days and bad days, until the gluten is out of the system (hence the good days/better days/bad days with Annabelle).

We opted not to have Annabelle blood tested for allergies/sensitivities, because we don't want to stick her if we don't have to, and we have seen marked improvements in her sleep just doing this diet. Her doctor recommended waiting until Annabelle is older to reintroduce gluten at all, especially since it can take so long to leave her system again. She said she has seen lots and lots of kids with gluten problems, so we definitely aren't alone (which makes me want to post a whole long thing about what our bodies were designed to eat, but I will refrain, at least for now!).

Annabelle has been sleeping through the night pretty consistently now, waking only once, maybe twice, and going right back to sleep. The past four nights she has woken up only one time, and then slept until between 6-7 in the morning, in her room by herself. Victory! It's great. Last night was the first night that I actually slept until she woke up...I had been just constantly waking up thinking she would be up any minute, thankful that she wasn't actually up, but not thankful that I was! Anyway, it's been awesome, and we have no reason to believe that it won't continue. Jason and I plan to keep eating what we're eating, which isn't a ton of gluten-filled products, but keep Annabelle away from it as much as possible. It's already opening my eyes to all of the things we need to watch out for and remind other caregivers about, but the extra "stuff" will be worth it, if it means we are all finally sleeping.

...which we are.
so yay!