Monday, May 13, 2013

New Eating Adventures

Kaylynn has been constipated since about September.  It got really bad to the point where she would talk about going and not be able to for a day and a half and then she'd cry when she went. 

I took her to the doctor several times and the first suggestion was maybe she was eating too many bananas so we stopped giving her those, but nothing changed.  The doctor said there wasn't really a way to see if something in her diet was the culprit so I decided to eliminate dairy for a time though the doctor said that wasn't a good idea because she still "needed" the milk calories.  I knew she could get healthy calories elsewhere so we cut out milk for quite awhile but still didn't notice any improvement. 

In the mean time I did follow the doctor's recommendation of giving Kaylynn Miralax since we had to do something to help her go, but she started needing more and more of it.  I knew there had to be a better way, so I finally made an appointment to see a naturopath. 

Two weeks ago we had our appointment with Dr. Neale and I remember leaving thinking, "That's how a doctor's appointment should be."  I felt listened to and the doctor really took her time with us.  She made me feel confident that we could get to the root of the problem and fix it.  Kaylynn's regular doctor just wanted to treat symptoms with medication and wasn't interested in finding the source.

We did a food intolerance test and I got the results last week.  Egg, soy, and the combination of fruit and sugar appear to be the problem with Kaylynn's digestion.  My first thought was that we don't eat much egg and soy, but really, it's in almost everything in a box or package!  I'm totally focused on food now, reading labels and organizing the pantry and fridge.  I've made my own bread and egg-free cake for her birthday.  I'm also giving her a HMF probiotic.  I'm excited to see results.

This past week I did notice that Kaylynn was sleeping more and seemed to be happier.  She didn't complain of a tummy ache (a daily occurrence before) until today, and I know she had a little of the fruit/sugar combination at her party yesterday.  Her constipation is better but not resolved quite yet.

There are so many people I know with food allergies or intolerances, and I've been glad not to have to deal with it at home.  Well, now we get to experience that wonderful world.  I think there will be lots of benefits overall with becoming more aware of what we eat and making more things from scratch.  Here we go!

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Kaylynn is 2!

Today is Kaylynn's second birthday!  She has grown and changed so much in the last year.  Some things are just the same as the first week of her life, mainly that she has strong opinions and doesn't change them easily.  I love her conversations.  Just yesterday she was telling me goodby as she went to the next room.  Then she paused to turn and assure me, "I'm just pretending, Mommy."


This morning she and I had a tea party and I let her spill real water all over the table with a little bit making it in the cups from time to time.  I enjoyed using my Czech tea set I recently pulled out that's just too pretty to sit unused.


Happy birthday, Kaylynn!  We love you and the spirit you bring to our family!