Noah's Dieting

Gluten Free - Casein Free diets have recently been found to help in curing autistic kids of their symptoms. It has to do with kids with autism having severe allergies to both of these things and it's like a poison in their system and they can't break it down. Therefore it inhibits their development, etc. Also, gluten has an "opiate-like" affect on children that have gluten allergies, so it puts them in a drugged up like state (zoned out, no eye contact, limited speech, etc). Noah doesn't have autism but he definitely has the developmental delays. Our physical therapist told me a while back about how she works with several kids that are delayed (no autism) where their parents have put them on the GFCF diet and their development has improved drastically and she really wanted me to put Noah on it for a little while and see if it helped him any. Obviously, we will do WHATEVER if it helps Noah but to say I was overwhelmed at the thought of this diet is the understatement of the year. I AM NOT saavy in the kitchen, and (as embarrassing as it is to admit) I don't cook very often. Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye... therefore breads, crackers, cereals, chips, cookies, basically EVERYTHING! It's also in tons of processed foods, from canned soups to soy sauce and ketchup. Also, Casein is found in milk and dairy products, so cheese, milk, ice cream, butter... all off-limits. We are also doing no soy. The only milk I've found is Rice Dream. So I have to know what to look for and check the ingredients label of everything before we give it to Noah.

See why I was so overwhelmed?!

Anyways, I enlisted my mom's help and we purchased a book to tell us all about it (and other food allergies) and gives a TON of kid-friendly recipes. The grocery stores in Florence (Walmart and Southern Family) have a very tiny selection of gluten free casein free foods (I did find brownies, pretzels, and rice noodles for making pasta). So I had to go to the health food store and was able to find a rice almond sliced bread, cereal, apple cereal bars, peanut butter, mayonnaise, cheese, and rice flour (for baking). Like I said, gluten is found in processed foods so the only sandwich meat I can find that's GF (at least around here) is Boar's Head. The diet is alot of fruit and veggies and meats.... which as most of you know isn't on the top of "my favorite foods" list for most toddlers. Our plan is one day a week, to cook several meals and freeze them. This diet is not cheap... those 7 items that I purchased at the health foods store cost $45! I'm hoping that when we are in Huntsville for therapy I can find some things at Publix or Whole Foods for cheaper. It requires ALOT of meal planning. Noah can't eat fast food or at restaurants at all. So I'll have to pack his meals if we got out to eat.

Today is Day 1 on the diet. They suggest trying it for 2 months to see if there is any improvements. I'll keep up with his progress on here to let you know if we see any kind of changes.

One thing I would like to mention, in talking with the owner of the health food store, I told him that I've had Noah on soy milk for several months (because he has constipation issues with regular milk) and he told me that BOYS should NOT take soy milk because it's loaded with estrogen and causes boy's hormone levels to get off kilter (they have more estrogen than testosterone)!!! YIKES! I had no clue... my pediatrician is the one who suggested soy milk!

We got THE call...

The Physical Therapy department of Children's Hosp. called us this afternoon to let me know that they have worked Noah into the Spider Suit Program (the intense physical therapy program) for January! We had our evaluation back in July and they told us it would be sometime during the fall or winter when he'd get in, then about a month ago they told me it would be more like February or March... but apparently they had an opening and got him in! So Noah and I will be staying in Birmingham with my aunt for 3 weeks while Noah goes through the program. It's Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30am - 12:30pm for 3 weeks so it's definitely strenuous. I hope that Noah cooperates well and gets the most out of it. I'm very excited about this and really really praying that he'll be walking at the end of the program (I've heard it's possible!). Jamie's not looking forward to being by himself for 3 weeks but of course, is excited about the rewards that will come out of it.

Noah has a tendency to be a difficult patient when it comes to his therapy sessions. Each week in Huntsville, he fusses and cries (very loudly and persistently) to try and get out of doing his therapy (and he won't cooperate AT ALL with me in the room so I always have to leave.) About a month or two ago, he started doing REALLY good, and wouldn't cry and just did exactly what the therapists wanted him to do, but as of the last 2 sessions, he has reverted back to his crying and stubborness. So please keep Noah in your prayers as we get ready for this and that he does a great job and cooperates with his therapists during those 3 weeks and gets TONS of benefits out of it!

Test Updates

Back in September, Noah had some blood work done for a few more genetic tests (P-10 and Sotos Syndrome) and they told us we would get the results in a few months. FYI, doctors/physicians assistants are not very good at calling in with results. I've ALWAYS had to call them to ask if the results are in... so anyways, I called our Genetic Counselor several times last week, finally got her and yes, the results were in (but why hadn't she called me to tell us, who knows?). Both test came back NORMAL. Our Genetics doctor, Dr. Robin, has thought of one more test (more bloodwork) that he can do on Noah so we'll be going back that way in 3 months or so, but after that, there is nothing left to check for for the next few years (genetics is changing so rapidly, that in the next couple of years, there will be others tests we can run... if need be). So YAY, for our normal report!

A small taste of what its like with 2 kids...

Tonight, we had the pleasure of getting to babysit Noah's little 2 1/2 week old cousin, Eastlon. It was his parent's (Jamie's brother Chris and his wife Stacey) 4 year anniversary so they went to dinner and left E with us... and we LOVED IT! I was very curious as to how Noah would handle his mommy holding another baby, but he didn't seem to mind, in fact, he was completely fascinated with Eastlon. He wanted to sit right beside me while I gave E his bottle and he kept rubbing his cheek against E's head... it was precious. He gave him several kisses on the head, as well. When I laid Eastlon in the floor to change him, Noah was right there beside me watching. When we put him in the bouncy seat, Noah crawled over to him to sit beside him.... He literally couldn't get enough!

It's so funny how just 5 short months made such a difference in his personality because this past summer, I kept Noah's other cousin, Madelyn, and Noah didn't like me holding her. He just seemed really upset by her being at our house. But Madelyn was a little older (around 4 months) and she did some crying, which in turn, upset Noah quite a bit (remember?... sympathy cryer). Fortunately, Eastlon only wimpered like once for a second, which didn't faze Noah. I think my little boy is going to be such a GREAT big brother whenever the time comes. He such a loving and sweet little boy and tonight just reaffirmed that!

And for the record, Jamie and I handled two kids just fine. It was pretty easy, however, we only had Eastlon for a couple hours, but still ... do-able. Of course, I'm sure if they were BOTH mine and I was going on next to NO sleep, after spending all day at home with 2 kids, while Jamie was at work, then I would be singing a MUCH different tune!

A Halloween To Remember!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween...we sure did! The United Cerebal Palsy Center (where Noah gets his Early Intervention therapy) held its First Annual "Life Without Limits" 1/2 Marathon on Saturday morning and my bf Kellie (click her name to view her blog entry on the 1/2 marathon) ran it in honor of Noah. I had intended on taking Noah up there to watch Kellie cross the finish line, but he decided to nap instead. So Chenequa and I got up there around 10 to be there for her big finale. Talk about emotional!!! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude watching the hundreds of runners cross that finish line in honor and support of all the special needs kids in our area. It truly was amazing! One of the most special moments was watching a little boy with Down Syndrome run across the finish line while holding hands with two of the runners. WOW. Kellie did GREAT and finished right under 3 hours... pretty awesome for her first 1/2 marathon, especially considering that she had only trained for the first 6 miles.

Then around 2:45, we got a call from Jamie's mother, that our sister-in-law, Stacey was in labor and at the hospital!!! So needless to say, our trick or treating plans got rearranged. :) We weren't sure how fast her labor was going so we dressed Noah in his costume (just in case we had time to go trick or treating before the baby was born) and headed to the hospital. On our way there, we got another call that they decided to do an emergency C-section because Stacey was having some complications. Once we get there, she was already sedated and in the OR. It was pretty scary there for a little bit because we weren't being given very much information. Thankfully, the baby was delivered perfectly healthy and Stacey is doing GREAT. James 'Eastlon' Brink was born at 4:21pm on 10/31/09, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz and 19 1/2" long... pretty good size considering he came 2 1/2 weeks early! We waited for awhile hoping to be able to see her after her surgery, however, they kept her in Recovery for several hours, so we took Noah to my grandmothers to collect his Halloween loot. After that, Noah was spent, so Jamie took him home and put him to bed and I went back to the hospital to meet little Eastlon and check on Stacey. Here are some pictures from the day...



Noah in his costume at the hospital, waiting to meet his new cousin


Sweet little Eastlon