Simply Well

Today was yet another good day.  We made a trip to Flower Mound to see a woman who does muscle testing.  I was very nervous about not only the trip, but about how we were going to get Claire to sit through the testing.

The drive down there took longer than expected because of TONS of road work.  But, both kids were pretty cooperative!!!!

Once we got there and inside, everything just fell into place.  The woman who performed the muscle testing for allergies was SOOO nice, mellow, and very good with Claire.  Now usually, when we go to a new place for the first time, Claire gets extremely over-excited, hyper, and talks a LOT of jibberish.  But, not today!  She was calm, quiet, and walked right into this woman's house without a fuss!!!

Once we got into the room where the test was going to be performed, Melanie (the founder of Simply Well) had a DVD player ready for us to put a movie in for Claire and a cute little comfy kid-sized chair for Claire to sit in.  Claire sat in the chair and hardly moved at all the entire time we were there (which was over an hour!!).  Claire let her hold her hand and do the test without a single fuss.  We had such a lovely time and I was SOO impressed with Claire's behavior!!   I honestly don't think she would have behaved this way a month ago.

Some amazing things are happening to Claire.  Here are a couple of pictures of the kids from their very first "trip" :-)  Will blog the results of Claire's test as soon as I get them!

Another good day!

Today,  Claire did AWESOME!!!   First off, she played and when I say played I mean she interacted, made eye contact, and gave her full attention to her Oma this morning!  She even let her push her down the slide and said "AGAIN!" after each time (which is a new word for her!!!).  I even got it on video!!

Then, later in the afternoon, I was cutting up fruit to put in her juicer, and she runs in the kitchen and looks right at me and says " sssss".  I said "What Claire??"  Then she says "Juuuuu, Juuuuuiiccee".  She said juice! She said juice!!  And at the exactly right moment!!!!!  So, her juice cup is sitting under the spout of the juicer and Claire walks up to me and hands me something.  It's the lid to her cup that I was filling with juice.  She knew exactly what she was doing.  I swear, it's like the fog in her head is finally starting to clear!!  She talks nonstop and I'm finally starting to understand what she's saying.  I can't believe it's only been a little over a week!!  Thank you Almighty God!!!!!!

Mama, Claire

Yesterday, I noticed Claire seemed to be stimming more than she has the last week.  I wondered if maybe I missed something and accidentally gave her something containing gluten or dairy.  I did notice that she was having more frequent bowel movements and think this could possibly be a yeast die-off of some sort.  Nevertheless, Claire ate baked chicken yesterday for the first time in her life! She has NEVER shown interest in it before but at almost an entire chicken breast on her own.  I was so very proud and happy!  Also, she said "please" at least 10 times yesterday (although it still sounds more like peas).

I checked my email last night and I got a response back from a GAPS doctor in Mineola.  She not only can give us a full analysis of Claire, but she also has a farm with grass-fed cows and chicken, organic produce, and raw milk that she will sell us!!  Praise God for opening so many opportunities for us to heal Claire and also for us to start eating more healthy too.

I started the documentary Food Matters last night and 30 minutes in I was shocked and fascinated at the same time by what information has been kept from society.  It's very bothersome the way the medical community and government are more interested in making money than actually helping people.  

This morning, I walked up to Claire and she gave me a big hug.  Then I looked at her and pointed to her chest and said "Claire" then pointed to my chest and said "Mama".  After doing this a few times, she started saying it with me! I would point to her chest and say "claire" and then to mine and she would say "mama!".  She has never been able to sit with me that long and engage in that kind of exchange before.  I was very impressed and happy to see how eager she was to learn it!  

Things are looking up and it's only been a week since we started these diet changes!! Thank You Heavenly Father! I give all the grace to you!!!!!!!!

A Glimmer of Hope (already!)

Yesterday was probably the hardest day of my life (including two natural births without any drugs!).  Claire was on her 3rd day in a row of not eating lunch or dinner.  She was having meltdown after meltdown and her last meltdown lasted 3 hours straight.  This included screaming, crying, pulling on my leg, and begging for Cheerios.  I had fixed her a plate of freshly steamed green beans, steamed carrots, and turkey breast and she refused to even touch any of the food.  Also, she was tired because she has been waking up at least once a night for the last 3 months.  I also noticed the night before last that she was EXTREMELY overstimulated and flapped her hands continuously for over an hour!

So, after her most recent meltdown (the one that lasted 3 hours), I called my mother in law and asked her to please pray for Claire.  I myself had been praying all morning but I hoped that if more people were praying, there might be a better chance of our prayers getting through a little quicker ;-)

During all the screaming, I had ethan strapped to me in the Ergo Baby Carrier and my headphones in my ears with Metallica blaring all the way up to block out the sound of her screaming.  I made Claire a loaf of GFCFSF Zucchini bread.  It was super easy and smelled wonderful.  After I made it, I tried to get Claire to eat some. One look at it and she knew it wasn't something she has ever had before.  So she wouldn't even try it.  At this point, I was furious because I knew she was starving and if she would just TRY the bread, she might like it!!!   It was made with local honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond flour, eggs, a banana, aluminum-free baking soda, eggs, and zucchini.

I decided to take matters into my own hands (literally!) and put a piece in her open mouth as soon as I got the chance.  Not only did she LET me put it in her mouth, but she didn't put up a fight.  After doing this several more times with the bread, I decided to try it with other foods.  She let me feed her (by my hand of course) her entire plate of lunch, down to the last fresh green bean.  I was so happy that I started crying.  After that, I gave her a cup of freshly expressed apple/grape juice with added Vitamin B12.  Then last night, she once again showed no interest in her dinner.  So, I thought I would try the hand feeding again.  Sure enough, she ate EVERYTHING on her plate and another piece of zucchini bread.

Before bathtime, I noticed a small red rash on her shoulder.  I decided to wait and see if it went away or got worse.  It eventually cleared up on its own, but we decided to give her Epsom Salt baths every night to help with this release of toxins.

So, last night, Claire slept ALL night without waking up a single time.  She woke up jibber jabbering instead of the usual screams to let us know she was awake.  I fixed her breakfast and put a piece of zucchini bread on her plate.  Ethan woke up shortly after, and after I got him changed and fed, I came back into the living room to see her plate cleared (even the bread was gone).  I assumed she threw the bread on the floor and looked for it.  There was no sight of bread anywhere.  I decided to test it out again where I could see, and she ate the bread up like it was a cookie!!!

A little while later, she brings me the container of raisins.  I said to her " Claire, can you say please to mommy?"  "Claire, say please".  Not only did she say it, but she said it 3 times more after that!  Everytime she brought me something she wanted, I asked her to say Please and she did!!  Now granted,  it sounded more like "pease" than "please" but this is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT.  She used to say "ga ga gag agagaga" everytime I asked her to say anything.

Also, she sat in my lap today and stared at me in the eyes for 5 minutes and continued to come back and sit in my lap with a toy and look at me.  She was interacted and playing with me!!!!

As of right now (2:30 p.m.), she hasn't had a SINGLE meltdown today.  Usually at this point in the day, she's had at least 3 meltdowns.

I know these are only small things, but in only 5 days on this diet she has made me believe that this diet is DEFINITELY working!!   I am so grateful and will continue to update her improvements :)

We have an appointment on December 11th to have Claire tested for allergies with a Naturopath Melanie Ortler.  She is going to perform the Classic Food Sensitivity Screening and Digestive Analysis so that we can find out what else Claire might be sensitive/allergic to.

Here's a video of Claire putting coins in her piggy bank.  Notice she only flaps her hands ONCE.  Usually, she has to flap them between every coin that goes in the bank.

A New Journey

As of about a month ago, we realized Claire is still not developing normally.  She is almost 3 and still doesn't talk, she flaps her hands CONSTANTLY, and talks gibberish constantly.  After doing a lot of research and filling out questionnaires, much to our dismay we have accepted that Claire has a form of autism.  My first reaction was nothing short of tears.  I cried for two days on and off and had a strange feeling towards claire, not hate or anger, but sadness and sorrow.  All I've ever wanted was to have a daughter with whom I could raise to one day be a wonderful woman, wife, and mother.  But this diagnosis shattered all of my dreams of that, because, lets face it, autism isn't a promising diagnosis of ever having a normal life.

I prayed and prayed and prayed some more the next few weeks and have been given peace by God about this whole thing.  After talking to a few friends whom I know wouldn't judge me or my child about this, I learned of a few options to try to see if I could reverse what damage has been done to Claire from the 4 vaccinations she received as a tiny baby.  We have decided after much research, that we are going to put Claire on a Gluten-Free Casein Free diet.  So many children with autism have shown dramatic improvement from doing JUST this same diet.  I have hope that God will heal my sweet Claire Bear and that one day she will again tell me that she loves me.  I have decided to devote this blog to Claire's journey back to the world and will be posting her progress.  So, here is a video of Claire now, on November 29th, 2012, 2 years 9 months old:

We also are looking into seeing a naturopath and getting Claire tested for food allergies.  She has had almost a CONSTANT yeast rash on her bum, which suggests she has a yeast overgrowth in her gut, which also can contribute to the autistic behavior she has shown the last year.  I'm putting all of my faith in God to get us through this and to give me the wisdom to find out the best things I can do for Claire to get her well.  Claire is having a hard time going off of gluten and dairy.  She loves her bread, milk, cheese, yogurt melts, and rice puffs.  But I'm goingto work my butt of finding and making alternatives for her to make this transition as smooth as possible.  I know this is going to be a grueling journey, but it's going to be worth it in the end. I just know it!!

As of today, we've been GF/CF for little over two days. Some of Claire's autistic tendencies include flapping her hands constantly when she gets overexcited, having complete meltdowns anytime Ethan cries, and only speaking words from cartoons that she has watched.  Plus she loves to watch things spin.  Hoping and praying this diet change will help her to overcome some of these more severe things she does.

A friend on facebook posted a video to the song You Are I am by MercyMe.  This song has given me SOOOO much hope and went straight to my heart.  I know that God can do anything!!!  All I have to do is trust in Him!!

Happy Mother's Day

It's still strange to me that this holiday applies to me now!  In saying that, I was very surprised when I woke up yesterday morning to two cards on the kitchen counter:  One from Dietrich to me and one from Claire to me :-) along with some Ferrero Rocher chocolates!!!

The cards were so sweet and thoughtful and also in the card from Dietrich was $5.00 and a note telling me to go to Starbucks!  If anyone knows my husband, they know that he is not a fan of coffee or my addiction to it, so this gift was a very generous and selfless one :-)  I could not have asked for a better husband to be a wife to, nor could I ask for a better daughter to be a mother to!

As Dietrich was at work all day yesterday, I spent my morning with the family of my friend Danae and had a wonderful brunch with lots of my favorite foods.  It was so nice to be welcomed into their home and fed such a wonderful meal!  Claire had so much fun playing outside with the girls and even fell into some chicken poop somehow.  But even that couldn't ruin my perfect day.

I finished off the day spending time with my dad's side of the family as we celebrated Mother's Day with all the mother's on his side of the family (where Claire stepped into horse poop over there!!).

Overall, my Mother's day was almost perfect!

Now, if I could just have my son here in my arms, life would be perfect :-)

And one more makes four :-)

So, as of Wednesday January 10th at 10:05 a.m., we found out that the newest addition to our family is a boy!!  I cannot even put in words how happy I was at that moment.  I have always wanted to be a mom, but even more, I've always wanted to give my wonderful husband a son.  Someone he could sword fight, play G.I. Joe's, and share his love for guns with.  I was at peace either way as I know either gender would be a blessing from God, but man was I thrilled to see that God wanted to bless us with a little boy!!

Shortly after we got home from our appointment, Dietrich took a trip to Wal-Mart and got our son (oh I just love the sound of that!) his first G.I. Joe toy (Snake Eyes).  It made me so happy to see him so excited about getting a son.  I am looking forward to Claire being a big sister to her little brother since I loved being a big sister to my little brother's.  Also, so many of my friends have little boys (Colette and Stephan have TWO!!) so I'm looking forward to all the play dates we will have in the future :-)  God has been so good to us and it's at times like these that I wonder how people could not believe in our amazing heavenly Father.  Everything I have ever been given in my life has reflected God in so many obvious ways.  I am so looking forward to this next chapter in my life and am excited to see what the Lord has in store for our family!!  

One more thing, isn't his profile so beautiful already??

And now, the anticipation for the day of his birth begins :-)