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.