5.03.2012

Calling all Gluten Free Folks and More

So my sister found out her little girl has Celiac's.  She was due 1 week apart from Charlie and is one month older to the day so 3 1/2 yo.  The girl has never had a solid poop in her life, poor thing.  She is also lactose intolerant and just putting her on lactaid has helped incredibly with the bowel movements.  Since my sister is new to the world of GF and her daughter is in the most severe category (they told my sis not to kiss her with lipstick on unless is was GF lipstick!), AND she likely will get the same dx for her 5 year old, AND since these are 2 of her 4 children (including an infant), she needs your help!  Any and all recipes or items for purchase that are worth making/buying.  Please help!  This GF world is overflowing with items, and we need to know what is worth purchasing/making.  I shudder to think that this is linked to IF and my sweet niece might go through this...:(

As far as an update on us, the hcg shots are going well.  I have terrible bruises, but they don't hurt at all.  It is CD 12 and I still have one.  Maybe it will be gone in time to start again?  lol.  I really don't care.  What I do care about, because it was a little painful, was pregnancy gingivitus I got as a side effect-without the pregnancy!  My gums swelled and were painful.  I worried I had an infection but it healed and switched spots.  This went on for two weeks before I got a prescription mouthwash.  This is much better now, but I am wondering about when the script runs out and I continue to take hcg.  Technically there isn't any left in my system, so I doubt I would have the problem right now.  Just strange.

In terms of the SFA, I won't say much except we chose not to do it.  The whole process was complicated and awkward, with timing it with kids, work, driving 25 min to give the sample, also timing it when I wasn't fertile since we still have to avoid and timing it when I wasn't about to start my period.  Just too much to think about.  We didn't even have reason to think this this was an issue.  I guess we will deal with it if/when we don't get pregnant. 

This is my first cycle on Clomid.  Things are going well.  It will be my second cycle on hcg.  It did lengthen my post peak phase and my hormone levels looked great, so it should be doing the trick.  If this cycle goes well, we will likely move on to trying.  I was able to confirm we will get our oral abx on CD 1-10 when actively trying and get another IV upon postive hpt (actually we do quant hcg, they are mailing the order if I get to peak plus 17, that always worked for me in the past-I don't poas to avoid drama).  Doc said I should/could go ahead and ttc and just cancel surgery if I get pregnant.  I am still not 100% about this.  We may wait.  Need to have a convo with the hubs :)  But we are prepared med wise to move forward with ttc next month. 

That being said I have really mixed feelings re ttc.  I know this sounds awful, but I am going to say it anyway.  We have been blessed with two biological children.  I am so grateful.  I still want more, as big of a family as we are able, but I am conflicted given my love for the beautiful children of Reece's Rainbow, not to mention all the other children up for adoption.  These children are already here.  And they need someone.  Now.  Or more often, past due!  But, dh is not on board yet, though I think his heart will turn toward adoption with time and prayer. And maybe it is in God's plan for us in the future to adopt.  Time will tell :) 

Prayer request-my dad's back surgery has been postponed until Oct, at the earliest.  So he is still miserable with a broken back, alternating between days on end in bed sleeping and then getting up, feeling behind, overdoing things and making my mom quite frustrated.  I understand both of them- the things he lifts with a broken back....  Sigh.  Also, I have recently been aware of a local child in my church born with trisomy 18.  Please pray for her, Ella Rose, and her family.

Continuing to pray for each of you!  And please don't forget to send the GF info if you have it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

J-
I have Celiac too. Just recently diagnosed. Be grateful that your niece has found out now, before years of health issues and infertility. As long as she manages the diet, she will do just fine! You might also suggest to your sister to look into the G.APS diet or Pa.leo for healing the gut. I read the book on Celiac from Elizabeth H.asselbeck. It is really good for breaking it all down. Here are my favorite go-to websites.
To look anything up to see if it is gluten free:
www.celiac.com/gluten-free/
The best bread you can eat, and it is the cheapest! It is fantastic: maninisglutenfreeblog.com/
Great resource for super recipes:
http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/

She can e-mail me with any questions rmcharpentier at yahoo dot com. -Renee

Kaitlin @ More Like Mary said...

A friend just asked me for some gluten free info-I'll just cc you the email I'm going to send her!

Sew said...

http://paleoparents.com/

Anonymous hit the nail on the head about the GAPS diet. Its very overwhelming. :) But healing the gut is what I would start with.....Paleo parents is an awesome introduction. I actually recommend their cookbook! It is the ONLY paleo cookbook I have but I think it's a great introduction and it's called how to eat like a dinosaur. :) So fun! :) Especially for kids...

Know that all Paleo recipes are going to be gluten free, grain free and for the most part dairy free.

Most of the recipes call for almond flour and this would be the BEST almond flour (and cheapest) to buy.

I think the easiest thing to do is not try to replace everything you eat with wheat with GF stuff, you will go broke. :)

With that being said, UDI's is the closest thing to the "real" thing I have been able to find. At $5 a loaf I promise, you no longer count on sandwiches as a go to meal! :)

I'm so sorry for her diagnosis. I don't have to be THAT strict, so I can deal with some cross contamination. But that is serious....

Biokult is a very good and strong OTC probiotic. I would get that in her ASAP because her gut is damaged from the wheat.....

polkadot said...

A friend of mine told me that decades ago (maybe longer), they used to recommend the GAPS diet to Celiac patients in order to CURE them. After some study came out saying going GF was sufficient, everyone started recommending GF because that was way easier than GAPS. If your sister is up for GAPS, that would be best for her kids. As an aside, my friend used GAPS to heal her son of major food allergies which used to cause trips to the ER.

For GF ideas, I like Udi bread best. Their hamburger buns are delicious. Enjoy Life makes good cookies and treats.

For quick substitutions, Bob's Red Mill all-purpose GF flour is good taste-wise, but expensive. It's cheaper to buy the individual flours, but learning the right proportions of them takes practice if the recipe doesn't spell it out. Xanthan gum added to anything involving GF flour makes the food fluffier and is necessary in my opinion if you bake GF (with the exception of almond flour). Almond flour makes very tasty things. :)

You can get cheap rice flour and rice noodles from Asian grocery stores.

I agree with Sew...it will probably be easier and cheaper in the long run to shift her family's diet away from simply substituting a GF counterpart for the gluten-containing one to foods everyone can have...