Health Update

I thought it would be sensible to use some of my time on the train home from work (around once a fortnight) to write my blog posts – gives me a chance to get things down in writing and means all I have to do at home is to post them up.

So, here is an update on Michael's health issues. He's 20 months old now, the same age Hamish was when Michael was born. It's a bit of a spin out! Although much of the last 20 months has been very hard work for everyone in the family, it is becoming easier to enjoy the good bits and ride out the bad.

So – we eventually discovered that Michael reacts to glutamates, a natural chemical found in a variety of foods. Although he doesn't do too well on lots of gluten, it was the glutamates causing the real problems. It took six months to sort out, by a process of trial and error and elimination.

Now that we know what to avoid, life is much easier. He doesn't wake constantly at night, unable to get comfortable. He doesn't get constipated. He has a healthy appetite. He settles easily to sleep and is no longer woken by the slightest noise.

He is still waking regularly at night, because he hasn't had much practise at sleeping alone. By regularly, I mean every 2 – 4 hours. His first long stretch of an evening recently went from 3 to 4 hours, which to me, is the most exciting thing to happen in a long while! I'm confident he will continue to gradually improve, and my sleep is already becoming less and less affected.

When I think back now to how life was before we sorted out the food intolerance issue, I want to cry. I have a strong sense of frustration and almost desperation when I remember how hard it was. Particularly trying to get him to develop good sleep habits – I now know I had no chance given the sort of diet we used to eat, but at the time I tried and tried and tried to get him to self settle, without putting him through controlled crying. (Incidentally, I'm now very glad I didn't push that as all it would have done was cause us both great distress, and not fix anything.) It felt like a problem I couldn't solve, but had to – because the impact on everyone in the family was quite negative. It was a hard road to walk, just exhausting and unrelenting. And if not for a chance comment by our doctor, we might not have figured it out even now.

These days, I am often still worn out but I can see signs that it is getting better and I'm trying to build up my own health after so long of pushing myself. I'm taking a raft of vitamin supplements and am cutting back on breastfeeding – not weaning completely but limiting the number of times I feed Michael during the day.

I have to do more cooking than before – I make healthy, gluten free pancakes for breakfast most mornings, and I usually have to cook something for lunch – can't do sandwiches for Michael as gluten free bread is expensive and doesn't taste all that great. We rarely have takeaway. We can't have meals that have tomato or sauces in them (eg soy sauce is a big no-no, as is gravy). It's all manageable, although more labour intensive than before. Totally worth it for a healthy kid though!

And as for the little guy himself – he is a happy kid, most of the time! He has plenty of energy and loves exploring his world and having a laugh. He eats with great gusto and loves getting our attention at the dinner table. He often laughs as he eats his dinner, because he's done something to make Adam and I look at him. He is sometimes clingy (seemed to be very clingy all winter!) but more often than not, a snack will satisfy him and he's happy to potter around the house. He knows how to get what he wants though – he screeches! He is very demanding (as all toddlers are), and it's up to us to set limits around him as he tests out his growing independence.

Overall, life is much more enjoyable now and I'm relieved to be able to move forward. I still don't think I'm recovered from the experience but we're on the right track.