I guess I should start with a little background of how we arrived at this point. Ever since Mark was an infant he constantly had eczema patches on his legs and thick patches on his head. I pointed them out to the pediatrician and was reassured that he would outgrow it and not to worry. So we loaded him up with Aquaphor and gave him oatmeal baths and waited for him to outgrow it. Around two years old he started waking up during the night. He would cry and cry at his door and eventually sleep on the floor up against the door. We thought that it was (again) another phase he would outgrow. I tried everything I could think of. He had an incentive chart, earned small prizes for sleeping in bed and other rewards. We took him back to the doctor and tried to figure out why he wasn't sleeping. We were sent to the ENT who sent us for a sleep study. The only result of the sleep study was that he snored and his tonsils were a little larger than they should be. SO this past July his tonsils and adenoids came out. Thankfully he came through it like a champ and didn't even have a day down. We had such high hopes for things looking up after this surgery. His weight has always been so low and the dark circles under his eyes on some days are unnerving. Needless to say the surgery did nothing....well he doesn't snore anymore. We got him a big boy bed which helped him to actually stay in bed so he doesn't sleep on the floor anymore. The eczema is awful and getting worse and worse...he itches so badly during the night he breaks the skin. He doesn't sleep through the night and when he does he doesn't sleep well...his behavior during the day is so tough to take because he's so tired....he is too rough with Audrey and Aiden and I worry for his relationships with them as they get older. The past week Shawn and I have been talking and googling and have come across a lot about gluten free allergies. It all seems to fit. I could be wrong....but it's worth a shot. We have an appt with an allergist Sept 27th so I've decided over the next month to try this and give it our best shot. I hate watching my guy suffer when there is such a smart, caring little boy inside. I need to help him find his way out. So I'm going to document our journey until we figure this out. I'll post what he eats during the day, his sleep habits and changes in behavior.
Day One:
Food: For breakfast he had turkey sausages, a cheese stick and a gluten free waffle. He seemed happy with breakfast and ate it all up. Usually he doesn't finish all of his breakfast so I was happy to see that he was full. At lunch he had a turkey burger, green beans and a cheese stick. Once again he ate a ton. He was happy and I didn't have to argue with him to eat his meal. After he took a nap he had a few gluten free chocolate chips cookies that I had found at Meijer (which has a fantastic gluten free section by the way) and carrot sticks while the twins had teddy grahams. For dinner we had fish tacos, rice and guacamole and tortilla chips. I bought gluten free tortillas...honestly I wasn't the biggest fan of them but I think they will grow on me. He ate a good amount of dinner and was somewhat better behaved at the table.
Behavior: His behavior was challenging today (like usual). When he's on his own playing he's very sweet but playing with the twins he's rough and unkind to them at times. He found himself in quite a few times outs today and there were lots of tears. I'm praying this improves as the days go on for all of our sakes.
Sleep Habits: Well since this is the first entry I can't talk much about sleep. I will say last night he was up at 12. His routine is usually him getting up around 12 or around 3 to go to the bathroom. He wakes up crying loudly and stands in the hallway. We've talked to him countless time about going to the bathroom and getting back into bed...but he doesn't. He napped well today. Im hoping tonight is uneventful.
