All the Evidence I Need

I was beginning to question some things lately. In the back of my mind, I was wondering if we would have still seen all the positive changes in Buzzy even if we hadn't started him on the GFCF diet. I was starting to wonder if it was really that big of a deal.

Would we have seen the same changes anyway - with all of the supplements we were giving him? Was the diet really worth all the deprivation and trouble?

After Monday, I can definitely say that the diet is what is making the most difference. Unequivocally.

Monday night my middle daughter had a pizza party in town to celebrate the end of the traveling basketball season (yay for her parents, too!). My husband and I discussed keeping the babies at home with one of us, obviously. I didn't want to do that. I was hoping the pizza place in town might prove to be like Monical's and have apple slices the kids could eat, or a salad bar or something else. Anything else.

That was a tactical error. Oops. They had soda. And pizza. I tried in the beginning to pick off the pepperoni and just give the meat to Buzzy. But, despite the fact he had eaten a few hours before, he was hungry for the gluten and dairy fest. I wondered how bad it could be, and we let him have 2-3 slices. They were rather small pieces, maybe half the size of an iPhone. He had 4 pieces at the most. The baby got in on the action, too. She had a few bites, perhaps half a piece.

That night Buzzy was a little more fidgety when I was reading him his bedtime stories. The baby was terrible. She squirmed all night and didn't sleep in her crib at all. She kept getting up to nurse. By that time, I was chugging water in hopes it would flush all the pizza I had out of my system. My husband spent a large part of the night with the baby in the recliner. She finally settled down in the bed at 5:00 am. Buzzy woke a few times at night - crying out. He sounded like he was having nightmares.

Then, Tuesday. Buzzy had DV and OT therapies. The baby was very clingy and whiny. I watched Buzzy and he was toe-walking. Which was something I hadn't seen him do in a while. And I didn't even realize he'd stopped, until I saw him doing it again. He looked tired and like he had allergic shiners under his eyes. At times, I noticed his gaze was glassy and vacant. He was much quieter for his DV therapy and definitely less focused.

For OT, he was the opposite. He still was staring off into space, but he was jumping all over the place and was very high energy.

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. And neither of the little ones pooped until today. Which is unusual for the baby, for sure. And it's definitely rare for Buzzy.

Fortunately, we are back on track and Buzzy has been doing better again. In fact, tonight he walked up the stairs and tried to open our bedroom door and said, "Mama!" He knew I was in there (taking my shower) and he was looking for me.

On Monday, he proclaimed he was "all done" with eating. And then said "up" so I helped him climb into my lap. And he proceeded to eat the rice on my plate. And when it was gone, he took my plate and stood in front of the fridge and said, "more rice". If that isn't functional communication, I don't know what is. Of course, I promptly gave him more rice. And more after that.

He is developing some obsessive speech, though. Many times a day we go through the "broke light", "what did it?", "vacuum", "did Buzzy do it?" routine. And "baby cry" is another fixation of his. Never mind that 9 times out of 10, he's the reason the baby is crying (tries to carry her places, takes her pacifier, pokes her accidentally in the face, etc).

I am still waiting to hear about ABA. I called them today and they promised me someone would call me back. So far no calls.

We did receive our packet in the mail for the service dog. It was kind of overwhelming to read about the fundraising. I have about zero experience with fundraising and my husband isn't enthusiastic at all about asking people for money. To be honest, I am not either. But, it's very expensive. It would take us a long time to save up the money. And once we have enough, the wait time is about a year before the dog is placed. We, ourselves, are going to put as much as we can into it, as often as we can. But, we are also going to ask for help. I have a few ideas on how, but it is extremely hard to ask from others. And I don't like it, and I definitely don't want to do it.

But, then I think of Buzzy and I find my resolve. I think it's important enough, and I will fight for him, for this.