I love my sweet little Hannah. She is such a joy to have around. When I need some one to hold the dust pan, wash or set the table, fold the towels or any other job she can handle, my Hannah is right there ready to help me. I love how she is always ready to smile, laugh and give out a hug.
In between her happy, helpful times though, she is often whiny and complaining. It is like there are two little girls at times. She had been the perfect baby. Hardly cried and was such a pleasure to be around. When she was around 8-9 months old, I noticed that she began to get pretty grumpy and cried a lot. She was teething and was started on table food around that time. I saw that she had a big, round belly, but I thought that lots of little ones have a big belly. So we really didn't think much of it and let her keep growing.
As she has gotten older, her sweet and helpful spirit has blossomed. However, her whining and irritability continued. When I was diagnosed with Celiac disease 1 1/2 years ago, the girls both were tested and it came out negative. I was relieved, but still felt that something wasn't right with Hannah.
Before her 4th birthday, I decided to make her gluten free. I wanted to see if it would make a difference. She was constantly running to the bathroom, having diarrhea, still had a bloated belly, eating a little bit and then saying that she was full. Twenty minutes later, she would cry that she was so hungry. She was irritable and fussy. I just felt that it was worth a try.
She was super excited about it and told everyone that she was gluten free and not a wheat (that is what she calls others who can eat wheat). It went very well and I thought that all her symptoms improved a bit. Chris wasn't fully convinced, but he was fully supportive of trying the gluten free approach.
Before Christmas, I put her back on a wheat diet with no restrictions.
She loved eating wheat again and enjoyed all the cake and cookies she could get her hands on. However, over the past weeks since then she has been not feeling well. In addition to the other symptoms I mentioned above, she is crying 20 to 30 times a day about her tummy hurting her. She wakes in the night crying about her tummy. Last night as I held her while she cried, I could hear her little tummy talking and grumbling loudly. Her head is hurting often as well. So I finally put a call in to the doctor. I don't know exactly what is wrong, but I know something is not right.
So our pediatrician said that he was concerned about her big, bloated belly. He wants to do a pretty thorough work up and see if we can figure out what is wrong. This Friday we will take her in for extensive blood work (20 mls of blood and a whole lot of tests). We are looking at a milk allergy and a wheat allergy, but more specific tests than were done earlier. Possibly a food allergy panel as well. He will look to see if she is processing fat or protein as well. Please be in prayer that the tests will be conclusive. If the tests show a wheat allergy, she will also have a biopsy.
I pray that if something is wrong we will find it now.
Then she can have a healthy and good life that is not filled with pain.
I struggled with my allergies since I was a young girl. All the symptoms that she has, I had for years. We knew something wasn't right, but we didn't know what. I spent over 20 years dealing with tummy pain, headaches, fatigue, debilitating migraines, skin rashes, and a ton of other symptoms. I was told that I was making it up. I was told that it was just stress. I was told that I was supposed to feel that way. Once I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and an allergy to peanuts, my life changed. I am healthy and feel good for the first time in my life.
I so want Hannah to not have to go through life thinking that she has to live with the daily discomfort of something wrong with her body.
Please pray for the blood tests to go well. Having her temperature taken at the doctors office is a huge deal for her. She does not deal well with strangers in her personal space, until she has decided that she likes them. It took three of us to hold her down for the previous blood test. Pray that they draw every test that is necessary and she will only be stuck once.
After the tests, she will be put back on a gluten free diet as well as being taken off milk (not lactose-just regular milk). She is really upset about that now. She understands what that will mean for her and she cried all the way home from the doctors. Please pray we can find something similar to chocolate milk that she will like. That is what she will miss the most.
I would love to have my happy, loving little girl back and just be able to enjoy life with her.
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