Things are great, WO is healthy, happy, he has all of his fingers and toes, life is good. However, last week I took him for some allergy testing. Since he’s been eating solids there has always been something in the back of my mind that nagged a little bit. He’s always been a great eater but little things like skin rashes or a super stuffy nose or the odd little out burst while eating would make me wonder. He was a gassy baby but since I put him on milk a few weeks ago he’s been really gassy. There’s nothing like giving your WO his bedtime bottle and having him lean to one side to let one fly (awww, just like his Daddy - ha!) He’s not in any great discomfort so it’s ok to giggle.
So, I took him to a Naturopath where she performed the Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA) on him. This process involves "measuring electrical conductivity at responsive points on the skin (hands and feet). These measurements are recorded to help provide a profile of a patient’s present condition." Overall, this system “provides a completely non-invasive [(no needles!)] method for gaining information about the body’s vital functions. The primary objective of this procedure is to disclose patterns of stress and to provide feedback for use in a program to help restore each system and meridian to an appropriate balance.” Ahhh, the magic word balance.
I was hoping this test would offer some guidance to any potential allergies or sensitivities... and it did. Not only did it tell us WO has a bacteria imbalance but it also revealed stress in his small intestine in 2 places, AND that he does in fact have some food sensitivities. Hmmm, looks like my Mother’s Intuition was spot on (I’ll pat myself on the back for that one, thank you).
The next step was using the MSA to divulge exactly which foods WO is sensitive to. Turns out WO has a sensitivity to gluten (ARGH, damn you gluten!) among a handful of other foods. It should not be a huge surprise to us as we have recently just discovered DH also has a gluten sensitivity at which degree we are not sure of. As well, WO Aunt has Celiac – a much more complicated form of gluten intolerance which I am not educated enough to explain properly, so I will leave that up to you to look in to if you wish.
Bread, Pasta, Various Grains, Soy Sauce, A-Million-Different-Things-With-Gluten-In-Disguise.... Straight-up Birthday Cake is now off limits (technically) for our little guy... sigh...
So here we are, here I am. We are going to investigate a little further (ie. second opinion) to see what degree WO is sensitive. We don’t want to react without being informed first. But I’m getting ready to try on my new chef hat, in the name of love and good, glorious food and health.
