Ever since I've connected with most of my friends on FaceBook I have been blogging less and less. I have an instant connection to most of my friends on a daily basis now. I can zip a message over to Heather (who adopted Leila the first Chinese baby I ever gave my heart to). I can read about my friend Roxanne in Texas and her family. I can keep up with my friend Michele who lives right down the road. My friends Carol (California), Stephanie (Kentucky) and Holly (Colorado) were in China with us in 2005. Leslea and Chris (New York) were with us in 2007 during our trip to bring Bailey home. It is wonderful to see the people I spent so much time with as we were growing up....Dougie, Beth, Jody, George, Darlene, Terri, Orson, Janie, Iris, Kelly, Melody.....a huge list! I get to see their children and what they are doing in their lives. My friends Dawn, Tonni, Melissa, Melissa, Rachelle, Shelli and Karen waited along with us for news that we could all travel to China in 2005. Our world is definitely a smaller place thanks to FaceBook.
However, I do plan to blog more often now that our lives are changing. Most of our friends have never known what a struggle we have had with Bailey ever since we brought her home. She has had meltdowns, rages, tantrums almost every day that we have known her. These are the kind of rages that make you concerned about her hurting herself or one of us. She is very, very strong. We have tried many techniques, read dozens of articles and books. We were told she might have RAD, or she was bipolar. We've talked to doctors, participated in lectures and prayed that God would show us what is causing this fury in this tiny little person. I believe we have found the source of the problem.
Food dyes, additives and preservatives. I read about the
Feingold Program and how it has helped children live better lives. Many of the stories I read about these children sounded exactly like Bailey. We decided to give the program a try. It couldn't hurt her since it was just removing things from her diet. I am not kidding.....within 48 hours we were beginning to see a difference in her. A week brought about HUGE changes in her. We wondered if it was the diet or something else that had changed her. Last weekend Marty and I went to Myrtle Beach and the children stayed at my MIL's. We took Bailey's food but my MIL must not have understood how important this was. She pretty much allowed her to eat whatever she wanted. Sunday was a so-so day but yesterday......72 hours after consuming Frosted Flakes, pecan spins, tea, aspartame, Chinese take-out and other unknown culinary delights our girl hit the wall again. She had a major crying fit and meltdown. It didn't last long but it was ugly and it reminded me how important it is to monitor her food at all times to protect her from these horrible feelings. The Feingold program is not difficult to follow at all. I enjoy cooking so it's been great having new recipes to try. So far, I think Bailey's favorite new recipe has been the Sloppy Joes.
To all of our friends we have neglected, I do apologize. We have done our best to keep Bailey's meltdowns confined to our home. We have missed birthday parties and play dates because of it. We have been living in a very small world. I hope that all of you will understand and know that we love you. We are excited to watch Bailey laugh and giggle and enjoy life with much more joy than she has ever known. We are looking forward to the future with our sweet baby girl and hope to see each of you very soon.
