The guessing game

It's basically a roll of the dice whenever Buttercup gets sick: Is it the flu or is she having a reaction from possible gluten ingestion?

This weekend would be a prime example. She was fine on Thursday and all day Friday. Then at midnight, she woke up and threw up the entire night, and her diapers weren't any prettier. It lasted all through Saturday, and finally here in the wee hours of Monday night, she is now just dealing with the remnants of the nasty diapers.

When I called The Celiac Dad to share with him the news of his little one's sickly state (he's out of town on business) his first reaction was: "Sounds like a gluten-reaction."

And yes, I had considered this, too. But after exhausting all possibilities on how she might have inadvertently been given any gluten-containing products, I had already come up dry. My mother made her mac and cheese with clean dishes and used the butter marked "G-Free" that they keep in a plastic bag in their fridge. All of her snacks I provided myself. And when she was in the same room as her 3-yr old cousin who liked to try to feed her, we took turns blinking. I swear to God.

I can understand how Celiac Dad might jump to "It's the Evil Gluten!" whenever his little baby gets sick. I probably would, too, if I was dealing with it first-hand, myself. I already know that I am more aware than those not dealing with this, more paranoid, and more worried in general about little things like goldfish crackers or cheese-its at birthday parties that most parents don't even think twice about.

But being paranoid doesn't turn a frantic run to a 24-hour Rite-aid for some Pedialyte into a Celiac reaction.

Fact is, this little Celiac kid had the flu this weekend. And if there was any doubt in my mind, it all went away when Buttercup passed it on to Mommy.