When I was pregnant (for that brief time) I was feeling so sure about the pregnancy that I started doing so research into local midwives for my next birth.  I emailed a midwife in the area and asked her about 5 big questions about midwifery care and how it differs from an OB.  About a week and a half later I got a wonderful and very helpful email answering all of my questions.  After reading all of her responses I was heartbroken.  She was exactly what I wanted from a health care provider and now I had no reason to meet her.


I replied to her email thanking her profusely for taking up so much of her personal time to answer my questions and that while I am 100% confident that I want a midwife for my next pregnancy, I was no longer pregnant.  I explained that it was my 7th loss and asked her if she knew of any other herbs or supplements (other than Welcome Womb) that might be of benefit to me.  Then, I offered to make an appointment with her so that I could ask her more questions if she would prefer.  I figured she would probably want compensated for her time, right?  Turns out, she was more than happy to continue corresponding with me via email again confirming that she was who I wanted to have next to me when I am blessed again. 

We exchanged several more emails over the last few weeks where she would ask me a few questions about my history and then chat with her other midwife friends.  She would report back to me what her and their advice was. 

After about 5 or 6 emails, her most recent one might be a real game changer.  She suggested that I look into Celiac Disease and see if that might be the issue.  After a quick google search, I am pretty sure that this could very well be an issue.  Without going into way too much information, I have had digestive issues almost daily since college.  When I say digestive issues, I mean, issues that require I find a private bathroom within minutes.  At one time my doctor put me on a medication for irritable bowel but when it didn't change things I stopped taking it and just decided that this is how my life was going to be.  Believe it or not, after racing to the bathroom 4-5 times a week for more than 10 years, it was my normal. 

So after a quick search about Celiac and miscarriages, I learned that there seems to be a correlation between women with recurrent losses with Celiac Disease.  Then I found this study where women who had recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease were found to have an even higher predisposition to recurrent miscarriages when they also had PAI-1 (a gene mutation that I have).  My jaw dropped and I thought to myself, maybe this is it.  Maybe this is my answer.  I would love nothing more than to finally have an answer to all of my losses.  I would love to be able to go to Dr. M and show him that to stop looking for answers is not just depressing for a patient, it is irresponsible.  I hope I get to say that. 

Snap, Crackle, and Pop look so happy.  Gluten Free must be awesome!

So starting tomorrow, I am saying a hearty goodbye to Gluten.  This is going to be a tough change for this pasta-loving Italian girl.  But, if I am not running to a bathroom almost every single day at least once AND I get to be pregnant and stay that way, it will be worth every tasty baked good in the world.  Plus, I might actually lose some weight which is a plus!

If you have any information, input, or resources, I would love to hear from you!  I have a lot to learn!

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