Good news to report! I think peaches are a pass! Very exciting stuff around here. An uneventful food trial makes Mama very happy... and more importantly makes Livvy happy! We have now gone about the longest stretch in her life without a reaction (of one level or another) to something. And the bonus??? She's been SLEEPING. Like- sleep through the night sleeping!
*****HALLELUJAH ***** can you hear the chorus singing it now??? because I sure can!
If we react to something, this all will stop of course, but for this moment in time she is doing so amazingly well! Its because she feels so good. She's such a happy and content kid when she's feeling well.
Speaking of happy kids, we have taken L out for some fun this weekend and I am very excited to report that she got to spend it eating fun stuff just like all the other kids around us! Her dairy intolerance was still with us until the end of the summer last year so this is the first summer in her little life that she's been 'free' to eat fun stuff; avoiding peanuts like the plague of course. We went to the beach the other day and I noticed an ice cream truck hanging out by the bath houses. As per normal protocol we walked waaaaaay around the truck so it wasn't noticed by her on the way in. I sneaked back out after an hour or so to talk to turkey with the ice cream dude.
After scaring the bejeezes out of him with the explanation of my kid's peanut allergy he went on to explain that the only things with peanut products in the truck were two pre-packaged treats that were kept in a completely separate freezer from the hand-dipped ice cream flavors (vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream). He also took the time to take all the ice cream tubs out and read the labels aloud AND gave me the box from the cones to look at to make sure there was nothing there either. It was as 'all clear' as one could hope for without making my own ice cream out of milk gathered by hand from a dairy cow in the backyard... which, by the way- I don't have. The cow.. The kids create enough of a barnyard environment as it is!
I happily skipped up the sand with a grin on my face. After a little while, we asked L if she would like to get some ICE CREAM on the way out. Her little face lit up and we recieved an emphatic yes. So we went down and got ice cream. L was all smiles with that single scoop vanilla cone's contents melting down her arms. It seemed like such a small, normal thing to everyone around us. But for us, it was a piece of normalcy that we simply hadn't been able to have before now. A few fleeting thoughts of the last few years spent avoiding ice cream trucks, birthday parties and tears shed over not understanding why she couldn't have a cookie somebody else had, ran through my head. For a moment I felt my eyes well up with happiness for my oldest child who was finally getting to enjoy something so simple as a day at the beach with an ice cream cone.
Then that all got pushed out of my head and we enjoyed the moment. It was great. Really great.
I'm holding out hope that we'll have a moment like that with Livvy some day. We'll take the peaches victory for now, though, and be happy for L's ice cream adventures!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sorry. Can't make it.
If you couldn't tell by my (I think) chatty tone, I'm a fairly talkative and social person by nature. Ok, I've been known to talk so much I make my husband's eyes glaze over and was voted 'most talkative' in my high school senior superlatives. But I digress. I enjoy being around people and having a good time. Even more so, I have enjoyed watching L interact during play dates and now preschool. FPIES is seriously crimping my style, here. Under normal circumstances I would be very active in a play group and be out and about often with the girls seeing friends and exploring the world. Nothing about FPIES seems to make for a normal existence.
I'm really thankful that L is in preschool. Its giving her a much needed dose of socialization, and a short break from my otherwise constant paranoia with her sister. There's just so much we can't do. So many places we can't go, people we can't see. The whole thing is just so unfair for L. We've been having some behavioral problems with her lately. And although I know her age has a lot to do with it, I'm sure having to take a backseat to Livvy's 'issues' also plays a major role.
At this point, Livvy doesn't know any different; that she's not socializing like she would be in another life without FPIES. It definitely makes me a bit sad at times. I so desperately want her to have some regular normalcy. Unfortunately, there are just so many facets of a 'normal' toddler existence that are just way too dangerous for us at this point. Most people have just given up asking if we'd like to get together and let the kids play.
It sounds like such a fun idea... until that moment we actually do it. Its really not all that socially acceptable to be on your hands and knees searching for rogue cheerios and going nuts with clorox wipes on somebody else's toys. There's also the inevitable heart attacks from some other kid's sloshing sippy cup. Then we get home and chances are good we've had some sort of 'exposure' (food-slimed toys, crumb off the floor, etc) and the diarrhea will start. Oh, and more than likely I will have received some interesting comments regarding my children's allergies/intolerances as well. The risk to reward ratio just sort of stinks.
So we stay home. I've given up trying to explain the real reason we can't venture out for play dates. Nobody really 'gets it'. Generally, I come up with some random excuse that might sound 'normal' for not showing to a play date. Maybe some day things will be normal. Maybe. Until then, though, we won't be able to make it...
I'm really thankful that L is in preschool. Its giving her a much needed dose of socialization, and a short break from my otherwise constant paranoia with her sister. There's just so much we can't do. So many places we can't go, people we can't see. The whole thing is just so unfair for L. We've been having some behavioral problems with her lately. And although I know her age has a lot to do with it, I'm sure having to take a backseat to Livvy's 'issues' also plays a major role.
At this point, Livvy doesn't know any different; that she's not socializing like she would be in another life without FPIES. It definitely makes me a bit sad at times. I so desperately want her to have some regular normalcy. Unfortunately, there are just so many facets of a 'normal' toddler existence that are just way too dangerous for us at this point. Most people have just given up asking if we'd like to get together and let the kids play.
It sounds like such a fun idea... until that moment we actually do it. Its really not all that socially acceptable to be on your hands and knees searching for rogue cheerios and going nuts with clorox wipes on somebody else's toys. There's also the inevitable heart attacks from some other kid's sloshing sippy cup. Then we get home and chances are good we've had some sort of 'exposure' (food-slimed toys, crumb off the floor, etc) and the diarrhea will start. Oh, and more than likely I will have received some interesting comments regarding my children's allergies/intolerances as well. The risk to reward ratio just sort of stinks.
So we stay home. I've given up trying to explain the real reason we can't venture out for play dates. Nobody really 'gets it'. Generally, I come up with some random excuse that might sound 'normal' for not showing to a play date. Maybe some day things will be normal. Maybe. Until then, though, we won't be able to make it...
Monday, May 7, 2012
Upswing with Maple Syrup!
Sometimes when I am out in a store, I have a moment where I'm very glad I live in an area big enough that there's a good chance I'll not be seeing anybody that I know. Reason being... I must look like a deranged animal on the hunt. If there's something in particular I'm trying to find, I've been known to whirl around town tasmanian-devil-style hopping from store to store until I've secured the goods. My most recent target was a waffle stick maker. I had seen it, and considered it-looked like so much fun, then put it down. We didn't have enough safe ingredients yet (or so I thought). BUT as I was googling around the web I found an egg-free waffle recipe that I could tweak and we could trial buckwheat flour! Buckwheat, just as a side note, isn't actually wheat at all. Its not even a grain. Its technically in the fruit family... related to rhubarb from what I've read. I don't know, I'm no food expert (give me a few more months with FPIES and I might reconsider my expertise) but not actually a grain is good enough for me. So anyway, after seeing the recipe I ran out of the house like a crazy person toting my whining children happily strolled out of the house with my perfect children and went to buy the waffle maker I just had to have. I had visions of a chunky little fingers holding a yummy waffle dripping in maple syrup!
I'll spare myself the embarrassment of how many stores I went to, but I'll just let you know that in the end I got my maker! Its possible that I frightened small children in the process with the wild look in my eye as I stalked the isles searching... but I suppose they will recover from the fear ;)
After whipping up the first batch, L decided that she needed some waffles. Her diet has been pretty 'normal' so I wasn't sure how these particular waffles would go over with her. Much to my surprise, she actually liked them. Huh. I cautiously picked up a stick and swirled it in some maple syrup and they were actually pretty darn tasty! Score 1 for the FPIES mommy! The true test, though, was seeing if Liv would actually eat any. The first attempt went so-so. She wasn't throwing it on the floor at the first taste, but not exactly scarfing them down either. This wasn't a shocker. Liv's eating has been more like recreation for her. After eating several things that have made her sick, I believe she has had a bit of a distrust with food. Because of this, she hasn't really been able to associate eating with feeling satisfied. If Liv has been hungry, she has wanted nothing to do with solid food and only would scream until she had a bottle.
The next day we tried the waffle sticks again. Livvy actually ate several whole bites! This was very encouraging. Over the next two weeks she would nibble more and more at each sitting. She had them warmed with syrup and also enjoyed chomping on a frozen one since she's teething. Then a few days ago, an amazing thing happened. She ate. She actually ate almost an entire stick! And that afternoon, she ate almost an entire potato! The day after that... entire waffle stick, most of a potato and half a pear! This is just so exciting. She's really eating! Happily! Seemingly trusting food enough to eat more age-appropriate portions. I'm officially calling buckwheat a pass, and we are moving along to something else.
There is a pit in my stomach about trialing a food that could possibly give her a reaction and have her revert back to not wanting to eat. I have to try more foods, though, so onward we march. Wish us luck!
I'll spare myself the embarrassment of how many stores I went to, but I'll just let you know that in the end I got my maker! Its possible that I frightened small children in the process with the wild look in my eye as I stalked the isles searching... but I suppose they will recover from the fear ;)
After whipping up the first batch, L decided that she needed some waffles. Her diet has been pretty 'normal' so I wasn't sure how these particular waffles would go over with her. Much to my surprise, she actually liked them. Huh. I cautiously picked up a stick and swirled it in some maple syrup and they were actually pretty darn tasty! Score 1 for the FPIES mommy! The true test, though, was seeing if Liv would actually eat any. The first attempt went so-so. She wasn't throwing it on the floor at the first taste, but not exactly scarfing them down either. This wasn't a shocker. Liv's eating has been more like recreation for her. After eating several things that have made her sick, I believe she has had a bit of a distrust with food. Because of this, she hasn't really been able to associate eating with feeling satisfied. If Liv has been hungry, she has wanted nothing to do with solid food and only would scream until she had a bottle.
The next day we tried the waffle sticks again. Livvy actually ate several whole bites! This was very encouraging. Over the next two weeks she would nibble more and more at each sitting. She had them warmed with syrup and also enjoyed chomping on a frozen one since she's teething. Then a few days ago, an amazing thing happened. She ate. She actually ate almost an entire stick! And that afternoon, she ate almost an entire potato! The day after that... entire waffle stick, most of a potato and half a pear! This is just so exciting. She's really eating! Happily! Seemingly trusting food enough to eat more age-appropriate portions. I'm officially calling buckwheat a pass, and we are moving along to something else.
There is a pit in my stomach about trialing a food that could possibly give her a reaction and have her revert back to not wanting to eat. I have to try more foods, though, so onward we march. Wish us luck!
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