Kyle is now 18 months old, and we are in a whole new world with him lately.
Sometimes I think to myself, did I make it all up? Was he really THAT sick? But, luckily, I have this blog to remind me.
However, I don't know how much I'll be blogging these days about FPIES anyway. Our lives have changed a lot with Kyle.
He drinks milk, and can eat soy. Those two things alone have opened up a lot of doors.
We started trialing chicken this week at home, and no reactions whatsoever.
In fact, we don't really "trial" anymore. My husband and I came to a decision a few weeks ago that we were going to go ahead with pretty much every food but rice and oats. However, we had a slip up the other day where he accidentally ate some oats, and again...nothing. So I'm wondering if he is already outgrowing FPIES. I hope so. However, we will do an "official" trial of those two foods...rice and oats when the time comes (18 months after his last reaction, which was when he was 9 months old). He did only have one bite of the oatmeal, yet I went semi crazy for a few moments. I started crying, imagining the worst, and when nothing happened, I thought, "did I make this whole thing up?"
But, I know I didn't. I remember. It used to be so hard. I cried often. Almost daily some days. From the lack of sleep, from the constant vomiting, from the worry of not knowing what the heck was going on, and why my baby couldn't even swallow the simplest food.
But, there is hope for all you Moms out there that are in the thick of it. Lots of hope. I have nieces who will never outgrow their food allergies, and most of our kids will. That's amazing. And, in just a few months, you may look back like me, and think, did that all really happen?
I know though that there are more severe cases than ours. We had a pretty mild case it seems. But, it's difficult no matter what. When you want to feed your baby. You want to do the simplest thing....feed. your. baby. And it is the biggest obstacle.
Kyle jumped on the charts at his last well visit. He is growing fast now that he can eat more foods. He seems to be a whole new kid. So, no matter what stage you're in. It will get easier. That is one thing that we have to hold onto as Moms of FPIES kids.
I would love to answer questions from any of you readers...please email me. Luckily, I won't be blogging as often anymore. And, as much as I've enjoyed it, I'm grateful for that.
Thanks so much for this Meredith! I am in tears....I do dream of this day. My little man is 14mo. old., we are almost "half way" through the average age for completly outgrowing FPIES. I also, keep my eye on the fact that it is primarily outgrown.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your little guy is doing so well!!
Meredith,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this uplifting post! I am at the "crying daily" part and really need to see this. O is 15 months old and things seem to be getting worse for us not better but thanks to all of Joy's helpful research I have a new approach once we get back to a baseline!
wow. This is inspiration. I am right in the middle of the 'what is this she will out grow it crap'. It feels like forever, and outgrowing it is so not scientific or an answer. Hope is what I needed. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your progress. We've worked down from FPIES to about 15 foods to around 5. Even getting past them is a little nerve racking because I am concerned about too much too fast. Even after he grows out of it, I think it'll still be something I'm concerned about for a while longer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking to my blog, I've linked back to your site.
Have a great day!
Dayce
Hi Meredith, just wanted to check back in with you as I stumbled upon an old post from you on babycenter. Thanks for all of your advice back then by the way! Things have much improved with us in the last 4 months so I am hoping we continue down a good path :-)
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