So yesterday I had a new experience!  I thought I'd try out a new baby food on Korina so I chose apricots.  Not too long later, she had broken out in hives!  There were red patches all over the back of her neck and some on her legs.  Previously to this, neither of my kids had ever had a systemic reaction to any food.  I thought all we were dealing with was intolerances.

Now that I have seen the whole hives breakout, it makes me a little more cautious of what to feed her next.  Since apricots are related to tree nuts and other pitted fruits, I feel like I have to be extra careful with her.  It also explains why whenever I ate almond butter months ago, she reacted to it.  I am also wondering if we are now more in the realm of food allergies than intolerances.

I don't know much about food allergies other than just pure experience.  I haven't done as much research as many other moms have about food allergies or intolerances and I have been mostly going on a trial and error basis.  Sometimes I worry that the more research I do, the more complicated things will become and the more confused I will be.  So for now, I am just going to keep moving slowly with solids. So far, I know that she does okay with sweet potatoes, pears, and blueberries.  She does not do well with prunes or rice.  Everything else is kind of up in the air.

I am currently off of milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, corn (I have only eliminated corn, corn starch, corn syrup, and caramel color), and seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin).

So about three weeks ago, I started a raw milk trial for both myself (and 9 month old) and my son.  A friend from a listserve I am on told me about raw milk and directed me where to go to get it.  We drove about 30 minutes to a farm outside of Omaha and got a gallon of this raw milk.  I started with just 4 ounces for each of us on day one.  No throw up...so we went to 8 ounces on day two.  No throw up again.  I had my fingers crossed because Korina should have started reacting if she was going to, I thought.  Back last summer when I tried a soy trial on Ryland it took a full six days of drinking soy milk for him to react, but when he did it was full-force tummy issues.  After a week of no reactions on Ryland I was hopeful.

After about a week and a half, both Ryland and I were drinking about 18 ounces of raw milk each day.  Korina then began to not sleep too well...waking every two hours or so at night and not napping during the day.  It was a fail.  She cannot yet tolerate milk...at least in that large of quantities.  I was very excited that she did so well though!

As far as Ryland goes, about two weeks into the trial, he got a rash on his bottom and hands.  It seemed not to bother him at all and he was otherwise doing fine.  I have trouble thinking outside of the food box, so I was only attributing the rash to the milk.  It could be the dry weather or the fabric softener I used on his underwear accidentally.  Regardless, he gained two pounds last month...which I attribute mostly to the milk.  So far, I am considering this a pass.  As long as he is gaining weight, not vomitting, and has a non-irritating rash, we are going to continue giving him the milk.  I'll keep you posted!

Now that I have experimented some going Wheat-Free, I have learned that a lot of recipes can be made wheat-free with just minor modifications.  Most baking recipes can be made wheat-free by using oat flour or a gluten-free substitute.

How to make Oat Flour:  In a coffee grinder, grind old fashioned oats until the consistency of flour.


Gluten-Free Flour Recipe:

3 cups white rice flour
3 cups tapioca starch
2 cups arrowroot starch
1 cup potato starch
3 Tbsp potato flour (optional)

Stir all ingredients together in large bowl. Store in airtight container. Use for cakes and muffins. Stir or sift before use.  This flour mix can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour in recipes. It works well for things like cakes and cookies. Add a 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum per cup to each recipe.  (From Kids With Food Allergies)

Since Korina is still having sleep issues, I have decided it is time to go Top 8 Free.  I have dreaded giving up wheat since that is a major staple in my diet but have decided it is time!  I am now avoiding milk, soy, egg, peanut, tree nut, wheat, fish, shellfish, and corn.

On that note, you will notice that some food items that call for flour will show up as wheat-free.  That is because I am using a wheat flour substitute.  I have been experimenting with oat flour (traditional oats ground in my coffee grinder) with some success.  Hopefully as I get more used to this wheat-free thing I will have some new options for those of you also avoiding wheat.

Hey loyal readers - I decided I needed a "News" section of the website so that I could keep you in the loop as my diet changes, new diagnoses come about, etc.

Ryland is now 29 months old and is a whopping 21 pounds.  We are in frequent contact with the GI to try to figure out what to do to get his weight up.  Back in July, they had done on upper endoscopy and found some eosinophils.  They put him on Prevacid and Neocate Junior to try to help with the eosinophilic esophagitis.  Recently, we put him on Periactin to stimulate his appetite.  He is still not gaining weight and we are kind of in limbo in deciding the next step.

Korina is almost 9 months old and is still battling food intolerances.  She has fallen on the charts to the tenth percentile, despite her birth weight of 8 pounds 6 ounces.  She is not tolerating any solids and is still waking up 3-4 times per night.  We are going to be seeing a GI next week to figure out what is up with her.

Hopefully as I keep the News section updated I will be able to share my journey of two kids with food intolerances.