Thursday, January 26, 2012

Millet Mash


Who knew feeding your babe could be so much fun?!!! AND MESSY!!! We're getting creative around here and Jake is really liking it!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Jake FPIES Update-I believe in Magic!!!


Jake has overcome some amazing milestones with his FPIES. While in Oklahoma, a dear friend told me about a holistic doctor (chiropractor) who tests for allergies using a method called N.E.A.T. (Natural Energy Allergy Testing) on her kids. In a nut shell, the chiropractor tests your muscles and how they react to certain energies in food. If your chi (natural energy) from you body reacts poorly to the force field of certain foods, your muscles have no strength. Sounds crazy, but I swear by it! Before you get all, oh whatever on me, just wait...

I held Jake on my stomach while we tested several foods. Let me tell you, if there was a food that is not considered safe for Jake, I had ZERO strength in my arm as the chiropractor asked me to pull against his arm with mine. Some people call it voodoo, I call it magic. If the food is considered a "pass" then we wrote it down to trial. If it is a "fail" we will stay away from it for some time. I had nothing to loose, considering the copious amounts of food that I was trying to figure out if we should trial or not. Foods such as wheat, eggs, soy, nuts, tomatoes that I try my best to rule out of my diet, were considered fails. It confirmed what I already suspected as for nursing goes. Although, a food is a "pass" we still have to trial it with caution, but have been lucky so far.

Jake now has a small list of safe foods we can work from! So far, so great!

The chiropractor said that millet was a go, so I decided to start millet first. I had already read many success stories from other FPIES mammas. Millet is very versatile. It can be cooked like pasta, eaten in a puffed cereal form, or served as a baby cereal to name a few. I knew it would help Jake with textures and be easy on his tummy. It has amazing properties that help many people who have gluten intolerance and helps regulate and calm inflammation of the gut. It has been heaven sent. After three days of trialing millet, Jake started sleeping better and acting so much happier. We had not one single side effect. Wonderful!!

We just finished a banana trial and Jake did beautifully!!! He LOVES them and has done well with them.

Today, we started sweet potatoes. We had no projectile vomiting, and so far no side effects. Each food trial is two weeks. Lets hope this continues!!

We are grateful our little boy is eating even if his menu is small. It has been such a blessing. It is nice to now have a list to work off of, and a list to stay away from. Holistic medicine follows a lot of what the Chinese have been doing in their culture for centuries, and Chinese people generally live long and healthy lives and are very good to their bodies, so there's got to be something to it!! Right now, I am so happy that my boy is getting some nutrition and that things are looking up for him! He has a long way to go, and has had some other health challenges, but for right now, we couldn't be more thankful.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Petit Prince Birthday Party



For Jake's 1st birthday party we chose the theme "Le Petit Prince", The Little Prince, for two reasons: He is called little prince by both his grandmas, and we LOVE the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Dear family and friends join Jake in celebrating his first year of life! Jake felt the love. He didnt nap that afternoon so I was so afraid he would come unhinged, but that boy grinned ear to ear.

A big shout out to my mom and mother in law for helping with the food and decor. It was so much fun! His cake was not really cake because I have no idea how to make a cake that cannot include eggs, flour, soy, nuts, and most any other ingredient that you need, so instead he got a banana sliced cut in the shape of little stars! Great idea Grandma Carson! We trailed bananas over the last two weeks and he devoured his new special treat! It was an exciting moment!!!

He got some wonderful new toys and lots of pictures of his special day. He may not remember it, but he will look at those pictures and know he was loved a million times over!

Happy First Birthday Jake!


Our sweet boy celebrated his first birthday! Our hearts are full of love and gratitude for him. We adore this angel. He is making amazing progress. He shares lots of giggles and smiles, kisses and hugs. We cant get enough of him. Happy Birthday Jake! We love every day we have the privilege of spending with you.