Yesterday we decided to begin a food trial. Our options were pears, bananas or potatoes, as those are the only foods she can try before she turns one. Pears seemed the most fitting, since we started calling her Baby Pear while I was pregnant. It's also a food that it seems like many FPIES kids have as a safe food. So we boiled and pureed the pears, and she loved it! She made hilarious, squishy faces, but continually tried to get more. We followed the guidelines from the doctor of one bite, then wait half an hour, and the rest of the serving over the next hour.
She did great all day, but last night I was still a nervous wreck. I didn't want to go to sleep, just in case she started vomiting. I put a crib wedge under her mattress so that she's at an angle. I stared at her forever, until I just couldn't keep my eyes open. As usual, she woke up four or five times overnight to nurse, and I woke up in between there to every sound she made. This morning she had more pear, and still loved it. No problems so far. Yes, this is good news, and I know most people are breathing a sigh of relief. Except for me; I'm still holding my breath. Her last reactions occurred two weeks after starting to supplement with each type of formula, so if we keep on that pattern, we've got a while until we're in the clear with pears. Then we move on to the next trial, and continue the wait again.
I think the most stressful part of this whole thing is that there is no time of just relief. In fact, it only becomes more stressful each time because we are starting with the 'safest' food and will continue up to the ones that are higher triggers. We may get through the next few years and find that she doesn't have any more triggers other than milk and soy, but we will have to continue this state of anxiety for that whole time as we try each food. Each time we'll have to prepare for the vomiting, the shock, the ER visit, the call from daycare that she's in an ambulance by herself. That's the worst one, the one I'm not sure how to deal with. I'm not sure how to spend the next few years, day after day, sitting in therapy sessions giving my all to my clients, while hoping that my cell phone isn't silently lighting up, flipped over on my desk, trying to tell me that my daughter is going into shock and daycare called 911.
It's going to be a long three years.
She did great all day, but last night I was still a nervous wreck. I didn't want to go to sleep, just in case she started vomiting. I put a crib wedge under her mattress so that she's at an angle. I stared at her forever, until I just couldn't keep my eyes open. As usual, she woke up four or five times overnight to nurse, and I woke up in between there to every sound she made. This morning she had more pear, and still loved it. No problems so far. Yes, this is good news, and I know most people are breathing a sigh of relief. Except for me; I'm still holding my breath. Her last reactions occurred two weeks after starting to supplement with each type of formula, so if we keep on that pattern, we've got a while until we're in the clear with pears. Then we move on to the next trial, and continue the wait again.
I think the most stressful part of this whole thing is that there is no time of just relief. In fact, it only becomes more stressful each time because we are starting with the 'safest' food and will continue up to the ones that are higher triggers. We may get through the next few years and find that she doesn't have any more triggers other than milk and soy, but we will have to continue this state of anxiety for that whole time as we try each food. Each time we'll have to prepare for the vomiting, the shock, the ER visit, the call from daycare that she's in an ambulance by herself. That's the worst one, the one I'm not sure how to deal with. I'm not sure how to spend the next few years, day after day, sitting in therapy sessions giving my all to my clients, while hoping that my cell phone isn't silently lighting up, flipped over on my desk, trying to tell me that my daughter is going into shock and daycare called 911.
It's going to be a long three years.