FOURTEEN

In anticipation of a referral to a dietician for Mattea, I listed all the foods she CAN eat and came up with a list of 14! If I look at it this way, it seems better than listing the things she can't eat. Even though her no-no list is 6 things, they seem to appear in SO many foods that it is overwhelming and somewhat frustrating. I also made a list of the things I'd LIKE for her to be able to eat (muffins, pancakes, finger foods). Most of these things use several ingredients, so we will have to first slowly test the ingredients - especially the alternate flours since she seems to have problems with grains. I'm hoping the dietician can look at my "wish" list and we can make a plan/list of what foods to introduce that will complement what she is already eating (in order to get the most nutritional "bang for our buck"). This will hopefully give me some direction and make it not quite so overwhelming. But for now, these fourteen foods (mostly fruits and veggies) will have to do!

I'm still going to try to get Mattea to take the formula that she will need to use since she can't have regular milk, or soy. She won't even take breastmilk from a cup...silly girl. We're working on it! However, I must say that this formula, Nutramigen, - which is highly broken down - smells like CAT FOOD! I can't imagine drinking it and won't even take a sip to find out what it tastes like (I don't even like to drink plain white milk). I've read that often older babies have a hard time transitioning to it due to the taste...great! I do plan to nurse her for as long as possible once I go back to work, so hopefully she won't need too much formula. We have taken a small break from the formula, as she got a rash on her face. Not sure if it was a teething rash (she has still not popped that first tooth) or a reaction to the formula. The rash is almost gone, and then I will try again. For trying it, I just mix a small amount of prepared formula in with her food...that way she takes it!

Oh yeah...the wheat trial...not so good. She barfed it up after a few hours...a typical FPIES reaction (but not as severe as her rice reaction). So right now, we avoid rice, barley, oats, wheat, soy and dairy. Looking to make a birthday cake for her in just over a month...hmmmm.... not sure how to do that one, gotta keep searching!