Over the past few weeks, we decided to bite the bullet, conquer our fears, and with a lot of prayer and the support of some amazing mamas, start D on a rotation of broths! Boy oh boy, has this been an adventure. So far, D has had each of 5 different broths about 3 times. He has not had any FPIES reactions, but I wouldn't say it's been easy, and we have a ways to go. He gets Beef, Elk, Salmon, Buffalo, and Snapper in rotation, every other day. We are currently giving him 1 1/2 tsp by medicine syringe because he still refuses a bottle and just wants to splash the broth around when given a spoon. I'm sure the taste is definitely not something he enjoys much either. When you're used to sweet, creamy breastmilk, why would you want salty or fishy or gamey tasting broth?? Next rotation we up it to 3 tsp every other day. He seems to be tolerating them pretty well, but still has some crankiness, restless nights, gas, and mucousy poops, but he's not in pain from these symptoms, and all of them are usually related to die off. They don't really concern me because it's just his body doing what it's supposed to, healing itself. God created our bodies to heal and by giving him these nutrient rich, gelatin filled, good fat containing broths, D's gut is healing!
Please keep prayers coming for Daniel's healing gut! We are on the right track here and I thank God daily for leading me to GAPS to not only heal my son, but to heal my whole family also!
Showing posts with label progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label progress. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
On a Whim
So I've been feeling desperate lately. We've been sick with a pretty nasty cold and I'm tired and run down and Daniel is teething, yet again, so I've been feeling sorry for myself. I'm fed up with eating only beef and I'm sick of having to feed my kid every 2 hours, especially since he won't take a bottle. I'm hate the crying and screaming when I have to force him to drink the beef broth. Everything just kept adding up and I fell to my knees, begging God for help!
It took a few days, and lots and lots of prayers, but He answered me last night. I had boiled some ground beef to make and freeze meat puree and broth for Daniel and I decided, on a whim, to try feeding him the puree again. Last time we tried he gagged and spit it all out and then proceeded to cry and scream until I washed him off and nursed him. Last night, he ate it off the spoon and then sucked on the spoon to make sure he got every last drop! No crying. No whining. No screaming. Just a happy baby, opening his mouth for the next spoonful. I almost began to cry. I don't even have words that describe the elation and joy that filled my heart last night. God gave me a huge boost of confidence and reminded me that His timing is perfect.
Daniel ate when God wanted him to. His teeth will come through when God wants them to. He'll start to crawl when God wants him to. All of these worries running through my head and God jumps in and says, "Chantelle, relax, kick back and let me take the reigns for a while. Enjoy Daniel and let him take his time doing the things he's 'supposed to be doing already'. I'm in charge and on your side, so don't worry!" So, that's what I'm going to try to do. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, because Daniel is one amazing little guy, doing some amazing stuff, and I don't want to miss a thing!
It took a few days, and lots and lots of prayers, but He answered me last night. I had boiled some ground beef to make and freeze meat puree and broth for Daniel and I decided, on a whim, to try feeding him the puree again. Last time we tried he gagged and spit it all out and then proceeded to cry and scream until I washed him off and nursed him. Last night, he ate it off the spoon and then sucked on the spoon to make sure he got every last drop! No crying. No whining. No screaming. Just a happy baby, opening his mouth for the next spoonful. I almost began to cry. I don't even have words that describe the elation and joy that filled my heart last night. God gave me a huge boost of confidence and reminded me that His timing is perfect.
Daniel ate when God wanted him to. His teeth will come through when God wants them to. He'll start to crawl when God wants him to. All of these worries running through my head and God jumps in and says, "Chantelle, relax, kick back and let me take the reigns for a while. Enjoy Daniel and let him take his time doing the things he's 'supposed to be doing already'. I'm in charge and on your side, so don't worry!" So, that's what I'm going to try to do. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, because Daniel is one amazing little guy, doing some amazing stuff, and I don't want to miss a thing!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Update and Daniel's Current Regimen
As you know, FPIES blogs tend to talk a lot about poop. Just over the past 2 weeks or so, Daniel is finally having normal breastfed baby poops! This is a major step in the right direction! He now poops only 1-2 times a day, as opposed to 10-12, like before.
God has blessed us so richly with the ability to feed me my very expensive diet and to have found good probiotics. As of today, Daniel gets a 1/4 of the children's recommended dose for the probiotic we use and about 1-2 tsp of 100% grassfed beef broth. So far, things are going great, and he's still gaining weight and meeting milestones! As I said above, his poops are normal, and other than a few extra hiccups (common with adjusting to food other than breastmilk) and the normal disturbed sleep from teething, he has no symptoms that warrant alarm. I can't help but say it again that God has led us to the right path for healing! I pray daily that GAPS will be our family's answer to our digestive problems and that God has given us this diet to also help us have the chance that our next child will not have to suffer the way that Daniel has!
We tried using coconut oil for his dry skin a few days ago, and he was chewing on his hands...that night we were reminded where we have come from: screaming, gas, bloody mucousy bright yellow/green diarrhea. BUT, it didn't take him DAYS to recover, it took the 2 hours or so that he was up in the night, and once the diarrhea was over, he slept great and was his same old self the next day. Just a month ago, he would have been "off" and having symptoms for days following any kind of upset to his system. It's amazing to see how far we've come. I thank God every day for giving me such a happy baby in spite of all this mess!
Up next, we plan to finally get brave and try elk and bison, and possibly fish broth. Rotating the broths gives a better variety of nutrients and the good fats and gelatin that help heal the gut. Once we can get Daniel's gut a little more healed, we'll be able to start trying to add some veggies and fruits! I'm hoping we can find a fruit he'll tolerate before his first birthday so he can have a nice frozen, fruity treat on his birthday...if not, I have made a promise to myself to not be disappointed or mope about it. He is healing, and that is more important to me than him having a special birthday treat. He won't remember it anyway!
That's where we're at!
God has blessed us so richly with the ability to feed me my very expensive diet and to have found good probiotics. As of today, Daniel gets a 1/4 of the children's recommended dose for the probiotic we use and about 1-2 tsp of 100% grassfed beef broth. So far, things are going great, and he's still gaining weight and meeting milestones! As I said above, his poops are normal, and other than a few extra hiccups (common with adjusting to food other than breastmilk) and the normal disturbed sleep from teething, he has no symptoms that warrant alarm. I can't help but say it again that God has led us to the right path for healing! I pray daily that GAPS will be our family's answer to our digestive problems and that God has given us this diet to also help us have the chance that our next child will not have to suffer the way that Daniel has!
We tried using coconut oil for his dry skin a few days ago, and he was chewing on his hands...that night we were reminded where we have come from: screaming, gas, bloody mucousy bright yellow/green diarrhea. BUT, it didn't take him DAYS to recover, it took the 2 hours or so that he was up in the night, and once the diarrhea was over, he slept great and was his same old self the next day. Just a month ago, he would have been "off" and having symptoms for days following any kind of upset to his system. It's amazing to see how far we've come. I thank God every day for giving me such a happy baby in spite of all this mess!
Up next, we plan to finally get brave and try elk and bison, and possibly fish broth. Rotating the broths gives a better variety of nutrients and the good fats and gelatin that help heal the gut. Once we can get Daniel's gut a little more healed, we'll be able to start trying to add some veggies and fruits! I'm hoping we can find a fruit he'll tolerate before his first birthday so he can have a nice frozen, fruity treat on his birthday...if not, I have made a promise to myself to not be disappointed or mope about it. He is healing, and that is more important to me than him having a special birthday treat. He won't remember it anyway!
That's where we're at!
Monday, February 6, 2012
One Foot in Front of the Other
So after another uneventful doctor's appointment, we've just been doing the same old same old. One useful bit of information we received from this GI appoinment was that Daniel is not anemic! I said a huge prayer of thanks the second I heard the nurse say that his test results were "completely normal" in her voicemail. If I hadn't just woken up, I'd have been jumping up and down, dancing around like a mad woman. God has answered another prayer with a big fat postitive for us! I can't imagine how much worse this could be if I wasn't able to eat such an iron rich food source, thank you grassfed beef!
Daniel is still growing, and due to my extremely limited diet, he is doing VERY well. Almost no symptoms whatsoever. He's sleeping better, his poops are what I like to call peanut butter pudding consistency, and reflux is almost non existent! He is rolling over now, but hasn't realized that he can continue to roll in the same direction to get somewhere. He loves singing and dancing in his jumperoo, along with "walking" the kitchen in his walker! He smiles and laughs just like any other "normal" baby when his guts aren't being torn to shreds by his overactive T-cells! I am so thankful that he is continuing to thrive, and that God is giving me the resources and strength to continue caring for this wonderful blessing He placed in my life! This past week has made me almost forget that he has FPIES and MFPI.
BUT...
I was reminded the other day that I have to keep slow and steady. I tried eating grapes. I love grapes. I have eaten them in the past when things were still muddy, and suspected they might have been a problem. They were staring at me in the fridge just screaming my name, so I gave in due to his amazing progress...bad idea. We spent yesterday, about 24 hours post grape ingestion by me, cleaning up lots of vomit and spit up. I'm just happy to say it hasn't affected him in any other ways, YET. I'll continue to keep a watchful eye on him for the next few days, but he seems to have recovered quickly from this impromtu trial.
For now, that is the update I have for you. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other, at a steady pace. We aren't to the point of running this race yet, but God is providing us with everything we need to walk it, and in the darkest times, when we are stumbling, He's carrying us in His arms.
Daniel is still growing, and due to my extremely limited diet, he is doing VERY well. Almost no symptoms whatsoever. He's sleeping better, his poops are what I like to call peanut butter pudding consistency, and reflux is almost non existent! He is rolling over now, but hasn't realized that he can continue to roll in the same direction to get somewhere. He loves singing and dancing in his jumperoo, along with "walking" the kitchen in his walker! He smiles and laughs just like any other "normal" baby when his guts aren't being torn to shreds by his overactive T-cells! I am so thankful that he is continuing to thrive, and that God is giving me the resources and strength to continue caring for this wonderful blessing He placed in my life! This past week has made me almost forget that he has FPIES and MFPI.
BUT...
I was reminded the other day that I have to keep slow and steady. I tried eating grapes. I love grapes. I have eaten them in the past when things were still muddy, and suspected they might have been a problem. They were staring at me in the fridge just screaming my name, so I gave in due to his amazing progress...bad idea. We spent yesterday, about 24 hours post grape ingestion by me, cleaning up lots of vomit and spit up. I'm just happy to say it hasn't affected him in any other ways, YET. I'll continue to keep a watchful eye on him for the next few days, but he seems to have recovered quickly from this impromtu trial.
For now, that is the update I have for you. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other, at a steady pace. We aren't to the point of running this race yet, but God is providing us with everything we need to walk it, and in the darkest times, when we are stumbling, He's carrying us in His arms.
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