The Best FPIES Food Trial We’ve Ever Had

Today marks Day 6 of Zac’s egg trial, and all I can say is: I wish every food trial was like the last 6 days.

Zac is up to eating one to two full eggs per day, and there are absolutely NO signs of an FPIES problem at all.

Zero. Zilch. Nada. He is perfect.

We’ve had no accidental ingestions, no mucousy stool, no unexplained crankiness, no sleep disturbances, no diaper rashes, no comfort nursing, and of course, no vomiting or bloody diarrhea.

In fact, since we started eggs Zac has given us the wonderful gift of 3 nights where he slept for five or more hours at a stretch.

Three nights where I got more than 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep, folks! That’s a gift from God, right there. I haven’t slept longer than 3 hours in a row in almost 2 years.

Love it!

Since the eggs are going so well, we’re pulling them for the three day break today. We’ll resume eggs again on Friday, and if the resumption goes as well as we hope, by Thursday of next week Zac will officially have a third food!

This has been an absolute walk in the park. The last 6 days, I’ve felt almost like a “normal” Mama feeding her child a food for the first time.

Oh, I’ve been watching him like an FPIES hawk, of course; but with no evidence of anything amiss, I’ve mainly just gotten the chance to revel in the wonder of my son eating a new food.

It’s glorious!

Granted, he doesn’t care for plain eggs in any form we’ve tried so far. So I still can’t just scramble or fry up an egg for breakfast (yet – I’m sure he’ll come around eventually!).

Instead, I’ve had to make things that have egg in them – but he loves every muffin and meatball he’s been served so far!

He’s packing on weight, sleeping better, and once again, has more energy than before.

I feel like I’m floating on a cloud, and wish beyond all else in the world that every food trial could go this smoothly.

Ambiguity stinks, and most of our food trials are fraught with ambiguity. “Is it FPIES or teething? FPIES or a cold? FPIES or an ear infection? FPIES or just adjusting to a new food? FPIES or…fill in the blank.”

Please pray that the egg trial continues to go well after the break, and that all our future food trials will be as clear-cut as this!

Speaking of future food trials, our original plan was to pick back up the sunflower trial once eggs were declared “safe” or “unsafe”.

Now we’re re-thinking that plan.

What we wanted the sunflower oil for was for extra nutrition, a safe oil to fry things in, and a fat to add to an incomplete homemade formula we hoped to provide for Zac when I go back to work in May.

Yesterday Darrel pointed something out to me, though. So far, all the foods that we were planning to add to that formula are things Zac is already eating in abundance…so what’s the benefit of blending them into a drink and giving it to him?

He’s got all his teeth, he’s eating, and he’s almost two. Why, Darrel wondered, are we trying to get him hooked on a bottle now?

I didn’t really have a good answer; I think I got stuck in the search for a formula last year before my maternity leave was up and haven’t reconsidered whether a formula is called for at the present time.

There is no doubt that he does not have a nutritionally complete diet at this point. Frankly, if we could find a safe, nutritionally complete FORMULA, then I would give it to him when I go to work with no qualms. We’d deal with a bottle dependence later.

But thanks to his corn sensitivity, we’ve been incapable of finding a complete, ready-made formula for Zac to drink.

So Darrel’s point was simply, if he’s going to be slightly deficient during the days I’m at work anyway, what difference does it make if he’s chewing or drinking his nutrition?

It’s a valid point.

Considering he seems to be incapable of handling heated sunflower oil anyway, sunflower oil might not necessarily be that great a food pass for us. After all, I wanted it to be able to fry things in and to add sunbutter to baked goods like cookies and muffins. If I won’t be able to do that for non-FPIES reasons, does it make sense to waste the time on a trial for a food we can’t really use?

Especially in light of the (knock wood) success of egg: egg yolks are a fabulous fat for his diet, and with lard from pork I have something to fry and add to baked goods.

I guess my only concern is that he might get used to mostly eating his food and will start to self-wean, but Darrel reminded me that he will NOT be getting all his body needs from foods, so the minute I’m home he’s sure to clap his hands and yank at my shirt to get to the boobie milk.

There are lots of things to consider about our next steps before the egg trial ends, so we’re thinking and trying to come up with a plan. If anyone has any brilliant thoughts on the matter, feel free to share! (Darrel is leaning towards trialing a salt for Zac…any ideas on how to do that?)

In the meantime, I’ll be happily floating on a cloud, walking on sunshine, enjoying the easy-peasy egg trial we’ve been blessed with.

What was your easiest food trial? Did you feel like dancing the whole time, too?

And by the way, why is it that the easiest food trial we’ve had to date has to be the one food that could kill Jed? The irony is just killing me!