A Post All About Maren

Way back in March, we found out this cool little chick has some food allergies and sensitivities.  Since she's been about three weeks old, constipation has been a constant issue.  When it led to an emergency room visit complete with x-rays and an enema, we decided to have her tested for food allergies.  We had already reduced the amount of dairy in her diet and made sure she was eating a lot of fruit and fiber.  Clearly, we were missing something, and I was going to lose it if one more doctor mentioned feeding her fruits that start with "P."  Yep, we've tried that!  In the end, we found out Miss Maren is allergic to eggs, peanuts, cow's milk and sesame seeds. It turns out that this sounds a lot worse than it actually is. The peanut allergy is really mild and since she has never had a reaction to peanut butter, she is still able to have this.  She has always refused eggs in all forms, so this wasn't a big loss for her. We have, however, removed dairy from her diet and will obviously avoid introducing sesame seeds.  We were surprised to find that her tests also revealed a high sensitivity to wheat.  She is not allergic to wheat, but our pediatrician recommended we eliminate this from her diet, as well, since we had already significantly reduced the amount of dairy in her diet without any results.  

Maren has been doing really well with her dairy- and wheat-free diet.  She is a good little eater, who thankfully is willing to try new foods.  Her new diet (combined with Miralax) has her pooping daily.  Believe it or not, we tried Miralax before changing her diet, as well, and it didn't really produce results.  Our biggest obstacle now is getting this girl to drink!  She took the complete loss of milk the hardest and hasn't warmed up to any of the milk alternatives.   We are working on making water fun for her (new cups, straws, adding flavor) since that's all she will drink right now.   

It is recommended that we re-test in about a year.  Hopefully, with the elimination diet, we will see different results next time and be able to re-introduce some foods.  

In the meantime, Maren seems more comfortable and is happy with her new "special" foods, and we're just happy to have some answers and a plan moving forward.