39 Weeks: Maybe solids were magic

I’ve been kinda freaking out. In the best way possible.

I was fully preparing myself for a lifetime of Eloise struggling with food intolerances. Not only that, I was mentally making peace with the fact that not only would I also have to stay on a limited diet for quite some time as I continued to pump breastmilk so she could have something safe to eat, but that my own body might never be able to handle milk nor wheat again as my gut adapted to life without.

But it looks like, thankfully, I was wrong. Oh so wrong.

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Food is going amazing

I don’t know if it’s because she’s now eating so many solids or if it’s because we gave her gut time to rest with foods that didn’t irritate it or if she’s just growing out of food intolerances but, regardless, things on the food front are going absolutely terrific.

A few weeks ago I mentioned we were testing the biggest natural food chemical — salicylates — from the RPAH diet (which cuts out the 3 largest naturally occurring food chemicals). And, to our shock, Eloise didn’t have a reaction over our 9 days testing it.

Then, after a short rest, for another 9 days we’ve been testing the second largest food chemical — amines. And, if we’re reading her signs right, she didn’t react. (She had some rough episodes here and there, but we’re pretty sure it was due to teething pain.)

Which means, at this point, Eloise is building up a quickly growing list of things she can safely eat. And, frankly, so am I.

• Eloise: Millet, Rutabaga, Potato, Beets, Pears, Banana, Pumpkin, and Beef (currently we’re trialling rice– which is a big deal)
• Me: Beef, Lamb, Pork, Millet, Rutabaga, Potato, Brussel sprouts, green beans, cabbage, celery, red lentils, decaf coffee, sugar, margarine, rose salt, beets, apples, bananas, dark chocolate, caffeine coffee, any type of tea, blueberries, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers. And I can probably start adding in more now that I know she didn’t react to a diet high in salicylates (fruits, caffeine, and many veggies), nor to one high in amines (bananas, cocoa, pork, and leftovers).

I think it’s possible that within a month or so I might actually have a large enough amount of safe foods that I could actually eat a meal at a restaurant. Or, gasp, grab a snack from the grocery store and eat it without preparing or cooking it first.

I cannot begin to tell you what that means to me after 7 months of an extremely strict diet. I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself but gosh I’m encouraged.

She keeps growing and growing

Even though her milk intake is still abysmally low — even with us mixing it in with her solids as much as possible — she’s growing at probably one of the fastest rates she ever has.

We’ve continued to skim the fat off of untouched breastmilk for one of her feedings as well as give her beef at every solids meal for the higher calories.

Regardless, though, whatever we’re doing is working at least on the growth front. This little kid is gaining like a champ. In just one week this month she’s gained the same amount of what she gained the entire month of August.

We’ve really, mostly, stopped worrying if she’s eating enough because even if the numbers are low in amounts, the numbers are high on the scale. Hallelujah-thank-you-Jesus-amen.

She’s (mostly) happy

She’s so talkative and chatty all day long. Except when her teeth bother her (still haven’t found anything that works long term to help her and those two bottom teeth still haven’t fully broken through).

But, as Brian said last week, if we didn’t have a benchmark of what raising a “normal” baby was supposed to look like and we saw this is what life would be like with her, we’d absolutely choose it. Because she is just an absolute joy.

She grabbed a toy!

When my parents were watching her this week, they excitedly told us Eloise had grabbed a toy unprompted. Then, a few days later, Brian left her on the floor and came back and found she had that same toy in her hands — without help.

Hopefully this means we are on the road towards Eloise becoming interested in objects — and taking them into her hands.

She’s 9 months old

Crazy to think she’s now been with us on the outside of my belly longer than I carried her inside.

She still doesn’t really make eye contact, doesn’t seem to notice people, freaks out at appointments outside the house, doesn’t grab for objects nor feed herself, can’t support her weight on feet nor hands, and doesn’t sit up nor crawl.

But she does get the giggles a lot, has been rolling from front to back for months, has been rolling back to front for a month, screams a lot with delight, eats a lot of solids, has next to no reflux these days, has started napping only twice a day, mostly tolerates physiotherapy at home, and is doing a darn good job making almost every poo in her potty chair rather than her diaper.

And that’s pretty good if we do say so ourselves.

Brian and I are making so much progress

My parents have now come over 3 times a week for two weeks now and it’s been making a huge difference. On days they aren’t here I feel myself relax and feel present in the moment with Eloise because I know I’ll have time to get stuff done when they come. It’s SUCH a good feeling.

Not only that, but this week Brian and I had our first major adventure outside of the house. We went to the nearby SPA just as it opened — when almost no one was there. It was so nice to enjoy the various saunas and hot tubs and just talk about life together.

Life, for the most part, feels good right now. I don’t know how long that will last.

But, for now, I am extremely grateful.

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All our love,

Mallory, Eloise, and Brian