Dealing with New (and Old) Obstacles for Joy

The past week has been a bit of a struggle for the Liang family.  We've been dealing with a number of obstacles such as food allergies, teething and some old bad eating habits from Joy.

Allergy Testing 

We brought Joy to see Dr. Heidi Isenberg-Feig from Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Isenberg saw Joy briefly right before she was admitted into the hospital.  After we were discharged, I spoke to her on the phone and I could sense her heart break for our baby.  So when we brought her back last week, Dr. Isenberg was ecstatic to see how much Joy has grown and that she no longer has the feeding tube.  The main purpose of the visit was to figure out what Joy is allergic to.  She performed a skin allergy test which involves pricking the skin with positive control (histamine), negative control (saline), and various potential allergens.  We tested Joy for the most common potential food allergies such as cow milk, eggs, soys, corn, wheat, casein (milk protein), peas, etc.  As we suspected, Joy tested positive for cow milk and potentially for peas (which may explain last week's allergic reaction).  The plan is to conduct a complimentary blood test to check for antibodies to milk and peas and to re-test Joy in a year.

Teething

We were warned that once Joy started to eat, it would stimulate her gums and would likely accelerate the teething process.  Sure enough, Joy has been experiencing a mix of cranky spells, crying, low grade fever and overall unhappiness.  We are offering her teething toys and some baby tylenol, both of which has worked wonders!  The great thing is...we can see her first tooth.  =D

Eating more but at what cost?

There is a delicate balance to feeding a baby who has gone through post-traumatic feeding disorder.  You want your baby to eat enough to gain weight but also not to push too hard which could lead to reverting back to a non-eating baby.  

We brought Joy to the pediatrician last week and were able to thankfully say that she gained 2 ounces in the past 2 weeks.  It is not a lot but you have to understand that Joy hasn't gained any weight in months and also lost some weight during the feeding program.  But while she has maintained her weight, she has also recently displayed some old bad eating habits.  

She continues to drink less formula (6-10oz/day) than other babies her age and even now the pediatrician is a bit concerned (he now wants us to mix formula into the solids).  And recently when we try to offer solids, she will often suck on her thumb and resist eating.  Sometimes she will pull out her thumb to eat and other times it requires a toy or object to distract her while we feed her.  While holding the object, she will keep opening for food but then go back to her thumb on occasion.  Granted that is what some parents need to do to get their child to eat but Joy wasn't like that during the program.  I remember her dancing after every bite and engaged in eating.  But perhaps that's because she was starving at the time.  She was only eating 10-15oz/day compared to these days when she eats anywhere from 18-28oz of food/day.  

Recently, she will look away when I offer the spoon.  Could she not be hungry even after 4 hours from her last meal?  Or maybe she's losing interest in her food?  Or maybe she doesn't like the high chair?  Either way, she's definitely not as excited as before and doesn't seem interested in new foods.  We've tried prunes, apples, rice cereal, pears (puree and fresh) but to no avail.  I guess we have to be persistent and try again later.  Thankfully she does enjoy grapes, oranges and rotisserie chicken from costco.  Funny, they're all things I love too!

At this point, I'm not sure if I should be overly concerned but I do sense that things are different than before.  Praying that Joy continues to take steps forward.  

Creepy!

On a good note, Joy has been very active lately.  She is creeping along the floor at a rapid rate and displays a lot of curiosity with the world around her.  In an effort to contain her, I've installed some security gates.  I know one day she'll find a way around (or over) them but for now, I hope they keep her out of trouble!