Our 2nd Food Trial: Spinach, Day 7 (Is it really only day 7? And a revision of the patch test results)

Okay, let's see... Thursday, 1 full teaspoon of spinach. Friday, 1 full teaspoon of spinach and Saturday and Sunday we were camping with friends so... no spinach. How do you bring frozen, pureed spinach camping? We couldn't figure it out so, instead, we brought whole, fresh, ready to eat pears and G enjoyed them via the mesh feeder.

As a matter of fact, G enjoyed the pears AND the camping - we all did! The weather was great, the company (four other families camped with us for a total of ten adults, five 3 year olds and three 6-10 month olds) was truly enjoyable, the bugs were fun to look at and weren't biting us, the s'mores were sticky and the beer was cold. We've known all the 'older' kids since they were all about 8 months old and it's been so fun to watch them grow -and fun now to watch them with the younger kids. Sort of. I love each of them as I love my own kids but, to be honest (sorry Momfia!) I did have some moments of panic this weekend. On one hand, it was so sweet to see Owen wanting to share a kiss with Ginny - but seeing him do it when he had a milk mustache was a little scary. Olivia keeps asking for a baby sister of her own and is wonderful with G, sharing kisses and hugs- and almost her English muffin. Yikes! They're just kids. Ellie is the same way and we've explained repeatedly how food can make Genevieve sick. Part of me has accepted that there will accidental ingestion someday - and the other half of me continues to watch Ginny like a hawk; swooping down to remove the slightest bits of food from her grasp. I know I must seem crazy. Those two halves of me will, most likely, be at war for years to come. I hope you'll all forgive me for this bit of madness. It could be worse I suppose. Haven't you seen the crazy cat lady from the Simpson's? I'm not THAT bad.


So... back to a teaspoon of spinach on Monday and today, two teaspoons. Somewhere, in the midst of pears and spinach for breakfast, G lost interest so I'll feed her the remaining food for dinner. Who could blame her really? I'd want a little more variety too and, with a lack of finger foods for now, the mesh feeder must be so much more fun!

On a different note, I have some more information to share about the results of Genevieve's patch test. As you might remember (from my woe-is-me-whiny-whiny-post) the initial results of the patch tests showed absolutely nothing. However, by Friday morning, we had a slightly different result. I'm not an allergist and I have no full explanation for this, but by Friday morning the Soy spot was red, rough to the touch and definitely showing some sort of reaction. As a matter of fact, if I'm honest, I'll admit that I think I began to see the spot change by Thursday evening but convinced myself that I just wanted to see something. Why the delayed response? I have no idea.

What does this mean? Well... this is what I think: Both cereals that G reacted to had soy in them, but soy wasn't the main ingredient. An FPIES reaction can 'build' as a kiddo ingests more of the trigger food. So... maybe G didn't react to rice at all (or oats) but to soy. Maybe the soy built up and the re-introduction of it via the bath water brought on the first reaction. Then, of course, even a tiny amount in the second cereal trial would have brought on an immediate reaction. What does this mean for Ginny overall? Once again, not much. It really won't change our plan. I've learned that the immune system really does have a 'memory;' so will remember the foods G has eaten. This means that the longer we avoid (even possible) past triggers- the better the chance that her immune system will forget them and perhaps forget to attack them when they're re-introduced. It just feels better to think we know something more - another piece of the puzzle, another tool to fight the good fight and, eventually, defeat the beast.