Day 8 - Being brave

I have been so nervous about this day for weeks. Ellie is allergic to eggs and it terrified me that one of the first things you add after Stage 1 (if not the first thing you add) is raw egg yolk. I made a compromise and bought duck eggs, something we've been wanting to trial for a long time but just never felt brave enough. People say that the proteins in duck eggs are different enough from chicken eggs that some people with an egg allergy can tolerate them. An added bonus is that I bought pastured duck eggs, meaning the ducks weren't fed soy or corn feed. Since Ellie is intolerant to both soy and corn - this should eliminate another variable.

So I heated up some chicken soup this morning and separated two eggs, plopping a yolk into each of our bowls. I whisked the yolks into the hot soup and celebrated with Ellie that we were going to have an "eggie" for breakfast! The soup went over well and I had another yolk with my lunch. I had a minor tummy upset after lunch - not sure if it was the two yolks or what ...? One of Ellie's early symptoms for an egg reaction is a big bumpy rash all over her chest and that didn't happen today. The next symptom is her waking up all night with stomach cramps and screaming and crying, so we'll see how tonight goes. I am feeling cautiously optimistic. :)


Helping Ellie deal with her ouchie tummy has been difficult while we've been going through Intro. In the past my reaction has always been to nurse, rock, nurse, rock and nurse some more. But she is almost 22 months and very verbal and I am trying to help her learn how to help herself feel better. I've been talking with her about how we're doing a special thing and eating special food to help make her tummy feel better. But the sad part is that her tummy is going to hurt for a little while before her tummy feels better. She actually didn't tell me her tummy hurt once during the day today - a very exciting development!

But she did have a hurt tummy at bedtime. After I gave her a chance to fall asleep on her own (no dice!) I went back in to comfort her a couple of times. When Twinkle Twinkle wasn't cutting it, I had the thought to try an idea someone suggested to me a while back. I held up her little stuffed kitty, Esmerelda, and said, "Esmerelda has a hurt tummy too. Can you kiss her tummy and make her feel better?" Ellie kissed Esmerelda's tummy. Then I said, "Does Esmerelda have any more ouchies?" Ellie pointed to the kitty's chest and neck and then kissed those spots too. (This is a fantastic trick too, because it told me Ellie was also having reflux.) Then Ellie informed me that Tex the teddy bear also had an ouchie tummy. So we replayed the game with Tex and then her other bear, Butch. Then I said, "OK, they all still have a little bit of an ouchie tummy so can you lay down with them and give them all a tight squeeze and help them go to sleep?" It worked beautifully! She laid down and peacefully went to sleep. I am going to have to remember this one.

Looking back on today, I can see how much better it was than yesterday. And I'm hoping I'll get to keep saying that. Baby steps...