Allergy Update

We decided not to go in for the "oral challenge" with rice milk, because we feel it's best to keep her off the things she's allergic to as much as possible so she'll hopefully outgrow them.

I'd met with a nutritionist to figure out what to give her in place of milk. We came up with Minute Maid's "Kids" Orange juice. It's got lots of calcium and a lot of extra vitamins. Then we just needed to add in protein. Elizabeth quite likes the orange juice, but it gives her horrible diaper rash...to the point of little sores. So, we have decided that isn't going to work as her main milk replacement.

Zach did a bunch of research and found Hemp Milk. It has the "Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids" and tastes a lot like rice milk. We had to carefully read the labels though, because some of them have brown rice syrup to make them sweet. The one we found doesn't have rice in it and actually tastes ok.

Elizabeth seems to like it, especially when I mix it half & half with the orange juice. Sounds gross, but actually is tasty, like an orange creamie as my friend described mixing regular milk & orange juice.

She's doing awesome with her new eating restrictions (of course, what can she do about it?!). And, since so may people ask "What CAN she eat?" - I'll tell you:

For breakfast she still gets a thing of pureed fruit babyfood or some applesauce and then a chopped fruit cup (I like the fruit cups because the pears and peaches are soft enough for her since she doesn't have molars). A treat in between breakfast and lunch is either grapes, strawberries or pieces of a banana (any fruit she likes, and we're trying to introduce more).

Lunch is typically a veggie mix of carrots, green beans, peas, and potatoes and a side portion of pinto or black beans. Again, a fruit treat before dinner of fruit if she's acting hungry.

Then, dinner is either the same as lunch or whatever Zach and I are having if it doesn't have things she can't have. She totally gobbled the veggie soup I made the other day with zucchini, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes. I have to be extra careful with the bouillon/soup base I use because the one I was using had milk in it (yeah, who knew!).

And, just yesterday, I gave her marshmallows. She didn't have a visible reaction, so let's hope she can enjoy that little extra treat for a while. I like it because it doesn't require me to wash & cut anything for church!