Peeling Grapes / Food Trials: Age 5

Ellie has perked up a bit. I need to get her Depakote level done this week though, because she is still tired. Though she could also be tired because food trials are hard on her because if we give her something that doesn't suit her she vomits and that takes a great deal out of her. Here is our progress so far:

Tahini - nope, she could not digest this at all. I did give her too big of an amount - 2 tablespoons. But she was so sick from it I hesitate to ever try it again...Bummer- lots of great protein and minerals in tahini which is the paste of sesame seeds.

Goats milk Yogurt (plain unsweetened) - tried for 7 days no extra mucus no prob! Yay! Something I can add to her diet to help her intestines and maybe constipation.

Infant Buffered Vitamin C drops - nope. Gave her 5 cc's or one teaspoon which made her vomit and curdled the contents of her stomach. Bummer too because vitamin c is supposed to help you get the most naturally occurring iron out of your milk and eggs.I have only found one liquid form at the store. Time to search online... the one I tried used fruit purees to sweeten it because it's for babies who will eat it by mouth. It might be that it was too sweet for Ellie and / or that she did not fair well combining fruit and animal products...

Amaranth - she has this from a baby cereal so it's flaked. So far so good! Amaranth is not the seed of a grass which wheat is and rice and oats, i.e. most grains. I wanted to try her on something that wasn't and see if she would have less mucus. She can handle it at least in the flaked form! Yay! Another grain and one with loads of nutrients!!

Blueberry - no prob.

Grapes - makes her slightly gassy after having 10. So need to keep amount smaller. I feel good about giving her grapes raw (pureed after skins have been removed). They have good fiber and are supposed to keep the bowels moving. I haven't seen it help all that much with Ellie's constipation - but the live enzymes in a raw food should help support her entire system. Note I have her these alone on an empty stomach (thinned with water through the g-tube).

So right now we are in a break from food trials. I will try her on a couple more things in a couple of weeks.

Next Up:

Lamb (I want to expand her variety of protein that she can eat - if she is ready)
Vegetable soup made with homemade (low sodium) chicken stock
Beans: Great Northern

Here is a pretty good book that is giving me some ideas: Super Baby Food I say it's only pretty good from my perspective trying to feed Ellie who has serious issues because she does not practice food combining. However, great approach in general and lots of ideas and good information.

Ellie is on vacation this week. So the food trials are over and it's time to have some fun. Pictures to follow.