Tuesday, March 19

tongue-tied and allergic to eggs {my poor baby}


Since Emmalie was born last June, she's had various issues with food.  I can't possibly go into all of her little seasons of being finicky, fussy, and downright mad here in this post - but I have always sensed something was off.  She's been at the bottommost percentage on the growth charts (today she weighed 13 lbs. 15 oz. at 9 months) and coupled with her issues with nursing and recent vomiting, I just knew something was up.  But she always checked out just fine.  Just a petite little thing.  And adorable. 

This week, two realizations have been made about the little Miss and food. 

Shortly after she turned 6 months, I tried a soft-boiled egg yolk as one of her first foods.  Emmy's  nurse practitioner recommended the book, Super Nutrition for Babies and it has loads of great information in it for not only babies, but toddlers and older kids too.  Anyways,  the book recommends soft-boiled egg yolk as a first food (rice cereal is known as a C.R.A.P food - seriously it's an acronym for ahem - bad for your baby foods - it turns right to sugar in their systems and it WAY constipates my baby girl.)  The third time I tried the egg yolk, Emmy threw it up about two hours later.  I thought that she was just a tad late in getting the stomach bug we all had just recovered from - but nevertheless, I didn't try another egg yolk for 3 months until I tried it again 2 days ago.  Again, she threw it up in a couple hours.  I finally had my doubts about eggs for her confirmed... a possible allergy! I just learned that most children who are allergic to eggs are allergic to the protein that's in the egg whites, but some react to the protein in the yolk.  The hard things is that I'd been eating eggs like a madwoman since I can't have grains, sugar, or dairy right now, and off course the egg was getting to Emmy through my milk.  EGGS!  How will I eat without eggs!  Well, I've made it two days on just meat, veggies, coconut milk, nuts, and fruit - I'm still alive, so I guess I'll be okay.  And I'm praying that Emmy's tummy and demeanor will change soon. 

I am sick to think of all of the eggs I've eaten, and the trouble I possibly caused her.  Poor baby. 

 
So that was realization number #1.
 
#2 was realized today at her 9 month well-baby visit today to do a weight check.  Last time she was in, I wondered about her tongue since it seemed sort of crowded under her tongue.  Our practitioner looked last visit, but didn't really see anything alarming.  But this time, she took another look - and was shocked at what she saw.  A tongue-tied baby.  It's when the tissue that connects the bottom of the tongue to the floor of the mouth is too short and tight, causing the movement of the tongue to be restricted. She apologized and looked like she may tear up for not noticing it last time, since she remembered me mentioning it.  So we now have a referral to have her checked out by another Dr., since they didn't feel comfortable doing the "clip" in office with her being 9 months old.  So hopefully soon and as painlessly as possible, I'll have a happier and tongue-loosed baby!
 
It feels so good to have my God-given mama instinct confirmed by a real diagnosis. 
I'll be so interested to see if all of this helps our girl!! 
 
 
 
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11 comments on "tongue-tied and allergic to eggs {my poor baby}"
  1. Oh my gosh - I can't believe they didn't realize she was tongue tied until now!! Wow. But man I love when momma instinct kicks into high gear!!

    Also - we gave my son egg yolk 3 times between six months old and 10 months old. He vomited each and every time. After he turned one, a family member gave him something that had egg cooked in it and he had no reaction! Since then, once per week I gave him a bite of something with egg in it to test him out. No reaction at all. Then when he had a full egg this past week, he was completely fine. So hopefully your little girl will outgrow her allergy if her tummy can get a little tougher?? Good luck!!

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    1. Lisa,
      That's so good to know about your son! I had read that they can grow out of it, and I'm hoping that's the case for us too. :)

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  2. My daughter was tongue tied and I just got it clipped about 4 weeks ago. She gained weight fine but nursing has hurt 24-7 this whole year. She had tubes put in as well. The recovery didnt bother her once the anesthesia wore off. Her latch still sucks and hurts but a 1 yr old isnt going to really re-learn how to latch. Good luck with Em!

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    1. Thank you, Leah - it's good for me to hear bout babies having the procedure done, especially an older baby. So thank you! Em has a fine latch, but it has been super painful in the past. I think her growing has made it easier.

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  3. My first two babes were both tongue tied. When Meg (first) went in for her two week check up she was just at her birth weight. My Doc snipped it right then. She gained beautifully after that. Richard (second) was just minutes old and same Doc was in the room with us and he snipped it right then. Richard couldn't even get it out of his mouth. The last three have been fine. My brother was six when he had his clipped.
    Em is still so young and the younger the better. Glad you found this out now. Hope all goes well with her. And eggs! That is a hard one for sure. It will be worth it though if it helps her little tummy.

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    1. Thank you, Janelle! Goodness, your brother was six? Was he having issues with speech? I was feeling bad about her being 9 months, and now I'm hearing about more older babies and kids having it done. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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    2. I am not really sure what the issues were with my brother but I guess when they decided his tonsils needed to come out they thought it would be a good time to clip his tongue. My nephew should of had it done but his Doc told them that it would stretch and I think that has been the thinking. Now they are going back again to doing more clipping as they have found it really doesn't stretch that much. Anyway my nephew should of had it done and even though he has no speech issues you can tell when he talks. (he is seventeen now)

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  4. Egg Yolk issues are more of a problem amongst Traditional foodies then most would admit.
    Our little one would throw them up whenever I tried them at the beginning. But at 6 months, she was chewing, with no teeth mind you, salmon and red meat chunks. We never did purees of any kind. Mushed up veges as needed, that had more string chew then she could handle. Basically ate right off our plates from the beginning.
    True egg allergies it seems, might be tied to vaccines that are grown in eggs. And alongside that, eggs from hens fed GMO grains are most certainly behind the huge intolerance rates we see today.
    We switched to feeding our hens a home made mix of local "organic" grains, and have been more then happy with the results. If I eat a commercially fed egg, I have awful stomach pain! Matters not what the label says on it, as they are designed to deceive.

    Paula

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    1. Hi Paula! Nice to hear from you. :) I found it interesting that the egg Emmy threw up this last week was from a local hen (some friends gave us some eggs) - I felt so good about giving it to her... then she threw it up! Helped confirm some things for me. Hope your family is well.

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    2. More then likely they are feeding commercial grains too. Not many people will go to the length of buying organic grain by the ton to mix their own! But it is not a bad thing to just hold off on eggs till she is older. There are other foods out there :)
      In the past, we have raised meat birds that were specifically corn, soy and gmo free, due to so many allergies today. We sold all of them for $20 each.

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  5. 3rd try here, as my little test note did go through! Sorry if all of them did make it, but the little wait for approval note never showed up.
    I wanted to say that the egg issue is far more common in the Traditional Food realm then many will admit.
    Mary had the same issues for some time. But at 6 months she was chewing, with no teeth, salmon and red meat chunks.
    Liver gave her issues until 18 months, even though she loved it. Gave her diarrhea.
    So we stuck with her WAPF formula, butter, meat and veges for a long time!

    One thing that might be an issue with the eggs for some babies, but not all, is what the hens were fed. Commercial GMO grains do not a good egg make. I get sick to my stomach when I eat those.
    But I can eat as many of our own eggs, from hens that are fed our home made local grain feed.
    And I suspect that true egg allergies are caused by vaccines that have been grown on eggs.
    No getting around that kind of an allergy, sadly.
    Paula

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