FPIES

This week Norah turned 11 months. In the words of Dan, "It's weird...because I still think of her as 4 months old." Ok, so part of that is how tiny she is, but it's true that time has gone by so quickly this past year! These past few months have been quite challenging, not only with moving to a new place, but with Norah specifically. We have learned some difficult things about her health, and have been encouraged at the same time with hopeful solutions.

Our pediatrician as well as the specialist we went to yesterday believe that Norah has a somewhat rare (though it's becoming more common) condition called FPIES (Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis). I'd never heard of it, and most doctors have not heard of it. It was really quite amazing how within a day or two the Lord showed me as well as another friend and our pediatrician (all individually!) that this may be what has been going on. In Norah's 10 month blog post, I mentioned her severe shock-like reaction to egg yolks. Well, what we have found is that it is most likely an auto-immune response by her body because she can't handle the proteins in certain food(s). It's something that didn't really exist about 20 years ago, but is now becoming more common because (according to our expert nurse practitioner in FPIES) of all of the GMOs and pesticides in our foods as well as not having a good balance of good vs. bad bacteria in her gut. The scary thing about FPIES is that we don't know which foods Norah will react to until she does, and that reaction can be fatal unless we get her to the ER quickly for iv fluids. We are praying with the help of our doctors and a specific diet (she will be on the GAPS diet as we introduce more solids) that she can be healed of this. Until then, we would love your prayers for peace and the Lord's wisdom and strength as we will need to change our diet as a family (I need to cut dairy out while nursing Norah, too), and as we introduce new foods to her. Her slow growth/weight gain is finally making more sense as her body doesn't seem to be absorbing nutrients (even in breastmilk) the way it should because of the FPIES. We are very thankful that the expert we found (there are only a very few in the state of MN) is dedicated to natural methods and nutrition and believes that Norah can get over this sooner rather than later (most FPIES kids who do nothing about healing, and simply avoid certain foods, get over it between ages 3-4.) Praise God! We know He is watching over our family and little Norah and that He alone is in control.

Here is a link to info about FPIES if you're interested in learning more: http://fpiesfoundation.org/about-fpies-3/