1) "Really? Like where?"
2) "Seriously, it's really everywhere, isn't it? Even in ..."
That's because the world is made up of 2 kinds of people: Those who have had to deal with a food allergy/intolerance, and those who haven't.
We are of the former group, and this is our story.
Sweet Baby #1 loves to eat. She nursed when she was a baby, all the time. And once she started eating solid foods, forgetaboutit. She would snack all the time if she could. Leaving the house without a snack was a recipe for disaster, even for a walk to the park. This worked to the advantage of my in-laws, who love nothing more than to feed a baby. One day, when she was visiting them and having lunch, she vomited. She was about 11 months old at the time, and according to everyone we know, "sometimes kids just throw up." We were concerned. We were a little scared. But sometimes kids just puke, I guess.
The vomiting snuck up on us. Before we knew it, she was vomiting once a day, sometimes more. We tried keeping a food journal, but couldn't see any common threads because she was just eating everything. When we got Cheerios or Kix, she'd eat them. When we got donuts or pizza, she'd eat it. When she threw up her entire first birthday meal, we decided it was bad enough for us to take her to the doctor.
First there was a throat x-ray, on account of all the coughing she was doing before the actual vomiting. Nothing there. Well, then it must be reflux. Let's treat her for reflux. Here's some Zantac. Oh good luck getting it into her without her puking. When the Zantac didn't work it was Prilosec. Then an upper GI. First time parents. Yes, doctor.
The whole time, we would listen intently and watch the monitor in her room every night after she went to bed. More often than not, there would be some coughing, followed by some retching and then we would be in for a bath, a bedding and pajama change, and some extra snuggles to get her back to sleep.
The whole time, we would listen intently and watch the monitor in her room every night after she went to bed. More often than not, there would be some coughing, followed by some retching and then we would be in for a bath, a bedding and pajama change, and some extra snuggles to get her back to sleep.
Thank goodness I noticed her vomiting get worse after eating some puffs whose main ingredient was corn. We eliminated stuff made from corn and saw significant improvement. Still, though, there was the puking. We bought a book (Is This Your Child? by Doris Rapp) that made us think - wait, so her crankiness might be because of a food issue, too?
Turns out, it was.
I catalog all the happy moments in my children's lives. When they're dancing, or crawling, or saying their first sounds or words, I am there with my "camera" (really, whatever version of iPhone I have at the time). But I am not so readily capturing photos of my kids when they're having meltdowns. So I have little photographic evidence that supports my memory of that time, which was that my sweet one-year-old was a moody, cranky, generally unhappy child. She had happy, sweet moments, but generally she was crying or whining.
One particularly good morning we decided it was time for some Cheerios. A first food and staple for many children in the U.S. Yum, baby. Want some Cheerios? 15 minutes later she was a screaming mess. Surely Cheerios don't have corn? Oh, but they do. And thus began our endless search for "hidden corn."
Hidden corn? Surely that must be a word used only by the new age hippies who think the environment is out to get them? But no. The truth is that corn is, in fact everywhere. We started having to look for and avoid anything made with dextrose, maltodextrin, corn starch and other ingredients to whose existence we had been oblivious for 30+ years. In the end, we are all healthier for it. But wow is it hard.
But surely she can have graham crackers, right? Nope.
But surely she can have syrup with her homemade, corn-free pancakes, right? Uh-uh.
But surely she can have a PEAR, right? No way, Josefina.
Even baking powder has corn starch in it. Oh, and confectioner's sugar? Full of it.
No one understood. No one can understand. It is so easy to chalk up our issues to being "old," or just accept the fact that we don't (ever) feel our best. Sometimes we don't even put 2 and 2 together to determine causation. More than a year later, we are still explaining to people that just because the word "corn" isn't in the ingredients, doesn't mean it's safe. We are still explaining to people why we aren't going to trial corn again with our child who is unable to tell us when she's feeling sick. We are still explaining to people that even though she is the only person in the family with the corn issue, our family events are still going to be corn-free.
But, my husband and I were militant about keeping the corn away from our daughter. And you know what? She turned into a different child. She was sweet and loving, didn't puke in her sleep, and became an all-around fun kid to be around. She started walking. She started babbling more.
And then, from about 14 months until about 28 months, she was a dream. Every once in awhile she got corned and we would be able to tell. Usually after we found out, we could trace her unusual whininess and tantrums back to the offending food item. We moved into a new house, Sweet Baby #2 arrived, Sweet Baby #1 turned 2, and we all enjoyed a very tasty completely corn-free birthday dinner & dessert.
I wish that I could end here. I wish that I could say we found the magic formula for the avoidance of corn in our home.
The vomiting snuck up on us. One day, on the way home in the car, she just threw up. It was unexplained and unusual. She hadn't vomited in over a year. But just this once, that was weird but I'm sure it was a fluke. Then one day it happened again in the nanny's car. Well, but she'd seemed sick to her stomach the night before so maybe it was that. Finally we reached a tipping point when she started vomiting in her sleep again. (After that first time, because she'd had a cold and surely that had been the cause.) The typical pattern had resurfaced. Coughing while eating, coughing randomly while sleeping which led to vomiting, and just various unexplained episodes of pukiness. By the way, we have discovered that this is a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis, and while she has not had the required endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis, she shows all the symptoms and they disappear when we eliminate corn, so...
On Wednesday night, she went to bed as normal at 7:30. At 10 she coughed and threw up a little. At 10:30 she coughed and threw up some more. Then at 11, and 12, and 1. But wasn't it probably a stomach bug? No. But are you sure? Yes. We recognized the pattern.
On Thursday morning, my husband and I both took the day off and researched. No amount of research or planning can prepare someone for the overwhelming sense of panic you feel when you truly realize what the term "hidden corn" means. (Oh, and by the way - it's a real thing that really exists. Not just the rantings of a cornspiracy theorist.) We went to Whole Foods, where we promptly parted with our normal weekly grocery budget. And we brought home a couple bags of ingredients. Some flour, some nuts, a bag to make homemade almond milk, and some cheese. Seriously I can't remember anything else we got. I walked through the day paralyzed, not knowing what I was going to feed my child for each meal until I consulted a list of "safe" foods. I only held myself together because I had to. It is impossible to understand the hold that food (and corn) has on us until something like this happens.
Today, Friday, we feel better. We have been baking and otherwise making homemade corn-free yummy food for the last two days, and we at least have some vague idea of what we can make that she can eat. Sweet Girl hasn't vomited in almost 48 hours, and maybe I'm feeling overly optimistic, but I feel like she's coughing less while eating too. She's happy, except when she's refusing to eat the yummy corn-free homemade dinner I just made just for her, and instead demanding to eat blueberries and the dough for the cheese crackers that Daddy made. She's missing fruit snacks and veggie pouches, but she is getting by on the fresh fruit and homemade graham crackers & cream cheese dip I made this morning.
We are at the very beginning of our journey, but I am hoping that in some small way we can help others who have been in this situation - if not by providing advice (we are so totally not there yet) then by at least sending the message that you're not crazy. The doctors don't know. No one understands. You have GOT to follow your instincts. Your babies may not be able to thank you, but you will know that you did the right thing when you get to know who they really are.
But surely she can have graham crackers, right? Nope.
But surely she can have syrup with her homemade, corn-free pancakes, right? Uh-uh.
But surely she can have a PEAR, right? No way, Josefina.
Even baking powder has corn starch in it. Oh, and confectioner's sugar? Full of it.
No one understood. No one can understand. It is so easy to chalk up our issues to being "old," or just accept the fact that we don't (ever) feel our best. Sometimes we don't even put 2 and 2 together to determine causation. More than a year later, we are still explaining to people that just because the word "corn" isn't in the ingredients, doesn't mean it's safe. We are still explaining to people why we aren't going to trial corn again with our child who is unable to tell us when she's feeling sick. We are still explaining to people that even though she is the only person in the family with the corn issue, our family events are still going to be corn-free.
But, my husband and I were militant about keeping the corn away from our daughter. And you know what? She turned into a different child. She was sweet and loving, didn't puke in her sleep, and became an all-around fun kid to be around. She started walking. She started babbling more.
And then, from about 14 months until about 28 months, she was a dream. Every once in awhile she got corned and we would be able to tell. Usually after we found out, we could trace her unusual whininess and tantrums back to the offending food item. We moved into a new house, Sweet Baby #2 arrived, Sweet Baby #1 turned 2, and we all enjoyed a very tasty completely corn-free birthday dinner & dessert.
I wish that I could end here. I wish that I could say we found the magic formula for the avoidance of corn in our home.
The vomiting snuck up on us. One day, on the way home in the car, she just threw up. It was unexplained and unusual. She hadn't vomited in over a year. But just this once, that was weird but I'm sure it was a fluke. Then one day it happened again in the nanny's car. Well, but she'd seemed sick to her stomach the night before so maybe it was that. Finally we reached a tipping point when she started vomiting in her sleep again. (After that first time, because she'd had a cold and surely that had been the cause.) The typical pattern had resurfaced. Coughing while eating, coughing randomly while sleeping which led to vomiting, and just various unexplained episodes of pukiness. By the way, we have discovered that this is a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis, and while she has not had the required endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis, she shows all the symptoms and they disappear when we eliminate corn, so...
On Wednesday night, she went to bed as normal at 7:30. At 10 she coughed and threw up a little. At 10:30 she coughed and threw up some more. Then at 11, and 12, and 1. But wasn't it probably a stomach bug? No. But are you sure? Yes. We recognized the pattern.
On Thursday morning, my husband and I both took the day off and researched. No amount of research or planning can prepare someone for the overwhelming sense of panic you feel when you truly realize what the term "hidden corn" means. (Oh, and by the way - it's a real thing that really exists. Not just the rantings of a cornspiracy theorist.) We went to Whole Foods, where we promptly parted with our normal weekly grocery budget. And we brought home a couple bags of ingredients. Some flour, some nuts, a bag to make homemade almond milk, and some cheese. Seriously I can't remember anything else we got. I walked through the day paralyzed, not knowing what I was going to feed my child for each meal until I consulted a list of "safe" foods. I only held myself together because I had to. It is impossible to understand the hold that food (and corn) has on us until something like this happens.
Today, Friday, we feel better. We have been baking and otherwise making homemade corn-free yummy food for the last two days, and we at least have some vague idea of what we can make that she can eat. Sweet Girl hasn't vomited in almost 48 hours, and maybe I'm feeling overly optimistic, but I feel like she's coughing less while eating too. She's happy, except when she's refusing to eat the yummy corn-free homemade dinner I just made just for her, and instead demanding to eat blueberries and the dough for the cheese crackers that Daddy made. She's missing fruit snacks and veggie pouches, but she is getting by on the fresh fruit and homemade graham crackers & cream cheese dip I made this morning.
We are at the very beginning of our journey, but I am hoping that in some small way we can help others who have been in this situation - if not by providing advice (we are so totally not there yet) then by at least sending the message that you're not crazy. The doctors don't know. No one understands. You have GOT to follow your instincts. Your babies may not be able to thank you, but you will know that you did the right thing when you get to know who they really are.
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