How We Got Here

I didn't start out with a vendetta against corn.  I loved corn!  Corn on the cob, cream of corn, popcorn candy corn!  I even included corn on the cob in so many meals, one summer, that the hubs begged for, anything but corn.  But, a little over three years ago, corn and I had a bit of a falling out.  Ok, a lot of a falling out.  These days corn consumes most of my daily thoughts, triggers grocery store panic attacks and is pretty much my archnemesis. 

(Ok. So, the long story of how we got to this point!)

Three years ago, when we brought our twins home from the hospital, almost imminently, our daughter started violently, projectile vomiting after every feeding.  Doctors assured us, it was "normal premie reflux," and that as long as she gained weight there was "nothing to worry about," and nothing that could be done.  

So we kept on.  

We cleaned up countless messes.  We laid awake every night hanging on every burp, hiccup or cough, scared to death she was choking on her vomit.  

Until one day she started refusing my breastmilk, and every formula we offered her.  The doctors explained, it was "normal" and simple, she was allergic to dairy or soy, maybe both...no big deal, we'll put her on an elemental formula and be the time she's off formula, she'll outgrow all this normal baby allergy business and life will go on happily ever after.

So I went home, and I fed my starving baby a big ol' bottle of this elemental formula, that's supposed to be free of all things that could hurt my baby...........and, about halfway through the bottle, she turned red, broke out in an instant fever, got small, fine hives, all over the trunk of her body and projectile vomited harder and more violently then anything I had experienced before.

We both cried.

Elecare Ingredients Label

I read the ingredients to the formula, and found it was loaded corn! (Two side notes here: 1) Honestly, a little shocked at first, because, being nor a totally food dummy, I know that corn is simply a filler with no nutritional value, but whateves. 2) Doctors still fight me and argue with me when I tell them that the elemental formulas, such as Elecare, and Neocate, contain any corn at all.)  

Ah-ha!  She's allergic to corn!  So, I march right into GI and tell them my findings....and I kid you not, the doctor slapped her knee, laughed out loud and said, "No one is allergic to corn."  They insisted that it was still an intense reaction to soy and/or dairy and that we would just have to start feeding out three month old baby a diet of solids.........

While researching corn allergies, I attempted to make my own formula from scratch, using condensed milk and vitamins, and I can't even remember what else (because it was a total failure), before finding a formula that was free of corn, soy and dairy.

Alimentum, Ready to Feed.   Our lives were changed.  Finally, our daughter was happy, gaining weight quickly, and no longer throwing up.

I was told that babies outgrow these intolerences be a year or two, so we didn't hesitate to offer her dairy, soy or corn, once we started adding solids to her diet, and she seemed ok.  That is, until she was off of formula and getting all of her diet in the form of these solids.

That was at 18 months old.  Over the next year and a half we slowly removed foods back out of her diet.

First dairy, then soy.  Eggs.  Corn.  The rest of legumes.  Finally tree nuts.

Corn is an ongoing process, and the most difficult to remove from one's diet.

Makayla is still not free of reactions on most days.  We have found that as soon as we remove a corny product from her diet, she does well for a week or two, and then starts reacting again to the corn still in her diet.