So at this point, Jake has been doing OIT for over a month. He has two more updoses of the liquid solution before he goes on to peanut powder. I don’t have too much to report, because over all he is doing great! He’s had no symptoms at all and the only real issue I am up against is getting him to EAT so that he can have his dose in the morning. Jake has happily eaten breakfast every day of his life until we had to make sure he had a decent amount of food to fill his tummy prior to his dose. And by “decent amount” I mean a small bowl of cereal and milk. Not a lot. Jake is a full on “threenager” these days and everything is a power struggle with him. I have to admit it’s caused some very stressful mornings for me, trying to get food in him so he can have his dose and get through the 2 hour “calm down” time so we can get on with our day. Trying to accomplish this for both Jake and Bear and getting both of them and Baby X out the door in the morning for school and doctors appointments has been way more challenging than I had anticipated. I actually had to have the allergist sit Jake down one morning a few weeks ago for a chat, to explain that eating was “his rule” and not mine and that like it or not, he had to do what I said. There was also one day where there was some threatening of some major consequences on one particularly rough morning and I think that was the day he (finally) started to eat a bit more willingly. I’ll be glad when Jake doesn’t feel the need to argue everything and just eats and takes his dose. And this is the funny thing- he LOVES his dose! Gets excited for it, wants to eat it. But it’s the fact that he has to do it “my” way is what makes it a problem. Fortunately, Jake has been improving a bit, which means most mornings I only have to nag him to choose a cereal and keep eating. I have some pretty big concerns over when he gets to the actual peanut, because if he doesn’t like it, it’s going to be nearly, if not completely impossible to get him to eat it. After all, I’m not going to force him to eat it, but I do want him to enjoy the safeguards and freedoms that Bear enjoys, as well as the fact that Jake wants them too.
I feel very torn every time Bear gets to try something new for the first time. For Bear it’s a celebration, but little Jake looks on sadly, left out. We keep reminding Jake that as soon as he graduates OIT that we will give him these same foods, but it’s pretty abstract to a three year old, so he gets pretty bummed out sometimes. For us, Jakes OIT has been a roller coaster of emotions, but I’m still glad we are doing it. It’s funny how they are both doing great with OIT but it’s so different between Bear and Jake!
Bring It On, Peanuts! 