Rocket Science?!: Crafting the Perfect Egg Dose

We're on our second week of dosing with egg white powder now, and I've learned a few tricks along the way.  I know, I know.  You're thinking: "REALLY?! You're blogging on how to give your kid a dose of powder?!  How hard could it be?!  It's not like it's Rocket Science!!!"

Well, I may be a little slow, but the first powder dose I prepared at home went DISASTROUSLY, and ended with me throwing out the entire dose and starting over :(. So, I thought I'd share the lessons I learned here so others can learn by watching instead of by wasting a dose or two at home :)!!

Dosing with powder is definitely harder than I imagined it would be.  You want to make sure that your child ingests every last speck of the powder, or they're not getting a full dose-- achieving this feat can be trickier than it sounds!

Our office sends us home with pre-measured capsules filled with egg white powder (ask me about last week when they forgot to order our capsules and sent me home with a scale instead-- BAD IDEA!!!  I may have to blog later about that little mis-adventure.).  For now, here's what the capsules look like:

The amount of egg white powder that Brendan is ingesting
seems tiny again when it's packed inside a capsule!

All I have to do is open the capsule, pour out the powder onto a spoonful of some sort of food, and then feed it to Brendan. Sounds simple enough, right?!  Except when the capsule won't open, and when it finally does, it pours out everywhere, not just onto the spoon. . .  So here's how I prevent that little problem:  I put a small amount of food onto the spoon (usually pudding or whipped cream)-- that gives the powder somewhere to "stick" to.  And here's my pro tip of the day: I place the spoon inside a small bowl.  If any powder drops out when I open up the capsule, the bowl catches it.  Then, I can retrieve the lost powder, usually with the tip of the spoon.

See?!  Some of that little bugger fell right off the spoon and into the bowl!!!
The first time I did this (without my trusty bowl) it fell onto the counter,
and then when I tried to get it back onto the spoon, it fell onto the floor!!

Sometimes, not all of the powder falls neatly out of the capsule, so I use a toothpick to get the rest out when needed.

There's powder stuck inside this capsule.
If it won't fall out with a few squeezes, I'll use a toothpick to dig it out.

After I'm sure I have all the powder out, I use another spoon to put a small amount of food on top of the dose to hold it in place and to disguise the taste a bit. Don't be fussy with this part-- you'll end up with powder on the second spoon if you try to get the dose perfectly covered.  I also try to pick up those stray bits that fell into the bowl with the tip of the spoon.

We dirty four spoons a day just for dosing--
it seems like we never have clean spoons around here!

See that little bit of powder at the top of the spoon?!
That's the part that fell into the bowl initially.

Then, the dose goes down the hatch, preceded by applesauce (it helps the tummy), and followed by a drink of water to make sure it doesn't linger in his mouth!

And that, my friends, is how you prepare the perfect OIT powder/flour dose!  Rocket science?  Not quite, but definitely more difficult than I imagined!

Movin' on Up

I've been a little quiet here at the blog lately, mostly because things are running smoothly.  Brendan has updosed each week without any reactions to his daily doses (except for a few minor tummy aches the first week), moving from 6 milligrams of egg on day one up to 75 milligrams of egg last week.  This week is a BIG one, because we get to move from egg white powder suspended in solution to straight egg white  powder, which means no more worry about refrigeration.  Can I hear a Hallelujah?!  Also, this was the first week we got to see exactly how much egg white powder he is eating.  So, without further ado, I present to you 100 milligrams of egg white powder:

That's a medicine cup with 100 milligrams of egg white powder in it.
OK, it's still not a lot, but we're getting there!!!

Brendan took the dose like a champ (mixed with a spoonful of chocolate pudding).  We'll stay at 100 milligrams for a week and continue, "movin' on up!"  If we keep this pace, Brendan will be eating the max dose, a tablespoon of egg white powder, by October!