Any new tips/advice/treatment?

How's everyone doing? I hope better than last time we checked in!

I am now on to a holistic-type of doctor since my traditional pediatrician says that since I've taken out dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, beef, pork, corn, tomatoes, and citrus that the next step is to go to a prescription formula since we are still getting bloody diapers.

Well...of course that's not what I want...come on now, if I wanted to go to formula, do you think I would follow above said diet now for almost 5 months? Um...no!

So we go to this new doctor (referred by my DH's co-worker who went through something similar) and he is WONDERFUL! He asked me if I brought in a diaper for him to look at (not even the GI specialist wanted to see a diaper!) and asked me to start writing everything down that I'm eating (which I've been doing and brought along my notebook for him to look at) - and NO doctor has even shown interest in looking through my journal or suggesting that I even keep one! So he wins points right off the bat with me! He looked through my journal and saw 2 things that I should take out....caffeine (I was drinking decaf coffee) and chicken! He wanted me to add back fish (salmon, trout, etc). So that was last Thursday...I stopped caffeine and chicken/meat (I already was pork/beef-free) and added salmon. NO BLOODY DIAPERS! (XXX fingers that now I don't get one!) and he wants to see me this Thursday! I was getting bloody diapers at least every other day...sometimes every day! Oh, and he didn't push me out of his office.....he was very calm and not in a hurry at all. I love him! The first doctor that really seems to care what I'm going through as a parent (worry/guilt/etc)

He said that some babies can not tolerate the protein in meat well...so he thinks that might be the culprit. He also said his top things that he sees are dairy, gluten, citrus, caffeine, alcohol, meat. He said he's not even really too concerned about soy.

So we'll see what he says this Thursday. Hopefully he'll have me add more things back into my diet. I'm dying for some cashews!

So...if anyone is having as many problems as I've had...maybe my little story helps!?! I am hopeful that this doctor will help us be more successful than the previous advice I was getting!

How's everyone doing?

Ugh....good day for a check-in. I'll post this on the Bump tonight and again Monday since it's so late tonight. (8pm CST)

So....we had a horrible green and bloody diaper today. I'm at my flippin' wits end I tell ya. I'm going to call the pedi on Monday and ask him to do a RAST test. This is ridiculous to say the least. I've been eating shrimp/veggies/rice for dinner the last 2 nights...so I'm not sure if it's seafood/shellfish now. Ugh, I am so frustrated!

A seems fine as far as his behavior (not fussy or anything). He's gaining great - I weighed him on our scale twice and both times it was 15 lbs (my weight w/him - my weight alone). But seeing those diapers is beyond heartbreaking. I always end up crying because I really don't know what else I can do. So for now...it's back to rice, plain chicken breasts, veggies (no broccoli though). I just want him to have normal diapers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sure hope you ladies are having better luck than me. I can't (or Alexander can't) seem to catch a break with this.

It's been a while!

(now that song is going to be in my head!)

Missed ya ladies....how is everyone doing?

Alexander is growing like a weed....no more noodle arms/legs, he's all pudgy now! He just got over a bad week of bloody/mucousy green diaps. I think it might be caramel coloring (tried the Tri-vi-Sol for 1st time) or eggs. I am doing an elimination diet until he has good diaps again for a full week. Last time I thought it was hamburger, but I haven't had any beef for about 2.5 weeks.

But he's doing better now, still the happy little guy he normally is! Can't wait to hear how everyone is doing!

Post an update! Is everyone getting better?

Alexander is allergic to wheat...gaaaaahhhh! He had an almost all mucous and orange/brown diap and a green bloody one :( I forgot how bad those diaps can smell! So it looks like I won't be saving any money on pasta or bread! LOL

Tim thinks I should still try dairy next week or the week after (we pretty much know he's allergic to soy already so we're not even going to test that). I want to give his insides a while to heal first though since it seems like the wheat really did a number on him. Poor guy!

I'm not 100% convinced Alexander doesn't have an allergy to dairy...but Tim isn't so sure he is since the entire time I went dairy free I was still getting soy or wheat in my diet (the original time I cut it out....you know, like 2.5 months ago LOL). We'll see. I'm not really keen on the idea of causing another stomach ache for my little guy. Everytime I see he doesn't take something well, I end up really depressed and feeling horrible that I caused it. We'll see.

Should this be a weekly check-in instead?

It seems like less and less people are commenting. Should I change it to be a weekly check-in instead? Maybe every Monday? I'm open for suggestions to make this work the best for all of us! :)

How do you handle going out with friends/family?

I am going out to a mexican restaurant on Thursday with a bunch of friends to celebrate my belated birthday and my friends birthday. I am excited to see my friends...but dreading watching everyone eat such yummy food (I LOVE mexican food!). I don't even think I'll be able to eat the rice and beans...as I'm sure they use vegetable oil for the rice and who knows what they put in the beans. Maybe I'll get the ceviche? I'll have to look that up on the internet and see if they list out the ingredients and then make sure there's no hidden soy in there.

I also have a dinner date coming up at a steak joint. I think I can get away with eating steak and a plain baked potato a lot easier than mexican. I'm thinking of using this card to help the cooks realize how important it is to not use butter on my steak and to limit the cross-contamination.

I am hoping that I can at least get by with this card and maybe just end up eating salads at restaurants or something...it would suck if this MSPI things stops me from joining friends at dinner (well, I'll still go - but how much does that suck that I'm watching them eat all this glorious food while I sip on my glass of wine or water?)

Oh - went to the GI dr today....he doesn't believe me about the Sodium Nitrite..but I'm not surprised at that one bit. He's pushing the vitamins, of course, so I'm going to try the Tri-Vi-Sol w/Iron to see if Alexander handles that well....and if he doesn't, I'll just end up giving iron and vitamin D. He also said there's no need to see him again! Yay!!!!

How has your LO / you been this past week?

Hello everyone! Glad to be back!

Well...we figured out that Alexander is sensitive to Sodium Nitrite (a preservative widely used in salty things...ours was ham!). It caused bloody diapers again...go figure! But I stopped eating the ham and viola - no more blood. I swear, this kid is allergic to the air! LOL

But we're back to all yellow/seedy diapers again...so yay! We go see the stupid GI doctor tomorrow morning at 9am. I'm not even sure why I'm keeping the appt...what's he really going to tell me? He'll probably argue with me on the vitamin (the vitamin E succinate caused bad diapers) and the ham. But I'll just let that go in one ear and out the other because I'm the one that spends all day with him and have tested these items out and took them out of the diet...so if he tries to tell me that there's no way he can be allergic to those 2 things...I just might not go back to him at all anymore.

This week I am adding back wheat! I'm going to add some whole wheat pasta tonight and see how it goes. Honestly...I'm nervous about it. I don't know why, but I am. Maybe because it's a pretty common allergy? It would be nice if he's not allergic to it so that I don't have to spend $4-$5 on a package of brown rice noodles/pasta anymore! This diet is getting so expensive!

Oh - Alexander dropped a feeding too! (well..the last two nights anyways...we'll see if he picks it back up). He's also been sleeping longer because of it! So yay for us!

Hope to hear some good news from you ladies!

Vent Fest Friday!

I don't have much to vent about. We had 2 bloody diapers last night - from what I think was the vitamin making it's way through his system. I had shrimp for lunch and mussels and clams for dinner. I'm going to continue eating fish and not give the vitamin and see what happens. I hope he doesn't show signs of being allergic to the fish. Oh good Lord help me if he is. I don't know what I would do without sushi for another year! I'm hoping we won't see any blood this weekend and then for sure I'll know it was the vitamin. I don't know why I'm questioning the vitamin..but I am for some reason. Maybe because I also added this fish in and am thinking maybe it just took a while to get him irritated (from last Tuesday though seems a long time). Either way - I'm not giving the vitamin anymore and we'll see what happens. Stupid frickin MSPI.

The weather is gorgeous here today and we're going to head downtown for a surprise visit to Daddy! I'm excited for the weather and hope it sticks around....tomorrow we will head to the lakefront for a nice walk/picnic if it stays this way too!

Have a great weekend ladies! I sure hope everyone's LO's are on the up-and-up now!!!

Do you feel like you know more than the doctors?

I definitely do!!!! So we did the stupid Poly-vi-Sol w/Iron last week Mon, Tues, and Wed. We had blood in his diaper that, if you remember, I wasn't sure if it was from the Bailey's or the vitamin. Well, we stopped the vitamin and the blood stopped. Talked to the nurse this week and told her about it and she said that she called the company and there is no soy in the vitamin...so I told her that my research told me that Vitamin E Succinate was derived from soy (thanks The Mommy!!!) ..but I'll start him on it again and if he had blood...I was going to stop him again. Well, we gave him the vitamin on Tuesday and yesterday (24 hrs later) he had 2 bloody diapers. Coincidence? I think not!

I don't want to call the nurse again because I know she's going to try to say it was the nuts from last week (even though I ate nuts every single day last week and he didn't have any bloody diapers since last Thursday...24 hrs after the vitamin). She told me to stop nuts (because she thinks the blood from last week was nut related..dumb nurse!) and to start fish this week. Well...I didn't tell her - but I ate a $hitload of sashimi on Tuesday for my birthday, sushi again on Sunday and Monday....you would think I would have had blood this entire time from eating fish if it was from fish. Especially from last Tuesday's fish eating...I ate a ton of it!!! Also, she argued with me that the natural peanut butter that I ate once had milk in it because "how else would it get creamy then?" even though the only two ingredients listed are "peanuts and salt". I even went to the website and it states that they don't use any stabalizer or preservatives in it. Ugh..I hate this nurse!

So,...I'm stopping the vitamin again and called Mead Johnson (the company that produces the vitamin) and they are sending me a sample of the Tri-Vi-Sol and a $5 coupon. The Tri-Vi-Sol does not contain the Vitamin E...so then there would not be any soy in it.

I think I'll call the nurse tomorrow after I eat fish again tonight and don't give him the vitamin to make sure the vitamin is out of his system. (I expect one more bloody diaper 24 hours after his dose yesterday).

I swear....just because you're a doctor or nurse does not mean you know it all. How frustrating though to have them tell you that you're wrong and I quote "if it's the vitamin..it's something different than a food allergy". Ugh!

Fantasy Day!

I just need to fantasize about what I would eat if I had one day to eat and drink whatever foods I could without causing any harm to Alexander. So...here's how my day would go!

Breakfast:
Ham & Cheese Omelet
Hashbrowns
Bacon
Whole Wheat Toast
Starbucks Caramel Macchiato w/Soy Milk

Lunch:
Cheese, Chicken, Pineapple, Canadian Bacon Pizza
Vanilla Shake

Dinner:
Chicken Enchiladas w/Rice & Beans
Chips & Guacamole
Original Margarita on the rocks

Dessert:
Turtle Sundae

And at the end of this day...I would have the biggest stomach ache in the world...but it would be worth it!

What would your day look like?

Share some foods!

So now that a lot of us are at least a couple of weeks into this....I'm hoping we have discovered some new foods? Here's a list that I have been eating and some ideas for quick eats!

Here's a standard lunch for me:
Ener-G Brown Rice Bread (there's a link on the right too).
Boar's Head OvenGold Roast Turkey Lunch Meat (I called the company,...no soy, no gluten, no dairy)
Avocado (I mash it so it's more like a "spread" since sauces/condiments are almost all out!)
Tomato

I also use all-natural peanut butter for some pb toast with the above bread. Only peanuts and salt are the ingredients!

Another thing I've been doing is baking a sweet potato at 400 degrees in the oven for about 1-1.5 hours and putting brown sugar and cinnamon on it. Filling, sweet, and good for you!

For a quick dinner...I've been doing brown rice, a cut-up boneless skinless chicken breast, and a veggie steamer (found in frozen section, steam in microwave). Mix all together and I season with olive oil, salt, pepper. (kind of like a stir-fry...minus the sauce)

How was your LO over the weekend?

Alexander has been consistently having better diapers....yah! I stopped the Poly vi Sol w/Iron vitamin. I have to call the pedi today and get his opinion on that!

The weather was awesome on Friday/Saturday so we went out for a walk and went to the park for a picnic. It's so nice to finally be able to get out of the house! Alexander just sleeps in his stroller though...so he has yet to really "see" his neighborhood! LOL

I ate broccoli last night with dinner...and boy oh boy, I don't think it agrees with Alexander! He wasn't fussy or anything...but he sure was gassy for about 30 minutes this morning. It amazes me how loud the little stinker can be! LOL He can put grown men to shame!

Hope to hear that everyone is getting on the right track as we're getting more and more into the weeks of being free of however many foods! This week I get to add peanuts back into my diet! I had peanut butter toast for breakfast....yummmy!

Vent Fest Friday!

I know it's VFF, but I am still in a more positive mood. But, I do have a vent today (along with what I'm grateful for).

We have had a bloody diaper 3 days in a row now. I'm not sure if it was from the Bailey's I had on Sunday or the vitamin (Poly-Vi-Sol w/Iron) that I started him on on Monday night. We saw a bloody diaper 24 hours after giving the vitamin. I didn't give him his vitamins last night...so we'll see if we have another bloody diaper tonight, as that seems to be when it happens. I highly doubt it's the almonds I'm eating since I wasn't eating tree nuts when this whole ordeal started.

For my grateful part - I am so grateful that I am even able to BF my son. Even with all of the headaches this MSPI causes...I have to remember that there are some mothers out there that would give anything to be in my position so they could even have the opportunity to BF their LO's. I am also grateful that my supply has not seem to be affected at all by the diet. This was something I worried about...but it seems to be fine still.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and an even better weekend!

Okay, let's get positive!

I feel like that screams "Richard Simmons" but hey, it seems like I need to get out of this funk about the MSPI and maybe some of you ladies are feeling the same way? It's easy to get into a self pity party and it's time to get myself out of it!

So, I'm going to list some positive things about this MSPI fiasco!
1) I am eating healthier, therefore feeling healthier
2) Alexander is still growing and gaining weight just fine!
3) I am helping keep my local natural grocery store in business! LOL
4) I have now been cooking dinners more often. It makes me feel good to do that!
5) I am more knowledgeable about what is going into my body and then onto A!
6) I have met some (or gotten to know a different more vulnerable side) of some great women from the bump (I know, I know...puppies and rainbows! LOL)
7) I am motivated to start exercising again since I feel so good. Now we just gotta get the tummy back to normal!
8) I am losing a healthy 2 lbs per week just because of this "diet". Which I don't like to think of it as a diet in a negative way...but a different, more healthy way of eating.
9) This way of eating gets easier and easier as time goes on.
10) I have become very creative with my food choices.

OK-your turn!

Anyone ever feel like just "giving up"?

Oh my gosh...I am almost at my giving up point. We had a small bloody diaper yesterday. No way in hell it was from the 20 almonds I ate on Monday night (I'm adding tree-nuts back into my diet). I'm wondering if it was from the Bailey's I had (you know...those small four sips on Sunday). I just don't know anymore.

I'm going to be pumping during the day and giving Alexander the EBM in a bottle first and then putting him to the breast after since I'm not 100% convinced it's not having something to do with the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. I feel like I'm not really any closer to him having normal diapers than I was 5 weeks ago.

I'm just tired of doing everything in my power to make him better and not really seeing these drastic results. I'm frustrated, angry, depressed, and like L&P...I'm starting to feel like I'm failing as a Mom because of this. I feel absolutley 100% guilty over the Bailey's on Sunday and cry everytime I think that his small bloody diaper last night was because of it. I'm scared to death again of changing his poopy diapers in fear that there's going to be more blood. The stupid nurse told me that he may not have the cottage cheese consistency yellow, seedy diapers like normal BF babies have because I'm not "getting everything in my diet" that normal BF mamas get. I don't know if I believe that really. I'm eating so healthy. I eat chicken, lean ground beef, turkey, fresh veggies, fruits, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc. How much healthier can you get? If anything...my child is getting more good nutrients/vitamins because of this diet than if he didn't have this MSPI. Before I wouldn't have even thought twice about McDonalds or eating a frozen pizza for dinner. Plus, I take 500mg of vegan calcium supplements in the AM and PM and I take my prenatal every night again (I don't think it was causing blood).

She said that they don't see green or yellow as any different either. WTF? So all the nursing websites/books that I've read up on are all wrong on this then?

What else can I do? Please share with me if you are having normal diapers again and what they look like (are they the cottage cheese consistency, yellow and seedy...watery, mucousy, etc.)

How are the diapers going?

We are onto day 6 of no bloody diapers..yay! Super excited about that since it's the longest we've gone w/o a "bad" diaper. Now we just have to work on getting them more yellow instead of florescent green.

Talked to the GI Specialists' nurse yesterday....I have mixed emotions about that phone call. She wasn't the nicest and I wanted to tell her she was annoying the shit out of me about 20 times in our 10 minute conversation.

Come to find out...I should have started him on Poly-Vi-Sol w/Iron after all (they told me to and I didn't really see a need for it considering that I've been eating tons of fruits/veggies/healthy foods non-processed etc. etc. since doing this diet). She told me I needed to start giving it to him because if I didn't...he would become anemic due to me not getting all of the minerals/vitamins into my diet like I normally would. I dunno...I still don't see how that is when I'm taking my prenatal and calcium supplements too. Oh well. I went to Walgreens and gave him his first dose last night...he didn't spit it out - so that's good!

They still think it's an allergy...especially since we were 4 days w/o blood and it was about 5 weeks since last taking in dairy (I don't think the Bailey's was enough to affect him). So this week I'm adding back tree nuts (almonds/cashews/etc). Then next week I have to stop eating tree nuts again and then add back in peanuts (yay....I can't wait to eat a PB&J!). And on and on until we get to something that causes blood again...in which I have to call them right away if it happens before our next appt on May 5th. I'm really thinking it's wheat since we noticed the most changes since cutting that out. But we will see!!!

How was celebrating Easter with MSPI?

Of course, assuming you celebrated. If not, please just share how your weekend was :)

My MIL rocks...she breastfed both her children and I guess my DH was allergic to wheat...so she completely understands the boat I am in.

She checked labels on the ham (some have a lot of preservatives and extra stuff) and she said she went with a bone-in ham because it didn't have all of the "extra" stuff. She even read the label for the glaze and it had soybean oil in it so she made her own glaze!!!! She made all of the veggies and potatoes, sides, etc. with no butter, milk, etc. and told the family that they would need to season their sides to taste! She is such a great MIL...I am very very lucky! She even had a special lunch for me when I arrived Saturday (fresh chicken from the butcher with her homemade tomato sauce...nothing canned because she didn't want to take the chance of something "slipping" in there on accident!!!).

So the Easter dinner was great. Then here comes the HORRIBLE part.....me and DH get home and I love love love Bailey's Irish Cream and haven't had one since before getting pregnant. So I tell him to pour me a glass...I take about 4 sips and go 'OH MY GOD..WHY AM I DRINKING THIS?" I don't know what the heck I was thinking...well, I wasn't apparently. I went 5 frickin weeks with NO dairy and this is what happens? So I feel absolutely horrible/guilty/stupid and am kicking myself in the arse all day now!

On another note...I call the GI specialist tomorrow (Monday..I'm writing this Sun night) for our check-in. Looking back on my logs...he still hasn't had a drastic change in his diapers. DH says that he doesn't think it's dairy since I've been dairy-free for 5 weeks and we still have issues. So, I'm curious to see what the GI specialist will say (since I've been on the complete elimination diet for 2 weeks now).

So hopefully the GI Specialist has some good advice since I don't know what else I can do with my diet. I can't see adding foods back in if we're not 100% better yet. And now with my bit of dairy intake today...who knows how far I've set us back now. Ugh...stupid frickin dairy!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and can't wait to hear some good news about your LO's!

Vent Fest Friday!

I have the same vent over and over and I'm tired of even having it. I am sick of not seeing drastic results in DS's diapers. I have done everything in my power to help him out (besides giving formula,...which I will not do). I am wondering if he'll ever have normal poo's again :(

Now we're in this green mucousy crap again. This should not be happening! I can't wait to talk to the GI doctor on Monday when I check in. Hopefully he'll give me some hope...but from my experience during this whole ordeal...he'll probably just tell me I'm going to have to live with it or switch to formula. There's nothing more I can cut out of my diet! Seriously..what would I eat? I guess I could go completely vegan...but I doubt that will make a difference either.

Ugh....who knew this end of breastfeeding would be so hard??????

Have you seen a difference in LO's temperment since changing your diet?

I have not....he never really got that fussy or had the diaper rash really. '

We had a bloody diap late last night...booo. And we are having more florescent green poos again. But the mucous factor is going down. It's only 4 more days until 2 weeks of this big diet...I am starting to get worried that all will not be well by Monday :(

How is cooking for your family going?

I am lucky that I have a husband who is already lactose intolerant, so the no cheese/dairy thing is easy. He's getting a bit bored with the rice, chicken, veggie combo or hamburgers though!

The other night I had a pretty basic chicken tossed salad and he opted for chicken caesar (oh how I would have rather had the caeser!)

Tonight we are having 3 other couples over for dinner so I'm making a double batch of sauce for homemade lasagna (jarred spaghetti sauce has soy, ugh!) and will make everyone lasagna while I am going to cook up some brown rice noodles and do a sort of "ziti" sans the cheese for me. The good thing is that my house smells really good right now and the sauce is going to be fabulous because it's simmering all day!

So all-in-all we are trying to eat the same things...but sometimes I have to have a little variation on mine. Not too horribly of a PITA, but it would be nice to not have to worry about every single morsel that goes into my mouth!

Will you end up giving formula if the diet doesn't work?

I thought long and hard about this last night since I'm pretty frustrated with not seeing these amazing results, regardless of this big elimination diet I'm on.

I'm soooo tired of mucousy poo's....mucous means his little GI tract is still irritated. That sucks. Although I heard that it takes a bit for it to not be irritated since it's so sensitive. But still..I feel so bad for the little guy.

But, after thinking - I don't think I will go to the formula. I have to check back in with the GI specialist next week over the phone, so we'll see what he says. I'm still holding out hope that Alexander will be back to normal by next week. I keep reminding myself about the conversation I had with the GI Dr...that the bad diapers are more traumatic for the parents than the child, considering he's generally happy, calm, and gaining/growing very well.

But still.....I can't explain how much I "long" for that yellow/seedy mustard-consistency diaper I keep waiting for!

How was your LO over the weekend? Any victories or set-backs?

We were doing pretty good during the week and then had two fluorescent green diaps and like 4 bloody. Ugh...I'm beyond frustrated. I can not eliminate anything else from my diet!!! I am just hoping that by the end of these two weeks (next Monday) that he will be back to normal. So this week is a big week for us. Oh...and tomorrow is 1 month no dairy for me....you'd think we'd be seeing a dramatic change by now, wouldn't you?

Vent Fest Friday!

Post your vent/frustrations about dealing with your LO's intolerance(s) here!

I am now getting all yellow, seedy and pretty mucousy diapers since Tuesday and it's pretty frickin frustrating. I just want yellow and seedy...no mucous. But I guess I should be happy since there has not been blood for 2 days now...that's the longest we've gone since this ordeal started.

That's my biggest vent right now.

Who's doing a food/diaper journal?

We have been keeping track of the following things:

Time and side he ate
What I ate at what time
Time and what his diaper included

This seems to help me feel better when I look back at the logs. It keeps things in perspective. For instance...I might think we had a horrible day or what-not, but when I see it in black and white...I can say "oh, he only had one bloody diaper, that's not too bad". It also helps to make sure that he's not getting dehydrated or anything (seeing # of wet diapers) since this has been something I was worried about when he was having those pretty bad watery poo diapers.

It takes time to write it down...but it's a lifesaver for me on my stress level!

Oh...and we've stuck to yellow now! But his last 2 were more mucousy than seedy..ugh. But for now - no more green! I'll take it! At least I'm seeing some change with the elimination diet! Yay!

Oh, new food:
Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal
It's dairy, gluten, soy free. It takes like cream corn. I put brown sugar on it for breakfast. Filled me up nice!

How is everyone adjusting to their new diets?

I am adjusting surprisingly well. As I posted on the bump yesterday - I went shopping and spent $50 on 10 items...but it was worth it to get some things with some flavor!

My MIL came for a visit today and made a scruptious hearty soup made with only fresh veggies. It didn't sound very good when she told me over the phone what she was bringing (she knows about the special diet I'm on for A) but I didn't want to be rude so I told her to go ahead and make it. It was SO good and was so flavorful. I am getting the recipe from her and will post it. Basically it was fresh tomatoes for the base (so like a tomato soup), celery, onion, corn, kidney beans (for protein), thyme, and some other stuff. It was thicker..so it was more like a stew instead of a soup. I suppose you could probably add some yukon potatoes in there too if you wanted.

DS had an awesome yellow seedy diaper today - - - yay for small victories. It's amazing how I hold my breath when pulling those little velcro tabs of his diaper to see what awaits me. It's usually a sigh of disappointment...but today was a high-five with my husband! I hope they stay this way.....but we've been down this road before so I won't be holding my breath (that is, until we change the next diaper! LOL)

Update on the Dr's Appt's

For those that wanted to know, here's how both the GI specialist appt. went and his pedi appt went today!

GI Appt
Dr. said that he does not believe it's a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance because that does not cause bloody stools like Alexander has been having. He also said the green poo is because the BM is going through his intestines too fast.

He went through all of my options to take care of the problem:

1. Elimination Diet for 2 Weeks and then reintroduce one food at a time
2. Leave my diet as is
3. Biopsy to confirm the allergy(ies), which would consist of going up A's colon and taking a biopsy (Dr. said he does not recommend this, but had to offer since he's a dr)
4. Start formula

So, I chose choice #1. I figured that maybe I'm accidentally getting some soy or milk and not realize that I am. I figured it's only for two weeks, so I can handle it. And doing this elimination diet will for sure tell me what A is allergic to. Dr. is hopeful that we will get everything back into my diet, including soy. I'm not holding my breath!

He asked if after we go through all of this and A still had some bloody diapers - would I want to switch to formula. He asked this because apparently after about 4 months...it's pretty much impossible to switch to the special formula because it tastes horrible and baby is pretty used to the sweetness/goodness of BM. Dr. said he's very pro-BFing, but just wanted to let me know about that little tidbit of info.

Dr. said that if we go through all of this and A still has a bloody diap once in a while - it's nothing to be too concerned about since A is gaining well and overall a "happy" baby. He said the bloody diapers are more traumatic for the parents than the child...so that made me feel better.

So I met with a dietician and she was SO helpful. She gave me a great list of other names for all of the following ingredients: Dairy, Soy, Eggs, Wheat, Fish, Peanuts, Tree Nuts. Here's a link to that list: http://www.foodallergy.org/downloads/HTRLsheet.pdf It was very helpful in the natural foods store tonight! Who knew there were other names for eggs!

So I have to call back after this two weeks and check-in with him. Then I get to reintroduce one of the food groups (not sure which one yet) and see him in a month for a follow-up.

I'm crossing my fingers that this is it and it takes care of everything.

Pedi Appt
Saw the pedi today for a weight check. A is up to 9lb 6oz!!! He'll be 7 weeks tomorrow and was born at 6lb 12oz...so he's gaining great! At least through all of this...I know that A is getting enough nutrition to grow! That's one thing I can feel good about!

Pedi said I could use cortison cream for A's cradle cap. It's not very bad, so I think I'll stick with the baby oil. But thought I'd post that info if any of you ladies had issues with that.

That's it for the updates. I will for sure be posting my takes on the foods that I bought tonight. And all of them will be good for you ladies since I'm not able to eat any of the 8 top food allergies right now.

Right now I ate the following, and it was perfect for a chocolate fix!

Nana's
No Gluten Chocolate Crunch Cookies (contains no egegs, no dairy, no gluten (wheat))

Post any brands that are safe!

Please list any foods that you know for sure are on the safe list to eat. Please list if they are wheat, dairy, soy, etc. free and any recipes you may want to share.

We went to the GI Specialist today and they said they do believe it's an allergy. I am on a very limited diet for the next two weeks (no milk, soy, wheat, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, or tree-nuts). Saw a dietician and she suggested the following brand of food:

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/

Hope this helps some of you. Wish me luck for the next two weeks!

Also-I will post more about the appt. and what he said...don't have time now - - we're off to a pedi appt. now!

Weekend Update

How was your weekend with LO? Are symptoms getting any better? Did you discover any new foods that you can eat? Please share!

Our weekend was stressful. My husband wanted me to start pumping and feeding EBM bottles until we got another bloody diaper....and I was about to do so until I asked the ladies on the Bump for advice. They basically said that all the bottles are doing (since we've had some luck with giving him 2 bottles in a row and then having awesome diapers) is that there's a better mixture of foremilk/hindmilk. So they suggested that I block nurse for 2 days and see if that helps. So, that's what I am currently doing.

But...it's up and down right now with it. We had some yellow diapers, but there was blood in them. So that's heartbreaking. Then last night we were back to green, no blood. Go figure!

I'm just glad that we see the GI pediatrician tomorrow and hopefully he can give me some answers. All in all...it's been 3 weeks now and there's no significant improvement with my DS. That just doesn't seem right.

I have discovered Jasmine Rice...I know, I know...doesn't seem like a huge thing - - but when you've been living off of plain white rice flavored with some pepper...anything with a bit of flavor is nice! Right now I have a stew in the crock pot for tonight's dinner: beef stew meat, red skin potatoes, onion, baby carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, water. Can't go wrong there, right? Hopefully it turns out...it's my first time with this recipe! Too bad I won't be able to sop up the juices with a big ol' hunk of buttered bread! Ah....bread & butter. I miss you :(

Vent Fest Friday!

As suggested - I will be doing a Vent Fest Friday every Friday. Please let it all out here, without guilt!

Here I go!

I am so.sick.of.this! I'm tired of not knowing if it's my forceful letdown that's causing all of A's symptoms or if it really is a dairy allergy. We had a funeral on Wed and Thurs and I fed him 2 bottles of EBM on Wed - - well, we had 3 awesome awesome awesome diapers. Back to where they should be. Then, of course - BAM...back to green and even a couple bloody (not much blood..but still, it was there!). I went grocery shopping last night and wanted to cry in the middle of aisle 3 since almost everything picked up had either dairy or soy in it. I'm pissed that I have to do so much research on my own and the doctor doesn't offer much help. The only thing he said was "stay away from dairy". Well, if I wouldn't have done research...I would literally only be staying away from drinking milk, eating cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. I almost wanted to throw in the towel and say fuck it - I'll just formula feed. But that breaks my heart and I can't imagine losing that special bond I currently have with A due to nursing. I also think it's selfish of me to think that way - - it's only for a year that I'll have to live this dairy/soy free lifestyle. And in the big picture - I'm eating a lot more healthy because of it. Lots of fresh fruits/salads/veggies/chicken/fish. It's the most frustrating when I'm starving and I have to "make" something instead of just grabbing something quick, which is the joy of processed foods.

I'm going to ask the pedi GI specialist on Tuesday if we can have the dairy-protein allergy test done and see if that's an option. It pisses me off that the regular pedi never even mentioned this test or mentioned sending us to an allergist. I know the test exists...of course, only because I did the research.

Ok - I think I'm done. I still feel like shit though and very "defeated" right now. DS is started to stir and wants to eat.

How is MSPI affecting you emotionally/mentally/physically?

Emotionally-I am exhausted. We go from having awesome diapers to back to a horrible diaper. I am in the process of changing the way I hold A during feedings because a consult over the phone with a LC suggested that I have forceful let down. We just had 3 awesome diapers in a row...and now the last one was bad again. I feel horrible for my DS and guilty because I feel like it's still something I am doing....which in a sense, it is my fault. I get angry at the milk/soy protein and angry that it might be my boobs causing this.

Mentally-I am struggling with trying to put some flavor into the foods I eat. I am going grocery shopping today and am not looking forward to it. It's a huge change to have to look so closely at labels, get excited that something looks like it's safe, only to find that the 2nd to last ingredient is one of those hidden soy/dairy products. I am still determined to make this work though...regardless of how hard it may be at this beginning stage of the journey.

Physically-I am losing weight due to my not eating so many processed foods...so that's a bonus! I am worried about calcium intake though. I still have to research if there is a calcium supplement I can take that does not contain the dairy protein. Right now I am drinking the rice milk fortified with calcium...but it's not enough. I'm used to drinking a gallon of milk a week myself. I miss milk! :(

What were/are your LO's symptoms? How long have they been suffering?

My DS started out with just green poo. I thought it was a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance at first. Then about 3 days into it, he had his first bloody/mucousy diaper. Of course, this is where I freaked out, started crying, and called the on-call nurse (because of course these things only happen at night over the weekend!) She told us to just watch it and call back tomorrow to make an appt to see the pedi. That was a Sunday.

Monday comes, we call the pedi and we go in that same day. He says it's probably a virus. I even took diapers into the office with me so he could see them. Okay - just a virus, it will work itself out! Went home thinking "I can handle this"

Tuesday comes, more bloody diapers. Now I'm freaking out. Virusus should not cause blood. Of course I call pedi and we go back in! This time pedi suggests that it might be MSPI so I cut out all dairy from my diet that day.

Fast forward to today.

I have been dairy-free for over two weeks now. I also have been primarily soy-free (won't eat soy sauce, soy milk, etc) but just realized that I may be consuming things with soy lechithin in them like whole wheat bread. I am thinking that I will have to be more careful because we are still pretty much all green poo and some blood still (about 1 diaper a day has blood).

I am also wondering if the green poo in general may be because of a forceful letdown. I have a funeral today/tomorrow and will be primarily bottle feeding EBM. If his poos go back to yellow after these 2-3 bottles of BM, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I do not want to stop BFing because I love the bonding experience and it's so convenient...but do I sacrifice DS's poo because I'm being selfish? Not sure if I'll have to exclusively pump. I am selfishly hoping the bottles do not change his poo color.

We have an appt with a pedi GI specialist next week Tuesday. Not sure what they will do...but maybe they will have more answers than the regular pedi since he says that the blood should have stopped by now.

All in all - it's very confusing to me and I'm ready for things to go back to normal!

What are some things you would like to learn from this check in?

I need ideas for asking questions to help you ladies get something useful out of this blog.

Please list some questions that you would like answered and I will incorporate them into the check-in.

Thanks!

How was your LO over the weekend?

Mine was good in regards to the diapers - - it looks like we are on the "up-swing" of things with DS's diapers. We had 3 bloody and pretty green diapers on Saturday and only one of his diapers had a tiny bit of blood in it yesterday. His coloring is also getting more fluorescent green and/or yellow instead of the darker green....yay!!! I am awaiting a call back from Children's Hospital today to schedule A for his gastroentologist appt...which was suggested by his pediatrician to make sure nothing more is going on besides the allergy.

I am hoping that things continue to get better with him - it will be 2 actual weeks come this Tuesday since I've been dairy-free....so I am hopeful!

What are some of your go-to foods?

I have been having such a hard time eating. I used to just grab anything and go, like chips or grab a cookie passing the pantry or cook up some mac-n-cheese for lunch.

Now I'll eat a banana or some strawberries instead. I've also been eating a lot of brown rice and veggies.

I get hunger pangs every night when I wake up to feed the little guy - but I don't want to put the effort in to figure out what I can eat. The other night before bed I was hungry and was going to make some microwave popcorn - - but nope, no-can-do since it contains milk. Who knew?

One thing that's good about this journey is I think I'll be in those pre-pg jeans sooner than I thought!

What has been the most frustrating thing about your dealings with MSPI?

My most frustrating thing is that DS will have normal yellow/seedy diapers and I think "oh good, the protein is out of our systems" and then BAM - we get 5 green/bloody diapers in a row. It's so frustrating! And to make matters worse - I can't seem to find anything that says if this is normal. It just says that it can take a couple of weeks for symptoms to go away. It just doesn't make sense to me that the blood would come and go - and diapers can be normal and then back to "bad". We're off to the doctor again this afternoon...but he doesn't seem to be much help. We'll see what he has to say!

Let's Get Acquainted!

Since this is the first post - thought we should get acquainted with each other.

Please list your name (siggy name is okay as that's what we are used to!), how long since your little one was diagnosed, and any other information you would like to share.

Me: My name is Cassandra, or Cassandra1028 on the bump. My son was diagnosed a little more than a week ago, so we are in the beginning stages of this journey! Right now I am exclusively breast feeding and have gone on a dairy-free diet. I am thinking that in another week or so, I will try to reintroduce soy to see if he tolerates it okay.

My son was having green, mucousy, and bloody diapers and that is what prompted us to take him into the pediatrician's office. At first, the pedi just said that he must have a virus. I did some research and found a lot of information on www.kellymom.com and figured that I would keep the dairy protein allergy in the back of my head if the diapers continued. Well...they did and we went back to the pediatrician. Without my bringing it up, the pedi suggested that it very well could be MSPI. So here we are today - no cheese, no milk, no yogurt, no soy sauce, no "Cassandra foods" that I love so much! Hey - I'm a Wisconsin girl...us girls love our dairy! I fully intend to stay dairy-free for as long as I am breastfeeding (for a year or more yet!) and I hope to find some great recipes to help me eat something more exciting than the bland brown rice, veggies, and chicken or fish that I've been sticking to since this came about!

I look forward to getting to know the rest of you!

As far as the check-in goes - I would like to do a question of the day. Please share any ideas/questions/suggestions for the check-in as this is a blog for all of us! I hope you enjoy the site!