Food Intolerance

Well, I have not updated about my breastfeeding issues in a while... so I will try to remember what details I need to include.  Let me just say for those as naive as me, breastfeeding is hard at first!  I read alot before hand but didn't think any of that would happen to me!  I have had everything in the book except undersupply (at least yet!).  It all started with soreness from pumping while she was in the NICU.  Then it continues on from soreness, to sores, then scabs.  We suspected bad latch and worked on that... looking back, it was because she was clamping down hard mainly because I had oversupply with an overactive let down, and it would gag her when she ate.  I also have had mastitis, plugged ducts, leaking, wore breast shells for few weeks because of sores (I don't recommend), and last of all thrush!  Which I have determined now, that is why my sores never healed...until we treated for thrush.  My only wish for 2 1/2 months was to be able to unhook the bra, feed her, and then hook it back until the next feeding!  I HAD to do alot of air drying.  I was pretty much stuck at home for a while.  If I did go out, I was really uncomfortable...  Finally, I am able to say that my wish has come true.  Soooo grateful for this and so happy I stuck with it because....

Sydney definitely has food intolerance issues.  Because of this she would not have tolerated regular formula and would have to be on a special, really expensive one.  She started having reflux at a few weeks old.  She then would wake up gagging on mucous some nights...very scary having to suction it out so she could breathe.  I started researching and came across the dairy intolerance issue.  So I limited dairy and that helped some. 

The older she became, the worse the reflux was getting.  She always sounded like she had a cold and wheezing.  The spit up was getting worse, and then she started projectile vomiting some days after eating.  I got my oversupply under control by only switching sides every 6 hours, sometimes 12.  I still have to only switch every 4-5 hours to keep it under control and make sure she gets some fat in her diet.  So that seemed to help some, but her poops were getting darker and less orange like they used to and more and more mucous was appearing in them.  They smelled so acidic!  I mentioned it to the pediatrician at her 1 month appointment and she seemed to think I was an over-protective new mom.  She didn't say it, just told me that some reflux and spit up was normal for infants due to their digestive immaturity.  But I had been around a lot of babies over the years, and I knew something was different.

At 1 1/2 months I was replacing my dairy with substitutes and tried almond milk.  That was a big mistake because her diapers and reflux got worse!  I was positive it was dark, old blood I was seeing in her diapers.  Then I had one diaper that looked like meconium it was so black.  So we went to the Ped that day!  She tested the few hour old diaper and said it was not blood... so I just called it dark mucous from then on.  She then heard her bad refluxing at that appointment and prescribed her a low dose of generic Z.antac.  I was given more gaic cards to test for blood in the future.  I tested a few diapers that were dark after that, but it didn't get that bad once I stopped eating all tree nuts.

At 2 months we went in for usual check up, and I still was not seeing poops like I should.  Her medicine also seemed to help her with the discomfort of reflux but not stop it completely.  The ped developed the gaic cards and said "yes, that IS blood".  So that other diaper must have been too old when she tested it.  So big turn around.  The ped said she is definitely having a protien intolerance issue, and we need to get the blood and mucous out of her diapers. Or she will have to go on a special formula to let her gut heal.  Obviously internal bleeding is not good!

So for the last month I have been doing the total elimina.tion diet.  I wasn't sure what else was bothering her because I was already off dairy and nuts and all minute forms of such.  I also was logging everything I ate and her diapers and symptoms.  I could not find a rhyme or reason.  So I started eating just turkey, potatoes, squash, rice, and pears.  (They are the least allergenic foods of each food group.)  She started to do a lot better after about 2 weeks, and then a little bit worse.  So a week ago I eliminated turkey and cut back on the brown rice.  And this week everything is looking a LOT better.  I love smelling her sweet poop!  HA! Thought I'd never say such a thing.  I dropped off the recent gaic cards today at her 3 month shots.  I can't wait to hear if the ped says she has no trace of blood in her stool!  I successfully added avocados, gummy vitamins, and bananas.  I tried adding chicken a couple days ago with no success.  A nice green poo with mucous!  But at least her system clears up quickly now that it is healed up mostly.  So I will be trying some black beans next... I need some protien in my diet!

I contacted the donor family to see if there was any food allergies in the family.  They said no, but one of the twins (oddly enough the one that looks most like Syd) had a severe case of reflux and was dropping off the charts and looking "like a concentration camp survivor".  They had to compound a special medicine for him.  They said he started doing much better at 6 months with eating solids. 

So I am grateful she is still growing and gaining, and we caught this issue soon enough to prevent furthur harm.  I will be glad to eat normal again... but I am so grateful I can provide the best thing for her right now.  She is SOOO worth it!