Dumb 4 month appointment - vent

angiek1

Holly had her 4 month appointment today, and it did not go well.  She is already on an MSPI diet, but this last week she has been spitting up like crazy and has had super runny diapers with mucus and the poops are green.  I got smart and have been taking photos of her poops for the last week b/c I knew something was up even though the on-call nurse told me not to worry.

When they weighed Holly she didn't gain like she was supposed to; she hardly gained any weight since her last appointment. I was told that we need to do the special formula for the next two weeks and that I need to pump and store. Then we go back to my doc to determine next steps.  I may need to go to a total elimination diet depending on what my doc says.  Has anyone done this? If so are you doing it while back at work? Is it crazy hard to do?

I am so deflated. I have been EP since LO was 4 weeks b/c she stopped latching and pumping was working great. I don't know if I have it in me to do a total elimination diet, but we will see.  This is so much harder than I thought it was going to be. 
Sorry for the vent, just overwhelmed and bummed out.

sarahlisa00

Must son isn't gaining as much as they would like and it's super frustrating. He refuses bottles at home so my hands are kind of tied as how to supplement. You are an amazing mom for doing at that pumping! Now that we are in daycare I'm pumping a couple times a day and it's no fun. I don't have any advice but you aren't alone in these frustrations!

MiaMyPuggle

Really sorry to hear this. If you don't want to stop EPing, then elimination is the only option...it will be rough, but if you're determined, you can do it.. I think I went on MSPI mama website for recipes. I'm slowly introducing more foods....she still has a reaction from regular milk and soy, so I have to watch that. I also use nutramagin when I need to supplement or for her cereal bc I loathe pumping and cleaning all of that crap each time. Seriously, way to go with the pumping...I couldn't do it. I'd be spending $30 every couple of days for the nutramagin rather than pump. That's amazing you're so dedicated!

km_md

I'm sorry that you're going through this, it is so stressful. Elimination diets are hard, so good luck with that. I hope that you guys can find a solution soon!

caloneis

Total elimination is extreme. There are only about 8-9 foods you can eat for two weeks and then you can start slowly adding things back in once she is better. Usually people will just start eliminating other foods starting with top 8 allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish) but this can take a long time and you still may not identify the problem foods. Also, it is possible that she will have trouble with the formula as well. Which one do they want you to try?

chicki1012

No help here but very sorry to hear. Hang in there and good luck with the diet. .

SandFHasse

No advice from me, but I'm sorry you're going through this.

wifetomrb101

We were doing dairy-free but DD2 wasn't happy either.  I went to a holistic dr. (only because my mom told me too lol) and she said DD2 can't handle anything right now because her system is in distress.  Basically, it started with dairy, which is why going dairy-free at 10 days made such a difference, but now at 4 months it didn't seem to be helping.  So I went on a total elimination diet for 4 days on her recommendation. I ate fruit smoothies and used almond milk with protein powder, hemp hearts and chia seed for breakfast (hemp and chia to fill me up longer) and lots of anti-oxident rich fruits like blueberries. Salad for lunch with lots of sunflower seeds, supper was potatoes/rice and cooked veggies.  I added in a little bit of dairy to my diet now, and DD2 is doing ok.  I only do it once a day like cheese in my salad but it seems to be going ok. The holistic dr told me animal protein is the hardest to digest-pork is worst, then beef.  Chicken is a little better along with fish and eggs, but still to try stay away from it.  I also stay away from grains, but that's more for myself.  (After the elimination diet I tried grains a couple times and I found I felt crappy and bloated afterwards). 

Generally I'm not a huge believer in holistic stuff, but my mom loooves this lady so I figured I'd try it and see what she had to say.  I've used her advice to my discretion and am doing things differently then she suggested, but I'm going by what DD2 is telling me. I like the elimination diet because I knew after 4 days of basically nothing but fruit and veggies (stayed away from tomatoes, onions, beans, strawberries and corn) and only eating one thing at a time that could possibly bother her.  Only a bit of chicken, no diary, no wheat, etc. The dr. also mentioned that if it's going to bother them, they'll be fussy within 4 hours of you eating it, assuming they've eaten in that time period. 

Good luck!  This is just my experience in the last 2 weeks...it sucks.  

angiek1

Thanks ladies for the kind words and support. After a night of sleep I am feeling better about the situation.

@caloneis we are doing Nutramigen with Enflora LGG for Cows Milk Allergy Powder Can for Babies 0-12 Months.  We are going to see how LO does with this formula for two weeks.

@wifetomrb101 thanks for your reply, what you posted is super helpful. I like all the foods you listed, I can get behind a smoothie .  I'm really tempted to start the elimination diet so that way when the two weeks of formula is over all the crap that is possibly upsetting Holly's stomach is already out of my system and then we can start feeding her BM sooner rather than later.

kiki1978

So sorry you are going through this. ((hugs))

nolagal79

@angiek1‌ my LO is on nutramigen as well. She's doing great on it, but we have to use the ready to feed (liquid). Her stomach/digestive system is so sensitive that she couldn't tolerate the powder form. Just something to keep in mind if you see she has problems with it. Best of luck to you!

susieandmarty

Have not gone through that but I imagine it's frustrating and upsetting. So sorry you have to deal with it

amt0312

Ugh, I hate nutramigen. It smells like rotten cheez-its. Sorry to hear that you are going through this. Just so you know, Nutramigen is still made with cow milk (it contains casein), so if you LO doesn't do well on it, you may need to switch to a different elemental formula. 

My DD was on nutramigen for a week and it made her worse, so we switched completely to soy (absolutely no milk) rather than trying out a different elemental formula such as Alimentum or Elecare. She doesn't have a soy allergy so we figured just keep her on that instead of spending the $$ on elementals. 

wifetomrb101

@angiek1 - I just reread what I wrote last night....yikes half of it was gramatically incorrect!  I hope it made sense tho.  You can pm me if you have more questions.

angiek1

amt0312 I didn't know that it had milk... hummm. I'll be calling my pediatrician tonight to ask her about that. 

amt0312

It is made with cow milk, but its broken down to the point where its easily digestible for babies who have milk allergies. Now I can't say for sure that its the milk in nutramigen that made my DD worse. The formula when mixed is much thinner than regular formula and it could also be that she just couldn't hold it down. Whatever it was, it was a nightmare week for us and the whole house stunk to high heaven with her vomit.  

see the linky here and look at the section about "how nutramigen works for milk allergy"

https://www.enfamil.com/articles-and-videos/allergy-center/solutions/cows-milk-protein-allergy-management

ababymaybe

Some babies also do better on alimentum RTF as it doesn't have corn whereas the powder (as well as all kinds of nutramigen, I believe) does. Just depends on the allergy set of course, but something to consider before $$$$ elementals.

My ODS ended up supplemented with alimentum RTF after a year-- he was severely allergic to the milk proteins in regular formula but tolerated the ali well. Good luck! I know how daunting it can be to navigate the allergy world.

Cormelbaby

All you ladies dealing with allergies with LO are amazing. I really don't think I could cut out much from my diet to BF. I hope it gets better!