PAIF Graduates - New Mommies - June

clt2pwm11

Hey girls. For those of you who remember me, this is my little fighter Charlie. We spent 100 days in the NICU. He had two surgeries and fought hard to be here. He is still on oxygen. We have been home almost 2 months and just recently were able to go to full time breast feeding. It took a lot of patience and work and he still uses a nipple shield, but I have finally broken up with my pump. He also has cow's milk protein allergy, so we are dairy free and also soy free up in this house. It has been the absolute hardest year of my life and we are definitely DONE having kids, but he is my little miracle and I love him so much.
 Congratulations to all the mommies who gave birth these past few months! Enjoy those babies!!

2legbaby

@clt2pwm11 thankyou for the update on your sweet Charlie! I have thought of you often and can only imagine how difficult these past few months have been.  He looks like such a sweet, happy little guy - you did a wonderful job momma!

janejane-2

clt2pwm11 - thank you for the updated!! So happy to see that Charlie is doing so well. He is so stinking cute!! My little ones spent just over 30 days in the NICU so I can only imagine how trying those 100 days were. Glad to hear that you're adjusting well. How did you you find out about the cow's milk protein allergy? 

clt2pwm11

@janejane before leaving the nicu he had been on 3 different formula fortifiers and had terrible reflux. They sent off a stool sample and it came back over 600. The gi suggested going dairy and soy free. It has been about a month and I'm seeing a huge difference. He is much more comfortable. We also quit using any fortifier once we got home. He was gaining beautifully on bm and it seemed to keep his tummy issues at bay.

kelrauh

@clt2pwm11 - I have thought of you and Charlie often. He is seriously so dang cute!!! I can't imagine the struggle you had in the nicu. You are one strong family. We also struggled with fortifiers and quit once we got home (i feel bad having $1,000 in samples). Going off made our babies much happier. One of my twins has horrible reflux and has a dairy intolerance. I give you props that you are dairy and soy free, I am only breast feeding one twin because I was not up for taking on the challenge of BF dairy free. With everything you have been through, it amazes me you stuck to pumping and you are now exclusively breast feeding. You are one tough and determined woman... way to go!!! 

clt2pwm11

@kelrauh Breastfeeding/pumping was the only thing I could control. I needed to feel like I was DOING something to help my son. I'm also from a family of breastfeeders so I had lots of people who could offer me advice. I hope to donate my frozen dairy milk to a mama in need. At least something positive can come from this experience.

*edit to add* I'm also staying home with him for 2 years so we have a lot of time to practice! If I was going back to work, I probably would have given it up!

BlueEyedDreamer

@clt2pwm11 I'm so happy to see your update!!! Charlie is adorable! I'm sorry for everything you have had to go through to get to this point, but you are one amazingly strong woman. Charlie is lucky to have you as his mom!

We have also been dealing with dairy intolerance issues (mucus-y poop, lots of painful gas, explosive poops, etc.). I went dairy free for a month, but it did not help. They did stool sample tests, but they were inconclusive. He was having such bad gas and tummy issues that I decided to put him on Alimentum (formula) for a couple of weeks while pumping. He has been doing much better on the formula (except for a LOT of spitup). I've saved all the milk I've pumped, so I'm going to try gradually re-introducing it into his bottles. I'm not sure we'll ever get back to nursing, but I'm okay with pumping and supplementing if we can. 

We are also dealing with eczema - does anyone else have experience with this? It is like a fine rash all over his body that sometimes in some areas flares up in red blisters. There was one time when it flared up all over his body - it was awful. Now it just flares up here and there. I hate knowing that it may be making him itchy and uncomfortable. We're slathering him with aquaphor and treating the areas that flare up with hydrocortisone, but I just hate it for him. I was hoping that it might be related to the dairy-thing, but no luck with that clearing up on the formula. Any advice is welcome!

ultratomato

@clt2pwm11 I don't remember your story but that's great news and he is a little cutie.


girls turned 6 months yesterday here they are in their favorite bands onesie lol

clt2pwm11

@blueyeddreamer I've read eczema can be a symptom of allergies. It might be worth going to a pediatric allergist if your love bug already has a dairy allergy.  Many babes also have allergies on top of the dairy.

alaaronson

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capps42613

@clt2pwm11 what a fighter! Both you & Charlie. He is a handsome lil guy and I hope he stays on the mend. Thanks for the update!

alaaronson

Hi all,
sorry, tried to update last night but my post got partially deleted. I was inspired by @clt2pwm11 to share my somewhat similar story after falling off the radar for a while. The last time I posted I had just learned my son Julian had a clubfoot at his 22 week ultrasound and was a little bummed about it. Otherwise he looked good and I was doing well at my MD appointment that week. The following week we went on a babymoon to NOLA. The week after I started feeling funny - my feet were swelling a lot and I felt strange and anxious for no reason. I was suspicious something might be up so I checked my BP at work (i'm a doc) and it was 200/125. Husband and I went quickly to the ER where it was discovered I had lots of protein in my urine - I had severe preeclampsia at 24 weeks. I was admitted to the hospital for nearly a month, maintained on multiple BP meds, until my 27th week when I began to develop HELLP syndrome (where your liver gets damaged by HELLP and can cause lots of problems with your blood). Julian had to be emergently delivered that week. He was, on February 20, at 27 weeks and 3 days. He weighed 1 lb 14 oz from IUGR. Despite his rocky start he actually did pretty well in the NICU, was only intubated for 3 days and essentially just needed to grow and mature. All told he was in the NICU for 84 days, went home 1 week before his due date, on mothers day. We've been home and enjoying him since. 
Delivering under such scary circumstances is a whole other thing. I think I have PTSD from it, and from having tiny Julian in the NICU, looking so frail. Unclear if my husband and I will try to have another kid or hold off, or adopt or pursue surrogacy. We do have 3 frozen embryos still in the hospital. 
Anyway, just wanted to share my story and the ultimate happy ending. Oh, and if you or a pregnant friend ever doesnt feel right during pregnancy, I highly recommend acting on your concern. It could save your and your kid's lives. 
Julian on mothers day, 6 lbs 13 oz. Today he's around 11 lbs!

2legbaby

@alaaronson Julian is beautiful and first I am so sorry to hear what you,  Julian and your husband had to go through, but am so glad that you followed your instincts and that physically you are ok.. I can't imagine what the mental toll on super moms like you and @clt2pwm11 must be. I hope you have or would consider counseling as your PTSD reference  is probably too accurate.... you  have literally survived something so traumatic.  Hugs to you momma! 

clt2pwm11

@alaaronson I totally understand the ptsd thing. I frequently cry at follow up appointments. You have definitely been through a lot and it's ok to feel *insert emotion here.*Not sure if you are a member of any groups on fb, but I found a micro-preemie group that really has helped me a lot. I've been able to offer advice to people just starting their NICU journey and ask questions of moms who are a little ahead of me in their journey. I highly recommend it!

Your little one looks fantastic, and 11 pounds is quite impressive!!! We are right under 10lbs at 2 months adjusted. 

tvh1982

Welcome @c2pwm11 and @alaaronson.
I totally understand the ptsd.
My delivery was a walk in the park compare to your stories, but it took me a while to accept it. 

I pm'ed you @nellin-2, I wanted to give you a warmer welcome as I previously did.

ultratomato

Anyone give eggs to there 6 month olds? What about puffs or yogurt melts?

ale9687

Not yet but my dr does high allergy foods then. I think you give the whites first then yolk, I don't remember the order but you split it up to test for allergies. I told my dr I'll be doing eggs and peanuts in their office since both are high allergy risks. 

tvh1982

Well cooked eggs are ok from 6 months. 
You don't need to separate the yolk from the white.
The yolk does not contain the protein one can be allergic too. The egg white contains 4 proteins one can be allergic to from mild to highly. 
Before they said not to feed the whites before they are 1 year old. Now they say from 6 months it's ok. 
My LO had a tiny bit of scrambled eggs. As she has a dairy allergy I'm a little more 'careful' introducing eggs.
We did try peanut butter, a tiny bit on her spoon and slowly increasing it. Although if she would react severe a reaction already should have happened.
Yoghurt is not on my list due to the cowsmilk allergy, but this is ok too at 6 months.

clt2pwm11

@tvh1982 When do you think you will reintroduce cow's milk? Our GI said around 9 months. . . not sure if she meant actual or adjusted age as she sucks and spent literally 2.5 minutes with me. I'm going to assume adjusted. In that case, we will try in January. Just curious what your doc recommended.

kelrauh

@clt2pwm11 - I am curious on your question too. My twins were 7 weeks early and one has a cows milk allergy but they did not mention when to reintroduce him.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for their advice on Patrick's tummy issues. I think that we are on the right track. He is on nutramigen and rice cereal. The doctor told me to try rice cereal even though he is only 3 months old because it will help with the reflux. We made this change last Wednesday and we have a totally new baby. He does scream as much after eating and isnt spitting as much up. I am such a happy mommy! To add to this both babies decided to start sleeping through the night last week, so I feel like a we have a whole new life with sleep and a happy baby!

tvh1982

We had a provocation test at 4 months. 
She didn't cramp, but got a big rash.
As they said this wasn't a symptom she had before I could start mixing one spoon of regular formula, and slowly swop more as weeks passed by.
Unfortunately after a few days she got back to being in pain so I stopped mixing it up. 
My doctor recommended to start again around 9 months. (When she was rash free and been doing well)
Which will be the 1st August, but as we'll be traveling to San Francisco, I prefer to test this month.

She eats regular bread, is ok with sausages and butter.
Spinach a la creme was too much and she has her rash back. 
So seems like tiny bits of milk (as in powderform in meats and milk in bread) is ok. The 'a la creme' was a no go.
So now we'll wait again til she's one year old.

My friend with a little girl 2 weeks younger than mine reacted on the provocation test with bad cramping.
She's on a strict diet with no cowsmilk at all (so no regular bread, no sausages, butter etc)
She has been given the advise to try bread first as this is the mildest form to provocate.
At 7,5 months she got her first regular slice, unfortunately she was in pain in the evening.
Not sure when she may try again. I'll see her tomorrow and I'll ask her!

Ive got different advice as when to try (our monthly checkups are not with my family doctor) So at the monthly checkups they said wait a month and try again, when I stopped at 4 months.
My family doctor however said that I should follow my instincts and wait til around 9 months to try again. So my LO would get a break and 're-cover'. She also would be older and her intestines could handle more. I'm glad I listened to that.

So if you see at 9 months (or maybe earlier) that your LO is doing ok and already eats bread. You could try regular bread. It's important though that day to not introduce anything else.
Same as for introducing fruits and purees. Start with a teaspoon of one type and nothing new that day. Increase the next day and so on. Once you see that works fine you can introduce something new. You may then combine the two on one day. As long as you don't introduce different foods at once.

tvh1982

I've created a July discussion