***bieanca***
I paged you on the BF board Monday morning, but I'm not sure you saw it.
First of all, I'm glad the test came back normal on your DS, that must be a huge relief!
Thank you for your response to my post about how us having MSPI problems and the GI Dr. recommending formula.
We've been on formula since Friday around noon. =( I've been pumping since to keep up my supply for when we go back to BF'ing. Did you do the elimination diet? Or just milk and soy? How long did it take for your DS to show no signs of the allergy after taking things out of your diet? Did he ever show signs of pain or discomfort? How were his diapers? Congrats on being at 8 months and still BF'ing...I REALLY want to get there! So far DS has had only 2 poopy diapers-- first one was not watery, no blood, and only a little mucus. The 2nd one was quite a bit more poop, no blood or mucus and looked like wet mud. I think his GI tract is still getting used to the formula-- which by the way he hated and I bawled during that first bottle seeing his sad face. I can't wait to go back to BFing.
You said to avoid restaurants. I've looked at a lot of their websites to find allergen menus. But just today realized that even though they say they don't use soy, doesn't mean they don't use soybean oil, since it's not listed as an allergy. If you've been doing this for that long. What do you eat? What do you do if you're out all day and need to eat? You take food with you all the time? What do you snack on? Are you a working mom? I really want this to work, so I'll do anything. I've lost so much weight cause I barely eat and obviously what I do eat is fat-free basically. I try to eat protein often though for the milk supply.
I really appreciate your help. It's been rough, but if you can do it for that long, so can I. Thanks again!
Now it's Thursday and he's had one bowel movement a day, unlike 4-5 diarrhea ones when on BM. He didn't have one yesterday, but I hear it's normal to go a day without one. Meanwhile my nips are killing me from all this pumping and I just want to BF him again so bad. It hasn't gotten any easier (for me) to feed him a bottle instead of nurse. I made an appt with an allergist next week, but who knows what they'll do if he's only 3 months old. What do you think?
btw- I was born in Grand Prairie, only lived there until I was 6, so don't know much about it. Just that it's close to Dallas and Fort Worth.
Re: ***bieanca***
I want to apologize for now answering the page. I tend to post and go back once a week or so.
I don't know what the elimination diet it so I guess I did not do it. I started by eliminating soy and dairy and that really seemed to help. It took a while for DS to not show any signs/symptoms... at least 2 weeks. He did show discomfort before we figured out what was causing his pain. He was very very fussy and would scream when trying to poop (even though it was watery). I think the change in his poop is due to the formula... we never actually did the formula so I don't know how it makes their poop. He did have watery, bloody, and mucosy diapers before I eliminated anything. I totally understand how you feel about the formula.
DS GI doctor said to avoid restaurants, but we didn't totally. When we did go out to eat I ate a LOT of salads with vinegar and oil dressing. I didn't get any meat because I couldn't guarantee they wouldn't put anything on it that DS would be allergic to. You can also have vinegarette dressings. In a cookbook I have it gives a list of ingredients you can't have. It also lists ingredients to substitute. I think I bought the cookbook for around $10 on amazon. If you can afford it I WOULD definately purchase it.
https://www.amazon.com/Milk-Protein-Intolerance-Guidebook-Cookbook/dp/0533138418/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241101106&sr=8-1
I didn't actually cook anything out of it, but I kept it in the diaper bag for when I was grocery shopping. It gives you lots of alternatives to things you normally eat. I don't have time now, but I can list the items you can't have later. FYI... you can have soybean oil and soy lethicin.
I have not been doing it as strict lately because I wanted to try adding things in. I haven't eaten yogurt, milk, or other big sources of dairy. I have eaten a lot of fresh veggies, fruit, and meat. It is healthy and I have lost a good amount of weight since being forced to eat this way. I stay at home with DS. I snacked a lot of wheat thins, fritos, and fruity candy. As a treat I(if you call it that) I would get a bean burrito from taco bell without the cheese. Not that great, but after eating everything else it was heaven. If we were going somewhere that I knew I couldn't eat what they were having I would get taco bell.
I am so sorry this is happening. I know how rough it was. I went a different route than you and it worked for us. I knew that if I went to pumping I would just cave and continue to give him the formula. It is very very rough, but stick with it. We kept breastfeeding and to this day that is all he wants... a few solids here and there. Do what you have to do in order to get your DS better. My doctor was ok with my just eliminating the stuff from my diet and not wanting me to do formula. He is very laid back and understanding.
If you have any other questions I am mostly on this board. You can also email me at bethany.minyard@gmail.com
I will be glad to answer any questions you have or if you just need to vent. I was there once and it was very difficult. I will try to get that stuff posted about what you can't eat later. I still suggest the book I posted a link to above and the website for the receipes.
https://mspimama.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for your response and no worries on not seeing my post! The elimination diet is no dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, or nuts. So it doesn't leave much at all. Also, I've been avoiding soybean oil and soy lecithin because there were some ladies who's LO's had a reaction to those too, so I didn't want to chance it.
I think I saw that cookbook when I did a google search and thought about picking it up, thank you! I made an appt with an LC this afternoon to get their opinion on this and for help with the new pumping challenges. He's had ok (different but normal) diapers now since Saturday. Tomorrow will be a week on formula and today is 4 weeks dairy and egg free and 3 weeks soy, wheat, and nut free. The GI Dr. asked me to do formula, to test it out. Now that I did, I want to go back to BFing, but I'm torn if I should or not. He woke up the last two nights screaming and flinging his legs and once I picked him up, held him in the cradle position, and patted his bum, he stopped and then let out some gas..and it happened twice. So, I don't know what to think. He's on Alimentum and it's supposed to be for those problems. I know no blood, mucus and diarrhea is good, but he still seems uncomfortable.
I found that mspimamma site after your response on the BF forum, it's a really good site. I think if I could just do dairy and soy, it'd be much easier. To stay away from wheat, nuts and eggs, make it much harder. Most allergies are related to dairy and soy anyway. Hopefully I can BF him again and start to introduce those things again if we have good diapers. What kind of diapers does your DS have now? No longer watery?
Thanks again, it's a rough road, but I'm trying my hardest!!
No problem on the phone post...sometimes mine are all together too.
So, I feel really good about the appt with the LC. She's had many moms with allergies come in. One woman did the elimination diet and the baby was still having problems. Eventually she did an allergy blood test and it came back that the baby was allergic to rice! I couldn't imagine!! Cause I'm eating rice krispies, rice milk, rice cakes, and rice all the time!! So, this blood test is what I'll ask the allergist about. I hope it can be done with DS only being 3 months old. It could also be corn, which I've been eating a lot cause of corn chips.
DS hasn't had any problems gaining weight. He has gained 6lbs in 3 months and weighed a whopping 15lbs 1oz at his 3 month check up. He hasn't had any skin problems either. So the allergy isn't as bad as others have had it. I'm thankful for that. My DH had an allergy when he was an infant to formula, so they had to put him on a special one, probably a milk free one...they don't remember. He lost so much weight before they figured out the problem. I've seen pics and he was definitely a sickly baby. I'm wondering if this is where DS gets it.
She also told me about a probiotic that can help breakdown my foods more so that his system doesn't work as hard (which is what the special formula helps with-- it's really broken down). There's apparently a probiotic like this for infants! I'm really excited about that because I think that's the problem, it's irritating his immature digestive system so bad because it's too hard to breakdown for digestion. I'm going to start BFing again. I'll start with just 1-2 feedings a day, and they'll be the night ones. When he wakes up for the middle of the night feeding and then the first feeding in the morning. That way, it's been hours 9-12 hours since I ate anything and hopefully his GI tract will be ok with it. Then I'll move onto another feeding and just keep adding them back. She mentioned something about block feeding because his diapers were orange in the morning changes and green in the afternoon/evenings. She said this is probably because I have really fatty milk and doing the block feedings would help get all the good fats out, kinda like the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance issue I think. I need to do more research on that though.
Anyway, I'm excited to start trying again. I just have to figure out what the allergy is so he doesn't have any pain or discomfort. I do like what you said though about how you were going crazy trying to figure out what made his tummy hurt. I'll have to remember not to drive myself nuts. Thanks again! I'll page you with how things go. I really woud like to get as far as you've gotten. You're proving it can be done!