Getting to the bottom of things - no pun intended
After 3 diapers yesterday with small traces of blood, I decided it was worth the $30 copay to get Julian in to see a pediatric allergist. After calling a highly recommended doctor with an "earliest available appointment" of December 7th, I opted for a 2nd recommendation who got us in this morning.
We ruled out an full-fledged "allergy" but it does appear to be a Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (or food protein-induced colitis) causing the bleeding. He did a skin test for milk, soy, eggs, nuts and wheat and they all came back negative. So I'm happy to know it's not a real allergy (and happy no blood was drawn as I initially thought) but just a semi-common baby thing that he should outgrow by 6 months - 1 year.
The course of action is to modify my diet by eliminating dairy, soy and nuts and see if it improves (duh, good thing I paid $30 for that). I obviously have been doing that so I was a little discouraged since it hasn't improved. He gave me lists of ingredients to watch for and I'm 99% sure I haven't consumed any of the diary items but I do think there may be some soy or nut ingredients I wasn't looking for, like Vegetable broth for example, so I need to do better on that. I also don't want to eat out, or anywhere other than our house, for a couple weeks since I know that's where I slip up. Just for a few weeks to see if it helps.
The good news is that I can have soybean OIL, since it doesn't have the proteins which is what I was finding in almost every food item. That should give me a little more selection. I still need to watch for warnings saying "may contain traces" and "made on shared equipment." I'm also still missing out on a ton of my favorite foods but it's worth it and who knows it may only be for another 4 months. God do I hope so.
He did say to watch the diet for a few more weeks and if I'm 100% sure I didn't eat anything I shouldn't have and it's not better, then I can give him the pre-digested Nutramigen formula (or another kind called Neocate since the Nutramigen contains traces of milk which then wouldn't be any better than my milk) for a week while pumping to keep my supply. And if in a week it's better then put him back on breast milk and see if it returns. And if it does then well, guess we know it's officially something in my milk. Problem is, we couldn't afford to spend about $40/day for the Neocate.
I most likely won't do the formula thing. Right now Bryan and I are comfortable staying with the breastfeeding. I asked the doctor what if I see 1 bloody stool every 2 weeks while breast feeding, is that OK? He said he was fine with that. And I said what if I see one every week, and to that he replied we'll have to play it by ear. He KNOWS I don't want to stop nursing and he WANTS to work with me to keep it going. As long as he's not passing a lot of blood and still growing well then the benefits of breast feeding outweigh the tiny blood loss.
So for now I'm going to play it by ear...still. If it really doesn't seem to improve or happens to get worse then I MAY consider doing the formula trial just to see if J seems better. My thing is that I want J to be MOST COMFORTABLE. I don't want him to be in pain if he doesn't have to be. I know "breast is best" and that's my goal. I don't feel giving formula is a mortal sin but I rather him get the enzymes and antibodies from breast milk to help keep all the other illnesses away.
So anyway, that's where we're at. Which I think is the same place we were yesterday.
We ruled out an full-fledged "allergy" but it does appear to be a Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (or food protein-induced colitis) causing the bleeding. He did a skin test for milk, soy, eggs, nuts and wheat and they all came back negative. So I'm happy to know it's not a real allergy (and happy no blood was drawn as I initially thought) but just a semi-common baby thing that he should outgrow by 6 months - 1 year.
The course of action is to modify my diet by eliminating dairy, soy and nuts and see if it improves (duh, good thing I paid $30 for that). I obviously have been doing that so I was a little discouraged since it hasn't improved. He gave me lists of ingredients to watch for and I'm 99% sure I haven't consumed any of the diary items but I do think there may be some soy or nut ingredients I wasn't looking for, like Vegetable broth for example, so I need to do better on that. I also don't want to eat out, or anywhere other than our house, for a couple weeks since I know that's where I slip up. Just for a few weeks to see if it helps.
The good news is that I can have soybean OIL, since it doesn't have the proteins which is what I was finding in almost every food item. That should give me a little more selection. I still need to watch for warnings saying "may contain traces" and "made on shared equipment." I'm also still missing out on a ton of my favorite foods but it's worth it and who knows it may only be for another 4 months. God do I hope so.
He did say to watch the diet for a few more weeks and if I'm 100% sure I didn't eat anything I shouldn't have and it's not better, then I can give him the pre-digested Nutramigen formula (or another kind called Neocate since the Nutramigen contains traces of milk which then wouldn't be any better than my milk) for a week while pumping to keep my supply. And if in a week it's better then put him back on breast milk and see if it returns. And if it does then well, guess we know it's officially something in my milk. Problem is, we couldn't afford to spend about $40/day for the Neocate.
I most likely won't do the formula thing. Right now Bryan and I are comfortable staying with the breastfeeding. I asked the doctor what if I see 1 bloody stool every 2 weeks while breast feeding, is that OK? He said he was fine with that. And I said what if I see one every week, and to that he replied we'll have to play it by ear. He KNOWS I don't want to stop nursing and he WANTS to work with me to keep it going. As long as he's not passing a lot of blood and still growing well then the benefits of breast feeding outweigh the tiny blood loss.
So for now I'm going to play it by ear...still. If it really doesn't seem to improve or happens to get worse then I MAY consider doing the formula trial just to see if J seems better. My thing is that I want J to be MOST COMFORTABLE. I don't want him to be in pain if he doesn't have to be. I know "breast is best" and that's my goal. I don't feel giving formula is a mortal sin but I rather him get the enzymes and antibodies from breast milk to help keep all the other illnesses away.
So anyway, that's where we're at. Which I think is the same place we were yesterday.
posted by Julian at 4:09 PM
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