hello all,
 
we took baby Elijah in for his follow up weigh today and i was shocked and  
dismayed to learn he has not gained. he is still stuck at 5 lbs, 3 oz. we had 
an  excellent nursing day yesterday w/ about 9 stools and 4ish wet dipes, but 
the  wets are much heavier and wetter than before and also no longer dark 
colored. he  also nursed a few times through the night - we share sleep w/ my 
breast left out  and him using it as a pillow all night. so i've been seeing for 
myself an  increase in energy, appetite and interest and i'm completely certain 
we don't  have a latch, supply or transfer problem. he even spit up after one 
long feed  and it looked to be at least an ounce and he does the satisfied, 
milk-drunk  stupor thing after feeds - after 5 of them, i know an unsatisfied 
baby when i  see one and it's not this guy.
 
so i completely expected to be changing yellow seedy diapers today. but lo  
and behold, they were still black. i took one that really disturbed me from  
yesterday in a sandwich baggie to the ped. together we checked his palate,  
frenulum and suck again - all good. i told her all of my instincts are telling  me 
he's getting the milk fine, something is happening to it once it's inside  
him. so she held off pushing the formula and agreed to check the stool in the  
diaper i brought. she came back to say it was almost entirely blood!
 
so evidently it's dairy intolerance or allergy and it's not a mild case. of  
course i'm eliminating it from my diet effective imm., but i know it takes a  
while to clear out. the ped says we will have to be vigilant for signs of  
anemia. she suggested we could put him on a hypoallergenic formula for a cpl  
weeks and i could just nurse the toddlers until most of the dairy had cleared.  
of course this made my hair stand on end and my bones turn to ice and i imm  
rejected the idea... but should i consider it? stools made mostly of blood  
sounds terrifying, am i harming him more than helping him? i was thinking if  
there's something in the milk that is hurting him, at least there are dozens  
(hundreds?) of other things in there to help him recover from it,  right?
could this much irritation to his gut already have exposed him to similar  
risks as if i'd been giving him dairy formula? could he be more at risk for  
celiac's or diabetes or other digestive/metabolic type disorders now?
 
 ack, i can't b/l how guilty i feel for the poor spidery little guy -  i must 
tell 15 moms a month they are really not helping their newborns by  drinking 
milk/eating a lot of dairy and to eliminate it !  guess i  should have taken a 
bit of my own advice here!
 
~jacqui gruttadauria, bsw
babymooning and relieved to at least have an answer near detroit,  michigan
 



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