I am not

a crazy over-reacting mother. YAY! Ok, seriously here is an update on my little Eli. Warning.. POOP issues are mentionedand this is very long... so if you want just skip to the totally cute video of Eli at the end, I don't mind!

Many of you know that we've had issues with his bowel movements in the past. Well, to make a long story short, he's had blood in his poop on and off for a while. Well, I (after lots of research) self-diagnosed him with a dairy and possibly egg allergy. I had mentioned it to the Dr when Eli was around 3 mths and he told me that it was probably nothing more than a fissure. Well, this is when I started all of my research because honestly that just wasn't good enough. I had already been dairy free (mainly for his tummy aches). Then at the end of Dec. I went egg free as well. So, we went almost 3 months with no blood in his stools and then I decide to add back some hidden dairy. Eli seemed to do fine with that. After about 2 weeks with no issues with hidden dairy he had one diaper with a tiny bit of blood. It bothered me but when a week went by without another I just assumed it was a fluke. This past week I added cheese back to my diet, just one serving a day. And then Sunday he had 2 diapers with blood. Ahh.. I was bound and determined to get an answer this time. I called Monday but wasn't able to be seen until this morning. Soo.....

we get there and they checked his little bottom and found no fissures. They did blood work and found that all of his blood work was completely normal, which was great! That just means that whatever issues he is having, it isn't effecting all of that important stuff like hemoglobin's and the like (yes, I'm very well versed in medical terminology). The next step was to test the samples that I had brought (yes, I brought samples). I brought one from Sunday (with blood) and one from yesterday (without). The couldn't test the one from Sunday because it was, well too dry. So, they tested the one from yesterday and it was negative for blood. There was really no where else to go from there. I know they believed me about the blood but until they got a positive sample there wasn't much they could do. They gave me a little card type thing and said the next time I saw it to swipe it and bring it in. Well, what do you think that little booger did about an hour after we got home? Pooped.. and yes, it had blood. Why couldn't he have done that earlier in the day?? So, I swiped the poop card and off we went back to the Dr...

Of course it came back positive. I talked with the Dr again. I asked him if he thought that there was any chance that there might be something internally going on. He said that was unlikely because Eli isn't having any kind of pain or other symptoms, not to mention the diet changes and the success I had for that three months. He is the happiest baby! He rarely cries, except when momma gets out of sight! He's a little attached to his mommy. He assured me that it wasn't anything serious. He said that his first inclination and thoughts on a reason for the blood (after discussing my diet changes and all of that) is that he has a dairy allergy. Babies just have a sensitivity to dairy products (which I knew!). There is no way, right now, to be certain of an allergy but based on all of the dietary changes, additions and subtractions to my diet as well as the reactions and that blood in stools can be a symptom of a food allergy, the foremost reason would be a dairy (and possibly egg) allergy. So, he wants me to go on a strict non-dairy/egg diet (he even wrote it in big letters on Eli's chart!), watch Eli's diapers over the next three weeks and see how they are and come back in about 3 weeks to have some poop samples checked. Then we will go from there. Some facts I know about dairy allergies in babies:

~Most are outgrown sometime between 12 mths and 3 years.
~Most dairy allergies do not cause anaphylaxis. (some do; like this one I mentioned in an earlier post)
~Allergy testing in young babies is invasive. So, the best bet is to wait until they are older to do any kind of testing.

I would like to add, just for others, there are other symptoms of dairy allergies in infants that Eli has had in a more mild manner. A couple weeks right after Christmas we dealt with some eczema flares. Thankfully after stopping the use of dryer sheets, taking very quick baths with Aveeno and slathering Eli with Eucerin cream every night we haven't had any more issues with that. We also had lots of issues with Eli spitting up, even to the point of him loosing weight and having to be put on reflux meds for a while. He still spits up occasionally but that is not a huge problem anymore, although I wonder if it might get worse if I continued adding back dairy in. I don't plan on trying to find out!

Now, first of all I want to say that my husband isn't allowed to make fun of me for doing all of my research online. He often jokes and calls me Dr. and asks me where I got my PhD. I got it online thankyouverymuch. Secondly, I am thankful that someone with a degree has agreed with what I have thought all along. I'm sure some have thought I was over-reacting with all of the no cheese and no dairy and reading labels constantly. And I'm the crazy, breastfeeding mom who thinks her kid is allergic to something in her milk. Yes, I am still crazy but all signs point that my baby boy does have some type of milk/egg intolerance. At the time I was struggling with whether or not to continue breastfeeding, I couldn't understand why I felt so convicted about it. I mean who gets convicted over whether or not to breastfeed their child. Evidently I do. Now, I understand that there was a greater reason for me to breastfeed, and that was to figure all of this out.

I'm praying that Eli will outgrow this but only time will tell. And we will probably not give him dairy right at the age of one, like most. This will be something that we have be careful about, especially with the introduction of solid/table food. Well, this is way too long. And probably a lot more info about my son's poop than you wanted to know. But I did write it all out because maybe there is someone out there trying to figure out something similar. I know that I have read many, many blogs of mom's who's children have food allergies (particularly dairy) and they have helped me! Not to mention that this info is for family too... it's much easier to just direct them here than write emails.

Ok, now what you've all been waiting for: ELI IS CRAWLING!! Seriously after a crazy day (literally all day!) at the doctor's office, he comes home and decides to start crawling. He's really tired in this video and actually did better earlier. I'm a little scared... I have two mobile children!

So here is the video (scroll down to the bottom of the page and mute the music to hear the video):


Eli Crawling! on Vimeo.

Only three posts in March??!!

It's been a while since I've blogged. Life has gotten in the way of my blogging time! I always made time when we lived alone because I enjoyed it. I still enjoy it but I feel like I can't just sit down and blog whenever I want or even have the time since moving in with my parents. It's a little complicated to explain. And in the evenings after the kids are in bed I just want to relax with my husband for a little while. Maybe when we have our own place my blogging will be more regular. So, as far as an update:

The Hubs is doing well in the insurance business. We're just waiting for him to get on contract with the company so he can start getting paid for insurance he's already selling. It's hard to see him working so much but nothing coming in. I know it will come though, I just have to be patient.

The kids are doing pretty good. They both have a stuffy nose right now. I think they've inherited my seasonal allergies. Last spring Luke had to take Claritin, twice a day, until about mid-May and we just started that again. He was up two nights ago on and off because his nose was so congested. I remembered we had a decongestant nose spray that the Hubs had bought Eli on accident and used it on Luke last night before bed and he slept good! Eli, on the other hand, did not. He couldn't breath, so he didn't nurse well. He'd get frustrated with that and then be wide awake, instead of drifting back to sleep like normal. So, he slept next to me or on my chest most of the night. I've called the Dr and am waiting on a call to see if there's something I can give him tonight to help him breath. It just gripes me that there are people out there who abused infant medicine which caused all of us responsible people to not have it available! If you know me, I hate to give medicine unless the kids need it. I don't even like to treat symptoms if the boys aren't bothered by them. But when my baby can't sleep or nurse because he literally can't breath out of his nose, he needs something to help! Hopefully there is something that I can give him to help us get a good nights sleep! (update: they called.. and they phoned him in something! YAY!)

In other news, Eli is sitting up! He's been sitting up assisted for a few weeks now but he's actually sitting on his own now. He occasionally topples over but only when he's reaching for a toy that's out of his reach. Luke sat up sometime in his sixth month too. I don't think it will be long before he's crawling... he's already up on his knees rocking back and forth and doing sort of an army crawl. He's just got to figure out how to move those knees and hands in the right order. One word to describe him right now is squirmy! This kid doesn't stay still! He wants to grab everything, climb all over you, reach, stretch, bounce, kick (playfully of course), grab... you name it. He tries so hard to get out of your arms because he just wants to go! I think that's why he's such a tiny thing. He burns all those calories! We started him on solids at the first of the month but he is not really into them. So far we've tried rice cereal, bananas and sweet potatoes. He usually takes about 3 or 4 good bites and that's about it. I would like for him to eat more than he's doing now but I know that he's getting all that he needs from breastmilk at the moment. He'll eat when he's ready, I guess.

And where do I begin with Luke. He'll be three in just a little over two months. He is at this age of constantly wanting to misbehave and be disobedient. As I type (at 9:02 PM) he's upstairs screaming because he doesn't want to go to bed. We have good days and then we have days when I feel like I'm getting on to him constantly! On those days I really have to watch myself. I don't want to react to him. I want to do my best to 'train him up'. It's so hard though because after the bazillionth time, it's hard not to just blow up! Needless to say, I'm praying for wisdom in disciplining him.

As far as I go.. today is day 4 of eating cheese. YUM! Today I had a grilled cheese for lunch.. the first one in about 5.5 months! I've been taking it slow (for more reasons than one, haha!) and Eli has done great. I'm going to stick with small quantities for now. I think we're having pizza Saturday night and I can't wait! I'm not sure what I'll add next, maybe sour cream or yogurt..?

God is doing a lot of work on me right now. Not to say that He doesn't always do a lot of work on me. (He knows how much I need it!) I'm learning a lot about myself, who I am in Christ. Maybe, hopefully I can share more with you about that later. Right now, I'm going to spend some time with the Hubs.

Luke funnies...

Luke says the funniest things these days. As I've said before I wish I could record them all in a book! Here's a conversation that I've got to share....

Yesterday, after church, my mom took Luke outside and they had a picnic. The weather was fantastic! After lunch, mom pushed Luke on the swing. Luke asked mom to sing the 'swing low' song. At first she didn't know what he meant but then she remembered... "Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin' for to carry me home; Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin' for to carry me home." My mom has sung this around the house before and Luke remembered... since they were 'swinging low'! So, Luke (who obviously pays attention to lyrics) asked her when she was coming home. Well, she explained that one day she would go home to live with Jesus. Here is the conversation that followed.

Mom: And one day you'll go home to live with Jesus too.

Luke: I don't want to live with Jesus.

Mom: You don't?

Luke: No, I don't want a beard.

Hahahahah!

Mom: A beard??

Luke: I don't want a beard like Jesus!

Hahahah! Oh, I wish I would have been there to hear this! Hilarious! Who knew that you grew a beard as soon as you got to heaven?? I guess heaven is going to be full of bearded people!

Rice Cereal Anyone?? (And a March Miracle!)

I had planned on waiting until Tuesday to start cereal with Eli mainly because that was going to be my first opportunity to start in the morning. But since we had a snow dusting everything shut down (Haha.. only in Alabama!) and we didn't have church. So, today was our first attempt at cereal. We'll practice for a few more days and then move on to something that tastes better!



Eli's First Bites from Crystal on Vimeo.


And here is a cute picture of my big, little man playing in the snow today! A rare treat for us! He loved it!