Saturday, November 23, 2013

Hope Rises?

In this house, hope comes in a diaper! A light at the end of the tunnel. We've been testing out this low-carb theory (more in this previous post). I've been pumping off the first minute or two of milk before nursing. My daughter usually had green, gooey diapers, even after resolving a dairy intolerance. After four days of only wet diapers and a concerned mommy, we have arrived! And it's not green! And barely gooey! Hooray! I think we're making progress!

The prayer of a righteous Grandma (for poo) availeth much! Thanks, Nana!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Green GooPoo Monster

It's a catchy title, right? We've been dealing with this diaper demon for the past three months. 



WARNING: This may be more graphic than you can stomach.

My daughter is 5 months old, and early on we discovered she has a cow's milk protein allergy that travels through my breastmilk. She began life with normal diapers. The brown. The seeds. The whole, happy, dirty diaper deal. Then she began to have green diapers. We kept spiraling down the poo chute until we arrived at the forest green, mucousy, streaky swamp. Complete with hair-soaking blowouts. It's awful and demoralizing to concerned mommies. If your baby has or may have a dairy allergy, you may know what I'm talking about. 

We've been dairy free for about three months now. I've learned to scour nutrition labels, speed Google restaurant allergen menus, and find creative substitutions for my favorite foods. Most surprising dairy finds? Chicken bouillon (cubes & paste). Breaded chicken (breasts, nuggets, strips, etc.), Spaghetti sauce - store bought. You have to check each flavor because no brand name is exclusively dairy free - unless it's in the natural section and specifically states "dairy free". Items labeled VEGAN are your best bet for stress-free eating, even if they don't taste the best. You can't have it all, but you can have a happy baby! My girl's diapers finally regressed to brown, but the goo refused to leave.

This was beyond a dairy allergy.

After many calls to the doctor's office, we got an appointment today. I was sure she had another allergy, like soy or gluten or some other allergy fad that's out there. I dreaded the TED (total elimination diet). That's where you miserably subsist on potatoes, pears, chicken, and cardboard. OK, not really cardboard, but it may as well be. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a completely different theory from the doc. CARBS. Simple as that. My baby may not be the same carbaholic that I tend to be! Their little tummies are too immature to process so much sugar. The GREAT NEWS is that it doesn't have anything to do with what I'm eating. It's the way my body produces milk.



So, to test that theory, we're going to pump 1-2 minutes before each feeding to reduce the sugary dessert milk, so my little munchkin can pack on some more pounds with the rich, main course milk, bypassing those pesky carbs. We also went ahead and sent some bloodwork in for some allergy testing. Since she's still so small, they don't expect to have any positive (allergic/sensitive) results. We'll see in a few days!


So, if you're like us:
(Dairy-Free Green GooPoo Monster Haters


Perhaps mentioning this theory to your doctor could put you on the right track to having happy pants once again! We'll let you know how it goes for us. 


Article my doctor referred me to:


Deep breaths & Good luck!