Our post today is a guest blog entry from Rachel Miller, Baby E’s mom. We’d like to thank Rachel for guest blogging for us.
Never could I have imagined that adding another bouncing baby boy to our family last summer would not only add extra snuggles and smiles, but that it would also add a seemingly long and sometimes stressful journey into the world of food allergies.
Baby E was born last August happy and healthy, and was welcomed home by his two big brothers. Almost right away Baby E started showing signs of possible reflux. We had been down the reflux road before since big brother 2 had reflux when he was a baby. When Baby E started sounding like something out of Star Wars, I mentioned this symptom to his doctor. I also mentioned that I was concerned his nasal congestion appeared to be caused by reflux. This is when Baby E was put on reflux medicine and it seemed to help a little bit.
Baby E Before Total Elimination Diet
Then came the eczema. Baby E was like a snake (but way cuter). He started shedding away his soft newborn baby skin, and angry red baby acne took its place. The doctor said it was completely normal and likely caused by hormones. It was at this point that I started to consider the possibility that Baby E may be reacting to something in my diet. Reflux and terrible skin? But, I shrugged it off.
Then came the mucous-filled diapers. I knew from having been down the breast-feeding diaper route before, mucous is an uninvited guest. Seeds, yes. Mucous, no. He also had terrible tummy aches and painful gas. He would often cry and had a hard time settling down. Gas relief drops didn’t seem to help.
Then came the blood and green poops. There is really no way to shrug off lime green bowel movements with streaks of visible blood throughout. I immediately took Baby E back to the doctor where they took a stool sample and made sure Baby E didn’t have an infection. No infection. And so our journey began.
I knew I wanted to continue breastfeeding Baby E, so at the doctor’s recommendation I cut dairy out of my diet immediately. Baby E seemed to make slow improvement after only a few days. We then eliminated soy as well. After almost two weeks of being dairy and soy free, Baby E had “better” diapers but not normal.
This is where TED (Total Elimination Diet) entered my life. Learn more about what is Total Elimination Diet.
Unfortunately, my doctor was not able to offer much advice or information about TED, so I found most of my information from infantreflux.org and kellymom.com. Determined to get kick mucous out of this diaper party and to continue to breast-feed my “intolerant” child, I started eating nothing but chicken, turkey, rice, potatoes, apples, and bananas. Being on such a restrictive diet allowed me rid Baby E of mucous diapers, reflux, and his eczema. Then I slowly added foods back into my diet and waited for a reaction. This was how I was able to determine that Baby E cannot tolerate dairy, soy, eggs, and tomatoes. So now, I am still breastfeeding but avoiding these foods in my diet, and Baby E is doing great!
Baby E After Total Elimination Diet
Our journey is still continuing. Since starting solid foods Baby E has had reactions to pears and infant oatmeal cereal. In spite of this, I feel lucky and blessed that Baby E is doing so well and that I am able to continue breastfeeding him.
-Rachel Miller
If you would like to learn more about Elimination Diet and Breastfeeding, check out additional blog posts:
