It was June 12, 2014 and Andrew was 7 months old. I had just reached out to our Pediatrician again, asking for advice. I had spoken to the nurse over the phone and asked if she could put a note in to the doctor to call me. I had already seen our practice’s lactation consultants at this point but I needed some new direction. Could I bring Andrew back in, did the doctor have any new advice? I heard back from the nurse with a message from the Pediatrician. It said, “Andrew is overtired and put to bed 20 minutes earlier.”
I hung up the phone and bawled my eyes out that day with Andrew lying on my chest. I felt like no one understood what we were dealing with. We couldn’t get Andrew to sleep let alone put him to bed earlier.
These were my notes on that day:
- Even while pumping I am not seeing enough relief.
- Even adding formula I am not seeing enough relief
- Andrew can’t seem to settle
- Hardly naps
- Not sleeping through the night
- Car rides screams head off (Cars make reflux worse)
- Grunts when going to sleep
- Hunter green poop (iron from formula?)
Coincidentally that day my mother put me in touch with a family member who had been through similar struggles. I got in touch with her immediately and she referred me to a GI Specialist that had helped her family tremendously. I called his office and the nurse said to me, “Be here in an hour.”
That day I was told Andrew had a “Clear case of Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA) and he put Andrew on Alimentum Formula. While Andrew did not have the blood in his stool that usually went along with CMPA the specialist was certain the rest of his symptoms matched. This would start our formula, food journal, reflux medication, and food elimination trial and error journey. I would also go on to donate 100 oz of my breast milk I had stored in my freezer since I thought Andrew could not have it.
For the next 5-months we entered into the world of Food Allergies, Sensitivities and Intolerances. We tried food journals and elimination diets along with the following formulas.
- Similac Complete
- Similac Sensitive
- Alimentum
- Elecare
- Goats Milk
- Neocate
None of these seemed to relieve Andrew’s symptoms even with the aid of Prevacid and Zantac.
At 8 months we had Andrew tested for allergies:
Skin Prick Tested/ Visited Allergy (8 months old) – 7/31/2014
- Cows Milk (negative)
- Banana (negative)
- White Potato (negative)
- Sweet Potato (negative)
- Squash (negative)
- Carrot (negative)
- Corn (negative)
- Wheat (negative)
- Oats (negative)
- Soybean (negative)
- Rice (negative)
- I asked for Peanut (runs in family) Dr. told me not necessary because he has not yet been exposed. He told me that he was not exposed through breastmilk.
I continued the search to find Andrew relief and saw the specialists in the process:
- 2 GI’s
- ENT
- Chiropractor
- Allergy
- Endocrinology
- Neurology
- Sleep Doctor
- Dietician
Andrew underwent the following tests:
- XRays (Excessive Stool on both)
- Ultrasounds (All good)
- Upper GI (All good)
- Barium Swallow Test (All good)
- Allergy Testing (All negative)
- Ear checks – Temps put in to check ears (All good)
As we neared Andrew’s 1st Birthday I considered an alternative food sensitivity test called the MRT test. I was still trying to figure out what was causing his colic from reflux, constipation and eczema.