Just last week we took B to see her doctor to try and figure out a game plan. I knew that blood in her stool was a sign of gastrointestinal distress, just as I knew that mucus could be a sign of the same. I knew my baby wasn't feeling well and wasn't the happy, giggling baby I knew she could be. I just didn't know how to get her back to that good place without sacrificing my own health and well being for way too long. We have a lot going on in our lives right now that I can't fix or change and this was one problem that I was not willing to accept so I needed a course of action.
Our pediatrician was initially thinking he was going to do an x-ray of her belly to see where the bleeding was coming from but after asking some questions and feeling B's abdomen, he decided that an x-ray wasn't going to tell us anything and we had a lot of choices for tests to run or not run, now or down the road. We chose to take some blood via heel prick (B was not a fan but she's a good bleeder) and run a couple tests. One of those tests was a CBC panel and I didn't catch the name of the other. These tests took about 15 minutes to come back and showed us that B is having some sort of immune response with elevated leukocytes and elevated kidney function. The doctor said that her numbers were not really out of bounds for a healthy baby fighting even a cold bug but that something was going on. The second test showed extremely high potassium levels but he checked with another doctor in the practice and they believe their machine needs to be calibrated because another patient had gotten similar results but then tested normal at another lab.
We talked about other allergy panels but both agreed that drawing blood from an infant for highly inaccurate tests was not how we want to handle things at this point. We talked about prick and patch tests but again, inaccurate and no fun for a baby. The doctor said that if we get to a point where there are just too many things hurting her, he might recommend switching to a highly broken down formula at least for a little while to help her reset. But when my body is fully capable of producing the amount of milk she needs, it would be so hard for me to switch to formula even for a little while. I know that it's not about my feelings but I'm not ready to give up the bond we are able to maintain while nursing and the comfort it gives her.
So his suggestion and our plan of action at this point is to cut out gluten and see if that makes any difference. Like all other food eliminations, we expect it to be a couple weeks to a month before we truly see any change because the proteins need to work out of my system and then out of her system. We're not going to make any final decisions about whether or not gluten is the issue until she goes back for shots at the end of the month and then we'll look at other possible issues. There is something called FPIES that is my ultimate fear for her, in which she basically cannot tolerate any food proteins. FPIES can be a temporary diagnosis or a lifetime problem. But we're not there yet. We're here. We're accidentally embarking on the paleo diet at the same time that this mama starts to get back to some form of exercise to get rid of the flabby belly that having my fourth child has left behind. We're starting a real food way of life with a daddy man who doesn't eat fruits or vegetables without a fight and a crazy toddler who can't have dairy proteins. We're changing the way we eat with a five year old who hates everything I put on her plate and a ten year old who has established favorite foods that I may never make again. It's a good thing wine is gluten free and I don't have to cut it out so far.
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