I stopped nursing him around 5 months. Mostly because it is much harder with your second child, (since you are constantly on the go with your first,) and way more convenient to just pack a bottle and go. (Also, I was having some serious boob issues at the time-- mastitis, which was an absolute day in the park, and other equally "fun" stuff which I'd rather spare you the details of....) Ok, enough qualifying my premature breastfeeding cessation story. Moving on.... When we switched him to formula, we decided to go with Enfamil GentleEase-- the same that Ava was on as an infant (and she was a reflux baby.) We figured, why not preemptively put him on a formula that was easier on his little belly & easier to digest right from the get-go? The first month we noticed some changes in him....Notably, spitting up lots more than he had previously (he barely spit up at all while nursing) and a few very tiny eczema patches on his legs. When we mentioned this to the Dr. at his 6-month checkup, she dismissed it as his little body's way of dealing with the shift from breast to bottle milk. Ok, fine. Between months six and seven, things got progressively worse. (*Note that hindsight is always painfully 20/20, and so most of these realizations didn't occur until this week as I looked back at the big picture.) And by worse, I mean: arching his back at feedings, not enjoying eating as much, definitely not the smily/cooing/happy boy that I had been used to, not sleeping as well, not napping at all, and a general miserable demeanor that was COMPLETELY not like him. However, in this timeframe, his first two teeth broke through and we figured that this was the culprit. Well this past month-- from seven to eight months-- has been the worst yet. And it was Jeff & my Mom, who watched him full-time for a week while I recovered from my back injury, who pointed out that he just seemed "off." He was no longer just spitting up-- he was vomiting. (this was evident by the distinct smell of stomach acid as it came up.) And he would vomit from the MINUTE he finished his bottle, every few minutes, for HOURS. Right up until his next bottle. He was barely sleeping at naptime and now screamed whenever we tried to lay him down or change his diaper. He resisted snuggling or being held. He screamed when you put him in the high chair...Something wasn't right here....
Everything hit an all-time low this past weekend for us. His demeanor was completely sour, he barely smiled/cooed/babbled, and had no interest in eating. Anything.
So we called the on-call nurse Monday who suggested that reflux may be the culprit, but agreed that this was late-in-the game, so to speak, to develop this. (Ava was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks old!) She suggested we be seen first thing Tuesday at the Dr. And so we went.
His pediatrician, after hearing my accounts of the past few months, was unequivocally sure that we were dealing with a milk protein allergy, or some sort of lactose intolerance.
"Let's start him on Soy for 2 weeks and then re-evaluate." She said with a smile.
But I was not smiling. SOY MILK?! Are you kidding me?! Ignorant to (and having no understanding of) soy milk, all I pictured was a lifetime ahead of having to shop at Whole Foods just for Gavin's "special," pea-green colored, soybean flavored schlop, while the rest of us enjoyed the white frothy goodness of Garelick Farms milk with our Oreos.
I was devastated as she handed me three trial-sized (and very unfamiliar) cans of Enfamil "Pro-Sobee."
"Oh, and one more thing?" the pediatrician said as she went to leave the room. "We're going to need some of his poop samples to evaluate for blood in the poop. Just smear some poop on these disks, fold them up tight, and return them in the next 48 hours."
Great, I thought to myself...My poor baby now has to drink this nastiness, AND I get to smear poop all over the place. What a fantastic start to the week.
Well....fast forward four days (and two successful, blood-free poop samples), to today.
Four days of a new, strange-smelling (but miraculously, and due to the resiliency of babies, edible!) soy-based formula.
Four days of....
HARDLY ANY SPIT-UP!
NO VOMITING!
SMILING AGAIN! LAUGHING AGAIN!
NO ROUGH SKIN PATCHES!
HAPPINESS AT MEAL TIMES!
TAKING PHENOMENAL NAPS AGAIN!
SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT AGAIN!
ENJOYING LIFE AGAIN!
One of my biggest concerns (especially since the Dr. warned us ahead of time about it,) was that it may take him a while to warm up to the "different taste" (i.e. "gross taste") of this new, very different, unfamiliar formula. I felt so bad thinking about his first experience with a soy bottle. I envisioned screaming, flailing, spitting up, pushing the bottle away, etc... Well, thank you, lucky stars, that apparently Gav wasn't bothered at all by this. What an adaptable little guy we have :-)
In one week's time, he has completely transformed back to the delightful, content little cherub that he was for the first 5 months of life. It is amazing to me how quickly this change in his diet affected every aspect of him-- mood, demeanor, sleep habits, eating habits, digestion, etc... I am so incredibly (and cautiously-- since it hasn't been the full two weeks yet...) optimistic that all we have been dealing with over this past several weeks is a teeny-tiny milk intolerance. An intolerance that will hopefully be outgrown by his first birthday.
I suppose this is one of the many times in my life as a Momma when I will look back with clearer eyes and wish I had followed my instincts sooner...But the reality is, although he may have been uncomfy, irritable, and in pain for those 12 weeks, at least we figured it out now. Imagine if we never had this checked out, assuming it was colic or teething or any other random baby ailment...and the poor little man suffered for much, much longer?! I suppose I am just looking for the silver lining of this yucky situation, and if one exists, than that is it.
Frankly, I am just beyond ecstatic to finally have my babbling, chuckling, silly, gummy-smiling little boy back :-)
(p.s. PLEASE wish us luck as we enter week two that this good improvement continues!)
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