Have you had that defining moment in your life when you realize that what you are experiencing isn't NORMAL!? Maybe I'm just a little bit oblivious to the world around me, but it has taken me almost 30 years to recognize that other people aren't plagued with overabundant, um, gas. (Did I mention that this was going to be a really honest account of things??). My Father actually refers to me lovingly as his "Little Gaseous Flower". That should have been my first clue.
But let me back up a little bit. I guess my journey started in a lot of ways when I had my son, Nick. I have always seen myself as being healthy, have always had "clean" physicals, and with the exception of knowing I could be eating better and exercising more, I thought that I was in pretty good shape. After Nick was born (best thing ever!!) I noticed that his stools went from the normal yellow mustard poops to weird slimy green poops. He never slept well, and would NEVER let me put him down. In of itself that doesn't sound too weird for a baby, and his doctor reassured me that it was normal.
When Nick was about 5 weeks old I realized that I had oversupply syndrome, and knew that this had something to do with Nick's constant discomfort. His poops had started to get foamy and forest green colored and he had what seemed like terrible gas pains. He would scream and cry. He still wouldn't let me put him down. EVER. Instead of doing the smart thing and finding a Lactation Consultant to help me out, I consulted Dr. Google for help. I was still in a lot of pain at that point from the birth (I had a "popped" tailbone from pushing a 9lb 8oz baby out over a four hour push fest), and I was exhausted from not sleeping.
I started block feeding to try to decrease my supply. (Feeding off one side for a couple of hours, then switching to the other side for a couple of hours). Nick still wasn't emptying my breasts, and I was still producing WAY too much milk...I went for 12 hour blocks. My supply plummeted. But then we regulated things, and it got much better. It took until Nick was probably 12 weeks old or more for us to get things "good". (I still only feed one breast at a time).
Now, though, Nick's poops were STILL slimy and green. He was still uncomfortable. He still wouldn't let me put him down. I thought that maybe he had a food allergy, but our pediatrician at the time dismissed it. He said that there was little to no chance. So we forged ahead. We had bought a new house! We moved in when Nick was about 4 months old, and we saw a new doctor. Nick started to get bits of blood in his poop in addition to the mucus. He also lost that "mustard" consistency and was pooping mostly water and mucus. It was at this point that the new doctor suggested a dairy intolerance. I didn't believe it really, since the first pediatrician did such a good job of convincing me that it was so far fetched. We didn't change anything.
At 6 months of age, Nick's digestion wasn't improving. He was still waking up every 90 minutes most nights (Thank goodness for Co Sleeping!!!) He had no interest in eating solids. I finally decided that eliminating dairy was a good way to go. I made it a week. It was horrible! I was on and off the "wagon" for that month, until Nick started to wimper and crawl into my lap to poop. I felt SO horrible. How could I have gone THIS long and not been able to do it sooner?? He was pooping almost 6 times per day. He was still sleeping horribly, and for the most part did not sleep on his own. (Still my little obligate chest sleeper - which I didn't mind too much). The pediatrician told me that this all still sounded normal, and that it probably wasn't a dairy allergy.
When Nick was 7 months old, I went cold turkey - no dairy. At all. I survived though; Nick's sleeping was slowly improving, and I could get him to nap short periods on his own on occasion. His poops started to normalize. But they didn't get entirely better. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the dairy to be completely out of both of our systems, so by the time Nick was 8 months old, he still wasn't completely better. I cut out soy and gluten. BAM. What a difference!
Nick went from pooping awful mucus yucky poops multiple times per day, to pooping actual normal baby poops once per day or every other day. Wow, what a relief! Except that I was no chef. It was torture to get through the day and figure out what to eat. I labored over food labels at the grocery store, I worried about EVERY MORSEL I put into my mouth. I lost TONS of weight. I was lethargic. I was hungry. But Nick started to sleep. He was still what is considered to be a "bad" sleeper (a term I HATE). But he started giving me at least one good stretch of sleep per night. (I mean 2-3 hours and at times up to 5 or 6!) And I could usually get him to nap for a little while.
When Nick was about 9 to 10 months old he finally started to try and steal my food. Yay! I was excited. One thing Nick has never been lacking in is size. It's a little crazy to think that for the first half of his life he was having diarrhea multiple times per day, and still managed to be off the charts in terms of growth. It didn't make sense until you looked at me. I was bone thin.
Things were good until they weren't. All of a sudden Nick or I ate something that didn't agree with us, and he was back to his 30-90 minute sleep stretches at night. He would wake up and toss and turn and wimper and fart. What else could I possibly eliminate!?
I decided to go to a family practice at this point. It made more sense to see someone who could treat both of our symptoms, rather than just one side of the problem. I got a blood test to see what kind of allergies I had. I get the results next week. I am a little scared. Scratch that, I am scared numb. The office did let me know the top two results since it would be a little while until they could get me in. Garlic and Yeast.
Do you have any idea how many foods this eliminates!??? It's frighting to know that these foods that I have been eating forever have been making me and Nick sick. Or uncomfortable. Luckily (and I am truly thankful for this) our reactions all seem to be GI and psychological. No threat of death.
But this gets me thinking about what is normal. Excessive farting is not normal. I think of how many times I've been out places and can't even focus on conversations because I need to fart so bad. And my stomach is bloated into pregnant belly. I can't wait to feel at ease. I know it's possible. Most (all?) of my anxiety has been alleviated by eliminating the dairy, soy, and gluten. I wonder what other "DIS-ease" symptoms I can fix?
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