Answers??

In November last year we celebrated Logan's first birthday! He was a peanut of a guy, but the sweatshirt i had made for his party was 12 months so i guess i thought he was right on track. The following week was his 1 year "well-baby visit". He weighed 18.8 pounds. Usually at 12 months babies weigh close to the 20 pound mark.

Seeing as he was close-in my mind- i wasn't overly concerned about his weight at that point. Our pediatrician (whom we love, both to death) was careful not to scare me but told me exactly what he would be watching for in our next few visits. Logan's head circumference had grown, his height had advanced on the charts, but even with those numbers growing his weight wasn't advancing. If you are really working the numbers- if a kid grows in height you would assume that just skeletal changes would increase his weight-right? WRONG.

From 9-12 months, Logan began to walk, self feed, and he transitioned from breast milk to a hypoallergenic formula, developed eczema and did not start talking. So with everything else changing, our Dr said we would cautiously watch his weight and see if the changes were to blame for the weight not increasing. If his body was still "growing" the dietary changes and new physical activity had to be to blame, i thought. This is easy.

So we went back monthly to weigh, and we celebrated each ounce. I even turned his car seat around for a bit of a road trip so he could watch a movie! I was so excited to see progress. Then what seemed like bowel issues related to the breast milk-to-formula-to-cows milk transition continued. The further back we looked, we found that it started in the ninth month. He was a biter and so we were primarily pumping at that point but then when the bowel issues showed up,our ped. recommended we switch to a gentler formula. So we did. Diarrhea persisted. So excited to move away from the $35 a can formula, we switched to whole cow's milk. Diarrhea persisted.

At 15 months the eczema was crazy. His legs were blotchy and rough and he would just lay there and let your rub them because they itched him. Still having 5-7 bowel movement a day, ped. wondered if it was Dairy all around.I have a diagnosed lactose intolerance so it made perfect sense to me! Absolutely! So we went dairy free. So for three full months he was dairy free. We substituted almond milk for 2 months, then because the diarrhea continued to rear its ugly head I wondered if maybe there was a nut thing going on too. So i pulled nuts too.

If you have ever read ANYTHING about bulking a kid up they suggest going from 2% milk back to whole milk and adding peanut butter to anything and everything you can. Both of the things i had pulled from Logan's diet.

So as we arrived at the 18month check up i knew what was expected and i knew what we were going to deliver. God and i had many discussions about why my boy wasn't growing. There were many times when i pleaded and steamed and He quietly listened. I spent timejuat spooking myself on google and asking Him why? Thankfully both of the peds in this practice are Christians and related with me when i described these moments to them... they too patiently listened.

This appointment happened to be scheduled with the nurse practitioner----the same nurse practitioner that was working in the PICU when Luke went to the hospital last summer, and who made a special effort to come to our room because we were patients of the practice where she was only part time then. She has finished her schooling and is now full time with their practice, but she was like Gods little wink encouraging me that this too was able to be taken care of. That He WAS taking care of it.

As she and I recounted the months of prior trial and error events we drew up our game plan. In the past few months i too have been struggling with GI related issues and there was a theory of an intestinal parasite for me... so we of course explored that possibility with Logan. His tests were negative, but we ran a round of meds anyway. They are not harmful to anything but the parasite-- and we are desperate. We then discussed visiting the allergist to absolutely rule out or be confident in the food removal decisions we have made. Then to the Pediatric GI doctor to begin the journey of the diarrhea solution. Kids cant gain weight if every calorie they take in exits promptly. Hopefully after conferring with those Doctors and their findings we could move on to a nutritionist to discover a plan that was right for Logan's weight gain.

I would like to insert here that the 18 month appointment was @ 9:15 am and by 4pm that very same day i had heard back from 3 of the referrals. The ped's office had not only contacted them with the info, but the doctors offices had all responded. We began to make appointments and relay appointment times back to the ped's office to schedule follow ups with them as we learned more.

Last week 6-15, we met with Dr Goodman, the allergist. I can't say enough how much i liked him from the beginning. I had both both boys with me and it was very busy in that room to say the least. He was patient with the boys and talked to me like a person - not like i didn't have my medical degree. We briefly talked about why i needed to see him first and what i needed most from him. He sighed, then grinned, and said "so basically you need to just check me off your list before you can move on". Which was really true. Although i was curious about the results; i couldn't meet with GI or Nutrition without knowing what allergies we were up against. This visit ended with 4 viles of blood drawn and my boy not even flinching. He has been a trooper when sometimes i have so much running through my mind i cant see straight.

Today we were scheduled for the "infant panel" allergy skin testing. He was prepped. Pricked. And we waited...

The results were ALL NEGATIVE! The intense soy testing and dairy testing were both negative. Plus all of the pricks with common allergens were negative as well.

With results in hand, Dr Goodman still recommended to withhold dairy products until we meet Dr Rittmeyer next week. Dr Goodman slipped a few times and referred to Dr Rittmeyer by his first name, this made me giggle inside because i felt so much more confident about the Drs God has set in my path. These drs are not only able to work well together but are apparently friends. What better relationship could i have asked for to help me figure out how to care for my baby?

So per drs orders we introduced Soy today. In milk and yogurt forms. We will document any changes, if any, for the next 7 days so we can take them to the GI appointment next week. I also left with my own copies of all the testing that Dr Goodman's office ran, to add to the growth charts Dr Stones office provided, and i feel ready and excited to move on the Dr Rittmeyer's office next week.

WE will return to the allergist in 2 months to regroup with Dr Rittmeyer's recommendations and requests.

I want to pass along some things i learned today. Diary allergy and Dairy intolerance are not the same. Allergies cause immediate reactions--sometimes deadly. Intolerance is a "gut" issue that your body just cant process the dairy products well. Dr Goodman very candidly said "cows milk was designed for cows, not humans" AS simple as that sounds he made perfect sense to me. We homogenize and pasteurise milk to keep it longer, but maybe it is the artificial enzymes we cant process? Would it be easier on Logan's tummy straight from the cow? No, i am not going to run out and buy a cow, but really took a moment to ponder Gods perfect design.

He created us to produce milk for our own young. There are many moms that are unable to do this but we have created an amazing substitute for them. Soy is a bean that God has given us for many years has been grown to turn into many different things! Almonds are even able to made into a "milk". I am not saying that God didn't intend for us to drink cows milk-- but maybe we aren't supposed to mess with the original make up... maybe the way He made it and people consumed it for hundreds of years was what He intended... just my random thoughts.

I will post again after the GI appointment next week and i promise a shorter post since i wont have to give any background info. If you stuck it out long enough to make it this far, Thank you. We are incredibly blessed to have friends, family and followers who pray for us on this journey.

For HE knows the plans He has for us...