Maybe food allergies (thanx Lis!) aren't all they're cracked up to be. I've been wondering why they are on the rise and also what we've done to give them to him. Turns out it's genetic, but no one I know has food allergies in either of our families...oh well, so much for that. Unfortunately, our dairy one fits under the severe anaphylaxis type....but I may consider having an oral challenge done before next Sept. (the time of yearly allergy check-in) for the nut thing, if it turns out to be too much restriction to his diet. Right now he's far too fickle to make that worth it.
And now, back to getting the house ready for the Birthday Bash!
Showing posts with label milk allergy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milk allergy. Show all posts
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Back on the Wagon
So like everything in baby land, things happen then they unhappen and rehappen again. Though he's been OK with nursing while I eat milk, he's gotten rather cranky over the past week or 3. I'm going to cut it out again to clear up the cranky, but not totally exclude it, after my system is more free of the casein. We went a little bonkers catching up on lost dairy time.
I wanted posts in here to be beneficial to others who may have babies with milk allergies. There is a wealth of information on the interwebs about it though. I'm sure this blog won't come up in anyone's search. But if you're reading and know someone else who is going through anything like this, then maybe per chance it will help. So at 10 months, Stefan is sensitized to the casein in my milk such that it only causes a little itchiness on his cheeks, solved effectively by medicated cream (prescription from the Pedi.). I think his demeanor is effected, he's so clingy and cranky. But he is a rather clingy child at this point anyway. (A child's behavior isn't who he is, it's "where" they are, developmentally.) In rare cases, like Stef's, in addition to rashes and intestinal stuff, there is Anaphylaxis. The culprit was a little piece of cheese I gave him, since I thought he was over the allergy at that point. I think the cheese was about the size of a finger nail, I couldn't really discern how much was missing from the little piece I put in front of him. Poor kid REALLY liked the good stuff, too! He was sucking it a bit. Then he kinda sat still, like something was up. He rarely projectile vomits, but that was next and I knew it was coming. Then some swelling and hives and his breathing was labored and he was wheezing. This went on probably for a minute and subsided. If it hadn't, I would have been on my way to the Dr's or hospital with him. As the reaction calmed, he only had the rash and I could hear that his air way was a still a bit effected, as he was kind of wheezing still, and his voice was horse. By the end of the day, you wouldn't have known anything happened. So we're back to hardcore label reading, since it's tricky knowing if there is milk in certain things. Whey is also on the no-no list. fortunately, recently companies spell out if there is milk in their products at the end of the ingredient list, along with notification of gluten and soy. However some do not. So I read everything from all of them all the time. Dear Pizza, until we meet again, I bid you adieu...
Now the personal Lisa and Stefan update:
The past week has been a blur...and so too will this one be. A lot of work not done because Stefan was rather cranky (I got to make that up last night and today...nothing like living on the edge...I never know how a class is going to go when I don't get to prepare on my own timeline). Then came Abbstock '10. aka Abbypalooza. Saturday we were her buddies and traveled all around the state, ending up in Madison at Hammonasset beach for the annual Buddy Walk to raise money and awareness for children with Down Syndrome. I wish I had remembered my parasail as I haven't been out in such wind in....who knows. Stefan was in his baby bunker buggy, I'm not sure how much of the ocean view he actually enjoyed from there. We had a fun time with Abby and family, and extended family, and friends of family and friends!
On Sunday we returned to Abbyville, and arrived very late to her christening. I heard it was wonderful. However we did get to hang out in the secret cozy room with Emily and Penny, Abby's aunt/godmother and 3 week old cousin. I've never seen a newborn smile until Penelope!! She just has this smile about her all the time, it's beautiful:) Then we had some good times at our own private christening, Abby style, on Aunt France's floor. In fact the floor was christened as well...If Melissa would just dress her in clothes she liked the first time, Abby may not feel the need to spit up all over everything! Just sayin'.
Today, back to the work week and demonstration Monday was a bust, but for the two wonderful Mom's and babies I met in class. Luckily, only a couple more scheduled demo days before that whole thing is dropped and I can get back to actually making money for a day's work. Tomorrow will be a marathon, day care teaching in the morning, classes at night, and Wednesday, free demos and classes at night again. Then flute-repairs until 5:00 pm Friday, lessons, more repairs, and hopefully a break sometime next week(?). Here's to hoping Stefan isn't a cranky pants this week because I can't fit that into the schedule!
Time to bust out the Shipyard imperial 4-pack I picked up today...Sean gets the XXXX IPA (racy!), and I'm saving the Smashed Pumpkin for Halloween (OMG best pumpkin beer EVER!). Stout for later(in the week...I do have to go to work tomorrow!) and Barley Wine style for...well right now!
I wanted posts in here to be beneficial to others who may have babies with milk allergies. There is a wealth of information on the interwebs about it though. I'm sure this blog won't come up in anyone's search. But if you're reading and know someone else who is going through anything like this, then maybe per chance it will help. So at 10 months, Stefan is sensitized to the casein in my milk such that it only causes a little itchiness on his cheeks, solved effectively by medicated cream (prescription from the Pedi.). I think his demeanor is effected, he's so clingy and cranky. But he is a rather clingy child at this point anyway. (A child's behavior isn't who he is, it's "where" they are, developmentally.) In rare cases, like Stef's, in addition to rashes and intestinal stuff, there is Anaphylaxis. The culprit was a little piece of cheese I gave him, since I thought he was over the allergy at that point. I think the cheese was about the size of a finger nail, I couldn't really discern how much was missing from the little piece I put in front of him. Poor kid REALLY liked the good stuff, too! He was sucking it a bit. Then he kinda sat still, like something was up. He rarely projectile vomits, but that was next and I knew it was coming. Then some swelling and hives and his breathing was labored and he was wheezing. This went on probably for a minute and subsided. If it hadn't, I would have been on my way to the Dr's or hospital with him. As the reaction calmed, he only had the rash and I could hear that his air way was a still a bit effected, as he was kind of wheezing still, and his voice was horse. By the end of the day, you wouldn't have known anything happened. So we're back to hardcore label reading, since it's tricky knowing if there is milk in certain things. Whey is also on the no-no list. fortunately, recently companies spell out if there is milk in their products at the end of the ingredient list, along with notification of gluten and soy. However some do not. So I read everything from all of them all the time. Dear Pizza, until we meet again, I bid you adieu...
Now the personal Lisa and Stefan update:
The past week has been a blur...and so too will this one be. A lot of work not done because Stefan was rather cranky (I got to make that up last night and today...nothing like living on the edge...I never know how a class is going to go when I don't get to prepare on my own timeline). Then came Abbstock '10. aka Abbypalooza. Saturday we were her buddies and traveled all around the state, ending up in Madison at Hammonasset beach for the annual Buddy Walk to raise money and awareness for children with Down Syndrome. I wish I had remembered my parasail as I haven't been out in such wind in....who knows. Stefan was in his baby bunker buggy, I'm not sure how much of the ocean view he actually enjoyed from there. We had a fun time with Abby and family, and extended family, and friends of family and friends!
On Sunday we returned to Abbyville, and arrived very late to her christening. I heard it was wonderful. However we did get to hang out in the secret cozy room with Emily and Penny, Abby's aunt/godmother and 3 week old cousin. I've never seen a newborn smile until Penelope!! She just has this smile about her all the time, it's beautiful:) Then we had some good times at our own private christening, Abby style, on Aunt France's floor. In fact the floor was christened as well...If Melissa would just dress her in clothes she liked the first time, Abby may not feel the need to spit up all over everything! Just sayin'.
Today, back to the work week and demonstration Monday was a bust, but for the two wonderful Mom's and babies I met in class. Luckily, only a couple more scheduled demo days before that whole thing is dropped and I can get back to actually making money for a day's work. Tomorrow will be a marathon, day care teaching in the morning, classes at night, and Wednesday, free demos and classes at night again. Then flute-repairs until 5:00 pm Friday, lessons, more repairs, and hopefully a break sometime next week(?). Here's to hoping Stefan isn't a cranky pants this week because I can't fit that into the schedule!
Time to bust out the Shipyard imperial 4-pack I picked up today...Sean gets the XXXX IPA (racy!), and I'm saving the Smashed Pumpkin for Halloween (OMG best pumpkin beer EVER!). Stout for later(in the week...I do have to go to work tomorrow!) and Barley Wine style for...well right now!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
On your mark, get set....
"...doesn't really matter who win this race because the just do it again anyway."
~From a child's drawing of a rocket ship race for "Ruler of the Universe Forever and Ever"
I love this sentiment!! I hate that we're too scared to declare winners and losers in children's sports, classroom games, or where ever else people have taken away "winning" from children to shield the losers. You lost...so what? Know what happens when I lose? I practice harder and make sure my next game (or concert) is up to snuff, and I win. Even if the numbers don't say I win, I ultimately do because I've improved my game or playing. The more I lose, the harder I try, the better I become...jees, ya know what? Seems like I haven't really lost at all. Would the person who is for no winners/losers accept their child bringing home a report card with with no grades because a teacher was afraid to hurt their feelings with a low average? Will that child, when he or she becomes an adult, be able to handle a job where their performance is judged and their pay is effected by their skills? Is it beneficial to set children up to fail as adults by taking away the experience of what to do when you lose; or fair to take away the gratification of winning because you worked really hard to be better than everyone else?
I used to feel bad declaring winners and losers. I totally bought into not hurting people's feelings. So, for example, Freeze Dance...we all dance and freeze, no one is "out". The children hate it! They beg for me to call winners and losers. They try hard not to move...not even to breath or blink when the music stops. They love practicing their inhibitory control! After a while, when no one is called "out", they start to really hate this game that they normally begged to play all class, every class. They want the recognition (children love to be noticed!!). It seems obvious to me, it's not the children who care if they win or lose, it's their adults (what ever adult around them that has chosen to "spare" their feelings).
In my honest opinion, this practice makes a bunch of C students, who don't know how to take losing, and don't improve themselves (and in time our world). But hey, C is good enough to be president, right? And now, before I even go there, I bid you adieu!
PS it turns out Stefan's milk allergy is still there. I think he's less sensitive, so while I can take in some occasional dairy with out noticeable effect, he cannot eat it himself without a very sudden, dangerously violent reaction. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue to lessen, and he'll be able to enjoy pizza and ice cream with his friends one day, when he actually cares about diary.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
In the beginning...
After months of romper room in my belly(which was the best part...months of morning sickness, sciatica, and carpal tunnel were some highlights I'd rather forget), 4 days of excruciating labor, an almost almost natural birth which ended with an emergency C-Section, I should have known that Stefan was going to give me a run for my money. We were only home a couple of days when the colicky behavior started, despite him being to young for the broad range of reasons for inconsolable crying. Could it be gas, reflux, GERD? P.S. I believe what most people call colic isn't digestion related at all, but more on that later.
My now "fired" pediatrician diagnosed it as gas from breastfeeding. What I want to know is how gas got into my breasts, since that is just absurd! Then he sent me out for Pedialyte. ( He also told me to give up water, "plants drink water, humans drink JUICE." Ummmm...ok, we all learned that the human body is over 85% juice in school, right? UGH! But that is why he's FIRED!) Of course Pedialyte didn't work for his gas. To make a long story short, Mylicon worked some times, and Gripe water was less effective. We'd just have to deal with up to 6 hours of crying a night, he was just "high-needs" (a term coined by Dr. Sears of www.Dr.sears.com).
Elimination Diets
Cutting out Caffeine, however, DID do some good. The interwebs (you know that system of tubes which brought you this blog), seems to think that very little caffeine gets into breast milk, and that is should have little effect on baby. But that's not true...it had a big effect on Stefan! Unhappily, I relinquished my beloved Coke and french pressed cup of morning coffee.
After a time, mere distressed crying turned into eczema on his face and scalp which was an open wound that never went away, mucusy and slightly bloody stool, in addition to stiff back arching and obvious stomach discomfort. By 4 months old, the new Pediatrician I hired suggested he may have a milk allergy. I immediately started an elimination diet and mourning the loss cow/goat dairy, which I consumed at every meal and for many snacks during the day. It takes a couple of weeks for this to work, but once dairy was out of my system, Stefan was tons better. I will find the time to go on about this elimination diet in the future.
Next to tackle: Sleep issues.
(One of the challenges of a high-needs infant is finding enough time to do anything else but attend to him during the day...and now is one of those times...so more to come later!)
My now "fired" pediatrician diagnosed it as gas from breastfeeding. What I want to know is how gas got into my breasts, since that is just absurd! Then he sent me out for Pedialyte. ( He also told me to give up water, "plants drink water, humans drink JUICE." Ummmm...ok, we all learned that the human body is over 85% juice in school, right? UGH! But that is why he's FIRED!) Of course Pedialyte didn't work for his gas. To make a long story short, Mylicon worked some times, and Gripe water was less effective. We'd just have to deal with up to 6 hours of crying a night, he was just "high-needs" (a term coined by Dr. Sears of www.Dr.sears.com).
Elimination Diets
Cutting out Caffeine, however, DID do some good. The interwebs (you know that system of tubes which brought you this blog), seems to think that very little caffeine gets into breast milk, and that is should have little effect on baby. But that's not true...it had a big effect on Stefan! Unhappily, I relinquished my beloved Coke and french pressed cup of morning coffee.
After a time, mere distressed crying turned into eczema on his face and scalp which was an open wound that never went away, mucusy and slightly bloody stool, in addition to stiff back arching and obvious stomach discomfort. By 4 months old, the new Pediatrician I hired suggested he may have a milk allergy. I immediately started an elimination diet and mourning the loss cow/goat dairy, which I consumed at every meal and for many snacks during the day. It takes a couple of weeks for this to work, but once dairy was out of my system, Stefan was tons better. I will find the time to go on about this elimination diet in the future.
Next to tackle: Sleep issues.
(One of the challenges of a high-needs infant is finding enough time to do anything else but attend to him during the day...and now is one of those times...so more to come later!)
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