Another Day, Another Diagnosis

TMI warning, before you begin reading...there will be talk of poopy...

Well, Morgan had been having a little trouble in the poopy department and hadn't gone in a couple of days. This morning she finally went and I was happy until I saw the contents of her diaper. The stool was very runny and full of mucous. She pooped a little while later and it was still light brown and mucousy. A few more hours later and she made another poopy diaper, but this time is was green and mucousy. I didn't like that at all. I googled "green mucousy stool" and found that there are usually two possible causes. One is a milk-protein allergy and the other is a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance in breast milk. I called the pediatrician's office and they said I could come in at 4:30 p.m. at their office half-way across town. I wanted to see if there was some way they could test Morgan to find out, definitively, if she had a milk allergy. At some point, she'll be on formula and I needed to know whether we'd be going down the $Nutramigen$ route or using some other formula. Also, if it was a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance, she'd be going to formula sooner, rather than later.

So, I get there early (4:10) because I left early expecting lots of traffic, but traffic was pretty light. They didn't get me into a room until around almost 5:00. The nurse had me undress Morgan and we got her weight (17 lbs. 11 oz.) and she asked the reason for my visit, which I explained. I then proceeded to wait another 30 minutes in that room. Poor Morgan is only in her diaper and wiggling like crazy and I'm trying to cover her with her clothes and burp cloth, thinking that the Dr. should be in any minute. After about 20 minutes, I open the door and one of the nurses is cleaning off the scale and I asked her what time they close and she said they closed at 5:00. I asked about the doctor and she said he just came out of another room and would be with me shortly. When he finally came in, I had been waiting for an hour. He apologized and said that he was assigned certain rooms and they did not tell him that the room I was in was one of them. *Sigh*

At that ped. office, there are several doctors and we've seen 3 of them and one nurse practitioner. I like the doctor we saw today and hadn't seen him since Morgan was a couple of weeks old.

I explained Morgan's stool situation and told him that I basically wanted to know which kind of formula she'd need to be on when the time came and I wanted to know the cause of her green, mucousy stool.

He said, "I don't have anything bad to tell you. I've had to tell other patients today that they've had an ear infection and another bronchitis, but I don't have any of that to tell you. Morgan is suffering from 'well loved/well fed/well taken care of syndrome'". He showed me her growth chart and her dots were off the charts. He said she's growing a little faster than she should be, but that's not a terrible thing. However, she is eating too much and this excess protein is disrupting her system. Her body is overloaded with excess protein and that's basically what an allergy is - a reaction to proteins. I asked if she had a milk allergy and he said that everyone does. Nobody should really drink cow's milk and that we in the U.S. are the only ones who really drink it and that other countries hardly ever drink cow's milk. I asked him why so many of the main formulas are cow's milk-based and he said he didn't know and that's just the way the American companies do things. He said she should eat a soy formula, that is lactose free. He said there's a small chance that she'll have a problem with soy, but he didn't think it was likely. I asked if she needed the $Nutramigen$ and he said no and that he only puts about 3-5 babies on that a year. (Well, he needs to talk to his colleagues, since they were just pushing it on me last week...) He said that it is true that some of the dairy I eat, passes through, but if we get her portions/intake under control that it would lessen the effects. He said to start her on rice cereal, in a bowl, and not in her bottle. I asked about allergies and he said, "do you know anyone with a rice allergy?" He said we start with rice, since it's the least allergenic. Anyway, he said we need to slowly move her towards a "breakfast/lunch/dinner" routine with a few other meals in between. He said to offer her some milk and then some rice cereal. After a while, we'd go to vegetables, then fruits, then meats. He said she could tell me when she was hungry, but I had to tell her when she was done eating. He said if I wait until she stops herself, then she will have overeaten. He said to wait until the first big pause and end that feeding. I asked how much I should feed her then and he said, "do you eat the same exact amount every day?" and suggested that I just try to change her habits. He said my husband and I should "talk up" the meals and explain to her what we're doing while we mix the cereal, so she learns that food takes time to prepare and that she'll be fed a proper amount - not too much and not too little.

That'll be interesting. Morgan is VERY impatient when it comes to her food, so I'm not sure she'll take it too well, but it is true that we'll have to try. She can't be a grazer for the rest of her life. Even though what the ped. said is different than all the other doctors, it made sense to me. If I pigged out and ate a large pizza at every meal, every day, my system would have problems, too. He said I was lucky to even be able to exclusively (over)feed her breast milk, especially being a first-time mom. She's well fed, but too well fed, I guess. He just wants to see her growth get more in line with the charts and he believes that settling her intake will improve all her issues, including her eczema. I guess we'll have to give it a try.