bloody poop, eating giraffes, and new diapers

For the past week or so Makena has had some really messy poops. It's clearly diarrhea, but she's been eating fine so I wasn't too concerned. Poop is messy to begin with, but these were very watery and each time she pooped it was exploding out of her diaper, right up the back, front, and even sides sometimes. We've been going through 3-4 outfit changes a day!! I've gotten poop on me, she's gotten poop in her belly button, it's just been a disaster. Good thing she likes taking baths!

On Wednesday morning she had 3 poopy diapers and an outfit change before we even left the house at 7:30am. The last diaper had a little tiny bit of red in it. Blood. She had it once before but it was such a small barely there amount that I pretty much chalked it up to her bottom being irritated from lots of pooping and bleeding a little. I was getting more concerned about the diarrhea though, and a quick online search suggested that if your baby is under 3 months to call the Dr right away. So I did, and the off-hours nurse told me if it was serious Dr. Wally would be calling me back. And then the phone rang right away. I mentioned that she just had another explosive diarrhea and there was a bit of blood in it, and he said "Well, I don't think you need to bring her to the hospital. but I would like to see her today." (The hospital?! I wasn't thinking that it was all that serious?!)

So we dropped Pam off at work and when the office opened at 9am I called and made an appointment for the soonest he could squeeze us in, at 11:45. They asked me to bring in a poopy diaper to do a test on. She was weighed and the nurse said she was 13 lbs. 3 ounces less than she was 9 days ago. But Dr. Wally said that he wanted to double check that and she weighed 13.2 lbs. Still less than her last visit, but he wasn't concerned. He was concerned about her poop testing positive for traces of blood. He thinks she has a cow milk protein allergy. And one way to find out is for me to eliminate all dairy from my diet, and at our next visit we'll test her poop again. (He referred me to a nutritionist and I called to set up an appointment but haven't heard back.)

It's not a rare issue in infants, and he is confident she'll outgrow it within a year or so. But for now, I'm just trying to figure out what to eat to get enough calories in me. Now I'm a vegetarian who can't even have dairy. No cheese is the hardest part. (It's only been 2 days so far and it's already been a struggle.) There is a chance it's not just the milk protein that she's sensitive to, and if that's the case I'll have to eliminate other common allergens until we find out which one is upsetting her tummy. I told him that she's been fussier than usual, since about 7 weeks, and asked if that could be the reason why, and he said maybe. I also mentioned that I've noticed her belly making lots of gurgling noises and he listened with the stethoscope and said, "You've been paying great attention to her, you're right, she has quite a lot of borborygmus." Which apparently is the fancy medical term for growling tummies.

So Makena has been sick and we had no idea. :(

He said some babies go months with this problem and don't give any clues, so we're lucky we happened to see the tiny bit of blood. (I feel terrible that we didn't mention the bit we saw a few weeks ago.) It takes up to 3 weeks for all the dairy to be out of my system, and I'm just really hoping that she starts to feel better. Today she's been nursing every 2 hours, which is more frequent than usual, and my milk supply has been low for the first time ever. Usually I leak all day long and have to change my nursing pads about twice a day. But today they didn't have a drop in them. And when Makena has been nursing she's been angry at my boobs and sucking very hard and then screaming. There just isn't enough milk coming out. Luckily I had 2 frozen bags of breastmilk and tonight Pam fed her almost 6 oz and she gobbled it all up. Meanwhile I pumped and got less than an ounce total! I'm freaking out about it. My breasts haven't felt full all day. I'm pretty certain it has to be related to my eating. I'm surely not getting enough calories in me, let alone the extra 500 you need while breastfeeding. It's so distressing. Today I started taking Fenugreek pills which are supposedly great for milk production. Some women see results in 1-3 days. I hope it works.

In other news, Makena is amazing. :) She is still a happy smiley baby. Yes she has her moments, for the past 3 days she has cried the entire car ride home. She fights her sleep in the evenings. We have to swaddle her tightly and rock her in our arms and really work at it to get her to fall asleep AND stay sleeping. When we put her down she wakes within a few minutes. So we take turns holding her so she can sleep. When she wake around 9-10 pm I take her to bed with me and nurse her and lay down and we both fall asleep with no problems. She wakes around 3-4am, and again around 6am. But she smiles these amazing open mouthed smiles that just melt us into a puddle every time-
The mitts are because she keeps scratching herself. The other day her face was just covered in red scratches. :( We clip her nails but she loves to grab her face, especially her eyes. She loves to suck on her hands and we recently introduced her to Sofie the giraffe. It's a popular teething toy. She smells so good, made from natural rubber. But she does an awful squeak like a dog toy.
I can't wait for Makena to be able to hold her better!



Lately when she gets super happy she'll pull her hands up around her head or to her mouth. It's so adorable! Here she is looking at Mama upside down-

In super exciting news, we just received 12 wonderful BRAND NEW Goodmama diapers from The Cloth Diaper Foundation. They are super soft, made from natural cotton and bamboo velour. I am jealous that she gets to wear them and I can't! lol! These diapers would normally cost about $30 each but thanks to being approved for the awesome low income cloth diapering program, I get a whole set for the low price of ZERO DOLLARS! That's right, I only paid $15 for shipping and get to cover Makena's tush in great quality dipes! 12 diapers at about $30 each is over $300. The diapers are just on loan, I have to return them when I'm done with them, but oh how lucky I feel!

And Makena is pretty stoked too!

I admit that I feel a smidgen awful about her pooping in these pristine diapers!! But I suppose that's what they are for! They don't have a waterproof outside, so technically they should be worn with a cover, but they are so darn absorbent and have so many layers that she can go a few hours in one before they start to feel wet. I'm picturing hot summer days spent at home with just these diapers on...