The Follow Up: The Diet, The Apnea Machine, Cloth Diapers

This morning Samantha had a doctor's appointment to go over everything we left in the air last week.  We discussed her poop and the apnea machine.

Poop first.  I have now been 9 days without soy, dairy, eggs, berries, nuts, chocolate and I cut out glutens JUST to be safe.  There has been NO change in her poop at all.  He said that he's never seen it take longer than 2 weeks to make a change.  My instructions are to collect poop over the next three days to be tested by the lab and continue to diet through then.  On Monday, I should get the results back.  If she has any blood in her poop, it is most likely a Milk/Soy Protein Intolerance.  MSPI has a few symptoms:

• Blood, water or mucous containing stools
• weight loss
• chronic congestion
• repeated vomitting
• gastroesophageal reflux
• asthma
• eczema and/or skin rashes
• refusing to eat or comfort eating (eating all the time to soothe the stomach)
• irritability or colic-like behavior
  

Samantha only has a few symptoms.  Water/Mucous stools (we won't know about the blood until test results are back, vomitting or reflux, but so did Kaitlyn, and comfort eating.  She is a happy, growing baby.  She isn't losing weight, as of today she was up to 12 lbs 13 ounces!  

Most babies outgrow this by 1, and many by 6 months.  The question is, what to do if she is MSPI in the meantime?  Do we switch to a hypoallergenic formula for the next 9 1/2 months?  Or do we, I, stay on the diet for the next 9 1/2 months and continue to breastfeed?  There really isn't a right answer.

The diet has gotten a little easier.  My appetite has decreased.  I've lost weight and energy (and am forbidden by my OB from going to the gym until I am back to getting a lot of calories every day) and I cannot wait to go to McDonald's :P, but it is getting easier.  I am finding more I can eat and enjoying it.  I am loving olive oil, baked potatoes and the like.

On to the apnea machine.  We had a total of 3 alarms.  ALL related to the electrodes being in the wrong place, moving and stuff like that.  Her dr. does not think she has an apnea problem.  But, if the machine makes us feel better he said we can keep it as long as we'd like!

Cloth diapers are next.  They are going great.  I'm getting a routine with them, watching the clock a little more (which isn't a bad thing at all lol) and had only had one leak this week.  And it was today.  I didn't want to wake her when she was sleeping so she was in it from about 8:30 to 1:30 and that was WAY too long.  But, I'm loving them and thinking about ordering more....