This is an update week for you! I wish I had more time to go deeper in with these journals but my little babe is just totally draining me…
–Total Elimination Diet: I’ve been on the diet now for over a week and NO change. On day 4 he seemed a little happier but the next day was his worst one yet. I’m giving it the full two weeks since that’s what Dr. Sears recommends (because some things can take two plus weeks to get out of your system). So, for over a week I’ve been eating nothing but turkey, zucchini, squash, rice and pears. UGH. This is AWFUL. I’m starving and no matter how much of those foods I eat I’m still starving. My lactation consultants have always told me that these diets are BS and they won’t help (unless your child has a real allergy- which is rare and in which case they would have other symptoms like rashes, etc.) but so many people have told me their babies did better without certain foods. Most people start to see a difference in their baby’s behavior by the first few days and obviously that hasn’t happened for us. I’ve been off dairy, soy, chocolate, citrus, tomatoes and spicy food for 6 weeks and there is absolutely NO change.
-Sleep: It’s back and forth. Naps are still rough. Sometimes he goes down in a few minutes other times it can take 30 to 40 minutes of intermittent crying. Night sleep has been very weird. Some nights he can go 6 to 9 hours without eating and then other nights he’s waking up every two hours especially in the early 7pm-10pm hours. He does better with the night nurse which is no surprise since he isn’t smelling my milk all night when he’s with her. The worst part of him waking up is I have such a hard time falling back asleep especially with all the little peeps and snorts he makes. I often go from 2-5am desperately trying to fall asleep and as soon as I do he wakes up again. I will say, though, that he is a much better sleeper than Lily so I have to be grateful for that!
-Emotions: I’m on edge. This week has probably been the most difficult for me emotionally so far. Seeing my son scream all day in pain is just terrible. It’s making me very irritable so I’ve been picking at Andy. I get frustrated with him because since our nanny came back last week he is able to leave from 9 to 1 every day and do whatever he wants and I’m with Maverick 24/7. He has a really hard time with all the crying (I mean..duh) but he gets to leave it and I don’t. We’ve talked about it a lot and we know that it is all temporary and we will get through it. If there is one thing I am sure of, he is the ONLY person I want to be doing this with but the constant stress can wear on you. We went through this when Lily was going through her screaming stage and once it started getting better we were even stronger than we were before. We are doing our best to remember that it is all temporary and it WILL get better. All in due time.
-Lactation visit: In perhaps the biggest news of the week, I saw my IBCLC this week. I texted her on Sunday telling her I was desperate. She had me come in on Tuesday morning and said that what was going on is textbook Lactose Overload (something I was suspecting). Basically, what happens is moms with oversupply (me!) have an imbalance of foremilk and hindmilk. The foremilk is the less fatty milk that quenches thirst and has more lactose (not from cow’s milk- all mother’s milk has lactose). Because he gets more of the foremilk it goes through his system faster and his body can’t process the lactose properly. The hindmilk is less dense so he gets hungrier faster but the more frequently he eats the worse the lactose overload is. We already knew this was going to potentially be a problem so I had started him on lactase drops (the enzyme that processes lactose) but unfortunately, I didn’t realize that they needed to be refrigerated to work. I also typically pump a little milk out before I feed him to get some of the foremilk out but I wasn’t doing it consistently enough to really make a difference. The lactation consultant swears that if I am able to use the drops, reduce my supply a bit and pump a little foremilk out before feeds that he will get better within a week! I cannot IMAGINE! You guys, if this works I will be the happiest mommy in the whole world. I mean it!
Wish me luck! If this actually works I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to spend more time on myself AND this blog that I’ve been neglecting! By this time next week I hope to be telling you that a miracle has occurred in my home and I can FINALLY enjoy having a newborn.