amen for the internet

So as you know we were dealing with some feeding issues with Jason. He had done so well all last week and I was thrilled that we finally figured out for sure that some food (still not certain what) was the culprit for his problems. The weekend rolled around and he was fussier. Still not as bad as he was, but not great. He had stopped napping in the swing or independently in my bed (after nursing) and would only nap with me while nursing. He wanted to be held constantly again, but at least he wasn't screaming for hours. He also started spitting up more and was having green and mucousy diapers (spellcheck does not agree that "mucousy" is a word, but I'm going for it). Tuesday rolled around and he woke up with a diaper that had a little bit of blood in it. I called the doctor immediately and they said that he needed to be seen. Due to lovely insurance issues, they never fit us in until today (his scheduled follow-up), but I'll get back to that.

So I cried and cried my eyes out yesterday realizing that maybe I couldn't do enough dietarily (spellcheck seems to think I make up a lot of words) for my son. I realized that maybe I really should have pressed the bottles a little more to get him on that formula and that maybe my desire to breastfeed had clouded my vision on what was best for him. The guilt was tremendous.

We managed to ALL get a nice long nap yesterday and sleep always makes things better. I woke up and started my research while Jason continued to nap for a bit. Apparently blood in stool can be caused by a few things: slight anal tear (hopefully not), food allergies (uh oh), if mom has a cracked nipple or other bleeding (hello, milk blister!) or "oversupply". I had suspected an oversupply issue a while back, but it had seemed that we had concurred it. Then it occurred to me, I had been pumping like crazy to try to rid my body of the bad foods I had eaten. I had caused my body to think I needed to make more milk. My body finally started to catch up with the demand over the weekend and I started feeling engorged and uncomfortable, which totally coincides with when Jason started getting fussy again. Symptoms of oversupply also include spitting up, fussiness, and green mucousy diapers occasionally with blood. Oversupply. BINGO, we have a winner!

Of course I did bring him to the pediatrician today for his follow-up. He said it was obviously he was not in pain anymore and this doctor (yes, another doctor, my insurance stinks) did not seem too pleased that the other doctor had even suggested the formula. He says he's fine on the breastmilk now and that the milk blister absolutely was very likely the cause of the blood in his stool, as babies can not digest and break down blood so it goes right through to the diaper. Additionally he hasn't had any blood in his diaper since. So, all is good as far as the doctor is concerned. He's put on a good deal of weight since his last appointment, weighing in at 12.4lbs, 22.5 inches, and head circumference of 16.

I didn't even bother sharing my theory on oversupply at this was a general practitioner and I figured it really didn't matter as they were happy with his progress and that there is nothing they can do for an oversupply issue. I was pretty confident that was the cause as it's already being remedied by some positioning techniques I read. We will also be going to a LLL meeting tonight. And for now, NO MORE PUMPING!