Jason's 2-month appointment

Jason had been automatically covered through Al's insurance for 60 days. I managed to procrastinate and by about 55 days old I finally figured I should go ahead and fill out the paperwork to get him officially enrolled in Tricare Prime (military insurance). When Al submitted the paperwork we were informed that all "new" patients were to go to the "clinic" in our area and he would have to stop going to the pediatrician he had been seeing (Tyler's doctor). I was less than pleased. He did what he could and got nowhere with changing the situation. I called and also had no success. So unless I wanted to switch Tyler's doctor to the "clinic" (he was "grandfathered in" and allowed to use a civilian doctor still) my boys will be going to different doctors now. Wonderful.

Yesterday Jason had his belated 2-month well-baby at his new doctors. Good news first. He's on track developmentally. He weighs 11.8 pounds, is 22 inches long, and his head has a diameter of 15 inches. His lungs are still clear although he still has those nagging cough/cold symptoms.

Now for the bad news. He happened to have a horrible night the prior evening and then that morning as well and managed to spit up blood-tinged mucus again on the way there. When the doc saw this and how angry and obviously in pain he was, she told me he needs to be on formula...at least for now. She wants him on nutramagin or allimentum ASAP for at least 3-4 days, ideally a week, and then I can consider breastfeeding again basically if I eliminate everything from my diet. I don't know if I love her or hate her. She's the first person who has admitted that I what I eat could have an impact on him. Unfortunately I still don't know what's bothering him. He had been doing SOOOOO much better and then I had pizza Sunday night, so it could have been the dairy, the tomatoes, the spice, or really anything. Or it could have been the soda or the chocolate in the cookies. These are all things I had been having in small amounts prior to yesterday though and he was doing seemingly better. Makes no sense to me. So to know I'd basically have to eliminate everything from my diet, which I'm willing to do if necessary.

I agree that I need to do something. I had never seen such a strong correlation between what I ate and his reaction as I did that night and yesterday. But I really was hesitant to give him formula and I also haven't had much success with a bottle. But I also hate to think that I'm causing him pain and she said it would take a while to get the irritants out of my body even if I cut out everything now.

I did some research yesterday, shed some tears, asked some opinions of family and friends, and even contacted a LLL leader. I was still really torn and then got the mail and there was a formula coupon. I decided that was my sign and went out to Walmart to buy Allimentum (geez that stuff is expensive). I did TRY desperately to get him to drink it yesterday. He obviously doesn't like the taste. He did manage to drink 2 ounces max, but that was it. So I had to resort to breastfeeding but will continue to try to offer the bottle this week, with full intention of going back to full time breastfeeding if possible. However, I'm making strides in that area as well. I drank a TON of water and am pumping and saving my milk (to potentially donate) to try to rid my body of any excess toxins. I cut out ALL dairy sources (even those seemingly innocent foods that contain trace amounts of dairy like crackers, waffles, etc.), tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, and soy. I'm basically allowed to eat nothing that is fun, but it's worth it for now. I am keeping a food journal and will eventually try to add some foods back in my diet one by one to see what is bothering him.

He seems to be better already. Not perfect, but better. He's even asleep in the swing right now, without having shed any tears. Looking back I'm realizing he was getting more and more uncomfortable recently, but i hadn't put the signs together. I was having to hold him CONSTANTLY and he only slept in the front pack or in bed with me, but it seemed manageable and he was smiling more and stuff so I thought he was doing okay. I'm hoping that I'll find that he's just bothered by large doses of certain foods, or else I fear that I'll be really confused by his symptoms being that he had seemed to do fine with small doses of things. I just hope I can figure out what is bothering him. The mommy guilt is overwhelming, but I think I'm doing the most I can for him right now. Wish us luck!

Oh, and the doctor wants to see us for a follow-up on Friday. I do feel confident that she was educated on the subject and is doing what she feels is right for him without simply trying to get me to quit breastfeeding or forcing breastfeeding (neither approach is something I would be comfortable with him). She even gave me the direct line to her office (something they normally don't do) and said to call if I have ANY issues. She spent probably 40 minutes with us, holding Jason a good portion of the time. She will be sending us to a pediatric gastroenterologist if we do not see improvement. So for now I'm thinking maybe this insurance mix-up was a blessing in disguise.