how did I forget?

I was so consumed with Jason's "issues" that I forgot to post Tyler's t-ball photos. I told myself that I would NOT bring my camera to EVERY t-ball event (just most..ha, ha). Well, I couldn't help myself once it was confirmed that Thursday was picture day! And, better yet, Al was able to meet us there which made Tyler VERY happy.

As you probably recall, class picture day didn't go to well. He was a little anxious, but did okay for this. His smile was beyond cheesy, but since no tears were shed, I was a happy camper. We don't get the professional pics back for a while, so until then, here are the ones I took. Note that Tyler is either the oldest or second oldest on the team, but I do believe he's one of the shortest. Poor kid apparently inherited my height. His poor shorts were huge on him. I believe they were rolled up three or four times!


Practice was short, due to the time it took to take pictures. He did have fun though and got lots of energy out. Al got a kick out of me nursing Jason. I hadn't brought a chair, so I resorted to sitting in the jogging stroller. As he whips out the camera he says "you always say I don't take any pictures". Hmm, a picture of me nursing in a stroller isn't what I had in mind! But it does make me laugh, so I thought I'd share!

hopefully, finally, some answers

All this morning, as I lay sleepless, I sat there and pondered this whole allergy issue. I knew he wasn't uncomfortable (aside from the obvious discomfort of being congested) and I knew I hadn't eaten anything that should (in theory) bother him. It still made no sense how he was just developing allergy after allergy after allergy.

I called my mom on the way to the doctor and pumped myself up for requesting (demanding) whatever specialist I deemed necessary, whether that be a gastroenterologist or a an allergist. My mom and I both talked about how content and happy he seemed, as he sat there completely quiet in the backseat of the car (which used to be a rarity).

I got there and they weighed him. 19lbs 14oz. Almost hitting that 20lbs mark. Whoa! The doctor got in and listened to my whole story of allergy after allergy. He then checked the diaper sample with blood that I brought. I was afraid that he'd dismiss it (as the old clinic had) and he immediately said "yep, there is blood in there for sure". He then checked over Jason and noticed a small tear in his rectum. He said that this is what was almost certainly causing the blood, which would explain why he seemed totally fine. He said that the congestion is likely a small cold, but regardless unrelated to what I'm eating. He said, based on everything I'm saying, that the initial dairy allergy (and likely soy allergy as well) were accurate, but he'd question all the additional foods that I'm removing. He suggested that I do exactly what I'm doing right now for about a week to give him a chance to get over his cold and then asked that I start adding foods back into my diet, leaving dairy and soy for last (believe me, I have no intention of rushing into that). Meanwhile I'm supposed to use a thick coating of zinc oxide cream over his little butt to heal the crack. Obviously if he continues to bleed they want to see him again.

Obviously I feel bad that he has this little tear, but I am beyond relieved that this potentially has nothing to do with foods. There is hope for the future! It makes me wonder how long I've been dealing with all of these food "allergies" when it wasn't necessary, but I'm trying to focus on the positive. Keep your fingers crossed that this pediatrician is right. For me, it all seems to be making success.

Best news of all, I asked him about formula, being fully prepared that he might tell me that it made the most sense for Jason, but I was thrilled with his answer. Essentially he said that if I felt like I needed a break, that formula wouldn't hurt him and that I needed to do what was best for our whole family. I asked him if it would hurt him if I continued to breastfeed and his answer was something like "he is happy and healthy and you are certainly doing something right. If you are okay with continuing, then that would be my first choice for him". Yipee!!!!

just great

So the kid (Jason) is either....

a) allergic to corn

b) allergic to rice cereal

c) allergic to something else

d) allergic to something outside (tree pollen is high now)

e) has a cold

at this point I'm honestly hoping for e. He's so congested. I've been up practically all night with him, which I'm hoping is just because of the congestion (not genuine discomfort that he gets with his food allergies). I'm back to suctioning noses. We're both miserable. It's only 6:00am and I'm ready for the day to be over. NOW!

6:33AM upate. Blood in stool. I'm in tears. Why is this so tough? Off to pediatrician today. Hopefully I'll be able to get an appointment.

6 months!

I can hardly believe it. My baby boy is 6 months old! Where has the time gone? It's been a long road, full of ups and downs, but it's been rewarding and so totally worth it. I can't imagine life before him.

As Tyler pointed out "he's too young to have cake", but he did have some rice cereal. It's been probably over a month since he's had any "solid" food, but he really should probably start eating some, so I figured I'd give it a try. He didn't have trouble with the rice before and I drink rice milk all the time.




In case your curious, I've decided that maybe his diapers are just odd. I'm not going to overwhelm myself with keeping out corn. He has his 6 month appointmnet in 8 days, so we'll see what they have to say as to what is "normal" and what is not. Hopefully with any luck we'll get to keep breastfeeding and maybe eventually I'll be able to eat again! Speaking of breastfeeding, I'm so proud of myself. I made it to 6 months. We all remember how well I did with new year's resolutions (ha, ha), so I'm thrilled that I made it this far. My other two "goals" (if you can call them that) was to wear him more and to use cloth diapers. Success all around!

what do you think?

My mom commented that she thought the picture of Jason in the swing looked just like Tyler. For the most part I don't think they look alike, so I wasn't sure if maybe the picture reminded her of Tyler because I have a very similar picture of Tyler. So, I decided to find that picture of Tyler. What do you think?

Jason, one day shy of 6 months old.

Tyler, just over 7 months old.

back in the swing of things

After, hmm, only almost 6 months, I feel like things are "normal" again. Or at least heading there. I'm starting to exercise again, and yesterday we even did our normal routine of the library and playground. I had been avoiding it, because the library is not where you want to bring a screaming infant, and the last few times I asked Tyler he didn't want to go anyway. Turns out the Tyler is the one who ended up screaming there, but that is a vent for another day. Tyler did shock me by reading 3/4 of a book that he had never seen before. I really still sorta believed he was just reading sight words, and not truly reading, but it's becoming more apparent that he is learning to read. Wow! I'd like to say that Jason loved his first library experience, but the truth is that he just hung out in the Moby wrap and drooled on me.

From there it was off to the playground. Tyler spent the majority of the time trying to hide from my camera, which apparently was a fun game. Jason enjoyed his first true playground swing (he had been on an infant seat at my brother's house before).

a winner already!

Remember my post about Swagbucks? Well, it was March 13th, the day I signed up. For those whom are mathematically challenged, that's 11 days later, and I've already earned a $5 gift card to Amazon.com! Not too bad for doing nothing other than searching the internet as I do normally.

If you haven't already, head over to Swagbucks here. Sign up, and make sure to download their tool bar. By using it you gain "Swagbucks" while doing your normal everyday google searches. Nothing fancy. And the more people that you can convince to join, the more Swagbucks you earn as well. Once you accumulate swagbucks you can trade them in for various giftcards (Amazon, Southwest, Disney, Barnes & Noble, Target...just to name a few) and other prizes such as electronics, collectibles, etc.

So, start swagging. You'll be glad you did!

And with that, I promise to no longer brag about my Swagbucks earnings...at least until I save up for something big. LOL!

small updates

Nothing to exciting going on in our household these days. Had a rather uneventful weekend. Al did take Tyler to Denny's and Walmart one morning, but the rest of our time was spent on yardwork, cleaning up, Wii Mario Kart, playground, t-ball in the backyard, changing diapers, cooking boring meals, playing cooties, marbles, etc.

As for Jason's "allergies" (or whatever you want to call them), I'm perplexed. Taking back out the wheat didn't seem to do too much. His spitting up and nasty diapers continued. However, his congestion is gone, as is the blood in the stool. Being that we didn't have total success with just the removal of wheat, I did decide to experiment by removing corn too. I don't think he's truly allergic to corn but perhaps sensitive to it(as I said, no blood and congestion) but it can't hurt to give it a try. I'm really looking forward to seeing a good diaper again and a spit-up free man. I'll give it a few days before I report (just started yesterday). Meanwhile, I challenge you to go into your pantries and try to find some sort of food without dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, or corn products. Trust me, it's tough. If you find something, feel free to let me know. I've been surviving on 100% juice, meats, fruits, veggies, rice milk, and oatmeal. I would LOVE to add something back in.

Like I said, boring weekend. Al did manage to put Jason to sleep himself. I'd say that's good, considering I can't do it without feeding him.

The little man has been quite active these days. He loves to scoot around on the floor. I still can't say for certain whether it's purposeful, but he does manage to get places slowly but surely. The other day I put him down for a nap. I came in the room, not even realizing he had woken. I peeked over to my bed and found him lying there, remote in mouth, grinning ear to ear.

He's been trying for a while to reach his feet. That big belly gets in the way.

This weekend he had success!

go figure (updated with pictures)

I swear that I'll never understand Tyler. Never.

Last night Tyler was very excited about 2 events happening today. Class picture day and the start of t-ball. He can have a great deal of anxiety about things, but these things he seemed genuinly excited about.

We got to school and he had a royal meltdown over pictures. I never forced him to do them, yet I had a screaming child clinging to me begging me not to make him do it. He was petrified. Seemingly of nothing.

So as you could imagine I was less than enthused about t-ball tonight, being that I could sense his anxiety starting to creep up as he asked probably 20 "what if" questions related to his fears.

Much to my surpise, he LOVED it. I think it helped that it was outdoors with some his playgroup friends. It wasn't an intimidating situation (from what I could tell) and he was cooperative and seemed to really enjoy himself. And he was VERY proud of himself. Makes me happy.

Finally, blogger is letting me add the pictures!

the never-ending guessing game

So, like I said, I got rid of the wheat...and the chocolate...and the egg.

However, I literally had eaten nothing but oatmeal and a pear yesterday and was starting to get dizzy and nauseous, so I had Captain Crunch as I was preparing dinner (I was afraid I was gonna pass out while I was waiting). It has corn, and since apparently corn is a very rare allergy (not even listed as a top allergen), I figured I'd be safe. I also had fritos last night (also corn obviously).

Jason's diapers, although they had been returning to normal, are a mess again (no blood though). Spitting up has decreased and he slept better last night. He's still fussy though. So, it this point it's a waiting game, and a guessing game. If I don't see improvement by Saturday I think I guess I'll have to take corn back out too. That's not fun. Corn is in so much (think high fructose corn syrup, most cereals, cornmeal, cornstarch, anything with baking soda apparently, etc). Wish us luck!

In the meantime, Jason's 6-month "well baby" appointment has been scheduled for April 3rd. Can you believe my baby will be 6 months old in 6 days?!?!

update and a vent

So Karen is right, it's likely the wheat. I just didn't want it to be the wheat. Wheat ellimination kills me, but now it's gone from my diet too. Back to my days of eating only meat, rice, fruit, veggies, and oatmeal. If I only have a few weeks of nursing left, hopefully they can be as pleasant as possible, which means that I'll eliminate the wheat for now.

Now my vent. Apparently yahoo did some updating and I've been getting these pop-ups about contacting my friends. No big deal, right? Well, the one that keeps coming up is that my friend "Christina would like to add you to his or her contact list". You might still think "okay, no big deal". Christina died 10 months ago. Not the way I wanted to start my day. Yahoo should not be allowed to lie to me.

the end of the road for us

This is it, this is likely the end of the road for us. I think these will be our last few weeks of nursing...

As you might remember about 2.5 weeks ago I pulled all of the typical allergens out of my diet. No dairy, no soy, no eggs, no wheat, no peanuts, and no treenuts. That is all of the "typical allergens", except for seafood which I knew he did okay with. Almost immediately all his symptoms cleared. No blood in the stool, no more spitting up (the first time I had seen that happen), the congestion cleared, slept better, and his diapers started looking normal again. He did great for 2 weeks. At the 2 week mark (okay, 13 days) I started to add a food back in. I picked wheat because it was the hardest for me to eliminate. For 2-3 days he seemed fine, so I was elated. Stupidly I didn't wait and added egg in my diet again (never thought it bothered him before). He then started to have yucky mucousy diapers again, congestion came back, and started spitting up a ton. Also got really fussy and wouldn't sleep on his own again anymore. It only got worse, and then last night he had a little bit of blood in his stool again. So it would seem that wheat or egg also bothers him. Unfortunately it's not that easy. The same day I went grocery shopping to buy some things with wheat, I also found "no pudge" brownie mix (dairy and soy-free) and bought corn oil to replace my previous vegetable oil (soy-based) as well as corn-based tortillas and tortilla chips. Although chocolate and corn aren't typical allergens, I had been warned about both of them. So now I sit here with a screaming baby (at 5:41am) after maybe 2 hours of broken sleep just wanting to kick myself for being so impatient and introducing so many things at once. Now I don't know what it is that bothers him (wheat, egg, corn, or chocolate...or combo of any/all). So for now I'm taking out the chocolate and the corn and the eggs and leaving the wheat in my diet and hoping for the best. If I don't get some answers (and success) with this, I'll take out the wheat again until his 6-month "well baby" appointment (early April) but then I think I'm going to have to admit defeat and stop nursing. As much as I'd like to, I can't live on a completely allergen-free diet for much longer. I give total props to those who do it, but I just can't anymore. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to Jason. Please wish us luck!

St. Patty's Day continued...

Did I mention that Jason had a plethora of hand-me-down St. Patrick's Day clothing?

Okay, I just couldn't decide if this picture or the last picture was cuter.

Not an outfit, but definitely in the spirit of the holiday.

My cutie pie (does it make me a bad mom that he's posing in beer beads???)

Brotherly love....

Tyler, sporting his shamrock sticker he got at school. Note the "high and tight" haircut he requested "to be just like Daddy". I cried when he asked, then let him have his haircut. He looks WAY too grown up.

Mmmmm, cookies (which I can't eat, of course)

Jason in his last St. Patrick's Day outfit of the bunch.

St. Patrick's Day preview

Last night we decorated for St. Patrick's Day. Yes, last night...better late than never. Anyway, Jason has a plethora of hand-me-down St. Patrick's Day outfits, so I put one on, and Tyler wanted to take pictures of "me and my brover". Yet another series of pictures with Tyler in his PJ's. So, without further ado...

children unsupervised

I went in to unload the dishwasher, leaving Jason alone on the living room floor (all of 10 feet away from me). He got quiet, and I peeked in and this is what I saw. Just hanging out, UNDER his fleece blanket. I'm gonna have my hands full with this one. Yesterday he had scooted himself within inches of a stray crayon.

our newest addition

Isn't it cute?

bed hog

My little bed hog. For now I'll just be happy that he's napping. I'll tackle WHERE he naps another day. LOL

SMILE!

Jason managed to scoot himself over to this stuffed horse (coincidence or not, I'm not sure) and was so proud of himself. That smile just melts me.

some info from a 4.5 year old

I added the ".5" to the "4" because Tyler is no longer "4" to anyone who asks. "No mommy, I'm four and A HALF". LOL.

Anyway, back to my point...

Tyler: "Mommy, what are constellations for"

Me (who hated science): "Umm, I'm not really sure. I think they're just groupings of stars out in the sky"

Tyler: "Oh, nevermind, I know. When you're going to the moon and get lost, the constellations help you find your way."

There you go, that's a good enough answer for me.

craft time

Yesterday while Jason napped Tyler and I made this lovely St. Patrick's Day tissue holder. Needless to say, Tyler has decided he needs this in his room now. I presume we'll be out of tissues by the end of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.

pool day!

Yesterday afternoon we hit the pool. As to not completely ignore him, here are some pictures of Tyler. He had a wonderful time, until it was time to go. Temper tantrum city. Boy does that kid have a temper at times. In his defense, he was obviously tired. He fell asleep in his room after I sent him there for his poor behavior.



As for Jason, it was his first time to REALLY go in the pool. He floated around in his floaty thing for a while, a little unsure of it but never shedding a tear. Then he pooped, and I discovered that changing a traditional cloth swim diaper is nasty when you have to pull it down over their legs. Clean towel now covered in poop, we donned one of our traditional cloth diapers (much easier), which is now what we'll be using exclusively in the pool. Anyway, back to my point. Jason loved the water. Did a little splashing, mostly kicking. He was in there for probably an hour, at least. He had a great time!