Glimmer of hope

I think I saw a inner of hope today for some improvement. Day 3 into the diet and Diego had less spit up, less diahrrea and less screaming today. I'm hoping it's a sign of more good to come with time. Here he is awake and not crying today :)

And Callie asked me to take her photo in her underpants. Funny kid!

Finding a new allergist

Another day and night have passed and I'm more convinced Diego has allergies. His reflux is worse as he puked in my bed and all over me and him several times last night and today. He screamed and cried half of the night and every time I fed him today. It's a really terrible feeling as a mom to breastfeed your child and then watch him scream in pain, when you are givin him the milk. It can take 5 or more days for allergens to get out of your breastmilk. With each passing day on my new diet I'm hoping he gets better but today that was not the case. I didn't do much besides laundry, nap. and call doctors but that's ok.

 spent a few hours of my day on the phone trying to get Diego a doctors appt in allergy. Children's hospital (Callie's doctor) couldn't get him an appt until August 23rd! I think that's pretty outrageous. I called the pediatrician to see if they could put in an urgent request to see if they will move it up at all. But before I heard back from the pediatrician I decided to see if I could find another allergist to see Diego. I found one in Mission Valley that could see him the end of June which was an improvement. But they recommended another part of their practice in north county that may be able to see him sooner. The receptionist was so nice and after I explained the situation got me squeezed in for an urgent appt on Tuesday! Go Scripps! I'm hopeful the allergist will be good. It's a drive and it's not part of any health system we have been too but considering the customer service I got in getting an appt right away I feel they will be good.

The pediatrician wants to do a stool sample test to look for blood in the poop but we will wait to see wha te allergist has to say first. I don't even know if we can have any allergy tests at this young age but even someone guiding me through elimination diets and figuring out how to help him will be great. Hopefully by Tuesday we are seeing some improvements and can go from there.

Here's a photo of one complaining face and one sweet sleeping face. I much prefer the angel asleep face :)

Allergies for two?

Ive been having too much déjà vu this week. I was hopeful that Diego wouldn't have any food allergies like Callie and just be a happy baby but I'm starting to think that's not the case. He's been fussier and fussier with more reflux, spitting up then screaming in pain. He wakes from dead sleep to crying and writhing in what appears to be stomach pain. He can't lay down flat without spitting up and crying. He wakes up every morning sounding congested and we've seen milk come out his nose, more than once. He seems extremely uncomfortable when he poops which is very frequent, sometimes green and burning his little bottom. He has had diaper rash for several consecutive days and is sleeping less and less. As much as I told myself it can't be allergies for several days I have finally come to a place where I need to figure it out. With Callie it took us 9 months despite my hunches and we both suffered through the days and nights. This time I am willing to try so much more now even if it's a big commitment for myself. And so as of this morning I have decided to start an allergy elimination diet. I am choosing to do the more drastic method in which you exclude all possibly allergic foods first then add them back one at a time to see if it is an offending food. The reason I do it this way is because I don't know which food is the problem and it could be more than one. With Callie I excluded the wrong foods and so she was still miserable. This time I'm excluding the top 8 foods that cause 90% of food allergies: wheat, soy, milk/dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, and eggs. This will be for 2 weeks although there should be an improvement in his symptoms sooner. After 2 weeks we can try adding one food at a time, at least 5 days apart and see if any issues arise.  While I don't want him to have any allergies I am hopeful that this will help him feel better, sleep better and just all around be comforted. I truly feel that he will because this is just too reminiscent of Callie, although to a lesser degree. I'll be surviving on such a limited diet that I'm sure ill lose the rest of my pregnancy weight quickly. I'm trying to did a positive in here for me ;) and since I've been through this before I am much more experienced in creating alternatives. Hopefully in just a few days I will know if this is working for him. I'm also planning to call and schedule to see the allergist, although to my knowledge they don't test kids this young an what I am already doing is best for diagnosing.

Wish us luck!

We went to get Diego's birth certificate today and let Callie play in the new waterfront park and fountain the County put in downtown. We had a picnic snack and played on the fountains. It was really fun and it's a great park, I'm sure we will be back soon!

A momma and her ducklings

My nights and days don't seem to be improving. I went out and bought a wedge for Diego's crib to elevate the head of his bed to see if he sleeps better; less fussing, less spit up, more sleep. But for today I'm not going to get into that. I'll save that for tomorrow.

Today we went to feed the ducks and there was a family of mallard ducks. A mommy and daddy duck with 5 itty bitty baby ducks following close behind. They were so cute. Callie enjoyed them and said she followed her momma too :)

Here's my two ducklings and the family of mallards today.

Fussy nights

Diego has had two nights in a row of extreme fussiness. Last night he cried half of the night and was still writhing and wiggling in discomfort most the rest of the time. He had diarrhea all morning and terrible diaper rash. I spent the morning airing out his behind through bloodshot and exhausted eyes. This required two full loads of laundry, 2 outfit changes for me and a complete floor washing for one particular blow out that sprayed 5 feet across the living room. Oops guess I didn't have the cloth covering his bottom on that one. By the afternoon his bottom was looking a bit better and he slept a bit. I took a nap too . Here is one adorable sleeping baby and this is what I'm hoping to see all night tonight or not see because I'll be sleeping too.

Callie and Kaitlin

Our friends Tammy and Jason came over today with their daughter Kaitlin to see baby Diego and visit. Callie was excited all day that her friend was coming over to play. She wasn't the best at sharing her toys but Kaitlin was a good sport about it all. They made such a mess at dinner we gave then both a bath and dressed them in pajamas. Her party turned into a pajama party. Kaitlin didn't want to leave and Callie didn't want to go to sleep. We will have to have another play date soon.

Ring around the Rosie

Today we celebrated Eliana's college graduation. Callie loves any party! We were excited to have Carmen in town to take some photos for us of the baby and the family. I am not ready to share most of them as you'll be getting snail mail pretty soon ;) but these candids of Callie and I doing ring around the rosie  were too cute not to share. Also a quick one of the cousins together and GiJu with her new grandson. I also snapped the ones of daddy and his two little ones. Callie has to be right in the mix all the time. Congrats to Tia NaNa, we are so proud of you!