NewMom: Tummy Trouble Two — The Update

First I want to thank everyone who left their comments on my original Tummy Trouble posting. I also wanted to provide an update. We’ve seen the pediatric GI and found out in about two seconds that NewGirl is allergic to milk and has an intolerance to soy (a common combo). It’s not lactose intolerance, but an allergy to the proteins in milk. The test was incredibly simple. The implications were complicated, but not unmanageable She has to be on a prescription formula because even the hypoallergenic stuff contains some milk proteins. Thank goodness our insurance company is paying for the formula, because the cost of this stuff is unbelievable. (It works out to over $8,000/year!!!)

We’re still in the process of transitioning NewGirl to the new formula, and the doctor says it may take as much as three weeks after she’s fully transitioned before she’s completely healed, and she’ll have to delay starting solids for quite some time. But, I’m looking forward to a day in the near future that she’s not in pain from her feedings. I’ve decided to delay my return to work and her introduction to child care for a couple of weeks so that we can know the new formula is doing its job. While NewGirl should outgrow this, I know there’s a long process ahead of us when she does start solids, and there’s a process of educating the center and her teachers about the special care they’ll need to take to keep her from another child’s food, but I see the light at the end of this tunnel, and I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders — and NewGirl’s tummy.