Bye bye dairy

Let us have a moment of silence as we mourn the passing of dairy from my diet at least for the next few days. No more cream in my coffee (which probably means no more coffee if this morning is any indication). No more yogurt. No mor cookies or coffee cake or buttered bread. No more pizza (aaagh) But if it helps him sleep better and be less rumbly tummy it will be worth it. My food diary has lead me to suspect milk and yogurt as the main culprits but as dairy is a daily part of my diet it would explain the ongoing gas and greenish poop issues. So would gluten so if the no dairy thing doesn't work that's my next try. It will certainly be challenging! Fortunately real simple just did an issue that lists a bunch of healthy snacks many of which don't have dairy in them so I'm headed to the store today to pick up some to try and keep my mind off of cheese and cookies. :)

Last night was brutal - William was unable to sleep for more than 30-45 minutes unless he was held. His pooping and gas kept waking him up. He wanted to nurse constantly (which blows my oversupply theory ) and was just miserable. My poor baby!

Eczema maybe

Well the quest to figure out the poop color mystery has now been joined by the what is causing the babies eczema mystery. Could be the same thing. Could be two different things. My current theory is sunspots which I'm sticking with until I get enough data with the food diary. William has a red bumpy rash all over his body with some areas that are very dry patches. I've lotioned the heck out of him but that only helps the dry patches . Doesn't seem to bother him although not much bothers this kid.

I'm switching to method free and clear laundry soap today to see if that helps.

Attachment baby

I have to say william is the classic attachment baby in a lot of ways. Took to breast feeding like a pro, sleeps better when held ( what baby doesn't?), and lives the body carrier. The other two weren't really into the carriers but this little guy adores it. I can take him anywhere and he will be super calm then just fall asleep as long as he's in the carrier. It is a total life saver!

William 2 month appointment and poop

So today was the big 2 month appointment - everything looks great. He's growing well (now 9lbs 5 oz 22 inches and head is 15.5 inches) He got his vaccines (2 combo shots and an oral rotavirus vaccine) Had an issue with excessive bleeding from one of the shots . It turned out to be no biggie - a little pressure stopped it - but we totally freaked at the time. Those needles are friggin' huge! I was sure they'd done something awful to my poor baby . Figures - third one and I still freak out over stuff.

In poop news we are seeing yellow seedy poops finally but still getting green ones too. I'm keeping a food diary but I'm also watching my match technique and block feeding on case it's an over supply issue. Dairy allergies and over supply have annoyingly similar symptoms.

Ugh...blood again

So, I just changed another diaper with blood in it.  Dang it.  It looks like we're going to have to at least do a food diary to figure out what is irritating little bit's lower intestine.  I'm hoping against hope it's not milk, but as I had a big ol' glass of milk last night before I went to bed...well, things are not looking good for the home team on that one.  We shall see.

In other news, the older kids have become "toy deaf."  That is, whenever they have a toy in their little hands (and apparently a piece of junk mail or a toilet paper tube count as "toys") they are completely incapable of hearing anything I say. Unless I use the "mean mommy" voice which generally means there are "consequences".  Consequences often involve toys going into the garage for a specified period of time, or privileges being revoked.  Or time out if the lack of listening is either dangerous or involves a total meltdown.  I don't do melt downs - that's a go-to-your-room-until-you're-done-wailing moment (aka timeout).  Thankfully it's not a constant occurrence.  The meltdowns that is.  The deafness is pretty much the norm.

What's in a name?

This is the story of how William got his (many) names.

When I was pregnant, we talked a lot, as a family, about what we would name the new baby.  We had a long list and everyone had their favorites.  Zoe thought we should name the new baby Isaac.  John thought we should name him Joshua.  And the debate went on.  Other names on the list were William, Nicholas, Erik, and Gregor.  We knew we wanted the middle name of Matson since that was my maiden name.  

When the big day came, we had pretty much decided on Joshua Isaac Matson Baker.  But then when our sweet baby was born and we saw him for the first time, Daddy John said "He's not a Joshua - I think he's a William!"  Our new baby just didn't "look" like a Joshua!  So we spent another day debating names, finally settling on William Nicholas Matson Baker.

Meanwhile, Aunt Sharon was talking to her boys, Benjamin and Samuel, about the new baby's name.  Samuel thought we should name him something short and easy.  "Like Snake!" he suggested.  When he found out  the new baby's full name, he decided he would call him "Nicky."

When Grandma and Oompa visited with the rest of the Matson clan and told them this story, Aunt Judy and Uncle Art suggested we start calling the baby "Nicky the Snake" Baker and get him a tattoo before he starts kindergarten to complete the tough guy image.

At home, John and Zoe are thrilled with their new sibling.  So much so, that they call him "THE baby brother."  As in "Can I hold THE baby brother?" "THE baby brother is crying!" "I love THE baby brother!"

By any name, William, Nicholas Matson Baker aka Nicky the Snake, aka THE Baby Brother is much loved by all.

Not for people

With respect to the salmon we had last night - Zoe took one look at it and said "This is not good for people!"

Update : we had trout tonight which she declared "This is not for children!"

I sense a theme...

The poop follow up (no pictures this time)

Well, I decided to take Senor William Poopy Pants in to the doctor JUST IN CASE. Because, you know, if I didn't, he would totally have some life threatening rare disease that could have been cured if only I had brought him in right away.  Fortunately the mere act of bringing him to the doctor ensures that it is nothing more than a little gastric upset.  Which is exactly what the doctor told me.  Apparently something I ate irritated William's lower intestines a bit.  I do NOT have to cut out dairy yet. We are supposed to keep an eye on it for 24 hours and if it doesn't clear up then we start the no dairy thing.  So I'm not totally off the hook yet, but I have hope :)  I really wasn't looking forward to the no pizza and no cream in my coffee thing.  Call me a wuss if you will!

TMI : Poop picture (ick)

I am definitely taking the little guy to the drs tomorrow - bigger spot of blood this time :(

TMI: The Poop on Poop

7 weeks.  That's how hold our newest little guy is - when, I ask, did that happen!?!?!  I'm pretty sure i just brought him home from the hospital last week. 

Ah well.

Today we embark on a new adventure in parenting - this morning when I changed William's diaper, I notice some small streaks of blood.  Yikes!  After a frantic search on Google, it seems that a) this isn't as scary as it sounds and b) it's probably a food allergy.  To which I say all manner of bad words followed by a deep sigh followed by resignation that I will be cutting out dairy for the next 3 weeks to see if that is what the problem is.  Now, for anyone who thinks I'm jumping the gun on this one, just a quick background - he's had green mucousy poops since he stopped having meconium diapers (the dr. assured us this was ok, as I was a bit suspicious already) which have gotten stinkier in the last week. And yesterday I had rather a lot of dairy (more than usual).  So, lots of indicators to suggest I ought to try this rather irksome diet change.  We shall see!  On the upside, I'll probably lose weight even faster :)

It seems that boys have the poop weirdness down to an art.  Zoe, no worries.  But you may recall JJ and his 14-days-between-poops-OMG-what's-wrong episodes.  Nothing like a LACK of poop to freak you out.  Now this one poops almost constantly and now it's turning interesting colors.  Sigh...

So, I'll keep you posted.  Maybe with pictures (I know it sounds ewwww but, you know, I wish someone had put pictures out there for me to see what's normal.  Don't look at it if you don't want to see it - I won't blame you :))