The Gastroenternologist that we saw last week examined Benson and tested a sample of his stool for blood (we couldn't see any in it) and discovered that he did indeed have more microscopic blood in his diaper. I was shocked. He said that he thinks Benson has a Soy Protein intolerance in addition to his milk protein intolerance. We knew when he was diagnosed with Milk Protein Intolerance that 25% of children who are allergic to milk protein are also allergic to Soy Protein, but the doctor said that since soy was in everything, there was no need to cut that out of my diet until he showed adverse signs when exposed to it. Since I was mixing his rice cereal with a soy formula (which is what the doctor suggested I mix it with- well, he said I could use breastmilk, but since Benson gags and refuses to eat it, I figured why waste the "liquid gold" on rice cereal!) both the gastroenternoligist and our pediatrician seem to think that it is a soy protein allergy. And it means that the "virus" that put us in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, wasn't really a virus at all, it was a severe allergic reaction.
SO... that means no soy for Mama!
It really isn't that bad... I've basically just gone through the labels of everything I could eat before- all of my dairy free foods- and checked them for soy. Of course yummy things like SILK and SILK yogurt and soy margarine and Tofutti Cuties (Soy Ice cream sandwiches) are all out... BUT there are still a good number of things that I've been eating that I can still eat... I'll be converting my "dairy free for baby" site, to a "soy/dairy free for baby" site. Every once in a while, someone stumbles upon it and borrows a recipe and leaves a comment to let me know they've been there.... plus, when I was google-ing soy/dairy free recipes, my blog popped up! I felt famous! :) Mostly, it's a way for me to keep track of things I've had so that I don't forget to put them back in rotation on the weekly meal plans. In addition to that, the articles that I have read online say that many families who have a child with milk/soy protein intolerance end up having other children with the same allergy. So, I'm thinking it'll be good to refer back to this collection of recipes should that happen to us.
That being said, Benson is doing great so far. He hasn't gotten sick again. We are waiting two more weeks to try rice cereal again (mixed with breast milk or juice) so we'll see how that goes. As of right now, in addition to nursing, he's eating different fruits and vegetables. I've tried applesauce, bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, prunes, sweet peas, and green beans and out of all of them, he likes NONE of them. Not even a little. It's really hard to feed him, because his face when I put the food in his mouth, breaks my heart. (I'll try to get a video of it so you can see what I'm talking about...) His favorite part of eating is when I take the bib off and get him out of the high chair!
We'll keep trying new things to see if he will grow to like them, but at least he isn't getting sick anymore. Hopefully we've found the root of the problem! I'll try to keep updating!
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