an update from the spit-up factory

As I mentioned last week, we met with the GI specialist today. He didn't solve all our problems in one visit, as I'd hoped, but we do have a slightly revised regimen to follow for the next month. Mainly, he noticed that Elias is on the lowest dose of baby Zantac for his weight range. So we've upped that fairly considerably. Now, I know a lot of people might (and do) question our use of prescription meds. Firstly, try spending a day with a refluxer and you'll be considering drugs yourself. Secondly, the Zantac is actually protecting his esophagus - think about it, every time he spits up or vomits, there's all sorts of icky stomach acids making their way up his throat. And Zantac is really the most benign drug prescribed for his condition. Anyway, not to get all defensive, but I know the criticism is out there.

So that's that. The doctor also reminded us to keep Elias upright for 20-30 minutes after feedings (which we'd mostly been doing except maybe in the middle of the night, when I'd aim for at least 10-15...or until I'm about to fall asleep, whichever comes first) and elevate the head side of his bassinet/crib about six inches.

As for the possible food allergy, just because of those few poopy diapers that tested positive for blood, he'd like me to stay on the dairy/soy elimination diet, at least for another 2-4 weeks. If and when Elias begins to improve on the increased dosage of Zantac, then I can reintroduce soy. And if all continues to go well, I can proceed with dairy. It makes sense, I guess. If I were to reintroduce something right now, it'd be hard to tell if that was the thing making him spit up, since he really hasn't significantly or consistently improved no matter what we've done over the past month and a half.

And I'm at peace with that. My heart sank a little when he said to stay off dairy until our follow up in a month (especially considering I have a wedding to go to a few days before that appointment...what, no wedding cake?!). But then I asked him about the controversy around soy lecithin and soybean oil; turns out, even if Elias is sensitive to soy, unless he has a severe allergy, those two things (which are in everything) are rarely the culprit since they only contain trace, if any, amounts of soy protein. That opens up a whole world of processed foods for Mama to enjoy over the next couple of weeks. Dairy is tough, I won't lie, but it's really the combination of possible suspects that had me down. For example, I went to dinner Saturday night with family and found one thing on the menu that I could have, even with omissions and substitutions. I'd even cut out eggs for a few days after suspecting that maybe that's what was causing the somewhat sporadic but slightly more extreme spit-up episodes last week. The GI doc didn't think eliminating eggs was necessary. Adding eggs and soy lecithin/oil is huge. Plus, by continuing to avoid dairy I'm sure to lose a few more pounds while on this elimination diet. I might not be able to enjoy any cake at that wedding, but I'll probably be able to squeeze into the dress I didn't think I'd be able to wear.