I Was Right!!

The GI allergy test results for Brynlee are in...first I am going to give a little background info on what I am talking about...

When Brynlee was 4 months she got some major constipation issues so, of course, I take her to the doctor and the doctor gives me some advice which didn't work. After who knows how many times of taking her back she is finally put on miralax, and is on it still. In Des Moines she started having problems and was sent to a GI doc, who I could barely understand(he had an accent), who put her back on Miralax. I have always wondered if milk/dairy was the problem, I didn't give it to her for a week or so when she was about 15 months because of a cold and she was fine, and when we took her off it as a trial with the pediatrician for a while she dropped to the 3rd percentile for weight and had to start eating it again. I have asked GI's and pediatricians that she has seen if that could be it. Probably not is the answer I always got. So here she is still on Miralax.

Then Gracen comes along and has the same problem...Luckily we were able to get him to GI sooner than Brynlee and were told that it could be a milk/soy protein allergy. So he is on hypoallergenic formula and he can't have cold milk products. I let him have some cooked milk products in small amounts. I asked his GI in Iowa if Brynlee could have the same milk/soy protein allergy where she had the same symptoms as Gracen and she had said it was possible, but when I asked about allergy testing she didn't think it was necessary.

So we moved here and found a GI for Gracen and in his first appointment she talked to me about testing him for allergies to foods, but we would have to wait until he was older. So I hadn't planned to ask about Brynlee, but when she brought up the allergy testing I thought she might agree with me so I did. She said she would so I got a referral for Brynlee and took her in, got the tests done last week, and yesterday the doctor called with the results. Brynlee doesn't have a true allergy(whatever that is suppose to mean) to milk and soy, but she had elevated antibodies to the milk and soy. So she is mildly allergic and the milk products that she has been eating/drinking for the last 3 1/2 years has been the cause of the problem all along...JUST LIKE I THOUGHT!!! So frustrating!! Although I am happy that someone finally figured this out, and we can change her diet a little to see if we can help her, I am frustrated with the fact that no one believed me and I got all those "crazy over-reacting mom" looks from doctors and even dietitians we have seen. The poor girl, that is probably why she was so unhappy as a baby, we were feeding her something that was bothering her little tummy. I feel so bad! Well, not much I can do about the past problems, but now maybe we can help her feel better.

I have had a nurse tell me "I believe in a mother's intuition, sometimes a mother knows what is best for her child, even if nobody else thinks she is right" I've always felt like I knew what was wrong, and been so frustrated over this whole thing, I guess that nurse was right, sometimes a mother just knows, even if nobody else believes her!!

To top it off, Brynlee loves milk, so when I told her this morning that she had to reduce the amount of milk she was drinking to none, she had a meltdown! I don't know what to do about this, I guess she will have to get used to it. Anyone have any good recipes for a reduced milk or milk free diet? They would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a cute picture of my 2 gastrointestinally challenged children, I don't know where they get it from but Nate blames me. Brynlee likes to dig the toys out of the toy basket and play like it is a car. She says Gracen got in all by himself, I don't know about that!! Problems and all I sure do love them!!