Happy 4 Months Madi!

Madi will be 4 months on Thansgiving Day (November 24)!

She weighed right at 15 pounds last Thursday at her doctor's appointment at LeBonheur.  She is getting to be such a big girl!  She is such a sweet baby and laughs all of the time!  The ONLY time she cries is when she throws up.  You can get the details of her symptoms as to why we had an appointment at LeBonheur from my previous post (Madi's Appointment), but basically she was vomitting everytime she took a bottle and had stopped pooping by herself (without me giving her a glycerin suppository)...I know, I don't see how in the world she was still gaining weight!  Thanks for all of your prayers!  I know that God is the one that orchestrated her appoinment at LeBonheur!  I had originally gotten an appointment with another doctor on Dec 21, but they called me back and said I could get in with Dr. Corkins, because he was new and didn't have an extensive patient base yet.  I was expecting someone within 10 years of being out of school, but was so wrong!  They also told me to call everyday, because they have cancellations all the time, but I never could get in any earlier.  Dr. Corkins is actually just new to LeBonheur...as the chief of staff!  He has 20+ years specializing in pediatric nutrition!  EXACTLY who we needed to see!  I felt like he really listened to me and LoLo and even knew exactly what I was fixing to say next...like he'd seen this before!  He never once made me feel crazy that I was there, even though my baby is 90% on height and weight!  I took the disc of her Upper GI test and he watched it.  He examined Madi very well, and she loved him!  Anyways...he thinks that ALL of her issues stem from her protein allergies.  There are 2 amino acid based formulas on the market- EleCare and Neocate.  Everything I read about them grouped them together, so I just picked EleCare.  She did great on the EleCare formula for about 4 weeks, then her vomitting got much worse and she quit having dirty diapers.  Dr. Corkins explained that Nutramigen starts as milk proteins, but is hydrolyzed so that 90% of kids do not react to it.  Madi was one of those 10% that did.  He says that EleCare actually starts out as milk proteins also, but is hydrolyzed so much that there is only like 0.0001% proteins left in it.  He says he has had 2 babies in 20+ years (a LOT of babies) that still reacted to it, and he thinks Madi is #3!  This means she has severe protein allergies, and we will have to introduce food very slowly and very carefully!  I'm not looking forward to extensive food allergies, but maybe she will outgrow some of it (which he says not likely if she picked up on the teeny teeny amount of protein in the EleCare formula), but we will deal with that when it comes!  Neocate is man-made and is purely amino acids...NO chance for being allergenic!  Dr. Corkins said she may also have a "sluggish stomach", which means she has motility issues, but he thinks even that is because of the inflammation built up in her digestive tract.  So, we started on Neocate Infant formula on Friday, November 18th, and he said we should note a remarkable difference within 1 week, and she should be 100% better within 2 weeks!!  Madi was about the same on Friday and Saturday.  But, Saturday night, I didn't even have to change her pj's!!  That's a first!  I was so excited, because she didn't throw up Sunday morning either, but did vomit BAD Sunday evening.  She also pooped by herself this morning (Monday)!  So...maybe we are on our way!!  If she is not 100% better within 2 weeks, Dr. Corkins is going to put her on a very low dose of erythromycin.  He says erythromycin actually binds to the motility receptors in the stomach to increase motility.  It is my understanding that if we have to do this, it will be short-term and then the Neocate should do the trick!  I am so happy to finally have some answers!!  Hopefully Madi will feel better too...SOON!!

Such a sweet baby!!

Madi loves to sit in her Bumbo!

Madi also loves the Jumperoo!!  She just hollers and sings along with it!

It was actually Emma's idea to put the Bumbo under her so she could reach to stand up in!  Thanks Big Sis!

Madi is still trying to roll over, but hasn't got it just yet.  She doesn't like to lay on her stomach because of her issues...after about 2 minutes, she starts screaming and when we pick her up she pukes everywhere!  Bless her!  Maybe we can get her straightened out soon!