Cow's Milk Allergy

*Lots of Baby Poo details, read at your own risk!*

So we had a bit of a scary night last night - when we got up to feed Dylan at around midnight, we noticed that she had some streaks of bright red, mucous-y blood in her stool. (Imagine raspberry jam.) I instantly consulted the all knowing internet, which of course gave recommendations ranging from: "It's common, don't worry about it" to "RUN TO THE E.R. IMMEDIATELY!" Common diagnoses ranged from things as severe as bowel intussusception, to the middle ground of cow's milk allergy, to things as mild as constipation. We knew she wasn't constipated, she really didn't act like any of the other descriptors for an intussusception, and the more I read about the cow's milk allergy the more it sounded like the way she's been behaving recently.

I decided to call our pediatrician, but once again his colleague, Dr. Kayali, was on call for their office, and his only advice ever is that you should go to the Children's Hospital ER immediately. Beyond worthless. So I called my back-up doctor (and best Mommy friend), Heather Dickerson. She has 3 kiddos - 4 years old, 2 years old, and 3 months old - so I figure she pretty much knows everything when it comes to babies. (She was my savior during the umbilical cord fiasco of 2 weeks ago - thank Heavens I listened to her and not Dr. Kayali's advice to go to the ER at once. *sigh*) When I described Dylan's poo to Heather, she said it wasn't something she'd experienced ever with her kids, so I got her pediatricians name & number and called their on-call line. I felt guilty since I wasn't a client, but decided it was okay because I think I will transfer to them. It's unfortunate because I love Dr. Scarmack, but it's too frustrating to not have anyone to get ahold of half of the time! But to get back on track, her pediatrician was very nice & helpful - she said that Dylan's symptoms were consistent with a food allergy, and that 99% of the time that allergy is to cow's milk in the mother's diet. So now I'm on a strict no-dairy diet, and have to call in Monday for an appointment to have Dylan checked out. No-dairy is going to be a real struggle for me, but if it makes Dylan happy & healthy then we can do it.

As the night progressed (and we got farther and farther away from that big glass of milk I had with dinner), Dylan stopped having the streaks of blood in her stool. Early on in the night her poo had turned from yellow to green (another symptom of food allergy), and it's still green but at least there's no more blood. She was also incredibly gassy again, and she seems to be over that for now. Now that I think back on her gassy, fussy times, they do seem very much linked to being a few hours after I drink milk - either on my cereal or with dinner. Also, yesterday I noticed some dry patches on her forehead, and last night she seemed to get a small patch of eczema on her forehead - another food allergy symptom. Here's hoping we've discovered the culprit and can get back to our content little girl!

Breastfeeding has seemed like a never ending challenge: first I have too much milk & I was drowning her, making her nurse wrong and bite me. So we had to start using nipple shields to control my flow & retrain her to nurse properly. Then I had the addition of let-down pain which was so intense that I would burst into tears every time she nursed. Once we finally healed and the let-down pain improved, I made the mistake of eating garlic which lead to an incredibly fussy baby, engorgement, and another lovely case of mastitis. Now that the mastitis is finally gone, we've added in a cow's milk allergy. Next week we have to start the weaning from the nipple shield process, otherwise I'm afraid my milk will go away when I switch to phase 2 of lactation like it did with Haley. It seems like such an uphill battle, and I feel very house bound and exhausted. But I just keep telling myself that at least the cow's milk allergy would be a problem, and even worse with formula. She would've been just as fussy, if not more so, and I'd be equally exhausted. So really it's not so much worse - and I know that my milk is a million times better for her. Plus, just think how skinny I'll be if I can't eat ANY dairy, or beans, or garlic - and I'm breastfeeding & walking the floors for hours a day! I'm clinging to that silver lining at the moment, and hoping that this all works out and gets a lot easier ASAP. I did tell Chad, if the no-dairy diet doesn't fix things, I think I will just have to throw in the towel on breastfeeding and go to the hypoallergenic formula. I'm just not up for the Total Elimination Diet or other extreme diet plans to try to breastfeed in the face of complex allergies. (And of course, I sincerely hope Dylan doesn't have complex or multiple allergies. At least they usually grow out of cow's milk allergy by 2-5 years of age.) Here's hoping for the best & that we can get back to our laid-back Dylan Roo soon! Poor little girl, it must be miserable to have such a grumbly tummy and not be able to tell us what's going on!

Saturday

"Aren't I cute, sweet smelling, & covered in pink after my bath??"

"What?!? Haha! No, no - I would never scream bloody murder & turn myself strange shades of mottled purple during said bath! I'm always agreeable and never, ever ornery when I'm not getting my way..."

"Well, at least I'm pretty sure it was a one time deal. I'm pretty sure I showed them who's boss and they won't try to pull that nasty little stunt again."

"Oh my goodness - you mean it's going to happen again??"

"Surely you're joking...."

"Be still my heart! I'm not sure I can survive such torture again! I might perish at the thought!"

"Oh, well, not for a few more days you say? Well, I guess I'll recuperate enough to work my lungs out again by then. Whew! *Yawn* That was exhausting, I better take a nap!"

Do I look sleepy to you??

Sorry for the very poor picture quality this evening, our camera is shut away in the room with Daddy who is sleeping, so we have to resort to ipod photography. Semi-dark room + no flash = grainy pictures! But in any case, it's midnight here in Ohio, and I'm wondering if this baby looks sleepy to you?? ;) But if you know me, you know being up till midnight is no hardship for me, so we'll just be hoping she starts looking sleepier soon. (*fingers crossed*)

Another grainy picture, but this is the tail end of a smile! We need an SLR camera so we can take photos instantly, not 5 seconds too late.

Mimi came back to stay with us today, which is perfect timing for our new night owl schedule. She's rocking Dylan now and using her magical Great-Grandma rocking, shooshing, and patting skills to lull her to sleep so I can have a free minute to type up this post. It's a much appreciated break, as poor Miss Dylan has been quite the crabcake today. We had a great night last night, and she woke up happy, but ever since she's been up she's been much fussier than normal: not even consoled by walking the floors at times and seeming very gassy. She was eating every hour through most of the day, but fussy feedings and I don't feel like she was really hungry, she was just nibbling because she didn't know what else to do to console herself. Then maybe a restless nap for 15 minutes or so, fuss for a bit, nibble for a few minutes, and then it starts all over again. I didn't eat anything we haven't had before, so I'm not sure what the culprit is. Maybe just a crabcake-y day! Here's hoping she starts to feel better soon and can sleep restfully tonight, and wake up to a better day tomorrow! But even if she is a fuss-budget again tomorrow, Mimi will be here to keep us company and that will make it all much easier. It's extra nice to have help when you have a crabby baby!

Wish us luck in getting some sleep tonight! :) We hope you all sleep well & have sweet dreams!

Workin' for the Weekend

Sorry for not posting for a couple of days! We came out to Grandma & Grandpa's for the weekend, and we forgot the cord to download the pictures from our camera to the computer. Shame on me! But here are a few fun pictures from over the weekend. :)

Dylan's first time in the play-gym! There were too many other fun things to look at to trick her into looking at us, but she really does seem to enjoy it and will even lay there and play for 15 minutes or so when she's in a good mood.

I know you can only see the top of it, but she's modeling the adorable tie-dyed onesie that Emrie Ann Dickerson (4 years old) made for her before she was born! Thank you Emrie - we love it! (And you!)

She likes to sleep like her Mommy does, with her arms up by her head. :) Though she's only allowed to nap this way, she's swaddled at night!

Playing with Daddy & more modeling of her too cute onesie (& her too cute self!)

Dylan definitely loves her Daddy! And he definitely loves her too!

On a new 36-hour schedule?

After being awake for what seemed like 36-48 hours straight, Miss Roo has now been sleeping since ~3 am this morning. Lets hope she's planning to sleep all night too to make up for her crazy long awake stretch in the previous couple of days & nights! Here are some pictures of our sweet, sleepy baby snuggles from today...

As cute as babies are in clothes, they're even cuter when they're naked, swaddled in blankets, and snuggled in your arms. :)

I just love all the cute things she does with her hands. I feel like she practicing her poses for ANTB (America's Next Top Baby - copyright: Katy K.)

This one is supposed to be horizontal, but for some reason I can't convince Blogger to upload it that way. In any case, I know all these pictures are pretty much the same, but she's so cute I couldn't choose just one! :)

With Grandma here today, I managed to get 9 hours of sleep between 12:30 am & 2:30 pm! That's the most sleep I've gotten since the Saturday before Dylan was born, and it was much needed & much appreciated! It was so wonderful to just have to wake up and feed her, and then get to go back to sleep (have someone else to walk her around & get her back to sleep.) And for about half of that sleep I even went and slept in a back bedroom, while Mom was up and listening for Dylan if she woke up. It's amazing how much deeper you sleep & how much more restful it is when you know you don't have to be on alert for baby cries. I know I thanked you in advance yesterday, but I have to say it again: thank you so much Mom!

All of my great sleep, combined with my antibiotics & catching the mastitis extra early, resulted in my fever being gone already and feeling almost back to normal today. I'm still a little sore, and have a bit of a lingering headache, but I feel pretty good otherwise.

Well, Miss Roo persists in being asleep, so I think I better do the same! Good night!

See my crab claw?

Here's a picture of Dylan doing something today that she didn't do much of last night - sleeping! ;) She just looked so sweet, and I had to get a picture of her little crab claw that she always manages to sneak up by her face no matter how tightly we swaddle her!

Little Miss was pretty much awake last night from 2 am to 7 am with maybe a 45 minute nap in there somewhere. But we'd had two fabulous nights in a row before that, so I guess we were in for it. It would've been just a typical newborn night, but to spice things up I realized that I was getting mastitis in the midst of all of that. :( So I've been feeling very crummy today - achy & feverish. But I'm hoping I caught it early enough that it won't be so bad as when I had it with Haley or even when I was pregnant with Dylan. I did call in Grandma back-up though, I don't think I could handle another night of walking the floors for hours on end if it does turn into what I've experienced in the past. So in advance: THANK YOU so much Mom/Grandma! I can't imagine living somewhere far away from family when you have a newborn, my family is such a huge help. We are very grateful for them, and very lucky to have them.

Alright, I'm off to do something decadent like lounge in bed & read a book for a few minutes while I have other Dylan-holders here this evening!

McMillan-Stevelt-Mitchell Women

Mimi & Dylan-Roo spending some quality time together today - our babies just adore their Mimi!

Dylan talking to Mimi. It was just a little peep & squeak, but I'm sure one day she'll talk her ear off just like her big sister used to. :) On a side note: Dylan weighs 7 pounds 15 ounces today! That means she's gained 14 ounces in 7 days, I'm pretty sure that's twice the standard weight gain. I can't believe my baby will probably be up to 8 pounds tomorrow!

Fighting falling asleep in Mimi's arms. Dylan was awake today from 10:20 am till 5 pm, besides a nap from 1:15-3:00 p.m.! Here's hoping that means we'll sleep well tonight!

Dylan (2 weeks old), Grandma, & Great-Grandma.

4 generations of McMillan-Stevelt-Mitchell women - Dylan, Mommy, Grandma, & Great-Grandma (Mimi!) - before Mimi had to head back to Wooster today.

Thank you so much for your help the last couple days, Mimi! You made our transition to Chadmo going back to work much easier, and your swiss steak was soooo delicious. Please come back soon, we love you bunches!

Snuggle Puppy

Someday soon I need to blog about breastfeeding, but that is just too long of a post for tonight. In the meantime, I couldn't resist sharing this reasonably modest breastfeeding picture. I think Dylan makes the cutest faces & does the most adorable snuggles while she's eating (we've made a lot of progress in 2 weeks to get to this point!) and I loved how she insisted on "hugging" me during this session. I even tried to move her arm a couple times, so I could see that cute face, but she kept putting it back. Please excuse the self-photography, I have limited mobility in these situations! ;)

We're loving having Mimi here, and we had a fun photo shoot with Kalena Ogg Photography today - can't wait to see those pictures in a couple weeks! We were very sad to have Daddy go back to work today, but he had a good day and we did pretty well for ourselves too. One day at a time!

Mimi is here!

All bright-eyed & bushy-tailed after our bath this afternoon! We had to be clean & shiny for when Mimi got here this evening. :) Daddy is heading back to work tomorrow morning, which I have to say I've been very nervous about, but Mimi (my Grandma, Dylan's & Haley's Great Grandma) was nice enough to say she'd come down & help out with the transition. We always love to have her, and when we had Haley we tried to convince her to move in for a year!!

An afternoon nap on the couch - I just love to snuggle like this, and so does Dylan. I bet I could trick her into sleeping 8 hours in a row this way, if only I could sleep this way at night!

Our Sweet Pickle

Dylan, checking herself out in the mirror for the first time today. She's our cutie-patootie pants! I just can't get over how sweet she is...

And one more example of poodle-ridiculousness! You can see why our pets think the adjustment to the new baby is very difficult when this is the sort of treatment they're used to receiving.... ;)

New Yorker Caption Contest

This picture really cracks me up, but I'm failing at finding something witty to say. So instead, I'm turning it into a contest! Please submit your most humorous caption as a comment, and the winner will be posted under the picture in the near future. :)

"Confused woman brings baby to pet blessing." -Brianne Clanton, Denver, Colorado

Haley's Comets 2011

The 2nd annual Congenital Heart Walk was this past Sunday, October 2nd. Unfortunately Chad, Dylan, & I couldn't be there, but we were very proud that the rest of Team Haley's Comets turned out in force (both the Ohio & Wisconsin editions!) Haley's Comets raised $2,015 this year, and the Central Ohio walk raised $58,764, to fight congenital heart disease. Thank you so much to all our family & friends who made donations to support this cause that is so close to our hearts! (Literally & figuratively. :))

Team Haley's Comets (Ohio): Kelly Stevelt, Jim & Kathy Bowman, Linda & Kim Stevelt, Linda Carstensen, Kathy Crisler, Will Brantingham, Libby Carstensen, Jesse Cantrell, Sydney & Spencer Waugh, Katy Klingelhafer, & Greg Gallenstein. (Not pictured: Christian Cantrell, Chadmo, Dylan, & me.) It was a beautiful day for the walk and everyone said the park was gorgeous. Thank you, Ohio family & friends, for walking even though we couldn't be there with you! We would've been very sad to let our Haley-Bug go unrepresented at the walk, and it meant a lot to us that you were all there to honor her!

Team Haley's Comets (Wisconsin): Nancy Mitchell, Lexi Mitchell, Claire & Niki Schoenemann, Mandy Gibbons, John & Patty Meade, Emily Pertzborn, Jim Mitchell, Mason & Mitchell Lane, Nolan & Derek Pertzborn, Jessie & Marah Lane, Beau Lane, & Tessa Pertzborn (hiding :)) Our Wisconsin division walked with us long distance on the same day as the Ohio walk. They also had a beautiful day, and we were so grateful that they all took the time to get together in honor of Haley even if they couldn't make it to Ohio for the actual walk - thank you Wisconsin family! And thank you so much for organizing this, Jessie!

Though I don't have a picture (Becky - a picture??), I also want to acknowledge that one of our other Wisconsin cousins, Ella Thoreson, did 'Jump for Your Heart' at her school in honor of Haley and raised money in her memory. Thank you so much to you too, Ella! :)

One Fine Day

Our first outdoor photo shoot with Dylan-Roo - it was too gorgeous today not to spend some time outside!

Possibly my favorite picture of her yet... She is SO sweet!

Our first walk, and Dylan's first time in the Baby Bjorn! Grandma, Grandpoppy, Chadmo, Dylan, the dogs, and I all walked out to Haley's grave and soaked up some of the lovely sunshine. It was my first walk in almost 2 months, and it felt great to get outside & get moving.

Zonked out on our walk - she's still so tiny we get an awfully cute side view!

Relaxing on the porch swing after the walk - a little piece of Heaven.

This one's a little blurry, but I liked all our hands together, so I couldn't pass it up. :)

One Week Old

Falling asleep in Mommy's arms after a late night feeding - aren't her mittens cute? Also, we love our Halo Sleep Sacks, and Riverside gives each baby born there one embroidered with their logo. I think it'll be a pretty cool thing for her to have some day!

More snuggling on my chest - I think she would sleep forever if someone held her this way non-stop!

Napping with Grandma on the couch yesterday - so sweet. <3

This picture's from today - Dylan doing some modified tummy time with Grandpoppy while she was wide awake. She's such an alert little Roo during her awake times!

Chadmo & I took Dylan for her 1 week check up today with Dr. Scarmack, our pediatrician. We were thrilled that he once again said she looked just perfect! We had to take her in this past Thursday because the hospital said we left early (I'm still skeptical about this), but I was happy to comply as I'm a bit of a paranoid Mommy. :) At that point in time he also said she looked perfect, and just to watch her jaundice over the weekend - but that he didn't predict it would be a problem. Her weight on Thursday was 6 pounds 8 ounces, and he also said that was typical of a newborn & being breastfed. Over the weekend she did very well, and while her jaundice got a little worse, it started getting better quickly. And we were thrilled today when we went back in and she's back up to 7 pounds 1 ounce! Just one ounce under her birth weight, and 9 ounces of gain since Thursday! I guess in spite of our breastfeeding trials & tribulations, she's been eating like a champ. Go team! :)

Last night was so wonderful I'm afraid to even talk about it... I guess I will, since I know we can't expect any sort of schedule or regularity at this point in time! But last night Dylan ate at 10:00 pm, was asleep by 10:30, slept till 3:30 am, woke up and ate a couple times between 3:30-4:30, went back to sleep & slept till 8:00 am, ate & went back to sleep by 8:30, and then slept till 10:15 am - when we had to get up to get ready for the doctor's anyway! Even if it doesn't happen again for a long time, it was a great night & we've been feeling almost like normal human beings today! I'm not as optimistic for tonight, because Dylan was quite sleepy today, but we'll take it when we can get it!

Alright - someone is calling to be fed - time to wrap this up. Goodnight all!

Dylan-Roo has arrived!!!

Chad & I are proud to announce the much anticipated arrival of Miss Dylan Stevelt-Mitchell! She was born on September 27, 2011 at 6:11 pm, weighing 7 pounds 2 ounces and measuring 19.25 inches long. (Also, her noggin is 14 inches in circumference - but I don't feel like that's a statistic I hear much of so I have little for comparison...) She is absolutely perfect in every way, in our eyes :), and we are more in love & happier than words can describe.

A few hours old - I don't ever want to let her out of my arms!

A Stevelt-Mitchell Totem Pole - Dylan, 1/2 a day old.

Dylan's first time in her car seat - on the van ride home from the hospital! 9/28/11 - so happy to get to be headed home from the hospital so soon! She's just over 24 hours old.

And we're home! Dylan's first time in her Pack n' Play, snug as a Roo in a rug.

Spending quality time snuggled on Daddy's shoulder. Chadmo is such a wonderful husband & daddy - Dylan, Haley, & I are lucky girls. <3

Dylan all wrapped in a towel after her first sponge bath at home. I've never had a baby with hair to wash before! She was very good for her bath, and only protested a little bit.

It's hard to believe that a week ago we were making plans to be induced to have Dylan today, Monday October 3rd! Apparently reverse psychology works well on babies, because she must have decided she wasn't going to let us choose when she was going to make her big arrival, and decided to come the day after we made our 'plans'. :) Last Monday night I was pretty uncomfortable all night (imagine feeling like wild horses were dragging your hips in opposite directions...), but really wasn't having any more contractions than usual. The next morning I woke up at 9 am to pretty strong contractions that were consistently 10 minutes apart. After about an hour and a half of that, I decided we better head up to the hospital. Dad & Mom both managed to get out of work lickety split, and we all rode up together to Labor & Delivery at Riverside Hospital, arriving at noon. Chadmo also left work promptly, so he arrived about 1/2 an hour behind us since he had to come all the way from Athens.

The nurse in L&D decided to check me right away since I delivered Haley so quickly, and sure enough I was dilated to 5-6 cm. (I'd been at 4 cm for the past 3 weeks.) So we were officially checked in and knew that Miss Dylan would be arriving sometime that day! My labor from noon to 3 o'clock consisted of contractions about every 4 minutes apart that I didn't want to talk through, but that were mild enough that Chadmo, Mom, Dad, & I were playing Crazy 8's and I was sitting on the yoga ball. At 3 pm they started getting strong enough I decided I'd rather be sitting up in bed, and standing through contractions was very uncomfortable. Lamaze breathing & pirate novel birthing techniques were my saving grace through this time period. (Pirate technique: have someone squeeze your hand super hard through your contractions, that way you have something else to think about! It actually helped a lot, till about 8-9 cm anyway!) I did have one dose of nubane around 7 cm, and it helped take the edge off for about an hour and give me the boost I needed to get through the rest of the delivery.

When I was 8-9 cm, which was around 5:40 pm, we decided to go ahead and break my water to speed things up. Dr. Copeland left his office at 5:30, his office is about 15 minutes from the hospital, and he warned them not to break my water for 10 minutes or he was afraid he'd miss it. His warning was well founded, because I was immediately in excruciating labor and after about 2-3 more contractions I wanted to push. I wasn't allowed to for a couple contractions after that, but when I finally was - it was ~2 contractions worth of pushing and Dylan was here!

She fussed for about 2 hours after she was born, and earned herself the nickname Crab Cake -which has been totally unfounded since then, but I still find too cute to let go. :) Ever since then, she has been an incredibly pleasant and laid back baby who just seems to go with the flow and be a lovely little snuggle-pot. We can't get enough of her! In fact sometimes I find myself thinking, "I should go to bed, but she's too cute - I don't want to lay her down!" We are thoroughly enjoying how happy & easy-going she is, but also trying not to count on it lasting! We're keeping our fingers crossed though. :)

We've had lots and lots of visitors: Grandma, Grandpoppy, Aunt Kelly, Mimi, Katy, Greg, & Kamil Cak all made it to the hospital, and almost all of them have been to our house since then too! Christy Walker, Great Grandmom Stevelt, Soon-to-be Uncle Jesse, Susie & Fred Klingelhafer, Tom & Jess Steinbrink, Kathy Crisler, and Heather, Greg, & Greta Dickerson have all been to visit since we've been home. :) Everyone has been being most wonderful, bringing us dinners and holding Dylan so we can sneak in some naps. (So appreciated!) We're thoroughly enjoying showing her off to everyone, and feel very blessed to have such wonderful family & friends! I truly believe the saying that it "takes a village to raise a child", and am eternally grateful for all the love & support we've received from family & friends that have helped make this such a wonderful time for us. THANK YOU!