The Cubby Chronicles XLII

Note: Jacob Raymond Walker was born 12 weeks prematurely at Duke University Hospital the morning of Monday, May 19 2008. The following are updates, notes, & observations on his growth & development.

As has been the trend since the blog started, it's once again been awhile between posts. I'm not sure how often any regular readers (or at least those of you that are left) check for updates, but given their sporadic nature, I'd suggest using an RSS feed if you haven't been already. The feed will automatically send updates once a new post has been made & can be a lot easier than manually checking the site every day.

Stop me if you're heard this before but its been quite busy around here. Kristin has gone back to work & for the past week & a half I've been at home running the show with the little guy. Of course the very first morning of the very first day I was alone with him he had little flecks of blood in his diaper.

Trying not to freak out too much, I consulted our friend, the well-used Baby Book by our trusted resource Dr. Sears. For those that are unfamiliar, basically Dr. Sears is the authority on kids & if he suggested that we throw Jake out with the bath water we'd at least give some pause before just tossing out the water.

The book said that all babies have some blood in their stool/diaper at some point & its usually caused by constipation or a small tear in the intestines. This was a bit of a relief until the second diaper came back with some blood & the third one did as well. I called the nurse line at our doctor's office & while they said it wasn't an emergency (again, the amounts of blood were small) they made an appointment for the next day.

Well, it turns out that Jake has a condition called Milk & Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI) which is somewhat common but not always diagnosed accurately. The symptoms are similar to acid reflux (which Jake has as well) and thus MSPI usually isn't considered until there's blood in the diapers which is sort of the definitive symptom. Basically his system is having trouble breaking down the larger proteins that are in milk & soy products and they upset his stomach & can cause fissures in his intestines.

Keep in mind that his body is simply sensitive to the protein molecules--the condition is something that he should grow out of as his digestive system matures & doesn't indicate any long term allergies (many people confuse MSPI with lactose intolerance). The good news is from what we've read online he doesn't seem to have a terrible case of it. Apparently some children have a very hard time eating enough to gain weight & that's one thing the Cubby is good at. The bad news is someone's diet needs to change & since Jake doesn't get much choice in what he eats (milk), the change must come from the source.

That means Kristin has been off of all dairy foods & products with soy (no tofu, soy sauce, or garden burgers) which for someone who doesn't eat chicken or beef can be a real issue. The deeper, more sinister problem is that some variation of milk & soy seems to be in everything, from pasta sauce to baked goods.

K has found some solace in buying some things at Whole Foods (the store with natural food that's outrageously expensive & they annoyingly refuse to sell Coca Cola--I'm sure you've been there) which is a good start; the question is how much variety can she find & if we'll go bankrupt in the process.

Babies usually outgrow MSPI around the 1 year mark (& can go as long as 3 years, yikes) & his follow up checkup is next week. Once the mother clears her system of dairy & soy (which typically takes 2 weeks) the changes filter down to the kid. Hopefully he'll improve and we've already seen some small gains (he's been less fussy around meal times & overnight). Of course well keep everyone updated, if not always on the most timely schedule.....