Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Abbott's big day

Well, we have certainly had an interesting 24 hours. Last night before bedtime, Abbott spent about an hour being a fussy baby. I thought he was just hungry, but when I tried to feed him, he wouldn't eat. So then I thought he might be gassy, but he never passed any gas. So after about an hour of on again-off again fussing, trying to eat, trying to poot, Abbott really started wailing. I mean the kid has some lungs. He screamed at me for close to an hour, with a little rest here and a little rest there. He finally fell asleep and slept for 6 hours! When I saw that, I just figured the kid was so tired....it made sense because he hadn't taken a good nap all day yesterday. So we wake up this morning and everything is peachy keen and I have this wonderful happy baby who is eating well and is cooing and being all precious. He even has a poopie diaper without much struggle (this is a big deal in our house lately because the kid has to work hard to get it out sometimes). When I go to change his diaper, I see what looks like a couple of small spots of blood. I have a little new mommy freak out and then call the pediatrician and have to leave a message. Then, being a smart thinker, I save the diaper and wrap it in a plastic bag so that I can take it with me in the diaper bag to my lunch date just in case the doctor calls back and needs me to come in. The minute I sit down to lunch to doctor calls and he does want me to bring Abbott in for a check up and to "test his stool" so it's a good thing that I saved his diaper. Fast forward to the doctor's office and the stool tested positive for blood which could mean several different things:
1) Abbott could have a milk and/or soy protein allergy and is allergic to what I have been eating and it's being passed through my milk into him.
2) Abbott could have a stomach virus that would run its course in about a week.
3) Abbott could have something much more serious, but the doctor thinks he may be a little young for that and wants to rule out the first two options before testing for the serious condition based on the fact that Abbott is acting fine and the only symptom he is experiencing is minorly bloody stool.

What does all this mean? It means that Mommy Kelly has to eliminate all dairy and soy products from her diet for at least 2 months and see if that helps eliminate the blood from his stools. It also means that if he does in fact have an allergy or virus, his symptoms should go away within a week or two. If they don't go away in a week or two, then we get to do further testing. I'm voting for a virus since that would mean that it'll go away and mommy can drink milk and eat cheese again. I would be OK with an allergy because that means that there is something I can do about my diet to help him feel better. I am not even thinking about the more serious option 3 because I don't think that's his problem and the doctor didn't seem like he was concerned about that either.

Oh yeah, and to make this whole doctor appointment even more fun, they had to prick Abbott's finger to take a blood sample and test his cell counts. It was the worst moment of his life so far. Big ole' crocodile tears and all. Needless to say, when we left the office, Abbott took a really good nap. We go back on Friday for a recheck of his stools. I am hoping for no more finger pricks.

I am also hoping for an uneventful day tomorrow. Good night.

2 comments:

Momo Jo said...

Today will be a good day! It will make the two of you smile like you did in Abbott's birthday picture. By the way, I posted a comment on his birthday but I don't know what happened to it. Must be floating around out there somewhere. Take care. Love you all.

Jami said...

Poor Abbott. He needs his Aunt Jami there to help him feel better. Tell him I'm there in spirit. Hope today is super uneventful. Love you!