How is everyone??

[Brenda]

How are you guys. Wow...

Things have been crazy here and I am sorry I have been gone.

I recovered from PPD. Gained quite a bit on the Zoloft, but mentally better.

Victoria is seriously the best baby. Sorry, I don't want to sound like I am bragging... She is so happy and content. People joke that you hardly know she is around. She sleeps great at night. She is sensitive to milk & soy like my son, but as soon as we got her off the Allimentum and on the Elecare formula she was a new baby. She hardly ever cries.

Bella just "graduated" preschool. STarting young 5's in the fall.

Spencer on the other hand has been putting us thru the mill. About 2 months ago he started running fevers and had a weird all over body rash. The dr. kept diagnosing something different. Food Allergies, Scarlet Fever, Viral Infections. Then finally when my DH was out of town his fevers stopped reacting to Tylenol/Motrin. I took him in the middle of the night to the ER. He said he can't find a cause but not to let it go. Thoughts were Leukemia, Blood Cancer or an Autoimmune Diease. For the last month we have been just sick with worry. Several lab tests showed an elevated blood count but not high enough to diagnose cancer. The Ped. doesn't think that's what it is. He has several swollen lymph nodes still and we are taking him back Tuesday to get a referral to a specialist. SO for now he is pretty sure it might be Crohn's or Lupus.

In the middle of all of this my grandfather died. It has just been crazy. I miss you guys like crazy. I need some updates!!!

That's about all. I need to catch up on the posts.

Love to you all!

Ps. If you get a chance to read this, PLEASE update me on how you guys are doing!!!!

[bratty477]

Wow, you have had a ton of stuff going on. How scary about Spencer...I really hope that things come back to nothing serious. So sorry to hear about your grandfather's passing

It sounds like you need a break from it all! Hang in there and keep us posted.

[peanut]

Wow, how scary! Glad Victoria is better and you are too. I also gained a lot of weight when put on psych meds, like 80 pounds (but I was on several). I complained to my psychiatrist and she just told me that I needed to choose the lesser of two evils ( which was to stay on the meds and not have another breakdown).

My Victoria is doing well, except lately she has been huge mommy's baby. Artie is doing well. He is finally potty trained! He will also be starting school in the fall.

DH just started a new job working with developmentally delayed folks and is loving it. They are also much better with his schedule and family time. I am doing OK, but sometimes everything gets to be too much. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and now need a cane and handicapped permit for my really bad days (thankfully I have not had to use them get,
I have been in pain, but not that bad yet). That is where my MIL comes in handy. During my really bad spells we stay at her house because I am unable to care for the kids myself.

Glad you are doing better and hoping your little guy has nothing really bad wrong with him.

[owensmama]

I am posting this here too.

What about your new ticker????? Do tell!!!

I miss hearing from you. We always seemed to be going through the same thing at the same time.

Lord I hope we aren't doing that now!!! I would have to run away.

I hope you are doing well. Miss you!

[Brenda]

About the ticker... I just never deleted it. OH MY GOSH, if it were true I wouldn't be posting I would be in the nut house!!

It is so good to hear from all of you guys again too!!!! I miss you guys!!!

Things are back to crazy as my son's lymph nodes are getting bigger and I am waiting to hear back from the dr.

[HelenA]

Victoria is seriously the best baby. Sorry, I don't want to sound like I am bragging... She is so happy and content. People joke that you hardly know she is around.

That's exactly what people used to say about Kimi, she was just so chilled it was like there was no baby around when she was napping. I have grown to HATE the term content because that's all people ever used to say about her as a baby..lol

About the ticker... I just never deleted it. OH MY GOSH, if it were true I wouldn't be posting I would be in the nut house!!

If it was the ticker I was thinking about, then you'd be where I am now..lol Or maybe I should be in the looney bin? Come to think about it, I should have gone in a LOOONG time ago..LOL

OK updates... Well Miss Kimi will be 2 on monday (where on earth did 2 years go? Oh yeah, I spent them pg..lol), she's having a litle party on saturday, which I hope I'll be ok for.

JJ just turned 8 months and is 23+lb now, but has just last week learned to sit up on the floor unassisted for a little while. She also got her first tooth a little over a week ago. So big things happening for her.

[sarahkate]

Brenda, I am SO glad to hear that mentally you are doing better. And that Victoria is being a little star for you.

It sounds very worrying about your son. I hope you get some answers soon so you can get to grips with what you have to deal with.

We are doing great. Freya is a very full-on whirlwind of a baby and I love her to bits. It seems she does something new every day.

Sarah x

[krdoty]

Glad to hear that the PPD has lifted. Don't know if this would work with Zoloft, but... I was on Prozac twice. The first time I gained 70 pounds in 6 months. The second time my psychiatrist put me on a low dose of a tricyclic (imipramine or desipramine) along with the Prozac. Same great effect on the depression. No weight gain!

I wish I had the words to help you through this with Spencer. But all I've got is . Mountains of them. And even more for your grandpa.

My update: We finally got some weight on Paulie by keeping his sippie full of milk at all times. Then last week we had another round of allergy testing (because he was having constant reactions) and guess what he's allergic to now! You guessed it. Milk. Plus wheat, soy, chicken, turkey and fish. And he still tests positive to 7 of the 8 foods he was already allergic to. So I'm going to start calling nutritionists tomorrow to figure out how the heck we can meet his nutritional needs. Oh. And we had our first experience with the Epi-Pen over the weekend. Not an experience I care to repeat any time soon.

Norman is doing well. Gaining weight like crazy now that I'm eating basically nothing. I've tried adding foods back with no luck. I'm going to persist as long as I possibly can because I don't even want to know how much we'd be paying for a formula he could tolerate. (Don't want to even think about what you're paying for Elecare!)

[Brenda]

Thanks guys!!

Kendra - I have many, many milk/soy free ideas and maybe we can brainstorm some things. Trader Joes is GREAT for finding things that are free of many allergens. I use their ketchup because it is soy free and most are not. They have milk/soy free cookies, crackers, bread, buns, chips and popcorn. I also make many things from scratch using rice milk and canola oil. I have learned that Spencer will eat anything dipped in ketchup so I can get a lot of veggies and meat in him that way. I make him little meat loaf muffins with oatmeal or rice and eggs in it for filler. Can you get me a list of EVERYTHING he is allergic to and maybe I can check some labels. I know they make rice flour and I made pancakes with it when I was breastfeeding him.

Yes!! Don't give up bfing!! The Elecare cost is so high but I guess I would be mentally nuts with all the dr stuff with Spencer if I had to fit in bfing Victoria. Plus... I STILL HAVE THE FREAKING THRUSH!!!!!! I cannot get rid of it...

Helen - Your girls are so cute and I can't believe their stats!! How are you holding up? No, you don't belong in the looney bin. There's something magical about the third baby. I can't describe it but my bff agrees with me about her third.

Julie - HI!!!! I miss talking to you too!!! We should e-mail chat!! How are the little ones??

Lora - Potty trained YEAH!!!! How wonderful. Only one in diapers!!! I am sorry to hear about the Fibro... That sucks...

[krdoty]

I was just feeling sorry for myself today that the thrush is still trying to come back. I have a hard time feeling sorry for myself now. I can't even imagine that there is anything left that ou haven't tried! Have you informed your OB that it's still not gone?

We already do a ood bit of our shopping at Whole Foods. I hadn't considerd that ketchup would have soy, but we already buy ours at Whole Foods. I haven't gotten around to calling a nutritionist yet because both boys are sick. I suspect, from their symptoms and the ped's line of questioning, that it may be RSV. We're managing with Mucinex and lots of neb treatments, but I think if this weren't practically normal in our house that I would be feaking out.

Paulie's allergy list (foods only - I can't possibly list all the rest!)
peanuts
tree nuts
eggs (yolks & whites, airborne)
corn (includes corn oil & syrup)
beef
pork (airborne)
rice
milk
soy
wheat
chicken
turkey
fish

[Brenda]

Oh Kendra.... I guess we must be crossing paths... I was feeling sorry for myself too because Spencer can't have pizza. How trivial compared to all the stuff you are going thru....

I am thinking back to some things I feed Spencer and taking out what Paulie can't have.....

I have a dessert.. Take canned friut or fresh and make a cobbler. For the topping I mix Fleichmin's light (in the tub with blue lid -it is milk/soy free) with some oatmeal and sugar and bake it in a crock.

Marshmallows and fruit snacks are free of those allergens. We use these as a candy for him. He gets boatloads of Peeps when the holidays come around.

I think I mentioned the meatloaf muffins... Just use the egg replacer with the oatmeal..

Have you found any milk/wheat substitutes. If you have an alternate flour I have lots of recipes... oatmeal bars, bannana bread etc..

I am sorry about your thrush!!!!
I am so pissed because if I had know it wasn't going to go away and that I could take Zoloft I'd still be bfing and everyday I still get sad i'm not breastfeeding.... My OB knows... Just ordered another month of Diflucan.. I am worried about my liver... I've been on it 60 days all total. I am currently not eating sugar/carbs too. It's killing me and I cheated yesterday. I used genetian violet for a week then took one off, then another week. Bought expensive Acidophilius, GSE and now I am trying Caprylic Acid..

[krdoty]

I forget what all Spencer is allergic to. Could you make him a homemade pizza minus the cheese? Or is there a cheese substitute out there somewhere that is milk and soy free? (I don't even want to imagine how such a substitute would taste!)

As for the thrush... Are you still soaking bras in vinegar and hot water? What about doing nipples washes with vinegar one time and then next time with baking soda? Susannah told me a ways back that either one will change the pH to a level that the yeast does not like. I'm hypothesizing that alternating them might make the change a bit more dramatic to make the yeast give up. Have you considered painting your nipples with acidophilus or GSE in addition to taking them orally? (I have no idea about the safety of some of these combos, so definitely check with your doc or a lactation consultant before doing the nipple paintings!) What's Caprylic Acid?

The cobbler you mentioned sound good. How much oatmeal, sugar and Fleichman's? How high do you set the crock and for how long?

I forgot to mention before that I suspect oatmeal as well. The allergist doesn't have the solution to skin test for it in the office and I wasn't about to put him through a blood draw to check just that one. So I'm not feeding him oatmeal either. But eventually I'll get substitutions figured out for oatmeal, wheat and milk. Also, pretty much anything with meat is out since he's allergic to beef, pork, chicken and turkey. The only meat he's tested negative to is lamb. (We haven't ever fed or tested him for any meats beyond those five.) So basically I need to figure out how to feed Paulie a vegan diet. Have I ever mentioned that I don't eat green things?

[3kids]

Hi Brenda, glad you are doing well. Sorry about Spencer, how scary!

My little Ben is 3 months old tomorrow. I don't know where the time has gone! He's still in his leg casts, but is having surgery on his feet in 2 weeks for his clubfeet. He is such a sweetie. He is sleeping through and even though he had his tongue tie "fixed", we still struggle with bf (SORE), so he is partially bf (really only in the morning) and the rest bottles of EBM.

Katie is a holy terror these days. 2yrs in just over a month and it shows. She is so cute though the trouble she gets in!

Jack is still in part time nursery and he loves it. Lots of medical stuff going on and he remains very physically behind, but he has started to say a couple of words. It is brilliant.

I am so relieved to be HG free. I'll miss the baby days, but once the chaos dies down a bit I'm really looking forward to moving on.

Drop in again soon and hope you beat that thrush!!

[Natalie]

Brenda,

I just wanted to say I'm so glad you are doing better. I was really very worried there for a while about you.

So sorry to hear about Spencer, I hope you get some answers soon.



Love Natalie, x

[Brenda]

Good to hear from you guys...

Thanks for the well wishes!!