Hunter Gatherer
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

I had been toying around with the idea for a while, but yesterday I decided once and for all that I am going to cut all dairy, soy, and gluten from my diet. I am not sure that it is even necessary, but I think it will be interesting to see if Scout becomes any less fussy after I eliminate those things. It seems like she gets some gas issues in the evening and she has been spitting up more often than I would like. Besides, it certainly won't hurt me any to just eat fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and lean meats for a while.

Scout's poo color has evolved from a neon yellow with curdy white specks to a slightly darker yellow with some darker brown specks. Yesterday, I did see a couple of tiny flecks of what appeared to be blood. At first, it freaked me out and I immediately thought about getting her in to see a pediatrician. But then I remembered reading about how infants with milk/soy protein intolerance (MSPI) get irritated bowels and can have specks of blood in their stool. I also read that the appearance of a small amount of red blood in their poo can be normal if it seems like they strain a lot while trying to go. When I did a search on Mothering.com for "blood in stool" several threads came up with mothers in the same predicament asking for advice. Almost all of the replies involved stories of babies whose poo had the same appearance, acted gassy, and spit up frequently, and when the mothers eliminated all dairy and soy (even the trace amounts found in most prepared foods) from their diets, the babies got better. I'm not saying that's necessarily what's going on here.....after all, Scout does not seem like she is in pain except for that window of "fussy time" some evenings....but I figure it can't hurt to try it and see what happens. I'm tossing out gluten as well, because that seems like a common culprit in babies' tummy issues in a lot of the stuff I've read as well.

At the same time, you'd better believe that if I see anymore specks of blood in her poo, I will be taking her to a doctor (although, most doctors don't know a lick about breastfeeding issues or the link between mommy's diet and baby's tummy....so I'm not sure if that would do any good.) I know she doesn't have a virus or anything. She has no fever or any other symptoms. Unless I see more signs of something being wrong, I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it and just look at it as an opportunity to do something healthy for both me and my daughter.

Labels: health