Hospital

The reason I haven't posted in a while is because we've been in the hospital! Let me clarify... Sunday we noticed, while changing Sydney's diaper, that she had some blood in her stool. I had recently read about milk allergies being fairly common in babies, and that one of the symptoms was blood in the stool. We called the hospital where she was born and they told us to bring her into the ER to get her checked out. We arrived around 6:30 p.m., and while the triage nurse was taking her temperature (rectally), she had a scary (for us), bloody bowel movement. We were in the ER for about four hours, drawing blood, taking X-rays, and mostly waiting around. The doctors pretty quickly ruled out some very scary things that could result in bloody stools, which is great, but also made it more difficult for them to immediately diagnose the problem. So they admitted her into the hospital (Chet and I were both able to stay with her) around midnight. Her blood work showed that the white blood cell count (specifically the cells that fight allergies) was elevated, indicating a possible milk allergy (or some other kind of allergy, but milk is the most common), so they immediately switched her to formula with the milk protein already broken down, and I quit eating dairy products. During our hospital stay, they continued to monitor her diapers (which were almost immediately less bloody) and draw blood. Thankfully, through all of this, Sydney's demeanor wasn't any different, so it was comforting to know she wasn't in pain. They released us yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon.

All that being said, we still don't have a diagnosis, but an accurate diagnosis may take time. We have a follow-up appointment Thursday afternoon. Sydney will remain on the formula until the doctor says to switch back to breast milk, and I won't consume any more dairy products until I decide to stop breastfeeding. When I do switch back to breastfeeding, Chet and I will monitor her stools, making sure there is no blood. If there isn't, then we have our milk allergy diagnosis! If that doesn't work, we try cutting something different from my diet...

There is one more thing. We have an appointment next Tuesday at the nearby children's hospital where Sydney will have a Meckel's Scan. This scan will look at her intestines and (hopefully) rule out Meckel's Diverticulum, which is essentially a small bulge in the small intestine that was present at birth and that causes bloody stools. This disorder requires corrective surgery, but we'll cross that bridge if we even come to it. Thankfully Jacksonville has a children's hospital with a pediatric GI specialist! We'll keep you updated, and please pray for Sydney and the doctors who are caring for her!