Brock updates

Today we took Brock to see the pediatric GI specialist and we actually walked out of their feeling so relieved! Dr. Ramirez is a wonderful physician who really calmed alot of our fears about the whole situation. Because we decided to switch Brock to soy milk a few weeks ago, we had a little more data that we could share with the doctor.

He thinks that Brock's problem is that he has a mild case of acid reflux (since he was only throwing up at night) but it was "upgraded" to a more moderate case because of an allergy to a protein in cow's milk. The good news about that is, most toddlers grow out of this around the age of 2. So, he said that we could keep him on soy milk until his 2nd birthday and then switch him back to cow's milk if we want. Otherwise, it won't hurt anything to keep him on soy milk indefinitely. I think that if we switch him back, we will take him to an allergist first and be sure that he doesn't have a "true" allergy to cow's milk. I want to do this because this weekend we ate ice cream and, of course, he was begging for it and we gave him a few bites and now he has a runny nose (which he has not had for a few weeks). So just to be on the safe side, we are restricting the amount of dairy that he has. Don't worry though. I'm not turning into Nazi mom that won't let him eat ice cream at a friend's birthday party. He just can't have some everyday.

Now, on to the part that isn't so much fun. When Dr. Ramirez was doing Brock's physical exam he asked if his belly was always that big. Greg and I both said yes, but I have to admit that this made me feel like a horrible mommy. For quite some time, Greg has mentioned that Brock's belly seems to be sticking out all the time. I just brushed it off to "babies have big bellies" and Greg always stands with his stomach pooched out and I just thought Brock picked that up from seeing him do it. Anyway, Dr. Ramirez told us that he wanted to have some blood work done to test Brock for Celiac's disease. (Go to http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/ for more information). As it was explained to us, it is an inflammation of the GI tract that is caused by an allergy to the protein gluten that is found in wheat, barley, etc. Most people don't present with every symptom but the "big belly" is a fairly good indication. The good news is that it doesn't require any surgery or medication, just diet modification. The bad news is, most of Brock's favorite foods are filled with many of the ingredients that cause flare-ups (pasta, bread, etc).

The lab results wont be back for 10-14 days so I will update the blog when we find out the results from that. Really, the worst part about today was having to hold my wriggly baby down so the lab tech could draw blood. Let me tell you something, it is hard enough having to restrain Brock when he is the one being poked. It is quite another to hold Brock down and try to calm Greg down at the same time when the lab tech totally misses our son's vein and proceeds to poke & dig around until she (finally) gets some blood. I really think Greg was more traumatized than Brock. But, as usual, Brock came out ahead because Greg felt so badly that we had to stop by Wal-Mart on the way home and pick up a toy and a cookie for the poor little fella. Oh and just as a warning to anyone who babysits him anytime soon, Brock has discovered that boo-boo's get kissed and he will milk it for all it's worth! He scraped his chin almost a month ago and will still rub it and say, "Deeeeeesssseeee" (read: Please) which means that you have to kiss it or he will shove (literally) his chin into your mouth. So now the inside of his left elbow is the new boo-boo.

Other than that, Greg just left a while ago to head back to Kansas City which sucks because he and Brock were buddies all weekend long. It was so cute! Brock was Greg's shadow and anytime Greg left the room, Brock would yell, "Dada! Dada!" until Greg would come back. It got to the point where we had to lock the baby gate just so Greg could go to the bathroom! Don't get me wrong, I am so glad that Brock is lovin' his dada when he is around, but it did sting a little when Brock wanted Daddy all weekend and not Momma. ::Sigh::