Failure to Thrive... feeling supported

After praying and praying and praying and freaking out my heart was stirred to find a new pediatrician. I needed this baby to have an advocate. The other doctor was condescending, vague, and unprofessional. We are relatively crunchy (translation… we try to stay close to God’s design for things and leave all the chemical, lab created stuff for dire straits only). That being said, our new doctor was not at all crunchy. She is a CDC supporting, by the medical book kind of girl. Not that that is bad, but in the end it did not jive with our family. But she was a huge blessing none the less.

I was at the pool with my neighbor and going over our last doctor’s appointment and sharing how frustrated I felt. She really encouraged me to go elsewhere. This doctor had a wonderful reputation for her knowledge and holistic approach, but in our particular case she was not the right fit. We made an appointment with the new doctor and hoped some fresh eyes would shed some light onto why our baby was not growing or doing anything a baby her age should. This first visit was so different from the previous. This doctor looked me in the eyes, called my baby sweet little pet names and was kind to my other children. She really listened to her history and was concerned for her health. No, we did not see eye to eye on a lot, but oh how my heart needed someone to explain and explain some more what we were looking at. And just be tender. I was told to discontinue using goat’s milk and sent home with an article about how bad it is. This is bunk. Truth be told, that goat’s milk is probably what kept us from feeding tubes now that we know she is least allergic to goat milk. Raw goat milk--supplemented with fats and minerals is wonderful. But hindsight is what it is. She told us to switch to Nutramagen, give her bleach baths for her skin (another thing I was going to skip), and see a board certified dermatologist for her severe eczema (atopic dermatitis). One theory was that her body was using so much energy and calories to deal with the raw eczema is might be causing her depletion. Additionally, we needed to take her immediately to a lab for blood work. Gulp. The hope was that maybe she was low in zinc, which can inhibit absorption. That was my rational for signing off on the Nutramagen even though I am not a fan of soy based anything. Here is the list of blood work: zinc, ast, alt, calcium- ionized, phosphate, CBC, reticulocyte count, basic metabolic pane, magnesium, and alkaline phophatase. Insert completely overwhelmed mother right about here.

Weeks previous, I had to hunt down raw goat milk and then all the high quality vitamins, minerals, and fats you add in order to make it as close to mother’s milk as possible. And now I have to discontinue it. Fudgesicles. Swallowing the stop breastfeeding pill was hard enough, but at least it was replaced with something natural and wholesome. And now I am supposed to feed my sick little baby a bottle full of corn syrup solids and soy and too many other chemicals for me to list. Bleh. But the more time went on the more sickly she got so I sucked it up (I have a pun problem). I had bigger fish to fry.

Blood work? Why would she need blood work? Well, could be low zinc. Could be cancer. Could be a number of reasons. None of which are all together comforting. But this pediatrician was at least doing something. She was taking this seriously and attacking it from several angles. For that I was thankful. So I left for the lab with the diagnosis of ” underweight, malnourished, and atopic dermatitis.” And my heart squeezed. And Jesus. Oh, how I leaned on Him. If you are in a similar boat I encourage you to do your own research. Listen to the doctors but also do not be afraid to seek out information. I knew that eczema would not go away by a bleach bath. It is only an outward symptom of an allergy or irritation. Bleach is a band-aide--- not a root cause. You do not have to do everything suggested. YOU are your baby's advocate. Work with your doctor but do not be pressured to do something you are not okay with. And on the same note, I had to eat some crow. I was very against this formula but did not know what else to do. My husband was a huge encouragement and reminded me that God can deliver her from anything He sees fit. Even GMO's and soy and sugar. So on we went down our path to thriving.