So, day three of diary-free. Very interesting. We are using soy milk and adding olive oil and a scoop of duocal. It's hard to know exactly, but it's probably about 200-250 calories per 8 ounces, depending on how much olive oil we add.
Fact One: No one has thrown up since Natalie did Wednesday morning. Not even when they were crying. Coincidence? Hmmmmm.
Fact Two: Their appetites seem have increased significantly. Last night, (well, Friday am), I fed the girls about 1am. Abby ate about 5 or 6 oz. At 3am she woke up crying. Ben fed her 5 more oz. At 5:30, Natalie woke up crying. So, I fed her. (7oz I think). Since I was up, I also fed Abby again, who had awakened and was crying anyway. She ate 7 oz. At 10am I woke them and fed them. Abby ate 7 oz again. So, in a 9 hour period, Abby had about 24 oz of milk. TWENTY FOUR OUNCES!!!!! in 9 hours!!! That's just crazy. Coincidence? Are they simply recovering from their sickness and making up for the lost weight? Hmmmmmmm.
Fact three: They are eating solids better too. In particular, their newest food: oats and honey granola bars aka baby crack. They can't get enough of these things. One bar has 95 calories. They are eating about two a day. This evening, we had them in their chairs and there was only about half of one bar left, and Abby had it. I took it and broke it in half to give some to Natalie. Abby had a fit. Even when I gave her back her half, she wasn't happy. She wanted it ALL. Since it was the last one, we packed up and went to Target to get more (and a few other things). As soon as they saw the boxes they started pointing and grunting to have one. Once they have one, they chew away, happy as larks.
They have also eaten other food: soy yogurt (only vanilla - NOT peach), chicken nuggets, french fries, and Abby seemed to enjoy the hotdog she had tonight. Overwhelmingly though, granola bars are the favorite.
Fact 4: I could be imaging things, but I think their rash is getting better, especially on their arms.
Fact 5: I weighed Natalie this morning. She has gained 5.5 ounces since Wednesday morning.
Conclusion:
The only thing I can figure is that they are able to process the soy better than the milk and their stomachs are actually emptying faster ergo they are more hungry. That's the only explanation I have for Abby being physically capable of consuming 24 ounces without throwing up. Before, they could go all night without eating, throw up and you could see all the partially digested milk - 8 hours after eating.
We are pretty excited that we may have found a solution to their vomiting and slow weight gain. It's rather mind-blowing that all along it may have been as simple as an intolerance to milk protein. That brings me to my rant...why, oh, why, oh why, didn't this occur to one of the dozen doctors we have seen in the past two years???? One time, while they were still in the NICU, it was discussed and we went dairy free for about a week. They wanted to see if they would eat more. They didn't and it was abandoned. So far, all their throwing up has been blamed on reflux - which is apparently the catch-all for any unexplained vomiting. It's amazing that it has not occured to anyone before now.
I have to give credit where credit is due - since it never occured to me either. This has all been the idea of my sister. One of her best friend's newborn baby was crying for hours on end (blamed on colic and reflux). They did a little research, switched him to a non-dairy formula and *snap* - a completely different baby. So, once again, thanks to my sister, we may have been saved.
It makes me a little angry when I really think about where Natalie and Abby could be had we figured this out a year ago. They could weigh pounds and pounds more. They would be stronger and mabe even further ahead in their development in speech and other areas. They might have even been off the special pediatric drinks and just on regular soy milk. Maybe we still wouldn't be doing 4 bottles a day - for two year olds.
At least it looks like we may have some kind of solution to our ongoing problem. We can only hope this isn't a fluke and is the real beginning of the girls doing much, much better.
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