Lost and Found (well, almost)

Wow has it really been 2 months since my last post about Isaac's birth? Is he really 10 weeks old already?!Many people told me that having a third child was the most challenging transition for a family, and a mom. Of course I believed them, but I'm really feeling that our transition has been even more than most. And I have to say that we're still not out of the woods yet. Allow me to explain...(this may take a while.)

Most people know that Daniel and Heidi are slowly outgrowing an allergy to dairy. The onset for each child began at about 6 weeks of age. Then, when Isaac was about TWO weeks old, I started noticing signs of an allergic reaction. I went off of dairy. His rashy cheek seemed to get better, but the symptoms still showed up off and on. (super gassy, upset stomach, lack of sleep, inability to nurse all he wanted in one feeding, etc.) In addition to not eating milk products, I gave up gluten foods too. (wheat, rye, barley, and oat products). Also in the middle of all of this I noticed a mild case of hives all over his body one morning. I took him to the doctor. He ran two separate blood test for allergies, which both came back normal. (I'm told it's pretty rare to detect any kind of allergies in babies this young.) The mysterious rash was gone after 2 days, and hasn't returned since.

Isaac's other symptoms reduced, but still acted up off and on for the next few weeks. Then, while talking with my sister, she pointed out that any food that is breaded is also made with wheat, something that hadn't even crossed my mind before. By this time we had lots of family in town for his baby blessing, and things got even crazier. I decided to let him try formula, just so I had a little time to figure things out without hurting his poor body anymore than was necessary. I sent some of my siblings to the store to get him some soy formula. He seemed to take to it really well. (I was also pumping and dumping my "contaminated" breast milk as well, hoping to get rid of any allergens.)

Then, 2 days into this, and nursing a little, I noticed his rashy cheeks were starting to flair up again. I couldn't figure out what I had possibly eaten that would have cause such a dramatic reaction again. I was about ready to just put him on formula and be done with all of the madness.  At that point I stopped caring what I was eating and ordered little cheeseburgers and onion strings with ranch at the restaurant we went to that night.

The next day, a thought came to me that I should nurse him instead if giving him another bottle. That would mean that he would get the full effect of everything I had eaten the night before. After some debate with myself over this, I complied. To my amazement, the red on his cheeks got lighter and lighter. The following day, I gave him soy formula at the grocery store. The rash returned full force. That's when it hit me. He's allergic to soy!?! If I hadn't followed the inspired thought to nurse him that day I would have never understood the problem.

It just so happened that his 2 month check up was scheduled for that afternoon. The doctor gave us a stack of trial cans of hypo-allergenic formula to try, and recommended putting hydrocortizone cream on his face. His rash cleared up completely after a couple of days.

So now he's allergic to SOY. Wow. This big discovery is definitely an answer to prayers and I am so grateful for that. For me though, it also opens the door to a whole set of new discoveries... and questions. The night before Isaac got the rash on his body, we ate stir fry or dinner, with plenty of soy sauce. I started rummaging through my kitchen. All of the baked goods I could find in our house are made with wheat and soy. Cream of mushroom and cream of chicken are made with milk, and soy. I had no idea how common soy actually is in food. 

So now I'm left wondering... Is he allergic to gluten or wheat like I thought, or was it just the soy in our bread that was bothering him? Is he allergic to milk like I thought, or were the rashy cheeks only relate to the soy allergy. When I went off of dairy was I also eating less soy as well? Stay tuned for answers to these. We're still in the testing phases. The first test? Cheese. **crossing my fingers**

In the mean time, I'll do my best at trying to catch up on the other undocumented parts of our life thus far. (like my new haircut, Daryl's motorcycle, Heidi's antics, Isaac's baby blessing, and Daniel's first day of school, to name a few.)