An update, finally

Mommy has not been feeling so well. So tired. It has been hard to get myself to do anything extra!

Okay - so here are the updates.

Diaper rash - gone! Amazing. Jac had a diaper rash from Christmas until last Monday. The diaper rash was fungal - and had been diagnosed by a dermatologist and we were given a medication called Vusion. It is a new medication on the market for diaper rashes that are yeast infections. Man - it does not work AT ALL. We used it for a month - and the rash just continued to spread and looked worse. When we made it back to the dermatologist (after Mommy slept through one appointment) she was concerned that he still had the rash so she gave him the old standby, Nystatin ointment, for treating yeast infections. We were told to use it at each diaper change in place of petroleum jelly (it is a petroleum jelly based ointment). Within 12 hours his entire diaper area was almost entirely clear - and in 24 hours if I had now known he had a rash the previous day I would not have been able to tell.

Weight - at his last weight check he was 8 pounds, 8.5 ounces.

Formula - Jac is now taking Similac Alimentum as a fortifier to EBM (expressed breast milk). We are adding between 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp to each of his feeds. This should be giving him between 22 and 24 kcal per ounce (up from an approx. 20 kcal from EBM). When we first started giving it to him he seemed to be really rejecting the formula - but as per usual Joseph forged on and Jac started taking the bottles with the formula without a problem. We are now fortifying all of his feeds this way. Hopefully this is going to help Jac gain weight more quickly.

GI doctor - She agreed that it seems like Jac has a milk protein allergy. She said the normal age to challenge the allergy is 12 months - so we would do it at 14 months (adjusted age 12 months). She offered us a prescription for Reglan, which we took, but are not going to fill. Reglan is a very serious medication and I don't feel that Jac's reflux is bad enough to warrant the possible effects of Reglan. She said that the Alimentum is a good idea and we should work on getting Jac to take it.

Fever - Jac's fever went away on its own. We went in and saw his pediatrician and he did not have a fever when we got there. It seems like he is a bit more stuffy than usual but other than that he seems completely normal.