I'm writing this under the influence of half a glass of wine and two margaritas after attending a girls' dinner out (which was great, by the way, but too short as I arrived late). This is more alcohol than I've consumed at a sitting since before becoming pregnant with Delaney, unless I count my birthday outing and I don't (mostly because I can't remember the end of it).
I'll begin with the scare I had today when Delaney had her blood drawn. She saw her pediatrician on Monday for her 12-month check up and he suggested that we have her blood checked for lead since our house was built in the 40s. I took her to the lab today and they did the (horrific) deed. It was so much worse than the series of shots she got on Monday. The blood draw took forever with one clueless phlebotomist poking to try to find a vein while the other helped me hold her still. Once they found the vein and plunged the needle in, the blood stoped flowing about halfway through and Idiot #1 began moving the needle around INSIDE Delaney's arm to get it to start up again. I was about to scream at her to stop when she did and she removed the needle and the tournaquet. By this point, Delaney was a wreck, sobbing gigantic, unconsolable tears that spilled all over my pants and the floor, along with a few droplets of her blood. Idiot #2 called the lab in the back to be sure that they had enough blood to conduct the test and learned that they did. Good thing because there was no way I was going to let Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum touch my baby again.
We left their suite and before we even got to the front door of the building to leave, I noticed several angry-looking hives on Delaney's arm where Idiot #2 held her arm. I ran Delaney back to the lab and asked them if they could tell what was going on (although I was pretty sure I already knew). They told me that it looked like a latex allergy and kind of shrugged and didn't offer any other information. I'm not sure what I expected. I mean, they were just techs, not doctors. So, I took Delaney home (she was fine other than the hives) and called her doctor. They confirmed that it sounded like a latex allergy and told me to keep her away from any obvious sources (duh) like balloons. The thing that's really strange is that Delaney had balloons at her birthday this weekend and twice she's gotten balloons from the gym this week. She grasps them in her hands, she sticks her lips on them and she's never gotten hives. Aren't most balloons made out of latex?
Anyway, I'm taking her to a pediatric allergist. This new revelation plus the dairy problem is enough for me to seek the assistance of a specialist. Roger (and our pediatrician) is not convinced that this is necessary, but I am. The worst a specialist can tell me is that she's too young to be tested. But, I don't care. If that's the case, I need to hear it from someone who specializes in these scary circumstances. I don't want to find out the hard way that Delaney has some life-threatening allergy. If they can test her and tell me what to watch out for, I'll feel much better.
On another front, I'm concerned (and relieved?) that Delaney may be giving signals that she's ready to be weaned. I never anticipated this happening so soon. She's always been such a boobie baby that I figured I'd be the one to initiate weaning (and that I'd do it closer to her second birthday than her first). But lately her daytime nursings are shorter and shorter in duration and she's been biting me (even more than usual) during her evening one. I have really mixed feelings about this. I'm not emotionally ready, but at the same time when I think about getting my body back, about being able to go where I want when I want and know she'll be OK with it, that's pretty appealing. I'm not sure where to go from here or even if she's really self-weaning yet. I need to read up on this to get some pointers (or get advice from my friends in the Internet!) on how this process is supposed to work. Can I nurse her only once or a twice a day without completely losing my milk supply? She's still a great morning nurser, but that's the only time of day that she's really interested in it. I'm also worried about her getting enough liquids and nutrition if we quit nursing because she's got that dairy allergy/sensitivity thing going on so I can't start giving her milk. On Monday her doctor said it's great that we're still nursing since she can't have milk (although he didn't seem concerned about her fluid intake if she does wean any time soon). She's just a little thing so I worry about her getting enough to eat and drink. This is a time of emotional transition for us/me and I'm having a hard time facing the fact that our baby is becoming a child.
Finally, in other news, Delaney's saying many new words these days (cookie, bird, car, peach, fish...sounds like she's saying "sish"...so cute!), she cruises and can stand up unassisted for short periods, she's discovered a love for Sesame Street and she's learned (to her great amusement) how to stick her finger up her nose. Our little child impresses us more and more each day.
Oh, yuck, Colleen! I've had to do that blood drawing thing with both of my kids and it is SO. NOT. FUN. Callie actually had to do it two days in a row. Trust me when I tell you the second day is far worse. You walk in and they immediately know what's coming and fight it with eveything they've got.
Wish I could help you with the weaning issue. Callie (mostly) self weaned before she was a year old and it went ever so smoothly. I chose to wean Preston because he was, as you put it, a real boobie baby. I swear the child nursed more frequently at 10 months old than he did at 10 days old! Morning, noon, and middle of the night! I so wanted to stick it out until at least his first birthday since I hadn't nursed Callie for a full year but it was really wearing on me having both he and a 2 1/2 year old to care for. I felt like Callie was getting a raw deal in the attention departement and I was plum exhausted.
Talk to your pediatrician about Delaney's overall solid and liquid intake and her typical diet (minus the breastmilk) and see what he thinks is best to replace your milk when it's gone. Chances are, if she's dropping in breastmilk consumption on her own, she's probably making up for it somewhere along the way.
And, in my experience, you can still nurse only one or two times a day and still have milk. You just won't produce as much because she's not taking as much. That's weaning.
Take care! Sorry this got SOOOO long! :)
Posted by: Lisa P | March 31, 2006 at 06:44 AM
I love your blog!
The bloodwork is so ridiculously traumatic. :P Sorry to hear that you had to go through that.
I recently took my 3 1/2 year old daughter to see a pediatric allergist...and definitely well worth the trip because her advice was COMPLETELY different than what the pediatrician's. She had broken out in hives twice after sleeping, once at home and once in a hotel on vacation. The second instance was MUCH worse than the first and her face was all swollen. The allergist diagnosed her dust mite allergy, and now, at the first sign of hives, we give her some antihistamine (contrary to what the ped said, since the symptoms resolved within an hour, he said don't treat).
I worked in a nursing home when I was in high school and college, and I seem to remember that latex glove allergies are usually a reaction to the powder they use inside them so that they go on and off easily, rather than the rubber itself.
Posted by: Heather | March 31, 2006 at 08:17 AM
I am SO SORRY to hear that Delaney had to go through the whole blood-draw ordeal! I hope those tests come back negative for lead, but hopefully knowing for sure either way will make the trauma of the draw worth while.
Good for you taking Delaney to the allergist. I've found that many doctors (even the ones you really like) don't like sending people to specialist. It's like they think that it is a failure on their part that they don't know every. stinking. disease. Give me a break! I don't want my family doctor treating diabetes. Or cancer. Or anything else that someone might specialize in. There is too much for any one person to know so that's why some people choose to learn more about a particular area...
On the nursing - you can certainly nurse once a day and have it be just fine. The last month that the boy nursed with me, he did it for just once a day in the afternoon. Then he decided he was too big for all that boobie nonsence and just stopped. I made milk for MONTHS after he was done nursing. My body and my heart weren't ready to wean, but the boy was. This motherhood thing - you rejoice and have heartbreak all at the same time.
Posted by: MamaChristy | March 31, 2006 at 12:39 PM
yeesh! fie upon the phlebotomists from hell!! my boy has tons of allergies (mostly mold, dust, dust mites, and cats) and they refused to test him until he was three. for some reason they say it won't be accurate before 3. not sure why. can't hurt to call the pediatrician anyway, right?
Posted by: moxiemomma | April 02, 2006 at 08:56 PM
Yes, I've heard that too...that they won't test until three, but my sister got her daughter tested (not sure which tests, though) when she was 9 months. I thought I'd call that pediatric allergist for an appointment just to see what he says. He may not be able to tell me anything at all, but I think I'd feel better just for going.
Posted by: Colleen | April 02, 2006 at 09:04 PM
I'm so sorry about poor Delaney's horrible experience with having her blood drawn! I don't blame you at all for taking her to a pediatric allergist. Sounds like a smart move and sometimes you have to go with your mommy intuition. And, on the nursing front, I nursed my older daughter only at bedtime for the last month. And you've made it much longer than I did with breastfeeding...yea you!
Posted by: Jamie | April 04, 2006 at 09:11 AM
This is my first time over to your blog and I'm really enjoying it. I got here from a comment you made on my blog. I've been redoing my blog list and I am going to add yours.
I feel for you on the allergy thing. They tested Aidan at 12 months for the things he showed sensitivities for, dairy and dogs, plus soy to determine if maybe that would be a good substitute. He was severely allergic to dairy, no to dogs (there was dairy in our dog's food that caused him hives when they licked him) and no to soy. Our pediatric allergist decided to keep Aidan (and therefore me since I'm still bfing) away from most of the major food allergens. We stay away from dairy, peanuts, treenuts, fish, shellfish entirely and limit soy, wheat and eggs (Aidan can't have eggs either until he's 2). The allergy testing was nothing. The skin pricks they do these days are cake.
I hope you get things figured out for your daughter. Food allergies can be scary. I had to use our Epipen once and it was NOT fun. I look forward to reading your entries and seeing where this takes you.
Posted by: sierra | April 10, 2006 at 07:05 PM