An answer for Devyn...maybe

Well we still don't really have an answer for Devyn.  Although we might.  Let me explain.

I took Devyn to the allergist this morning.  We went to Dr. Wolf, Noah's allergist, to see what he thought about the possibility of a milk allergy.  Based on her symptoms he thought it was certainly possible.  We talked a lot and he said that he would like to see a scratch test done on her.  We did the test which puts a little bit of the allergen under her skin to see how it reacts to different triggers.  They tested her for enviromental allergies (trees, pets, etc) and milk and peanut.  She screamed from the itching and in the end showed that she had no allergies.  Huh? No allergies?!?  So, we were pretty much back to square one.

The other thing we discussed, which he feels is probably the case, is that she may be lactose intolerant.  It is extremely rare for a baby to be born with lactose intolerance.  He mentioned it before, but because it's so rare felt like that was less of a possibility.  All of her symptoms do point to it. 

He sent us down for a blood test to rule out milk allergy and we'll have to wait for the results of that.  For now we assume it's lactose intolerance.  He was fairly concerned about her very slow weight gain.  She's at 13lbs 9oz.  She has gained a bit of weight, but feels like it is still too slow.  She was 8lb 11oz at birth and then hit a little over 12 lbs at 3 months and has had a hard time gaining since then.  He suggested we talk to our pediatrician about seeing a GI.  We saw one with Aiden for reflux as a baby, so I know who we'll go to if we need to.  He said we can keep an eye on the weight gain and talk to her about it at her 9 month visit.  That's still a month and a half away.  So, I'm not really sure what we'll do. 

I'm not sure if I should feel happy about this or not.  On one hand I'm happy it's not an allergy like Noah's where I'll have to carry a second set of epipens.  On the other hand we'll have to change how we eat, yet again, when she starts eating with us.  I already am dairy free, but I'll have to cook dairy free for her and think about a whole new set of dietary restrictions.  I'm relieved that we may finally have an answers, but I'm left thinking, "Now what?".  I guess it's time to start learning..again.  It's a good thing I enjoy learning so much!  If anyone has had a baby with lactose intolerance I would love some guidance!