I wanted to tell our story and maybe help other people in similar situations, know they are not alone.
December 2018 my beautiful baby boy was born and he seemed to be as healthy as could be, I had a long labor it was 42+ hours before my doctor decided the only way was forceps (torture in my eyes) we was in hospital for a week after delivery, which my partner definitely hated ( oops ) it was more for my benefit rather than little man, I had a 3rd degree tear as well as needing a transfusion from the blood loss in birth. The week we got home is when it all changed.. He was constantly bunged up ,crying a ton everyday, he would toss in pain with a bloated stomach and be unable to poo as well as constantly being sick and he even had really flaky skin. I knew something wasn't right with his breathing, it was constantly worrying me and I was always back and forth to A&E and emergency doctors appointments but I was always told it was a cold/virus, it was colic or it was reflux but I knew, I just knew it wasn't right but yet I was being ignored about everything I felt, it was like I was just overreacting and I just couldn't do anything to stop my baby from hurting.. It was heartbreaking! We was given a lot of different reflux medication and constipation medication but it was as though he was taking it for the sake of it because nothing was changing, infact one of the medication made his stomach swell!
I don't drive so I was always having to rely on family and friends to help take us to A&E. It definitely got annoying for everyone which I could understand but I was so sure about it not being right that I wasn't going down easily.
This went on for so long even to the point my family stopped listening to me, everyone assumed I was just a new mum with a lot of worries for no reason and I completely understand why they'd think that, but I just needed 1 person to hear what I had to say! But I was always told so many different things and yes maybe I'm not a doctor but you just get the feeling that what they are saying to you and what your experiencing is completely different...it wasn't until my son was 3 months old that I saw a new doctor at the GP surgery where he realised that my son had really rough flaky red skin like eczema, along with other consistent symptoms that I was actually heard and by this point his poo was basically black, they had concerns that because it was left so long it may have now caused bleeding in his belly, I felt so scared but relieved that I wasn't going crazy and someone is actually listening. We was then referred to a dietician and a pediatric doctor where my little one was finally diagnosed with CMPA this took some time, and he wasn't fully diagnosed until he was 5 months old and at that point several new formulas were trialed..
Once we hit weaning stage we discovered a few more allergies, he would react to several different foods, it was like never ending pain for him and I felt so useless but despite all of this he was still such a happy baby ( I think I cried more then he did throughout this journey ) .. I got to a point I didn't want to try anymore food because the worry of every new thing he had was just to scary but I also knew I had to carry on.
He is now a year old and he's been on his 5th formula for around 3 months now, he seems to have improved on this formula a lot compared to previous milks, though of course we still have bad days. We will still have days where a new allergy may prop up but it's definitely something that becomes easier to sort when you know what your doing. It is hard avoiding dairy and other allergens but you learn to adapt and it's crazy when you see how many parents deal with the same thing!
We avoid things such as dairy, soya, fish and egg but that is why the vegan range is a life saver in a lot of cases..he also has allergies to banana, coconut milk & avocado but they aren't to hard to dodge.
The saying is definitely true you should 'always trust your instincts' We are not yet over this whirlwind but it's getting there, we are now doing allergy testings and figuring out what's wrong with his bowel but I know no matter what, my smiley boy will be ok.
Don't give up mamas <3
Our allergy story Sarah-Jayne&Alfie-James