Pediatric GI doctor (or how I learned to stop worrying and learn to love formula)

References to Dr Strangelove aside, today we did meet with a pediatric GI doctor for the first time.  This after our Pediatrician (who seems like a really great doctor and a generally good guy) was able to get us in on short notice after seeing him yesterday and finding out Q had gained exactly bupkis over the past 2 weeks.  That failure along with the prolonged screaming fits (mostly by Quinn) and him bowing and arching his back after feeds seems to point to the current regimen being profoundly unsuccessful.

So the GI doc listened to us and basically said she wasn't sure why he wasn't gaining with all the interventions, but did put a plan in place.  Also they want to look at his blood, his stool, and his urine.  Whatever your thoughts are on managed care or HMOs, I have to say that I have been never less than impressed with every practitioner we have met on the pediatric side and adult medicine.  I also can't say that I have ever waited an undo amount of time to see them (dental is another story however) nor have I ever felt like they in some way 'skimping' by withholding tests or therapies.  My experience with Kaiser has been universally impressive, but I digress.  The plan is to switch him to formula only, one that has a form of more broken down proteins that should be easier to digest while we await the results of his labs and work on collecting the other samples.

Obviously, we had hoped to successfully breastfeed longer.  However, 4.5 months is nothing to shake a stick at.  And, there remains the possibility (however slight) that Q might return to it.  That said, if this works and takes care of even 50% of his misery (and ours) I will only question why we didn't abandon the breast earlier.  This might even allow Tia to sleep more (although it will cost me some) because she won't be solely responsible for his feeding.  As with all things, time will tell and I will write about it as we move along.  In the meantime, Q is napping so I ought to do the same.