James update

Well. I decided to cut out the three major allergens noted in the La Leche League article, regardless of sceptical quacks. Except I forgot that rye and oats contain feckin gluten (sigh) so I have to get some gluten free cereal and I'll just have to survive on rice cakes for a while instead of Terence Stamp bread (have you ever tried truly gluten free "bread"? I'd rather eat my own feet). the only other thing is to wonder whether I should actually stop with the goats milk / sheeps milk too - but that's too many variables really. I always get confused by this. when people say "dairy" do they mean *all* milks? Including sheep, for example? Is it a lactose thing or a casein thing?
What I need is to talk to a professional allergy specialist.

So. Lee's suggestion of SOS cream seems to work well on the non-problematic areas like the belly below the nips, and the legs. Above the nipple line, the arms, neck and face though were greeted with keening cries that were horrible to hear, so one can only assume that the skin, which is broken enough to leak lymph fluid in places but oh thank christ, not blood, is just too sore. In fact, there are now inflamed red patches underneath the lumps which make one side of James' face show continental patching. His neck is by far the worst affected, given its folds. Difficult to cream, and difficult to clean. although the Aqueous does make the spots go slightly redder, the mosturising properties are pretty good, and it also doesn't seem to sting as much as the SOS did. So, perhaps when this acute episode has died down, he can be SOS'd all over, but not right now. the only other thing being that it's *horrifically* expensive. I must have used up at least three quid's worth of cream already in only 2 days. I don't know how viable it is long term apart from if I hide the price from Mackay somehow!!!

So we phoned the doc's every day this week and eventually, when I phoned back again, I got to speak to my regular Doc, who is a very "play it by the book" lady ie: I don't tend to tell her when I'm taking herbal remedies for something (unless she prescribes something) because her general reaction tends to be somewhat sneering. She once characterised te kind of people who have acupuncture as "people from Clapham"! But all I can do is present her with the available evidence re: allergic reactions ie: swollen eyes since birth, abdominal colic, etc.the fact is though that she sounded worried enough on the phone to give us an appointment first thing in the morning, and may well refer Jamie to a paediatritian for an emergency apponitment. According to her his symptoms sounded far too severe for a baby of his age. My poor love. :(

I will give more info tomorrow.

On the PLUS side - yes, there is one, hidden away somewhere... James started rolling about today! At 5 weeks old. that's a bit... well. Strange. He nearly rolled off the bloody bed despite posting him well away from the edges. He hasn't managed to roll on to his front yet, and I can't help but think that having done that, he'd then be somewhat stymied. He also sat kicking away like a bloody lunatic for a goof twenty minutes, which suggests that I really must wash the cloth exterior to the Kick and Play piano (a fantastic Ebay'd investment which Nora adored).

And in other news, I expressed off a frankly insane *eight ounces* of milk this evening when McK was feeding him last night's exudence . Eight ounces! Even if James only got 2/3'ds of that himself, he'd still be drinking nearly 6 ounces a pop. No wonder he's somewhat dense physically. Eight ounces! I ask you! He's five weeks old! What on earth am I going to  be creating when he's 4 months? No wonder I'm losing so much weight. I believe James may well be taking after the Hurley side of the family ie: he wil lturn out to be somewhat stocky.

Now, to bed.