Seriously, cannot say enough about them. Started Chloe, at just sub 8 weeks, on them a few nights ago. I open one capsule of acidophilus with bifidus into ~ 3-5 ml's of breastmilk, and feed it to her in a syringe.

Already her output looks better (she'd had wet runny stools), and she doesn't seem to be having as much trouble with her reflux! Her skin looks pretty good - flares up with the heat, but she's fair (a redhead) with generally sensitive skin.

And we've been successful at adding spinach (most recently) and grapes, as well as processed chicken products, such as deli-style slices and hotdogs with no problems! Next we'll aim for rice and see what we get.

According to an article in Gut, the intestinal lining of a breastfed vs a "weaned" baby are completely different. Specifically it says:

"Epithelial crypt hyperplasia may be promoted by physiological inflammation of the gut associated lymphoid tissue that peaks during infancy from antigenic stimulation of weaning."

IOW, the immune system is kicked into gear by the stimulation by antigens during the weaning process because the changes in the gut lining. Even hypoallergenic formula comes from milk or soy proteins, and unless using Neocate, there are corn or other ingredients.

Next the literature supports the unique probiotic properties in breastmilk, and the role (as previously discussed in my weblog) of probiotics in allergy prevention and treatment.

Following are a sampling of the articles on breastmilk:

Lancet, 1981 Aug 22;2(8243):419 Breast milk and infection.

"Of the antiinfective substances in human milk, lysozyme was omitted, as were the bifidus factor..."

Acta Paediatr Suppl. 2003 Sep;91(441):48-55
Intestinal microflora in early infancy: composition and development.

"In full-term infants a diet of breast milk induces the development of a flora rich in Bifidobacterium spp..."

Kinderarztl Prax. 1989 Mar;57(3):109-16. [The bifidogenic effect of breast milk. Theories and facts]

"Human milk has the unique capability to originate and maintain a predominance of bifidobacteria in the large bowel of infants."

And a very small sampling of the articles regarding probiotics and allergies:

J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005 Jul;116(1):31-7. New therapeutic strategy for combating the increasing burden of allergic disease: Probiotics-A Nutrition, Allergy, Mucosal Immunology and Intestinal Microbiota (NAMI) Research Group report.

"The intestinal mucosa and the mucosa-associated immune system are the primary loci of allergen contact and induction of immune responsiveness. In this review we discuss cross-talk between the intestinal microbiota and the host as it pertains to healthy immunologic maturation."

Adv Pediatr. 2005;52:77-113. Probiotics and prebiotics: role in clinical disease states.

"Both protective nutrients (probiotics and prebiotics) have been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of infantile diarrhea, particularly rotaviral gastroenteritis, prevent antibiotic-induced diarrhea, and prevent and treat intestinal food allergy."

Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(6):1089-92. Preventive and curative effects of probiotics in atopic patients.

"Normally, the transport of allergens through the intestinal epithelia to the blood is limited. It is hypothesised that if these compounds arrive in the blood circulation, they must percolate through the epithelial cell layer. Thus, food allergy (and thus atopic eczema) implies an increased intercellular leakage of the gut wall. Such increased intercellular leakage is thought to be caused by a slightly changed cellular morphology due to a slight cytopathologic effect because of both a limited decay of the cytoskeleton and a slightly reduced turgor. These events may be due to a reduced production of intracellular metabolic energy in the epithelial cells due to an increased concentration of familiar, frequently occurring, potentially toxic bacterial metabolites, i.e., d-lactic acid and/or ethanol. In this hypothesis we suggest that adequate probiotics can (i) prevent the increased characteristic intestinal permeability of children with atopic eczema and food allergy, (ii) can thus prevent the uptake of allergens, and (iii) finally can prevent the expression of the atopic constitution."

and that's from only articles 1-20 of a 140 article deep search.

So, MY rationale behind continuing to do an elimination diet, and not switch to a hypoallergenic formula - and therefore not "breech the virginal gut" or whatever the fabulous phrase was that I heard recently, is that the breastmilk has more healing power for the gut. Therefore the allergen is not only avoided (once elimination diet is established), but the correct flora is created in the gut to help the body not to pass inadequate proteins into the system. The antigen is then not recognized as foreign, and hopefully the allergy is outgrown.

If you've never had mastitis, you're lucky. I made through the entire 2.5 years of nursing #1 without ever getting it, and made it through something like 15 months of nursing #2 before I got my first case of it.

Signs and symptoms of mastitis include:

- Part or all of the breast is intensely painful, hot, tender, red, and swollen. Some mothers can pinpoint a definite area of inflammation, while at other times the entire breast is tender.
- You feel tired, run down, achy, have chills or think you have the flu. A breastfeeding mother who thinks she has the flu probably has mastitis. Mothers with mastitis will sometimes experience these flu-like symptoms, even before they get a fever or notice breast tenderness.
- You have chills or feel feverish, or your temperature is 101F or higher. These symptoms suggest that you have an infection.
- You are feeling progressively worse, your breasts are growing more tender, and your fever is becoming more pronounced. With simple engorgement, a plugged duct, or mastitis without infection, you gradually feel better instead of worse.
- Recent events have set you up for mastitis: cracked or bleeding nipples, stress or getting run down, missed feedings or longer intervals between feedings.

(From Dr. Sears website)

Right now I'm facing three of the above signs, and waiting to see if I get better or I get a fever. This would be my second case in over 5 years of breastfeeding. All-in-all I consider myself pretty lucky.

This is our third, so no real surprises this time, but that has given us a lot of time to reflect on where we are and where we've been in our 10 years together (8 years married). Most specifically we reflect on our relationship changes after the birth of our first.

Nothing is more amazing, and life altering, than the birth of your first child. However, as we (mothers) go into new-Mommy-mode, which entails becoming ultra-child focused, my husband says that men go into "caveman mode" - i.e. "New baby, ugh, must provide more saber-toothed-tiger meat, ugh". Both reactions are primal, and normal... but they serve to create a gap between husbands and wives, one that surprises us (all, not just moms) as we assumed the baby would bring us together as co-parents. Men run to working more, and mom's find that despite their most innate desire to love, hold and protect our new babies, we desire time to ourselves and we don't know how to create that time. When the men come home we hand over baby, and rush off to take showers, or make dinner, or whatever.

It comes to us as a surprise that we're still supposed to have relationships outside of our role as "Mommy", and it may even be a stressor. We have to resume our roles as "wife", "partner", and "lover" - but at the onset it's just something else we have to do (along with the laundry, feeding baby, and getting ourselves clean for the day)!!! Our husbands become secondary - because they don't NEED us as obviously as the babies do... but in reality, they DO need us. Just in a different way.

For me, to reconcile myself in all my roles took time, and thankfully the understanding and patience of my husband. He recognized his own innate urges as a new father (to run to work more, rather than being home where I felt I needed him) and potential shortcomings (being at work, NOT being the father both I and the new baby needed him to be), and I recognized the cognitive dissonance I was facing as the multiple roles clashed in my head and in my body. In the end we were able to come together to a better place, one where we DID co-parent, and we valued each other more for the people we'd become since the birth of our first daughter (and then subsequent children).

Neither of us would change a thing.

To me there seems to be two reasons for not vaccinating. I started on the "case-by-case" arguement. My first had a bad reaction to her MMR, and I figured at that time (prior to full research) that I would just forgo that particular vaccine for future children.

Then I had an allergic child, and was concerned about vaccine ingredients - and rightly so. Many vaccines contain food, animal, and antibiotic ingredients as well as preservatives. All of those ingredients raised red flags for me, specifically, as they had high allergy potential. I looked at the risks of each vaccine and it's ingredients versus the benefits of them (i.e. the risk of my child contracting that disease, as well as the severity of the disease - as opposed to it just being an "inconvenient" illness, such as in the case of flu and chicken pox). The conclusion, since I work in a high risk environment (NICU) was to give two vaccine series, the Hib and the DTaP. My second daughter had moderate reactions to both.

The second arguement to me seems to be more all-encompassing, more mentality based. That arguement raises the question of trust - who do I trust more, my children's natural immune system, or man-made attempts to accomodate for the believed faulty immune system? Not that I have delusions that they could fight off polio, or tetanus for themselves, but overall, I believe that their day-to-day health is better for not introducing such foreign ingredients, and in such mass quantities so quickly as today's vaccination schedule recommends.

I will most likely consent to the same two vaccines for my third daughter as I did for my second, but will continue to delay and proceed one vaccine at a time... but only because of where I work, and the risk of those illnesses coming home despite my best intentions. Further, should any of the life-threatening diseases that are currently irradicated in the US (whether due to vaccine introduction or to natural disease life-span will remain of question to me) become common again in our vicinity, I would reevaluate whether or not that particular vaccine is pertinent.