Obessesive Poop Disorder and the Mysterious Skin Rash

I am diagnosing myself with a new disorder. I am pretty sure it is not in the DSM-IV describing clinical disorders. So it is safe to say that I made it up, but I am pretty sure I am not the first new parent to suffer from OPD...obsessive poop disorder.

I first came to this revelation when my Google search history houses such phrases as "explosive poop" or "poop color." I really never thought that I would become so curious about the contents of Sweet Pea's diaper. But I suppose it is a good thing I did. 

About a week ago Olivia's poop started to morph from the regular mustard yellow to this spinach green. Now this started to concern me a little. I thought it strange. So I Googled "green poop breastfed." One of the most reputable looking sites that came up was la Leche League. I figure if anyone knows breastfeeding, its these people...they advocate it until your child is like four.

So I read what they had to say. Apparently, green poop can result from the baby getting too much foremilk and not enough of the fatty, rich hindmilk. The solution--make sure the baby empties one side before moving on to the next. Well, I thought I had been doing that, but I would pay more careful attention just to be sure. So I did this for a week, but still it looked like she pooped a salad. Every. Single. Time. 

Well, about the time the mysterious green poop made its appearance so did a pimply rash on her face, neck, and upper chest. My first thought was "fabulous, my beautiful little girl has baby acne." Only everything I read says that baby acne usually shows up within the first month not the second. Also, there are usually not little whiteheads accompanying the red bumpiness of the acne. The whiteheads would be another baby skin condition called milia...or something like that. (I don't really feel like looking it up to be certain of the name). Only that couldn't be it because these little whiteheads are not accompanied by the red acne like rash. So at this point I am baffled. So what if her skin has characteristics of both? 

The only other option was infantile acne which arrives around the 3rd month and will spontaneously disappear somewhere around their first birthday and reappear in the teen years with a vengeance!

So what happens next was most certainly a divinely inspired epiphany. As obsessed as I am with her poop, the thought of my pretty baby's skin marred for the first year of her life by something that should be a concern of teenagers bothered me more. I couldn't bear that thought. So, I prayed that would not be the case. Then it hit me that the mystery poop and the horrid rash appeared around the same time. What if they were connected somehow?

So, back to Google I go. This time yes, I am searching for poop....but my expanded search now reads: "green poop rash breastfed." Apparently, these are symptoms of an allergy to something in the mother's diet...usually dairy. Alright so now we are getting somewhere. I had already cut out dairy once because I thought it was giving her gas...turns out it was the squash and zucchini, so dairy reentered my diet.

But now I am questioning the whole dairy thing. I thought back to the appearance of the green poop and rash wish I had kept a food journal. I had been without milk for a few days and when that usually happens I go on a milk binge when I get hold of some again. That's exactly what I did. I downed a gallon in 24 hours all by myself. Not to mention I smacked on pudding for a dessert. I also had pizza WITH CHEESE...which is a big deal for me...I usually take the cheese off...something my pregnancy cured me of. So needless to say my system, and thus hers, was on dairy overload. We had so much milk protein in our system I am surprised she is cooing instead of mooing.

Knowing this I decided it was worth a try. Now, it takes up to two weeks for the milk protein to completely get out of my milk supply, but I prayed for more immediate results if this was the cause of the skin and poop issue. 48 hours after my last dairy consumption she had her first mustard poop in a week. I was ecstatic to see the yellow poop return! (Who would have thought a dirty diaper could cause so much excitement?). Now all I needed to confirm my milk allergy theory was a disappearing rash. Guess what? This morning almost all the little whiteheads are gone, the redness has subsided, and the rash overall looks much better.

So do we have our culprit? I am going to keep logging my food intake in my food diary just to be sure to rule out other possibilities, but it certainly seems dairy is to blame. What a relief! I just hope this rash continues to disappear. I am aware that this discovery possibly means no more milk for me. The long term commitment here is going to to be somewhat of a sacrifice. It might sound silly, but I love milk. The thought of not having a tall cold glass for another year is difficult. I was the child who preferred a glass of milk over koolaid or coke. But the temporary removal of milk from my diet so that I can continue breastfeeding is worth it. I know that my milk is better for her than anything that can be manufactured and eliminating dairy is going to make my milk even better for her.

We go to the doctor this Friday for Sweet Pea's two month check up. We will discuss this with her then to get a doctor's opinion. But until then another mystery is solved and if it hadn't been for my OPD then we still might be sitting here wondering why poor Sweet Pea's face is all broken out in a rash.

So until next time...

Update: I don't really miss dairy. In fact it made me feel so much better to eliminate it from my diet, I now use coconut or almond milk in lieu of cow's milk. And Sweet Pea out grew this milk allergy.  She is happily consumes all the cheese in the entire house without side effect.