Formula + Baby =

Screaming, and lots of it.

This is what happens when you lapse in giving your baby a bottle and before you know it she's refusing to eat from it. Alex spent half of Saturday spraying formula into her mouth to get her to eat, but thankfully we figured out a trick and by the end of the day she was eating from the bottle.

She wasn't happy about it. Every time I held her she eyed my boobs and tried to nestle in them... but I told her that her guts needed time to heal and as horrible as it was she would have to endure.

Yes, this is the way I speak to my 11-week-old.

Three days of hypoallergenic formula, three days of tired clingy baby, and three days of the most stinky boiled-spinach looking poo you may have ever seen. (I don't know what kind of poo you've seen, I can't make that assumption.) If there was any blood in it there was no way to tell, it was so dark and thick. Nasty. However, it was also three days of a calm JGR because allergens weren't going through and tearing up her guts.

So, now it's Tuesday and I've started an elimination diet to find out what she's allergic to. This means I will only be eating foods on the safe list (foods nobody is allergic to, like rice) and slowly mixing in possible allergens to see how she reacts. I'm pretty sure dairy is on her allergic list, but wheat may be on there too. I will know soon enough.

Now, why go through the trouble? Why not just keep feeding her formula?

Mainly because of the power a boob holds over a baby, and because I missed it like crazy. JGR didn't understand the bottle, and I'm too lazy when it comes to having to make her wait while I mix it up so she can eat. Seriously, bottle/formula feeding is a lot of work and I commend any woman who does it. Sure, my boobs ache and my nipples are raw, but that makes one happy JGR.

(One who refused to get off my boob this morning when I could finally give it to her again. Could you imagine if adults were like this? Oh, wait, they're called men.)