Becca’s first visit with Dr. Wilfred Raine, her pediatrician, was originally scheduled for this Thursday. But because of some bloody stools Becca has had, the office moved her appointment up to this afternoon.

After looking closely at a couple diapers — one we brought in from an earlier changing, and one that Becca prepared for us in the waiting room — Dr. Raine determined it wasn’t an anal fissure producing most of the blood (though an examination revealed that she does indeed have one); there was too much blood, and it was too dark for that. Instead, he thinks it’s colitis, inflammation of the large intestine. He’s pretty certain that it’s being caused by an allergy to the cow-milk proteins in the formula that the NICU gave us to supplement Becca’s feedings. So he gave us lots of (samples of) a hypoallergenic formula. He expects the problem to clear up in about a week. Just in time for Becca’s next doctor’s visit!

Dr. Raine was highly recommended to us, and we really like him. (Today was the first day we’d met him, as well.) He spent a lot of time with us, and he’s committed to getting Becca off the formula and the monitor as soon as her progress justifies. He didn’t make a secret of his dislike for both the monitor and baby formula — but they’re necessary evils for now.

On an unrelated note, here’s a couple photos we took playing at my computer on Sunday.

Hopefully when Amy gets a chance, she’ll post some other photos — including Becca’s first piano lesson.