Heartbroken Mom Admits Son, 1, with PKU Only Drinks Enough New Formula to Avoid Hunger Pains

Without Alexa Beichler's monthly delivery of medical-grade formula for her boys, the mom of three was forced to scrape by with what was left. But while many other parents amid the nationwide shortage could find alternate formulas, Beichler's only option was to stretch out their dwindling-down containers.

Beichler's two sons, Jax, 7 months, and Taylor, 21 months, were both born with a metabolic condition called classic phenylketonuria (PKU). (Her oldest son, Carson, 4, does not have the condition.)

The lifelong PKU diagnosis requires the boys to be on the special formula — which can't be found in grocery stores or pharmacies — as part of a specialized diet that limits them to two grams of protein a day for the rest of their lives. And without their formula, the protein in the boys' blood will quickly back up, acting as a neurotoxin in their brain, says Beichler.

The Virginia mom tells PEOPLE her family received a full shipment on June 16 of the specialized formula which is what her boys are currently relying on. Prior to the recent delivery, the last complete shipment she received was on April 5.

Without their regular shipments, Beichler explains that she has been giving her son Taylor a transitional bottle of formula that is a mix of his own medical-grade formula and his baby brother Jax's infant medical formula.

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The Moody Momma

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"Taylor was actually having a really tough time transitioning so it was a big, big thing that we got [this new] shipment because Taylor was not doing well," she says. "What he was doing was drinking the formula we were mixing together to try to stretch the other formula out and he was not liking it. I think he was just drinking enough so he wasn't having hunger pains."

"He was drinking less than half of every bottle," she continues. "This formula is so important to him because it's all the daily vitamins and nutrients that he gets. It's very important that he drinks all of it or else these bad things can happen like brain damage and other issues."

The Moody Momma

"It's really scary to know he's not finishing all of his bottles. We ended up transitioning him, one teaspoon by one teaspoon, and we used as much as we could to try to get him to switch back and we're still trying to do that with some of his bottles," Beichler adds.

Even with the arrival of additional formula for Taylor, Beichler says they are continuing to give him one transitional bottle out of his four bottles a day as it's still "up in the air" if or when shipments will go back to normal.

"He'll drink the other three, but not the transition bottle," she explains. "It's his morning bottle so he should be super hungry for it but he's just drinking the bare minimum from it, just to feel full. He's drinking about half."

Beichler says the June 16 shipment is supposed to last her boys until the end of July. While her boys are "doing so good" at the moment, the mom of three says her family is "still dealing with a lot of delays."

"[The formula manufacturer plant] said to prepare for more delays and more issues because not only are they out of the stuff to make the formula, they're out of the foil packets," she adds.

"We're still living day to day and doing what we can, trying to save as much formula. It's still an ongoing thing and I can't push that enough."