Well, after increasingly bad fussiness, gas and general upset, I finally took Gracyn to the doctor yesterday to have her checked out. Poor baby is severely intolerant to milk and has grown more and more uncomfortable as her body struggles with the dairy I eat. The doctors did some tests and discovered blood in her colan, which indicates GI irritation for a baby. The poor girl has been in pain! And, in order to continue nursing her I have to be off all dairy, whey and casein.
Thankfully the doctor in our practice, who I happened to be scheduled with yesterday went down this road with both of her daughters and she nursed them for their entire first year despite of it. So, she didn't even really introduce the possibility of quiting to me, she just said, "Here is your diet, as she handed me many papers to look over.
Now, I am 100% committed to nursing her. Neither Addison or Reagan ever had formula and I nursed them both past their first birthdays. I desperately want to give that to Gracyn as well, but this is a HUGE diet over-haul for me. I guess it needed to happen sometime anyway, for general health purposes, but I basically eat dairy in some form in every meal and snack. When I returned from the dr. yesterday I struggled to find one thing in my pantry that I could eat.
So, good-bye Chick-Fil-A, afternoon chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate and delicious buttery popcorn. I will be learning to love fruit, veggies and meat. This means going forward, in order to eat out, I have to check all the nutrition information on a restaurants website before we go. I have to watch out for cross-contamination and be extremely careful what goes in my mouth....nothing that was even cooked with a milk product (good-bye butter, I will miss you.). This means, I have to figure out how to make all the casseroles my family eats without cream soups or cheese! Thankfully the pain and misery I have seen in my babies eyes over the last few weeks gives me motivation to do so. It takes our bodies 2 weeks to fully process dairy, so if I mess up, it will make her struggle for quite some time!
For now, until my body is clear, she is taking Zantac twice each day. I would appreciate your prayers as I learn how to feed myself and my family in a way that is so drastically different. Please pray for her to feel relief in her little tummy and for me to have the will-power to do this! If you are already sending me recipes and encouragment, thanks so much. I was encouraged this morning to know that other people have survived this diet.
8 comments:
Wow Kim! I had no idea sweet little girl was having a hard time. I know you can make it, and I am so glad you got some answers. I'll be praying for you!
Kim, you are amazing... this would be really hard for me. I admire your determination...praying for you!
Didn't know she was having such a hard time! Good that the DR's knew what was going on. Praying for you and your family:) I'll miss our chikfila lunches :(
You can do it Kim! You are in the land of the crunchy health folks with lots of resources are your disposal! Once G's body cleanses and heals you may find you can reintroduce some things, like goat milk or cheese which have a smaller protein make-up. I know it's challenging and overwhelming, but you can do it!
Oh man Kim, that is tough. I am sorry, but I can tell you are determined and I know you will make it through. Lots of prayers coming your way.
You can do it!
We have basically stopped eating out due to all of the tough restrictions of my new diet to treat the epilepsy. However, most restaurants have a gluten free menu and can show you what items have dairy. Whereas, there aren't menus to help with my diet. So, hopefully, you will get it figured out and have fun in the process.
Be careful with meats at restaurants. Many times they inject them with marinades and don't list those ingredients. So, always ask, ask, ask, & share the allergy with the manager.
My first baby had bad colic and her pediatrician told me to go on a dairy free/casein free diet for a while. It was hard. Even my "dairy free" coffee creamer had casein in it. I was so not happy about that! I hope your baby feels better soon. I had the MOST difficult time getting my daughter to take the Zantac...who am I kidding--she is still colicky and cranky at 7-1/2 years old. HA! ;) I have a script at home now to get a Celiac blood panel drawn if needed, but she is better...she is very skinny but doesn't have the reflux and gas pain as much.
HUGS!
I had no idea... so glad that you are committed though... so many people would give up. I'm motivated to give you some recipes now! You know.. you may end up liking fruit, veggies and meat ;)
I have no idea what "casein" is... will need to look that one up !
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