Day 1

Dairy-Free Nursing

This week has been anticipated for months! My sons Asaph, almost 2 years, and my infant 4 month-old Rowan are sound asleep for nap time (I'm shocked they went to sleep at the same time!) and here I am with a to-do list a half-mile long, laundry piled up (how do two babes have SO much laundry?!), haven't eaten lunch yet, dishes in the sink, a living room strewn with toys, a dog that desperately needs a bath (among other things...) and I'm taking a little time to write about the adventures of DAY 1.

My youngest has had a problem nursing since the day he was born. He kicks his legs, flails his arms, pulls off the breast and cries, sounds congested and spits up almost everything he eats. I can hear his stomach rumbling as he nurses. For a while I assumed it was gas (because he has some manly gas every now and then!) but as it has persisted I inquired with my doctor who recommended a heartburn medication. Granted, Rowan has a LOT of spit up and heartburn made sense, but now on month 4 after reading some forums and blogs I've concluded he most likely has a food allergy. Three days ago I decided to eliminate dairy from my diet. Here's a link to a list that I found on another blog of dairy ingredients to avoid when shopping for dairy-free food: http://www.godairyfree.org/dairy-free-grocery-shopping-guide/dairy-ingredient-list-2

As this is a new endeavor for me I'm hoping I can stick with it for a month and carefully monitor Rowan to see if his eating habits change. (He is still growing like a week and putting on weight so the doctor was not much concerned...)

Last night (Superbowl Sunday!) my husband wanted a "Superbowl" type meal. I asked him what that meant and he said, something like snack-food but healthy. I made chicken fajita nachos (his portion smothered in shredded cheese and sour cream, my portion no cheese, no sour cream but homemade guacamole instead). I made sure to read the back of the ingredients for everything I used; white corn tortilla chips, fajita seasoning, etc...It was a great alternative to my usual dairy favorites. Today's breakfast was eggs and bacon, lunch has yet to be determined but I've already munched on watermelon and strawberries and pretzels. I bought Almond Milk and made a peanut-butter, cocoa, banana and vanilla almond milk smoothie last night. I didn't realize how much dairy I ate on a regular basis until I needed to cut it out of my diet. Pretty astounding how many foods contain a milk product!

Here's a little of what we did today; built a fort out of blankets in the living room, played with alphabet magnets, read a few books, learned how to blow bubbles with soapy water. Nothing too exciting today, but I'm sure as these 100 days progress there will be much more to learn. :)