Why dairy free......

On September 25, 2014 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Avery Nicole. She was a healthy 7lb12oz and 19" long, absolutely perfect! As with my other two daughters, the decision to nurse was an easy one - no questions to be asked! Of course I would breast feed! From day one she was an awesome nurser - no issues! I mean, no fussy baby, no spitting up, good burper - overall HAPPY GIRL!

UNTIL....October 6, 2014! When she started throwing up, projectile, and with every feeding! After about 20 hours of her throwing up non-stop, we took her to the ER. She was admitted for observation and given fluids to hydrate. She went through a few tests, ultrasound, xray, blood work. 

The ultrasound was done to rule out pyloric stenosis, xray was done to rule out gas on the abdomen, and blood work to check levels. Here is what they found...ultrasound was negative for pyloric stenosis...PRAISES were sang by my sister-in-law and I - as this would have meant surgery! The xray confirmed excessive gas on her abdomen, and her blood work was normal, except for signs of dehydration (which we already expected).

So the gas on the abdomen...what does that mean. Well it was done to say maybe onset of colic...however, being that Avery NEVER cries, even when in complete discomfort (she maybe wined a little, but never cried a lot), they didn't feel that this is a typical colic case. The doctor leaned toward a cow's protein allergy.

At first, I was confused...how can that possibly be! I know that what I eat affects the TASTE of my milk, but really...all the protein from a cow's milk messing with my precious Avery's belly! As I posted the news on FB to update our family and friends, I was amazed to see how many have had the same issue. 

So - the result is that she was to start taking formula...which by the way was NOT an easy decision for me at all! I am an avid believer that breast milk is the ONLY milk for a growing baby. Luckily, the doctor said that I can continue to pump and store my milk for 6-8 months...but in the meantime, I needed to become dairy free. It takes about 48-72 hours for my milk to "refresh" itself...so that means I can't nurse her for 3 days! Once I am dairy free for 72 hours, I can nurse again and the formula can stop. Thus, begins my journey to dairy free.

I decided to blog about this because I needed a way to track how I feel, how Avery is doing...and well just make me feel better in general. They say a "journal" helps people cope with things - so why not blog it, so other's who have to go through the same thing can have a point of reference if need be.

I hope to post things like, how am I doing, how is Avery doing, dairy free foods (recipes), listing items that I have found to be dairy free...etc. 

I hope you enjoy the posts!