honestlyjulia: One crazy journey

As much as I'd like to be like some of my mom friends and post pictures and stories each day/week/month about the progress and development of Bobo, it just hasn't happened. Here's the main reason why:

We've had a crazy journey into the "wonderful" world of food sensitivities!

(yes, that is to be read with lots of sarcasm!)

Here's our story for those who are interested:

It all started at the beginning of January (Bobo was about 6 weeks old). I made myself a yummy iced chai latte with milk for a treat in the afternoon and then had a glass of milk with dinner that evening. Bobo woke up the next morning screaming in pain. I called our amazing lactation consultant and she recommended I cut out dairy from my diet for 2-3 weeks. I wasn't too excited about this prospect, but I hated seeing Bobo in so much pain, so I did it. This meant relying solely on nursing for his nourishment, no more supplementing with any formula (which has dairy in it). Thankfully, he was nursing well and was ready to be exclusively breast-fed. Bobo seemed so much more content and had a lot less gas and pain. The end of the experiment time coincided with us being in Maui so I intentionally re-introduced some dairy in the form of butter (we went on a date to Mama's Fish House and had a fish dish that was dripping with butter!). That did not bode well with Mr. Bobo, he definitely reacted! Ok, so no dairy for me while nursing.

Even with eliminating dairy, Bobo had some pretty bad gas and would cry from serious pain. Again, I called my amazing lactation consultant (have I mentioned how much I adore her?! She seriously has helped us SO much!). She said that sometimes a baby can be a "marker" for food allergies in the mom. Meaning, Bobo may not actually be "allergic" to foods, but he is reacting to food sensitivities or allergies that I actually have. It sounded a little crazy to me, but I trust her and was willing to try whatever I needed to figure out why Bobo was in so much pain and had crazy gas.

We got home from vacation and I made an appointment with a naturopath that came highly recommended to me from several friends from church. I met with her and scheduled an igG blood test on me to look for food sensitivities that I may have. The results took 3 weeks and I continued to avoid dairy. I wasn't sure what to expect when the results came back in, but I was hoping there would be some answers and help for Bobo's pain and gas issues.

Thankfully, depending on how you look at it, the blood test showed that I had sensitivity to a variety of foods. I think I was relieved to know there was probably a good reason why Bobo was reacting to so much stuff and it wasn't just random.

Here is what the test said I am sensitive to:

Dairy - all forms

Eggs - from Chickens

Cane Sugar (oh how I was NOT excited about this one!)

Wheat (interestingly, gluten didn't show sensitive, but wheat has gluten in it)

There was also some random things:

Bananas

Cranberries

Pineapple

Broccoli

Sesame Seeds

Spelt

I wasn't too surprised by dairy as that is what Bobo reacted to first and most aggressively. If you know me well, you know I am a sugar-head, I love my sweets! The prospect of cutting out sugar on top of dairy and eggs was not super exciting to me. In fact, I cried! It just felt so overwhelming as it meant I'd have to make almost everything from scratch and couldn't eat out much anymore. I decided to eliminate cane sugar and eggs (on top of avoiding dairy which I remained doing since the beginning of Jan). I was just not ready to cut out wheat or gluten yet so I didn't. However, there didn't seem to be much difference when I cut out sugar and eggs, he still had pretty bad gas and was in pain from time to time. Bobo had his 4 month well baby check with our lactation consultant (who is a public health nurse) and she strongly encouraged me to try cutting out wheat/gluten for 2 weeks. I dragged my heels, but decided to try it. Thankfully, I have a friend who has Celiac disease and helped me a LOT with what I can and can't eat on a gluten-free diet.

Amazingly, Bobo had almost no gas and was more content when I was completely free of dairy, eggs, sugar and wheat/gluten. Ok, we're on to something here!

So, that's where we're at...if I cut out the 4 major things, Bobo seems to do really well. If I re-introduce any of them, either he or I seem to react in various ways. I haven't tried re-introducing the random stuff yet, maybe I will eventually.

All of this has been quite the steep learning curve and a crazy journey. I used to think those "organic, natural, hippie-type" people were a bit strange or weird, but now I am definitely turning into one of them! I hardly ever shopped in the "crunchy/hippie" (natural foods) section but now that is where I get most of my food! If only we had a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods here! Thankfully, my love has been super supportive in all of this and given me freedom in our budget for me to buy what I need to. We are all much happier when I eat the foods I should and avoid the ones I shouldn't!

I am eating so much healthier than I ever have before and can feel the difference in my body.

I always get asked, "so what DO you eat"?!

Basically, I'm a gluten-free "meagan"! I like vegan recipes as they have no dairy or eggs in them but I eat meat, so I'm a meagan!

Here's some of what I can eat:

stir frys with veggies and meat over rice (with gf soy sauce)

corn tortillas with beans and rice and/or meat

chips and salsa and guacomole

meat roasts with potatoes and veggies

Thai food - I can actually eat at Thai restaurants as most are dairy and gluten free!

Mexican food - without cheese or sour cream, corn tortillas instead of flour

I eat lots of avocado, yum!

I've found some yummy english muffins and waffles that are dairy and gluten freeo

Lunchmeat - although I have to make sure it's not cured with dairy

lots of fruit and veggies

fruit leather

gluten free crackers
Lara bars - I make homemade ones out of nuts and dates, tasty and cheaper!

There are many blogs out there where people post about allergy-friendly recipes, ideas and tips. I've stumbled upon quite a few that I really like and it's helpful to have some camaraderie and encouragement on this crazy journey!

And now just because I can, I'll leave you with some sweet pics of our big 5 month old!