When it comes to food I just can’t catch a break. While pregnant I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes around 28 weeks. This meant I couldn’t have many carbs and had to control my blood sugars by eating on a schedule and spacing out the carbs I was allowed in small bits.
After having Everett I ate whatever I wanted and it was awesome! Cakes, cookies, ice cream, and lots of Starbucks! I noticed that Ev was a very cranky baby in the evenings and he could not be consoled. He wouldn’t comfort nurse, rocking did nothing, and he looked like he was in pain. Anytime he was awake he was crying unless he was eating, but the evenings were pure Hell. I spent hours a day bouncing him on a Yoga Ball. This was the only thing that could stop his crying, but even that wasn’t 100%.
After deciding this just wasn’t normal I looked at possible causes. Could it be reflux? Cluster feeding with usual fussiness? Dairy allergy or sensitivity? Gas?
The only thing I could really do was eliminate Dairy and see if that helped. At least it would narrow things down. I was hoping it would show no improvement because I really didn’t want to have to give up dairy. After a week with no dairy I was bummed that he was less fussy. To test this I then added dairy back in to see if he would get fussy again. Guess what? He totally did. Ugh.
So, I went 13.5 weeks carbless, and for the forseeable future, I am now dairyless.
Why me?
I realize this is for a great cause, as was cutting carbs for my GD. Still, the fact that a gigantic dessert with milk in it arrived ON MY DOOR STEP as a gift from a friend doesn’t make it easier.
Now, I am going to admit to everyone that I don’t really cook. And I suck at making a grocery list. Usually we run out of something twice a week, and we never have any meals planned. I have no idea what to eat for breakfast besides pop tarts and bananas (and we are out of both currently). I can survive on PB&J and Ramen but I know I should eat healthier than that.
So……. I know many of you have had to live the dairy free lifestyle. Luckily he doesn’t have a protein allergy (we did have his stool tested for blood to be safe) so he is just senstive to lactose. I am only cutting straight milk, yogurt, cheese, and things with obvious dairy like creamy soups etc. He has shown improvement though he is still fussy at night. He is able to be calmed though and it doesn’t last hours like before. Newborns are fussy, I can live with this level of it and I’m sure it is normal.
I’d love to hear advice from those of you in the same boat. What kind of meals did you make (especially breakfast, but no eggs… I only like them with cheese!)? What did you use to satisfy your craving for cookies and milk? Is there any way to disguise the nuttiness of soy milk in a latte?! Will anything that is meant to taste like milk ever actually taste good?!
