Food Allergies are the Pits!

Although I'm pretty sure that the pit inside a peach or any other fruit would be on the 'no-no' list as well :(

At Carter's two month appointment I was telling his doctor how he suddenly was not wanting to go to bed anymore.  He used to go down, by himself, in his crib well!  All of the sudden he's been wanting to sleep and falling asleep, only to wake up screaming every 10-15 minutes.  Immediately her eye brows went up.  Then, when I told her he's also been having diarrhea and showed her his skin rash on his forehead. She said it sounds like he has a food allergy.  She also asked me how much he farts.  Like I count it?  And, to top it off, it's not like someone tells you before you leave the hospital "this is how much your child should fart".  I figured he was just a boy!  But, she says that if it's like a machine gun (a whole bunch in one) then that's not good.  He ripped one in front of her--his usual breed, and she said that it was a days' worth of gas right there.  I was about to high-five him and tell him he's done the Egbert side proud, but then realized that she was saying it wasn't good.  And I said, that's just him getting started!  I also told her how I can feel and hear his poor stomach gurgling all of the time.  That sealed the deal for her. 

She told me to go on an immediate elimination diet not eating any of these foods: dairy, nuts, eggs, whole grains, citrus, corn, strawberries, tomato and chocolate.

BUMMER!  That's pretty much everything--at least to my cooking style.  And, I've been feeling major guilt.  Whenever I hear his poor stomach gurgle so loudly from the other room, change his diarrhea diapers or hear him grunt to fart I feel like it's my fault! It's my breast milk that did this. 

I'm so nervous.  I've never been able to diet in my life.  Not that I've ever really had to, but I've definitely tried giving up sugar or other things only to last a day or two!

The fact that I've made it four days is a friggin' miracle!

It sure motivates you when you're doing it for someone else's behalf.  But it wouldn't hurt if you're looking for someone to pray for, to pray that I'll keep up this motivation.

I've gotten the question, why not just stop breastfeeding?  Well, I figure we need to find out what he is allergic to and this is probably the best way.  And, since the number one culprit is dairy, it would be really expensive to get non-dairy formula.  The main reason (other than it being good for him) was to save money by breastfeeding.  That would kind of kill it.  And I just got it down.  We worked sooo hard!

Unfortunately, I feel like I'm starving!  I know that there are recipes out there.  But, they all take time.  And what first time mom has a bunch of time to cook up meals? 

I can eek out a dinner, but all of my quick, go-to snacks are a no-no.  It's hard to only snack on fruit, which doesn't fill you up.  And lunch is do-able.  But what do you have for breakfast?  I'll give someone a million dollars if they can give me some ideas. 

While this could be a great diet thing (although I've already lost all of the pregnancy weight and already feel like I've lost my butt--big bum-mer!) I worry about my milk supply and having enough calories for him!  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Notice the word 'worry' all over the place?  I'm turning into a basket case/paranoid first time mom!  I always said I'd be cool/chill/calm and collective.  What a joke!

And, I was on WIC and almost all of the WIC foods are foods I have to avoid :(  So much for saving money that way.  I've even called them and they weren't helpful.

So--here's to hoping that these two weeks do a few things:

1. First and foremost--show us some improvement.  I don't want to be killing myself for nothing.  So far, he did sleep better the first night, but since then he seems like he's actually gotten worse?  Does it just take awhile to leave your systems?

2.  Go by quickly!

Of course, it will take more than 2 weeks, because she wants me to introduce one thing at a time after the 2 weeks are up for 3 days each.  She gave me the order in which to do it, and eggs and dairy are the top two.  :(

Claudy made himself french toast and scrambled eggs for lunch.  I almost drooled. 

Guess I'll go eat some hummus.

On the faint silver lining side.  I am grateful that I at least have access to a doctor to give me stuff to try.  I am grateful for access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  What I deem as "secondary/crappy diet food" some people would kill to have.  And, the doctor says he will most likely outgrow it.  I need to keep this in perspective.  But, when you're hungry and craving something it's hard to keep your senses!!  I just gotta keep this little guy in mind, and his frequent cries of pain definitely help keep me on track.  I want my happy baby back, so I can see more of these smiles: