Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Dairy Devil

You may remember, back when Emily was tiny, that we had a few...issues. And by issues I mean, she screamed, a lot. After much working and trialing and lots of phone calls with the ped, it was determined that she had some serious intolerances and reflux. None of this was surprising after my first foray into the world of a newborn. Apparently, stomachaches run in the family.

At Emily's last appointment we talked about her reflux medication and her dairy intolerance and which to tackle first. I took her off her reflux meds and she actually did really good. A couple months later (that would be about a month ago) I upped the ante on her dairy intake. To this point, she had faired really well with dairy as an ingredient. She could have cookies, crackers, etc., that contained dairy. Next, I started letting her have a little cheese. She didn't really like it, which should have been a sign. The only place she really loved to eat cheese was on a piece of pizza. And the girl loves her "piz". Things were going ok, so I started letting her have some regular yogurt. She was ecstatic because she could have the same thing as Drew. This is quite a big deal around here. Finally, I started mixing a couple of ounces of milk in with her soy milk.

This would be when the wheels fell off.

Let me just say that I have no medical/scientific proof for what I'm about to say. I'm getting ready to show my Appalachian American roots and get all mountain medicine woman on you. But, I think what happened is the milk proteins built up in her system and over time caused inflammation and belly aches. She started waking up a bunch at night. And she needed to be held all.the.time. We were gearing up to head to Knoxville for Weston's birthday and her diapers took a turn for the UH-OH.

And then she puked at Weston's party.

It's not a party until the smallest attender hurls all over her Poppy.

She had already eaten an entire piece of cheese pizza and proceeded to poach her Poppy's ice-cream. It wasn't his fault. I was right there cracking up at how much she loves ice-cream. Next thing you know I was trying to discreetly clean up puke without freaking out anyone at the party. I think that qualifies as a dairy trial FAIL.

It took at least three weeks to get her straightened out. I took her completely off dairy. This was not a fun time for her. She spent a lot of time wailing "CHEEZ CRACKA!!" It's always harder to give it up when you know the Cheez-It goodness! Now that she's been "straight" for a week or so, I've let her have a little contraband here and there and she's doing ok. That said, any overt forms of dairy are out of the question until after Christmas!!

You haven't lived until your 22 month old approaches you regularly and asks for a Tums.

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