I like food. A lot. I would go so far as to say that sometimes I like food more than I like my children. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. I am lucky to have a great metabolism so normally I could eat what I wanted when I wanted. Until I began to have children.
It all started with Tobin. When she was nine months old we discovered she was allergic to peanuts. So I stopped eating things with peanuts since she was nursing. At one year we found out she was also allergic to eggs. No more eggs for me. She self weaned at 14 months so it wasn't a big deal. When Alex was born I was on the lookout for allergy symptoms. He had eczema, but it seemed unrelated to what I ate. Whew! Then came Chloe. From birth she had eczema, rashes, congestion, fussiness, and green poop. (Yes, I am talking about poop in this post. You really can't have kids without conversations about poop.) I cut out dairy half heartedly and blamed her symptoms on anything else I could think of. Anything! When we had her allergy tested at a year old and she reacted to dairy and I wallowed in Mommy guilt for a while. Luckily she out grew her allergy around 18 months so I wasn't dairy free for long. Plus I found plenty of wonderful substitutions. I loved my milk, cheese, and ice cream, but it was ok because I had soy as a back-up!
Enter Evan. Within days of my milk coming in he started exhibiting classic dairy allergy symptoms. I wasn't too surprised and I was more than willing to cut out dairy and binge on Oreos and cans of chocolate frosting. (You read that right. I have a problem.) His symptoms got better, but not completely. His rashes would get worse, complete with oozing, to the point where I was concerned about infection. His diaper area was peeling, bright red, and painful. Something had to be done! I was poisoning my baby! So for two weeks I cut dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, nuts, corn, fish, and shellfish. I ate plain meats and plain veggies. (Except corn, of course.) That was hard. But he cleared up nicely.
I added everything back with sucess until I got to soy and dairy. So now I am dairy and soy free. It's pretty miserable and I am hungry much of the time. I didn't know how much food meant to me until I couldn't have it. The first couple of weeks I could barely get through a meal without tears while I watched the rest of the family eat my favorite foods. It seems silly, but it's true. Formula is not an option for us both from a health standpoint and a financial one. So I just feel sorry for myself, whine about it, and hope that the next 2 years or so pass quickly. Evan seems to be particularly sensitive. Even a sip of milk or a bite of something with soy causes him discomfort. It's really amazing how many foods, and even medications, contain soy or are prepared in oil containing soy. I remember thinking how awful it was to be just dairy free. I miss those days!
But it's worth it. How can you refuse this face?
