On Eating Dairy Again

So remember that time I went two months without dairy? I DO.

About three weeks ago I gave the good ole dairy a try again to see how Little Bug would react {I had been off of dairy for about two months due to a possible cow's milk protein allergy that Little Bug had}. I started off with a yummy piece of cake that was topped with some yummy whipped icing and oh boy it was like heaven on a plate.

Twenty four hours later: no reaction. Her stools were awesome in fact. Wahoo. Yippee. Yay.

A couple of days later I ate some muffelata pizza that I had cooked with cheese and butter on it to see again what would happen. It tasted so good! I think pizza was one of those things that I missed the most. And then finally came that first sip of milk -- the long awaited first sip of that drink that was always my favorite -- and...

"Seriously, this is it? This is what I have been missing and thinking I couldn't live without." That's exactly what I thought.

I used to drink milk like water and crave it frequently, so I couldn't believe that it didn't match my expectations. I will say that it was delicious with my Oreo's but truthfully it's almost as if I only need it with my Oreos now. Aside from my odd adversity towards milk, I've realized that being dairy free actually makes you feel lighter and healthier. Now that I've resumed eating dairy (I'm not going crazy with it though) I have realized that dairy is what makes you feel so FULL and heavy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I see why some people go dairy free and stay that way; you feel healthier.

On the upside of things, Little Bug seems to be handling it well which seems to go back to two theories: a milk imbalance that I had or a nut allergy. Looking back at the times I ate nuts while dairy free I've realized that she was always fussy after and had bad stools a few hours after. Not to mention that the week all of this happened with many doctor visits, I had eaten five boxes of chocolate covered almonds (can you say fatty?). So duh -- that's probably why her diapers were SO bad then. So my opinion now is that it is a nut allergy but I'm not testing it any time soon.

I have my moments where when she is fussy I wonder if it's my dairy. I have my moments when I wonder why she's spitting up so much on some days and if it's dairy. Who really knows. She seems to be healthy and happy, so I think things are good. I hope things are good because I will say that being back on dairy gives me more options of meals to cook, more places I can eat out at and of course...it allows milk with my cookies.

So in a ~~long~~ nutshell, that is where we are with our breastfeeding journey. Just maneuvering along through a world filled with dairy, processing equipment full of nuts and a baby that can't say "mommy my belly hurts stop drinking milk please."

But I still wouldn't change it for anything.