This month has been long, very long. The stress never seems to end.
We went to see the allergy specialist at the beginning of the month and he thinks Thomas is allergic to cow’s milk. He said he was shocked and appalled that it has taken 7 and a half months for Thomas to be diagnosed and that I had been let down by my doctors and health advisors. It’s true. I do feel let down. When I first went to the GP with Thomas’ reflux he told me it was normal and he would grow out of it. The health advisors all knew about Thomas’ reflux and sleep problems, and yet they still advised me to pick up the pace feeding him solids and introducing new foods. I told them he couldn’t even handle baby rice, but they said to keep trying.
The longer you keep feeding a food that causes an allergic reaction to a baby, the less likely they are to grow out of it. Therefore it is better if they are diagnosed with an allergy ASAP. You cut out that food for a period of time and then introduce it back into their diet 6 months or a year later if it is not a severe allergy.
But I’ve been breastfeeding and eating dairy for the past 7.5 months. All along it was ME that was making Thomas roll around in pain. It was ME that was causing his sleeplessness. It was all my fault.
I knew in the back of my mind something was wrong. I suspected an allergy to milk, gluten, wheat, eggs or nuts. Something. It just goes to show, as a mother, if you have a gut feeling LISTEN TO IT!!
The doctor gave me hypo-allergenic formula milk if I wanted to stop breastfeeding and give Thomas formula instead. But I don’t want to give him formula. I’m not ready to let go to breastfeeding yet, and I don’t think Thomas is either.
So, the allergy specialist advised I cut out all food from my diet that I think Thomas has a reaction to. So far Thomas has been in pain/discomfort after eating:
Baby rice, Oats, Weetabix, Bread, Yoghurt/milk, Banana, Plums, Apples and he projectile vomited after eating a pancake (egg?).
In my diet, I eat a lot of peanut butter (on toast for breakfast), almond milk, dairy (mostly in the form of yoghurt and chocolate), wheat and gluten (mostly through wholemeal bread). I’ve cut out all dairy for the past 2 weeks now and I don’t see much of a difference in Thomas’ reflux, stomach cramps or or sleep 😦 I know it may take 2 weeks to leave my system, and another week or so to leave the baby’s system so I will keep going, but I can’t help thinking there is also something else at play here too.
I don’t have any allergies in my family, all of this is totally new to me.
Stressful isn’t the word.
I’m going to cut out nuts, dairy, wheat and gluten from now on until I see the specialist again at the end of March. I need a better understanding of allergy diets for a breastfeeding mum. Most of all my GPs and HVs should get up to date with allergy symptoms. I know it’s hard as the symptoms are similar to other things and most babies have them. But 7.5 months of utter bullsh**, pain and no sleep is a joke.
Right, better get cracking on finding recipes that CAN eat! There is a new craze on Instagram right now on healthy eating which is mostly vegan. Deliciously Ella is probably one of the most well known. Better start there then.
*she sighs
HEALTHY. HAPPY. FIT 