Milk protein sensitivity

In general Mila has been an easier baby then Hudson was.  Anybody who knew Hudson as an infant would probably describe him as an intense baby.  He would eat every 1-2 hours during the day and 2-3 hours at night.  During the day he would go hours without sleeping. When he did sleep, he liked to be held and he liked to be moving.  The baby bjorn quickly became my best friend with him :). But I can't complain as now he goes down for nap & bed without a fight.  He is content entertaining himself. He's a pretty good little toddler.

As for Mila, in the beginning I had to wake her every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night to feed.  Now she generally goes about every 2-3 hours during the day between feedings and wakes only once or twice at night.  Her biggest issue has been some intermittent fussiness and gas.  At about 3 weeks I cut out all dairy and soy from my diet and this seemed to help.  Then at about 5 weeks she started having these episodes where she would start to eat, then pull off screaming in pain. This gradually got worse, having more episodes each day, lasting up to an hour.  We thought it might be reflex related, so the pediatrician recommended I give her some Mylanta before every feeding.   This made it significantly worse.  Back to the internet I went where I started researching her symptoms of fussiness, bouts of pain, gas issues, and green mucousy stools.  One diagnosis was a milk protein sensitivity.  I took her in to the pediatrician and luckily she had an episode while I was there so he was able to see how much pain she was in.  He was pretty positive this was a milk protein sensitivity as well.

So what does this mean......  I had two options, switch her to a hypoallergenic formula which is about 8 times the cost of regular formula or I could cut out all milk protein from my diet and continue to nurse.  I decided to give that a try.

Do you realize how many foods contain milk products or milk protein.....

1.  The obvious cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
2.  Bread products
3.  Crackers and chips
4.  Some cereals
5.  Cereal bars, granola bars
6.  Store bought cookies, cakes, etc.
7.  Pasta sauces
8.  Some deli meats

There is really good list at http://www.thefussybabysite.com/coping/non-dairy-diet-and-breastfeeding/

To Trader Joe's I went to try and find non milk food products and non soy products as they can have sensitivities for both.  
So far my diet mainly consists of eggs, almond milk, special bread, fruits, vegetables, meat, panko breaded fish.  
I am hoping as I get more comfortable with this I can modify some of our favorite recipes to be milk protein free.  
I have figured out a way to continue to have my caribou drinks :)  Since MN is not yet on the almond milk bandwagon, I bring my own 
and order a large cold glass with espresso, half shot of caramel, and some ice then add the almond milk.  Delicious!

The pediatrician would like me to continue this until she is 12 months and then at that time we will see how she handles milk proteins.  
In the few short days I have been doing this I have already noticed a significant difference in her! 

 

Happy girl!

One month already!

I can't believe that baby girl is already a month old!  It is fun watching her change and grow.  She is awake more often during the day now and is constantly looking around at the world to see.  She loves to stare at her brother and most of the time when she is upset he is able to calm her with his voice :)

A little about baby girl.....

Sleep schedule:  She is waking up about 2-3 times during the night.  She usually sleeps anywhere from 4-6 hours that first bout which is perfect for me.  Some may think that is a lot but Hudson would wake up about every 2 hours so this has been great for Justin & I.

Daytime:  She usually has one or two bouts of being awake for a couple hours and then will nap for a good 2 to 3 hours at a time.

She loves the Moby Wrap!  If she is really fussy, I can put her in there and within 5 minutes she is asleep and will usually stay asleep for 2 hours.  It is great especially during Hudson's nap or dinnertime, leaving me hands free.

Eating:  We believe that she has a dairy sensitivity.  The first couple weeks she would have these bouts of crying from gas pains and nothing could calm her.  After much research on the internet and in comparing her symptoms, I cut dairy & soy from my diet and within a few days we saw a definite improvement.  It has been a definite adjustment trying to change my diet but we are getting by.  The hardest part has been cutting out my caribou drinks :(

This weekend will be our first road trip with her and then in two weeks her first flight.  Hopefully she is a little trooper :)

The Great MN Get Together!

Wednesday August 28th we decided to head out to the MN State Fair with the Sherman family.  It was supposed to be hot & humid so we got there about 8:30 and beat the heat with lots of water, fans, and spray bottles.  We started out with the MN Little Farm Hands before it go too busy

Successful working day on the farm :)

Due to Mila's dairy sensitivity, I was not able to try a lot of the foods I would have liked but we still ended up with some goodies :)  Hudson was all about trying the food.  He had an australian battered potato, snow cone, part of a corn dog, fresh fruit, and a kids chicken meal.

Staying cool with a snow cone (note the cow tattoo on his arm, I was shocked he wanted one)

Of course we had to end the day on Machinery Hill, checking out all of the "dirts" and tractors.

Love his little hands on his hips :)

Sister was a trooper.  We kept her cool with a little portable fan which was great!

Looking forward to next year and making my list of new foods to try :)

Beating the heat & humidity

Friday August 16th we headed over to the Northfield pool after nap to cool off :)  Hudson has gotten so much more comfortable in the water between swimming lessons and just going to the pool.  This time he made me a little nervous as he went out into the big pool until it was up to his chin and instead of being nervous about it, he was laughing!

Rachel, Brian, and Josie also came to join us for an evening of swimming.  Such a fun night!  Looking forward to taking both kids again next summer :)

Brotherly love!

Wow, I am a little behind on the blogging.  Guess that's what happens when you are busy with two kiddos :)

Here are some of my recent favorite pictures of Hudson & Mila.  He just loves his little sister :)

 Kisses <3

Love these two!