On Milk Allergies and Trusting Your Mommy Gut

There are millions of new things to worry about when you bring a newborn home for the first time, especially when it’s your first child. You’re completely freaking clueless no matter how much you thought you prepared ahead of time. And I was no exception. I had read every book I could get my hands on, had followed all the “rules”. For nine months I didn’t have even a sip of wine, I avoided deli meat and hot dogs because of listeria, and I skipped peanut butter in the third trimester because it can trigger allergies in the unborn child (supposedly.) Yes, I was that mom, Ms. Paranoid, take everything the baby book says as gospel.

So when I brought my lovely, wrinkly newborn home, I thought I was armed with knowledge. Well, yeah, that didn’t go so well. For the first eight weeks, my baby was miserable. He wouldn’t sleep, he cried nonstop and after nursing, he seemed to be in pain, his little knees curling to his chest as he passed the most ferocious gas ever. Seriously, how could something so little be so loud? I brought him to the doctor, convinced he had something wrong and my pediatrician at the time told me, “probably colic.” Colic–code for, we don’t know what the hell is wrong with him and you’re being dramatic.

So off I went back home with my baby still miserable (and me out of my mind with exhaustion and worry.) I remember calling my mom one night when my husband was out of town and my son wouldn’t stop crying. I burst into hysterical tears along with him over the phone and freaked my poor mother out. She was on a plane the next day (even though she’d just left a week before) to come and help me. Bless mothers.

And of course, my mom, being my mom, was like–there is something wrong. I don’t care what the doctor says. This is not normal. Finally, someone who agreed with me. So off to the trusty internet I went to start researching and self-diagnosing (usually dangerous, but in this case helpful.) I found out about milk allergy and went back to my doctor to ask about it. During the visit, kidlet conveniently let one of his epic gas episodes rip and the doctor asked in shock, “Is it always like that?”

Hello! Yes, have you not been listening to me?

So long story short (well, not so short), but they tested kidlet and he had a milk AND a soy allergy. Not the anaphylactic shock kind, but an intestinal allergy which made his intestines bleed. Poor guy had been suffering any time I had the slightest bit of anything with milk/soy in it and he’d take it in through breast milk. I had to cut all milk and soy out of my diet–which is basically everything. Try finding a loaf of bread in a normal store that doesn’t have milk. It wasn’t fun, but I was determined.

Kidlet recovered and after he turned three, we were able to work some dairy and soy back into his diet. Doc declared him fully recovered, though I still had my doubts. He seemed to have problems after he drank straight up milk, so I pulled him off of it. I thought I was being paranoid, but then this week kidlet started summer day care and went from home-packed lunches to school lunches. Well, two days on milk and he’s had diarrhea for a week. *sigh* Apparently he hasn’t grown out of it. I don’t quite understand how he can now have cheese with no problem but milk or yogurt set him off. It may have developed into a lactose intolerance instead of an allergy. But anyhow, once again I’m checking labels and monitoring what he eats at school.

So, honestly, I’m not sure what my point is in this post, lol. But I know when I was looking for info on milk allergies as a new mom, it was helpful to hear stories from other moms since the doctor kept telling me “colic.” So maybe someone who needs to read this will find it. Also, it’s a lesson in trusting your parental instincts even if you’re new to the whole mommyhood thing. If I hadn’t kept pushing and researching, I would’ve continued unknowlingly torturing my child.

Have you ever had a time where trusting your mommy (or daddy) instincts got you the answer you needed? Anyone else had a child with “colic”?  Does your child suffer with food allergies or sensitivities?

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I’m Roni Loren, or as I’m called ‘round these parts, No Drama Mama. I’ve been married for ten years and have a four-year old son, who has recently been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. My days are spent writing very sexy romances (my PC way of saying erotic),avoiding all things housework, and hanging out with a kidlet who I suspect is vastly smarter than I am. I secretly dream of having a life that looks like the pages of Real Simple magazine, but would settle for Sorta Decent if could get there. My daily goal is to keep the drama on the pages of my books and out of my life–I’m successful at least twenty percent of the time. www.roniloren.com