The Dairy Nazi

After the frightful scare with the yogurt last week, I called Delaney's doctor to get his thoughts about what happened. The lady I spoke to at the doctor's office the day it happened was quite nice, but she was some nameless, faceless medical assistant and I didn't feel 100% comfortable with the answers she gave to my questions ("No, I wouldn't give her ANY meat either. You know, yogurt has protein, meat has protein. So..."). Uh, what?

We love--LOVE--Delaney's doctor. He's a straight-shootin', good ol' Texas boy (really, he's a man, as he's at or near R.'s age). I explained what happened and we had a nice, rather lengthy conversation where I asked several questions and he patiently gave me the answers I'd been waiting for. While the medical assistant hadn't mentioned changing my diet since I'm breastfeeding, the doctor suggested that I eliminate all milk and milk products for at least two weeks and then slowly begin to add them in again. At the time of the conversation, I thought, "Whew. OK. Not a big deal. No milk. No milk products. What a breeze." Well, not so much. As you may or may not know, milk is in EVERYTHING. Or, at least, it's in everything I eat and drink. Lattes, cereal, chocolate, cheese (Cheese! For the love of God, I am giving up CHEESE for two weeks.), ice cream, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, my chocolate calcium chews, yogurt, cream of mushroom soup, CAKE. Are you getting the pattern here? Yep. I tend to love FATTENING, ARTERY-CLOGGING foods. Cutting out dairy is actually a good idea for me, regardless of Delaney's milk issue.

So, I've become the Dairy Nazi ("No milk for you!"), checking the label of everything I'm about to consume. It hasn't been too bad, really, and I do need to cut back on all of the milk-ladden crap I usually eat anyway. But, the kicker? The real kicker? Thanksgiving is just three days away. And what is the best part of Thanksgiving by far? Mashed potatoes. Fluffy, creamy, milky, buttery mashed potatoes. I could exist on mashed potatoes and nothing else. I'm that Irish. When my Mom asked what I wanted her to make for my special birthday meal as a kid, I would always answer unequivocally, "Mashed potatoes!" She'd ask what else I'd like with them and I always said, "Nothing. Just mashed potatoes!" R. thinks I can cheat a little and have some on the holiday. I haven't decided if I will yet. I had lots of dairy in my diet before during and right after the yogurt incident, so I don't know if I really need to restrict my diet. But, I figured I could try restricting it for two weeks to see if it makes a difference. Delaney hasn't had any hives since the yogurt, so I think a little cheating may be in order...

Comments

[Stephanie G]

Ohhhh.... I feel your pain! When I was nursing Ava, I wasn't allowed milk products. But I cheated some, too. I'd eat the mashed potatoes. :-)

[MamaChristy]

I am not at all jealous of your predicament, but I'm sure that some mashed potatoes will be a-okay since she wasn't bothered before the "yogurt incident" with dairy in your milk. And doesn't someone telling you that you can't have something make you want it all the more? I couldn't have pineapple because the boy is alergic. I don't eat much pineapple, but as soon as I couldn't have it, it was all I wanted. Perhaps R can find a nice, creamy soy milk mashed potatoe recipe if you decide to be totally nazi about it!

[Monica]

You might to chat with Sierra (http://sierramalnove.typepad.com/motherhood) - she also had to go dairy free.