Trial & Elimination

I get asked how I know what E3 (my baby), who I breastfeed, or I am intolerant/allergic to. It's trial & error and instinct. I usually have a feeling when E3 or I am not going to respond well to a food, and I try to really listen to those feelings, because I'm usually right. Just like I usually know if E3 is going to stay asleep when I lay her down.

When I was pregnant with E3, I became intolerant to  dairy. My body just couldn't handle it. I noticed that after I ate any dairy, I would have GI problems, so I stopped eating it. Then it seemed to be gluten, so I stopped eating it. Eliminating gluten took care of most of my problems, but there was still something not quite right, and I kept losing and regaining the same four pounds, which, during pregnancy, probably isn't a great idea. Finally, I noticed that when I ate things with corn in them, my stomach hurt, and I would have GI episodes. It took a couple weeks where I was working through denial, I LOVE corn tortilla chips, before I decided I really did need to stop eating corn. Problems solved!

After E3 was born, things were good for awhile, her poop was normal for a few weeks, then it started getting green and mucusy, which means an intolerance to something. When I ate something she couldn't handle, it would cause damage to her intestines, making the mucus that we would see in her diapers. I tried doing the Total Elimination Diet aka TED, where the mother eats only rice, potatoes, carrots, pears, and chicken/turkey. However, after a little while, the damage got worse, and we started to see blood along with the mucus. As soon as I saw the blood, I called MilkWorks to get in to see Dr. Leeper, an amazing pediatrician and Breastfeeding Consultant. She and I discussed E3 and her poo issues and what I'd been eating. Dr. Leeper knew I already had experience with MSPI (Milk & Soy Protein Intolerance) with my previous baby, as well as not being able to eat them myself.
However, she told me something new, that some studies were showing that in countries where lots of rice is eaten, there seems to be more blood in babies' stools. I had started eating a LOT more rice recently, because I was trying to get rid of the mucus, and cut out some other things to find the culprit. I stopped eating rice and the blood went away! I also hadn't been preparing it properly. Rice, and all grains, need to be soaked with a little vinegar and water for 12-24 hours before cooking.

E3's poos have never been the normal kind since she was a newborn, but I've done the best I can at eliminating what bothers her and she's a happy little baby. I did realize, after a particularly hard weekend, that if I had almonds, she wouldn't sleep, and would scream when she cried. Very sad :( I cut out all nuts and peanut butter, and she did a little better, but there was still something keeping her from sleeping well. Finally, I realized that it was caffeine, even decaf coffee or tea - there's still too much caffeine in it. There's about 30mg of caffeine in 8 oz of regular coffee and 2mg of caffeine in decaf black tea, but even that 2mg is too much for E3. So I drink herbal (naturally caffeine free) teas now, if I want a hot drink. My favorite is Peppermint!

I think she's having issues with processed corn, like dextrose (corn sugar). So I'm going to make sure to avoid that. I had been, but recently just had a little bit in some turkey sausages. While delicious, it's not worth her tummy hurting and not sleeping to have a little sausage or coffee or even chocolate, and I LOOOVE chocolate!

Next up to trial - Carob!