Mourning all things that "Moo"

What a week! My Elsicle has been a sick baby girl! She was having some stomach issues, mostly blood in her stool and having a hard time going potty. She was so fussy, so we took a trip to see Dr. Peabody. He told me that Elsie may have an allergy to dairy and that I needed to lay off all dairy products for awhile. My reaction "Well, what formula can I give her?". Sad huh? This momma did NOT want to give up her addiction love for cheese! He told me that I could give her Alimentum. So, we left the doctor and went to Kroger to pick up some formula. When we left the hospital in February, when Elsie was born, they said I was going to have to supplement with formula because my supply was low and she wouldn't latch. I did NOT want to do that, so I worked really hard to increase my supply, so she didn't have to have formula. Flash forward three months and here I am in the baby section of Kroger about to fork over $30 (!!!!!) for a SMALL container of formula. My self conscience was screaming, "You are so selfish!" while shaking her finger at me and tapping her toe. I shook the image out of my head and proceeded to checkout. I got home with the formula and started to fix Elsie a bottle. I open the formula and immediately the smell hits me like a dump truck! Yuck! Maybe she wont notice.... I made her a bottle. Half and half, that should be good. Sat down and gave it to her. Big. Mistake. She screamed every time the bottle came near her. It was the smell, I just knew it. I made her a new bottle of just breast milk. She drank it and was happy. I thought to myself, we will try again tomorrow... My self conscience popped in and said "Didn't you learn your lesson?"

That night I thought long and hard about my lifestyle. Was I really not willing to give up some foods for the health of my baby? I was being a tad selfish, but who wouldn't be?!? Being a mom is hard! Pumping 5 times a day so your child can drink breast milk is hard!! Why did I want to add one more thing to that list? I respect all mothers who switch to formula because it is a TOUGH decision, but you have to do what's right for you and your family. However, I felt what was best for my 'refuse to drink special formula' child was to continue breast feeding. I made up my mind... I was going MOO-less. My self conscience was smiling and nodding her head in approval!

Being dairy (and now soy) free is not easy! I have called on many moms for support and help! I will continue to blog about our journey. Next up, I intend to blog about a week of Dairy/Soy free meals at the Hoehn household!