GAS oh my!

When I brought Caden home from the hospital he was perfect!!! Of course he had his days and nights mixed up, most babies do. My first few nights i didn't sleep at all. I would feed and burp and he would cry 20 minutes later. My husband would insist I feed him again. I now know it was gas the whole time and it lasted for months. I am allergic to milk or I was when I was a kid. So I don't drink milk and try not to eat cheese. It turns out i ate a lot more dairy than I originally thought. So at 12 weeks I cut out all dairy.... everything! Not easy to do at first but with the help of some dairy free websites I did it. I talked to a different pediatrician who supported my decision and seemed very breastfeeding friendly. He told me to stick with it it could take as long at 6-8 weeks to clear my system. It took 20 days. I'm at almost 50 now. I can't believe it. It worked! That and eliminating bell peppers. With those two eliminations I can have anything else. He did still get gas but not at the magnitude he did before I cut out dairy.

 So maybe you wondering how I dealt with gas for 14+ weeks? I burped extra, I did gas drops at every feeding. I gave gripe water. (side note) Gas drops- help to pass gas. Gripe water is for soothing tummy pain from gas. Nothing gets rid of it. Nothing I found and I looked hi and low and went to doctors. The best thing was tummy massage. I found this video . I used it as much as baby would let me.

Truth is nothing really worked. He woke in pain constantly. He cried I cried. I reached out to anyone and everyone. I called a lactation consultant that recommended just cutting out obvious dairy. I couldn't take the gas or any chances so I stripped my diet completely!! I take supplements for calcium. No dairy is such a small price to pay to have your baby pain free. :)

So what do I eat?
Butter- Earth Balance non dairy LIFE SAVER!!!!
Frozen meals- Amy's has a few non dairy. They have a cheese less pizza that is good and a cheeze pizza that is ok. Stir fry has been my favorite lately.
Bread- unfortunately most commercial breads have dairy but 98% of bakery doesn't.
I got a lot of ideas from milkfreepantry.com. They have lists of things without dairy.
If your going through this as a nursing mom it does get better. It's not necessary to eat only brown rice and chicken. Dairy is the first thing I would try. It does take time. Reach out to friends who have been through this it helps. Good luck.

Breast Feeding Woes

  First things first. I knew long before I had Caden I wanted to breast feed. I was breast fed my husband was breast fed and my dad swears that's why he is so messed up, cause he wasn't breast fed. So I had a ton of support. I read books and blogs and thought it would be so easy. June 15th our little boy Caden arrived. I had a wonderful delivery. Caden was given to me and I immediately started to nurse. It took some time well, a lot of time actually. I wouldn't call him a natural. I continued to try and get him latched and, he continued to fall off. Super frusterating! Later I was moved to a regular room. I was still groggy from pain meds and hooked to IV meds. I tried again to nurse with the same results. Later, after Caden spent some time in the nursery he was brought back to our room to eat. I asked the nurse if they had a lactation consultant on staff. She told me she was a lactation consultant. So I asked her to help with getting a good latch. She had me squish my nipple to the shape of his mouth. Finally!!! We had a good latch he had my whole nipple in his mouth.  A day later and many feedings later it was time to go home. My nipples were killing me!!!! So I asked a nurse to come in and watch me nurse. I also had them check to see if my nipples were blistered. They weren't. So, home we went. The first few days were beyond rough. They were a nightmare! I didn't sleep neither did Caden. I thought my nipples were gonna fall off. The days turned into weeks and I threatened every day to quit. I told my husband if this doesn't get better in four weeks he's getting formula. To which he replied "What happens in 4 weeks?" I told him that's as long as I could see myself giving it as a fair try. The good husband he is he got on the phone and called the hospital we delivered at to find a lactation consultant. You wouldn't believe it but, they don't have one!!! (they were trained in breastfeeding. That is NOT the same thing) I couldn't believe it. So he called the next town over and they had one on staff. I made an appointment as soon as she could see me. Caden was exactly 6 weeks old. The nurse was amazing! It was his latch and, she helped me to correct it. She also gave plain black tea bags to get wet and wear in my bra for a few minutes everyday for 7 days to heal the damaged tissue. I also got gel soothies to wear from feeding to feeding. In a weeks time my nipples were better and I couldn't be happier that I stuck with it. Caden is happy and thriving at 14 weeks and i feel a sense of accomplishment being able to nurse. I will say this in the defense of all the mommys who gave breastfeeding a chance. There is no shame in formula feeding. Breast feeding is hard and it is a one person job. It is time consuming and it doesn't always come easy. You have to do what is best for you and your family.  So if your breastfeeding and you encounter a problem get help early. Contact your area Le Leache League leader  or a lactation consultant. Most problems can be fixed and you can continue breastfeeding. It gets easier everyday.... it does for me. :)