breastfeeding journey – Simply Stoops

As if my breastfeeding journey wasn’t already hard enough, I decided to see if giving up dairy would have any benefits for baby Viv. Starting between 2-3 weeks old, her tummy seemed to be constantly grumbly. She seemed to be in pain for a great deal of each day, grunting, and straining to pass gas, or poop. She would be okay in the morning, but as the day went on, she was more and more uncomfortable. It was so hard to see my sweet baby in pain, and I just wanted her to feel better.

She cried often, especially in the evening – sometimes for hours. I was so exhausted and just wanted her to sleep, but also couldn’t help but to feel guilty because I knew it wasn’t her fault that she was uncomfortable. So, I set out to be dairy free by first eliminating the obvious dairy – milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. I have been somewhat lactose intolerant for a number of years now, so I would always take Lactaid pills if I wanted to eat dairy and would be just fine. What I didn’t realize was that butter was dairy too! This was something that I had never noticed to bother me before, but I was on a mission to be completely dairy free for Vivian. This meant reading every label on anything before eating, and it was then that I realized dairy is in almost everything!

Luckily, being a major allergen, it needs to be clearly labeled on any packaging, but it seemed to be in just about everything, unfortunately. We had so many delicious snacks in our pantry that I could no longer enjoy. Cheese is basically Mike’s favorite food, so it was hard to find things to make for dinner that we could both enjoy.

Cutting dairy wasn’t an immediate fix for Baby Viv. It can take up to three weeks for the dairy to leave mom’s system, but then takes an additional three to four weeks to get out of baby’s system, so this was an almost two month process to tell if things were getting better. That in itself was pretty disheartening, but I knew just how important it was for me to take this seriously and give things a fair shot. On the bright side, we were not seeing any blood in Vivian’s stool – a sign of an allergy, versus an intolerance, and she also wasn’t having any rashes or any other allergic reactions. I also tried to remind myself that things could always be worse. Many moms have to cut both dairy and soy, or even more allergens, which seems nearly impossible!

Finally after almost two months, Vivian seemed to be starting to feel better. I wasn’t noticing as much grunting, and she was becoming a much happier baby. She didn’t cry nearly as often, and was able to use the restroom without issues. This was such a relief that all of my hard efforts, and missed treats had been worth it. It sure is hard to watch your husband eat an ooey, gooey, cheese pizza in front of you. It’s safe to say I will have quite the list of dairy filled goodness that I need to eat once we are finished breastfeeding.

The dairy sensitivity in babies seems to be fairly common. I found a great group on Facebook that I follow that has lots of great advice, and dairy free options that people love. I always do a quick search on there if I am wondering if a product is dairy free, or if we are wanting to grab a quick dinner out. I will admit that dining out is a bit scary now because it is incredibly hard to trust that staff will take the dairy free requests seriously. I always check allergen menus online, but it’s hard to know how closely safety precautions are followed. I guess it’s a good thing that I am more inclined to eat at home now, though the convenience of eating out, especially on a day where I just don’t feel like cooking, can’t be beat.

With food allergies seeming more common these days, as well as specialty diets, there is a much wider offering of dairy free products now available. While I will admit that many of these alternatives are not so great, it is very refreshing to see that so many companies are trying to cater to those with allergies. Some of the dairy free products that I’ve tried are an absolute hit!

A few of our favorite dinners:

Maple-Pecan Salmon – this is an amazing recipe from Kate at Naptime Kitchen. It is so incredibly easy to make, with very little prep work, and is absolutely delicious! I also love to follow her on instagram – she is a hoot! I love to make this with rice pilaf and asparagus, but is very versatile and would go with just about any side dishes that you could think of!

Teriyaki Salmon – this has been another go-to recipe lately, once Mike decided he needed a break from the maple pecan salmon. This also requires little prep work, and is easy to throw into the oven. We’ve been loving this with rice and steamed veggies, but I also recently found a stir fry kit at the grocery store with noodles and veggies that is so delicious! Can you tell I am a huge salmon fan?

Brisket – this recipe is for brisket sandwiches, which Mike usually goes for. I prefer just eating the brisket on its own, and will usually make mashed potatoes with it, and have some sort of salad. It is so juicy and tender, and turns out sweet yet sassy. I learned the hard way not to put it in the crock pot on high. Definitely get it in there early so you can cook it on low all day. I actually cut a large brisket into smaller pieces and froze so we could just pull out a helping perfect for the two of us when we wanted it. If you can thaw it in the fridge overnight, six hours on low made it perfect. The day I tried it on high because I was worried about time, the sugar in the rub ended up burning onto the crock and it took days of soaking and scrubbing to get it off. 😂 That batch also didn’t taste so good.

Sheet Pan Pork Chops – this was a newer find that turned out to be delicious! I made a few tweaks to make it dairy free – omitted the parmesan cheese and substituted nutritional yeast, and also made sure to pick a ranch seasoning packet that was dairy free. Luckily, the Kroger brand does not contain dairy! I love that this was another recipe with minimal prep, and even better: minimal dishes! I love when you can just throw everything onto a pan and stick it in the oven. I always use tin foil on the sheet pan first to make clean up even easier. We don’t often eat pork, but this was nice to switch things up.

A few favorite treats: (because I deserve goodies too!!)

Non-Dairy Magnum Ice Cream Bars – I’ve tried the classic ones, as well as the almond ones and they are both AMAZING. Every time I eat them, I second guess if I am really eating a dairy free ice cream bar because they are so creamy and delicious.

Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Netflix and Chilled – okay Ben & Jerry’s has tons of delicious non-dairy flavors, but this is a new favorite! The description makes it sound very weird – peanut butter ice cream with sweet and salty pretzel swirls, and fudge brownies. I personally had never heard of peanut butter ice cream before and thought it sounded super odd. At first bite, I still felt like it was super odd. But once you are a few bites in, you just can’t stop eating it! I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for sweet and salty,

Oreos – no explanation needed. 😂 Who knew Oreos were Vegan?!

Poptarts – surprisingly, many flavors of poptarts are also dairy free! I am very aware that these probably have little to no nutritional value, but they are a great quick snack that bring me back to my childhood, so if I have them every now and then… no harm, right?

Duncan Hines Brownies – who doesn’t love a good brownie? I know that this is one of my very favorite desserts. When I found out that the Duncan Hines brand of boxed brownie mix was dairy free, I was so excited! This has been one of my go to desserts, because they are so easy to make at home, and something that both Mike and I can enjoy together.

Heavenly Hunks – the name says it all. These are the most delicious little cookie treats. I found them at Costco and bought two bags, but kind of wish I bought 17. After opening it says to keep them in the refrigerator, and it’s basically like eating oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough. So. Freaking. Delicious. Because they are oatmeal, I am telling myself they are helping my breastmilk supply. 😉

Annie’s Cinnamon Rolls – We had recently found a nearby bakery that makes the most delicious cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. They of course have no dairy free items in the bakery and understandably so. All of the buttery goodness involves dairy! To say I was missing cinnamon rolls was an understatement. These had become a staple to our special weekend breakfasts that we made from time to time. I luckily found that the Annie’s brand of cinnamon rolls are both organic and dairy free! And they are actually so delicious! I would never be able to tell these were dairy free – icing and all!

Vegan Chocolates – My mom sent me a box of chocolates for my birthday. When Mike checked the mail and told me that someone had sent a box of chocolates, I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to eat them. To my surprise, my mom had searched high and low for the perfect chocolatey gift! She found Rose City Chocolates, and these did not disappoint! They are the most delicious variety of assorted fancy chocolates. I have a feeling I will be ordering these time and time again. Good thing Valentine’s Day is coming up! I was already getting bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to find any heart boxes of chocolates that were dairy free, but I am already planning to order myself a box of these delicious chocolates!

I also recently joined Thrive market, an online grocery store. They seem to have many great allergen friendly options and even allow you to narrow your search to specific dietary restrictions. I just received my first box of some goodies that I wanted to try. Once I become a little bit more familiar with everything and have some favorites, I’ll do another post.

Dietary changes to ensure a healthy, happy baby are so worth it! If it’s just a few months, or a year out of my life, to be able to offer my baby breastmilk, I am more than willing to do it. 😊

Laugh Often – Rachel

My golly, if there is one thing that no one warns you about, it is the breastfeeding journey. I assumed that it would come naturally and be easy. Boy was I wrong. Breastfeeding has been by far the most challenging part of becoming a new mom, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Vivian seemed to latch okay in the hospital to start, but then I would try again later and she wouldn’t seem interested. Sometimes I could get her on for a bit, and other times, no luck. The nurses brought me a pump for the times that she didn’t seem to want to latch so that I could attempt to get some colostrum out. It looked like such a small amount, but they assured me that it was great! While I was pumping, she started to get fussy, so I tried latching her again and it worked! When the nurses came back, they also rubbed the expressed colostrum in her mouth and on her gums to make sure she was getting as much as possible. As I mentioned in a previous post, keeping her blood sugar up was super important at this early stage since she was so teeny tiny.

Once we got home, I continued to latch as often as possible to keep her happy. Not long after, the nipple pain set in. Having baby attached somewhat constantly was a new thing for my body and there was absolutely an adjustment period. It felt like Mike or my mom would bring Vivian to me, being time to eat again, and it felt like already?! It was so constant and I just couldn’t catch a break.

Was she eating so often because she wasn’t getting enough milk? The questions swirled through my mind, and I couldn’t help but constantly worry and think that I wasn’t enough for her. She also seemed to have the most outrageous tummy troubles, and I was certain that it was my fault and something that I was eating. Many resources that I found online stated that breastmilk is made from your blood rather than your diet, but a dairy allergy was a possibility. I quickly cut dairy from my diet to see if any improvements would be seen, but this was a long journey of its own and I will do another post on this portion.

Both nipples began cracking, and one got quite raw. It was so hard to allow them to heal because there was simply no time to rest. Luckily after a few days, one side seemed to have figured it out and was back to normal. The other side was quite the opposite and was completely raw. I started trying any home remedies that I could find – the organic nipple butters, coconut oil, saline soak, breastmilk, air drying, etc. You name it, I probably tried it. A mama Facebook group that I followed recommended asking the OB for a prescription for ‘All purpose nipple ointment’ (APNO) so I quickly made an appointment and was able to get in the same day. This was supposed to be magical and a quick fix. Again – this unfortunately was not the case for me and I couldn’t find any relief, it kept getting worse and worse.

I tried to rest the one side, feeding off the other side and bottle feeding in between for a couple of days, but pumping around the clock was exhausting, time consuming, and mentally draining, so I gave up after only a couple of days, and pressed on to keep Vivian fed.

To no surprise, my nipple was only getting worse. I tried making another appointment with the OB because I was so terrified that I was going to end up with an infection. At this point, my nipple was completely cracked open and totally raw. It luckily wasn’t bleeding, but was bright red. The OB recommended seeing the lactation consultants instead as they were the breastfeeding experts.

I packed up and brought Vivian in and held back tears as I explained my situation to the lactation consultant. I was so worried that I had let it get to the point of no return and would be told that there was no hope. The lactation consultant was so reassuring and said there was no need to end our breastfeeding journey unless that was what I wanted to do.

Vivian had been gaining weight well, so she was obviously eating just fine. The lactation consultant checked her latch and said that it looked great. Our guess was that there simply wasn’t time to allow the nipple to heal between feedings, which was why it hadn’t been getting any better. She said I could continue to feed on it if pumping was too hard, but to let it rest when I could. She also recommended purchasing some nipple shells from Amazon so the nipple could air dry after feeding. She said this wasn’t something she had seen before and would discuss with some of her colleagues for any additional advice. I left with a bit of relief, but still some concern for how it was going to heal.

The next day, another lactation consultant called me back, and recommended making an appointment with a wound care center since it seemed like an open wound. This was incredibly disheartening because I was so sure that they would be the ones to now encourage ending the breastfeeding journey. All of the hope I had regained was now lost.

I found a local wound care center and called to make an appointment. They had nothing available for a week, so my anxiety rose as I awaited this appointment that I was so nervous for. I was now determined to let this nipple rest until my appointment to see if it would get any better. I pumped the left side exclusively and we bottle fed Vivian during those feedings. The times that Mike was available to help made it a little bit more convenient, but the times he was working would make it feel like a juggling session to pump and get her fed without a fuss.

I decided I would try allowing Viv to feed off the damaged side about 36 hours before my appointment to see how it went. That way I would still have time to cancel the appointment if I needed to. At this time, my nipple seemed to be quite a bit better – it no longer looked completely opened, but was still the slightest bit raw and red after the feeding. I decided to call and push my appointment back one week in hopes of completely solving the issue on my own.

I continued the cycle of feeding on the opposite side and pumping for another tiring week, and to my very happy surprise by this next 36 hour mark, my nipple was back to a new normal and was no longer raw. I was overjoyed and cancelled my appointment. I was so glad that I could carry on breastfeeding in a much more comfortable way.

Throughout this journey of just a few short (or long) months, I have already learned so much. Most importantly, is to give yourself a little grace, because as a new mom, there are so many new experiences and not everything will go as planned. It is so easy to hope to breastfeed your little one, and it is so important to know that not everything will come easily. I have absolutely nothing against formula feeding my baby, but the thought of how expensive that was going to be when I was already out of a job seemed daunting.

There were so many days when I just wanted to throw the towel in from pure exhaustion, but I am so glad that I pushed through. The best thing that I did was set mini goals for my breastfeeding journey so that it didn’t seem like one never-ending adventure. Ideally, I would love to make it a full year of breastfeeding, but when each day was so questionable, this seemed unachievable. I first wanted to make it to six weeks, then two months, three months, etc. Now, here we are at almost five months and still going strong.

I’m sure more challenges will come my way over these next few months, but I feel much more confident in taking these on, and coming out stronger on the other side now. For now, it’s a wonderful bonding experience for the two of us, filled with snuggles, and now her active self loves to play with my face while she eats or snap my bra strap on me. 😖😂

Mamas supporting other mamas through the wild ride of breastfeeding is so important, and I am lucky to have so many great ladies in my life that I could talk to about this. Most importantly, remember that a fed baby is the best, so if breastfeeding doesn’t work out, that is perfectly fine too!

Laugh Often – Rachel

Tag: breastfeeding journey

Going dairy free for my baby

My breastfeeding journey

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