That time I gave up dairy and found a new baby.

So, I've been away for a while. I can give all sorts of excuses of where I've been, but the truth is I've had a screaming baby. It's been tough, I've been exhausted, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of my computer and write anything.

Cillian, starting his St. Pat's cheer early.

My sweet, sweet boy has been having tummy pains.  He would go from the happiest baby in the world, to screaming and withering in pain as soon as I would put him down to sleep.  If I managed to get him to fall asleep, he would wake up shortly afterwards screaming.  His belly was constantly rock hard, he started to fuss and pull as he nursed, and his poops became so explosive we could barely contain them. No one at our house got any sleep, everyone was irritable, and I felt so helpless.  I got used to being woken up every hour or so at night to Cillian screaming in pain, and we tried every trick in the book to try and get rid of his gas.  We burped him for extended periods of time after eating, I changed the way I was nursing, we used exercises to get him to pass the gas.  After an especially bad screaming session one Sunday afternoon (3 hours of screaming in gas pain) we called the after hours clinic at our doctor's office and asked if we could use gripe water, or if they had any other tips.  The only advice they could give us was to wait it out, he would eventually outgrow it, and to make sure we were getting support, because they know it's hard to live in a house where a baby screams.

The problem is that I didn't believe that Cillian was just suffering from colic.  His symptoms didn't seem to fit the bill, especially because he appeared to be screaming in pain.  I would do leg exercises to pump the gas out of him, and even after getting an insane amount of farts out of him, he would still scream in pain.

And then we found blood in his diaper.  It was Oscar Sunday, so we called the after hours on call doctor (Thank you Canada and OHIP) and he said the likely culprit for blood in his diaper was a dairy intolerance.  I was recommended to take all dairy out of my diet and see if his symptoms improved.

Within 48 hours he stopped screaming, his diaper rash went away, and his poops went back to normal. He started sleeping better, and just became an all around happier baby.  We went to see our family doctor, and then a pediatrician the week after we found the blood, and it was confirmed through the elimination diet that he has a diary intolerance that he will likely outgrow by twelve months.

So what does this mean for me? It means I have seriously cleaned up my diet.  You would be shocked to find out how many products contain dairy.  I have chosen to completely eliminate it in any form, so no milk, yogurt, butter or ice cream, but also all the hidden dairy that hides in processed foods too.  The first few days were hard because I didn't realize how much I was relying on cheese and milk to fill me up with fatty protein, so I was pretty starved.  I was so desperate to help Cillian with his gas pains, that I cut out the dairy without any research or proper stocking of my pantry.  Within a few days I found that my body started to feel different, better and slimmer without dairy in it.

So what happens now? The doctor recommended cutting dairy completely out of my system, and Cillian's diet,  until he is eight months old.  If the symptoms don't return, I can add it back into my diet.  They are hopeful he will be able to "stomach" dairy eventually.

The moral of the story? Two weeks into the dairy elimination diet I accidentally ate some cheese.  That night my belly bloated out and was rock hard.  The gas was awful, probably the kind of gas that poor little Cillian has been dealing with for the past few months.  The following day Cillian fussed all day, his poops became looser, and he had a lot of trouble going down for naps.  The proof was in the pudding.