vegan - soy + meat

That would be my diet for the foreseeable future. If you've been keeping up with this blog ("previously on the spit-up factory...") you know that we pretty much confirmed that Elias seems to be sensitive to both eggs and soy. Turns out dairy doesn't seem to agree with his system either. And despite just a week ago concluding that if he reacted poorly to the reintroduction of dairy in my diet we'd likely make the switch to formula, I just can't seem to stop breastfeeding! We made brief attempts with the two main hypoallergenic formulas on the market, Nutramigen and Alimentum. He wouldn't drink the former but seemed to tolerate the latter. Which is good to know, if and when we decide to try again. But for now, I've decided that I'm sticking with the crazy diet in order to continue breastfeeding. Formula's stinky. And it doesn't seem to take his system too long to clear whatever offensive food I've consumed. So if I can stock the freezer full of a supply of allergy-free breastmilk between now and Thanksgiving, I might be able to enjoy all the fixin's and, as we say in Margaritaville, pump and dump.

Clearly, I'm feeling pretty positive about the situation right now, but I know I'll have my mopey days, when all I really want to do is bury my head in a big piece of cheesecake. That will be the carrot dangling in front of me. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy all the alternatives I've discovered over the past couple of months. For breakfast, for example, there's always oatmeal with coconut milk (even if dairy's not a problem for you, I recommend you give that a try...coconut milk is really the secret to maintaining this diet) and various meats for added protein and fat. I finally found a dairy, soy, and egg free bread so that makes lunch easier. I've been steering clear of peanut butter but hopefully that will be another sandwich option in the near future. Snacks include various chips, pretzels, kettle corn, and fresh fruit, of course. A couple of my favorite dinners lately include turkey burgers with avocado and sweet potato fries and these chicken kabob pita things that Neal makes with broiled veggies and hummus. He's even made coconut ice cream a couple of times, using the Enjoy Life allergy-free chocolate chips the first time and throwing in some crushed pineapple this past weekend. We thought the pineapple would create an alcohol-free ice cream version of a pina colada but I think the juice from the crushed pineapple did something strange to the ice cream. So I went to Whole Foods and splurged on some of the store-bought stuff until Neal can whip up another batch for me. See, it's not so bad, especially when your husband is also your personal chef. I'm just not ready to give up breastfeeding. But we'll see how long this all lasts. I think if I can hold out until we start introducing cereal and solids, in other words, when Elias is not getting 100% of his nourishment from his liquid diet, then I might feel better about making the switch at that point.


With that settled, for the time being at least, I can focus my energies elsewhere, like sleep. Elias is an awesome sleeper at night (subject to change, I'm sure, so I try not to get too used to any particular pattern he might seem to be developing). For the past three nights, he's slept through the night. And I'm not talking textbook definition of "through the night," i.e. a five hour stretch between midnight and dawn. I'm talking 9:30 to 5:30 or so. Granted, it takes us awhile to get him to bed still, but I don't think I've gotten this much sleep in one stretch since well before giving birth. I'm trying not to get used to it; typically as soon as I blog about something positive that Elias is up to, he quickly changes his ways. It's funny that this recent trend started on his three-month birthday, though. On the other hand, daytime naps continue to be a challenge (not today, obviously, since my blogging requires him to be sleeping). He pretty consistently goes down for a shorter nap (45 minutes or so) within about two hours of waking up in the morning, regardless of how his night went or when he woke up. And then the rest of the day is one big wild card. He falls asleep while nursing just about every feeding and will often stay asleep during his 20 to 30 minutes of upright time after. And I usually try to go on one "adventure" (usually running an errand and/or going for a walk) a day, during which he'll often sleep the entire time. So he's getting his rest, one way or another, but a consistent afternoon nap like the one he's working on right now sure would be nice.