Dairy Free Life- Not by choice

When Ava was about 7 weeks old, we figured out she had a dairy intolerance (along with 8000 other issues you can read about here). So any dairy I ate, was affecting her through my breastmilk. So, I stopped eating dairy. At first, it was just the obvious stuff, milk, cream, butter, cheese. Yes, cheese. Bye bye pizza, lasagna, coffee creamer, and oh so many other wonderful things. Then I decided to cut out hidden dairy as well. Anything with an ingredient that was milk, out. So most packaged products. Good bye, oh, just about everything in the world that is yummy. (Ok, I exaggerate. A little.)

On the plus side, I dropped 5 pesky pounds in about 2 weeks. Um, hello! That was a good thing for sure. Also, I learned remembered how to eat better. I went back to whole foods, fruit for snacks, and very carefully reading labels. So, not such a bad thing.

Some things I have learned, that I was surprised about.

-You can make gravy with almond milk. So fried chicken still has a friend. And biscuits and gravy? Yes ma'am.
- Oreos don't have dairy.
- Coconut milk ice cream is alllllmost as good as the real deal. Especially the chocolate. Swoon.
- You can live without dairy. It kind of sucks at times, like today when I may or may not have drooled on Olivia's grilled cheese while I was cutting it up. But, it's worth it.

Ava's tummy troubles have pretty much ceased, and yes, I can tell when I have slipped up. She tells me allllll about it. I really thought that she wouldn't notice that fun size Twix I ate the other day....

I am thinking that around 6 months I may try a piece of cheese on a sandwich or something, and just see what happens. Most kids outgrow it within the first year. I really hope she does, for her sake. We will deal either way, but I hate for her to be restricted on what she can eat as she gets weaned.

Off to dream of pizza.... and remind myself that it is worth it to help her!