What Can You Do, Really?

Remember how I briefly mentioned going dairy free for a little experiment to see if that what all the hullabaloo in G's gut was about?

Well, it's been about two weeks, and even though things were a little crazy at first, it's better now. It's not easy, and I may or may not have had a startlingly realistic daydream about biting into a brick of cojack the other day while I was nursing Genevieve (I could actually taste it!), but I'm chugging along nicely.

At first, overwhelmed by my googling "dairy free diet" that led me to everyone basically saying, "Shit, good luck. Turns out it's in everything." (I'm paraphrasing, of course), I made a huge pot of veggie soup, got lots of fixings for (cheese-free, dressing-free) salads, and cried for a few days. After a lot of research and calling manufacturers about ingredients on the "suspect" list ("Pardon me, but is the potassium lactate in your product derived from milk or salt?" -- SERIOUSLY. IT'S IN EVERYTHING.), saying good-bye to everything processed and most wheat and sugar as well, I found a few more things I could eat, ate some dinners that weren't veggie soup, and was feeling a little better. I even went down two notches on my belt already (not like it matters when you have 100 more pounds to lose, but hey, belt notches!).

What we are aiming for is at least four weeks before we can really discover if dairy from my diet is affecting her. It could take two weeks to get out of my supply and then two more to get out of her system, and then once we're working with a clean slate, per se, we'll see if she starts to get better or stays the same. This is slightly complicated by the new wrinkle that sent me dashing to the ER with her last week, but hopes are high that in four weeks we will either see drastic improvement or I can attempt a test -- eat a piece of cheese (glorious cheese!) and see how it affects her. 

It was all sounding just fine. Two weeks to go! I can do this!

Then, the other night, I had a major craving. I ate a large portion of said craving without reading the label, because apparently I got cocky or have learned nothing, or I don't know what, and then the next morning happened to flip the package over and OH LOOK, in all caps, bold font: CONTAINS MILK PRODUCTS.

Well, SHIT.

What did I do? I cried a little. Then I ate a Cadbury egg.

Four weeks, dairy-free, starting ... now.