Farewell, Bovine Delights
So most of you know, from past postings or real life encounters, of Lonnie's dairy allergy. It came on about 7 years ago, and it took him awhile to pinpoint what was making him so sick. Once he eliminated all sources of dairy, all was well. Since then we've become quit adept at dairy free cooking. I, of course, still have my dairy stash in the fridge, but he rarely misses it.
Two weeks ago, he started feeling really sick again. At first he thought it was bad oysters. Ha. But after it continued for awhile, getting worse after meals, he started to get suspicious. It all seemed very familiar. He decided to cut out soy, wheat, and nuts in a quazi-elimination diet. Things improved. He felt fine! We lamented the challenge of possibly having to cut out such prevalent ingredients, especially since dairy is already out of the picture. It was hard to shop and think up meal alternatives.
This week, he decided to give wheat a reintroduction with some flour tortillas. Halfway through the meal, he started feeling sick again. Boo!
But then, ah ha! He wondered if it might be the ground beef? We quickly realized we had not had beef in the past week, either. The day of the oysters also consisted of flank steak. Later in the week, hamburgers. I think there were sloppy joe's in there somewhere, too.
It makes sense, given the dairy allergy. Dr. Google doesn't have a lot to say on the subject, other than some studies about allergies in children. One found 20% of children with a dairy or beef allergy were also allergic to the other. Interesting....
Lonnie has since reintroduced soy, wheat and nuts with no problems. Its definitely the cow, then. Goodbye, steaks, pot roast, and juicy old fashioned hamburgers. But we are actually quite relieved that its beef! Many of our favorite recipes can be made using ground chicken, turkey, pork or lamb. Maybe this will finally get us to eat more fish! Hello, omegas, goodbye, clogged arteries.
So, in an effort to see if there is anybody out there actually still reading this blog, I am calling for comments, please! What are your favorite non-beef dinners? Or what traditionally beefy dishes do you successfully recreate with alternative meats or products? Lamburgers? Turkey meatballs? Vegetarian cuisine? Inspire us!
A Summery of Recent Events
So, Elsie & Delia are 10 weeks old, and I can't believe how the time has flown. Though it has been a crazy blur of weeks, things have really gone better than I envisioned!
The first few weeks were rough, admittedly, mostly because of the breastfeeding issues, both of them losing more than a pound. It was all very familiar, though, so it wasn't quite as upsetting or emotional as it was with Emma. The actual physical pain from nursing went away really fast this time (it hung around for 3 months last time!), and figuring out latch stuff, tandem nursing, and supplementing was HARD, but easier than if I had been breastfeeding for the first time. While they still nurse really frequently -- every hour or two, except at night -- we are now in a good routine with supplementing and they are gaining weight well, at about an ounce a day. Both are right around 9 pounds! Which seems little when I think of Emma's birth wieght (9lbs3oz) but its a good 3+ pounds more than where they were at their smallest.
I have been noticing this week that Delia hasn't been gaining well, due to her sleeping through feedings (which her sister takes advantage of). You snooze, you lose around here...
In terms of sleep, well there's the good and the bad. The good is that Elsie & Delia both seem to need/want MUCH more sleep than Emma ever did. Woohoo! Sometimes it seems like they would sleep all day if they could. And, they seem, at night anyway, to cycle in sync which allows us all to get longer stretches of sleep. Right now, they often have one longer stretch of 4 hours, and then another 2 or 3, broken up, before morning. I am feeling pretty well rested, because of this.
The downside is that they are still very dependent on me for sleep. They don't take pacifiers (I've tried!) and like to nurse to sleep, and don't transfer well, so they mostly nap on me. Hence, I have a lot of time in the armchair, looking at my Internets, but not good for actually getting stuff done and tending to Emma. Night is the same way -- they sleep draped on me, pressed on either side of me, wedged in with pillows. Some would say a smothering nightmare, ha, though I feel it is totally safe since I can feel if they move, and know their faces are always towards me anyway. Believe it or not, we all sleep really well this way, but I do want to get them sleeping in their own spaces (still probably in our bed for easy nursing though) soonish.
This past week, my first solo week with all three has gone pretty well! There are stressful (really stressful!) times, ususally midday, when I am trying to juggle fixing Emma's and my lunches, getting her down for a nap, and two whiny screaming babies who are wanting to nurse/nap too. I just have to let them cry, and thats HARD! And then they get so hysterical they don't settle when I am able to tend to them. Up until yesterday my only trick for soothing/calming both at once was nursing, but I just got my new Beco Butterfly carrier, which allows me to put one very easily on my back. Last night I was able to put one in there on my back, one in the ring sling on my front, and bounce them both to sleep on the exercise ball! While also watching the Olympics!
This week has also led to having the babies put down more often, and they seem to be getting more used to that, too. Sometimes they can sit in the bouncer, the swing, in their play gym, or under their mobile for decent stretches (of course, not always at the same time...). Lying on the changing table is also a favorite chill zone. My next step is getting them to take naps in these places, or in a different specific bed places. Thats going to be a challenge, but if I can get them to do it, it will revolutionize my life. Ha. However, since it didn't happen with Emma until much, much later, I am not counting on it. Cautiously optimistic, perhaps?
