Graham's LAST (!) GI update

Last Tuesday I took Graham to see his doctor at Vanderbilt for a GI checkup.  As I expected, his stool was found to be totally normal and his weight is increasing at an acceptable rate.  His doctor was, of course, pleased with this, although neither of us expected anything different as I was continuing to avoid eating all dairy, soy, and red meat.  I was given the OK to resume eating red meat and soy and to gauge Graham's reaction closely.  The doctor told me that under no circumstances should I try any dairy until he was 12 months old.  I was disappointed with this as I was very curious to see what would happen.

What I didn't tell the doctor was that Josh and I were planning to go out of town for three days at the end of the week.  For the normal person, this wouldn't be newsworthy.  But for me, it meant that I would have no control over the food that I ate.  Short of driving myself crazy or not eating anything, there was no way I could make sure there was no dairy in the food I was served while in Boston.

So I simply decided to eat whatever I wanted and deal with it when I returned.  I didn't go crazy (although I did have some heavenly marscaporeos--and they were every bit as amazing as you would think!), but I definitely ate some dairy.  On the way home Sunday morning, my breakfast sandwich from the airport Dunkin Donuts mistakenly had melted cheese on it (I had ordered it without the cheese), and there was nothing I could do about it except not eat it (not an option for this hungry momma bear). And eat I did.  I even had a cheeseburger--which has never tasted SO good--for supper on  Sunday night (Ok, so maybe I did go a little overboard.  Go big or go home, right?).

I nursed Graham twice between arriving home and his bedtime.  I expected the night to be very rough as his body reacted to the milk protein that hadn't been in his system for months.  Imagine my surprise when he slept over 12 HOURS for the FIRST TIME EVER.  I knew we weren't out of the woods yet and continued to monitor him for obvious signs of reaction (bloody diarrhea, eczema, abnormal fussiness) and also for the not-so-obvious signs (disrupted sleeping pattern, refusal to nurse, increase in spit up, etc.).

It's been over 48 hours since I returned from Boston, and Graham is perfectly normal.  I think I can declare victory now!!!  I've continued to have one meal with dairy in it each day (usually this involves cheese because I have missed it SO much), and everything is perfect.  I can easily say that food has NEVER tasted so good and I have never been so excited to cook and eat--eight months without cheese will do that to a girl!

I am so thankful that Graham has outgrown this (these) allergies in a relatively short period of time.  Now we can return to a normal life!

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