A Mother's Love

 A Mother's love will do amazing things, and I am telling you, the fact that I didn't eat ice cream, pizza, chocolate, or cake for seven LONG months, is amazing and a miracle in itself! For a person who ate ice cream every day of  their adult life, finding out that their nursing baby, ( who wouldn't take a bottle, or cup )  had the highest allergy possible to milk, eggs, nuts and sesame seeds was pretty devastating.

                                                          Actually here is the real truth;
As hard as changing my diet was, because of William's allergies , ( he was one-year when we found out ) deep down, I could care less that I couldn't eat those foods anymore, I really grieved for him missing out on all the fun foods, and then came the worry about how to get him all the nutrients that he needed. Once I took out all the things he was allergic to, out of my diet, his skin was the clearest it had ever been, and he was the happiest that he had ever been. Now when he gets even a little nibble of something cheese, his rash immediately appears and if he got enough, he starts scratching.

Nutritionist, feeding specialists, family and friends gave me a lot of advice about what to do with an allergic baby. I got some really good ideas and I tried them all, but Will still wouldn't eat hardly any table food, and drinking was even worse out of a bottle or cup.

As time went on, I believe that Will's fear of food got better. I am sure that the fact, that I did eat ice cream every day, really was making his life miserable, before we knew about the allergy. He eventually began eating some fruits, bread, and he even at a fish stick a couple days ago. He hasn't since, but Kevin has been diligently reading books on how to get our kids to eat, and the books say not to worry, just put all kinds of food in front of them, and don't say a word at all. No demands of eating veggies, or fruit , no threats to not get up from the table, etc. It seems to be working, because both kids are doing better.

I still had the problem that Will wouldn't drink anything, even when I didn't nurse for almost 24 hours. You would think the nutritionist would have mentioned this to me, but it wasn't her, but my friend Nadine who mentioned I should try coconut milk. Will started drinking a few ounces of it, and the relief came that I could finally wean him.

a few months went by of him drinking a few ounces of coconut milk, and I suddenly didn't want to wean him because I started seeing how much he was growing up, and the only time he would lay in my arms was to nurse. I was scared to let it go, because he is my last baby. I knew weaning him shouldn't be too bad, because he didn't seem to care about nursing, he is too busy to sit and lay.

I had pizza and ice cream for the first time in seven months when Kevin and I went on a date this week, so that we could celebrate our freedom returning. You should have seen my face in the gelato shop. I was all smiles. I tried five different flavors, and I was very happy to finally have my favorite food in the world again.

 Will did great with weaning. I thought he would, it was me that was scared he wouldn't cuddle anymore. I was terribly wrong about him! Even though I am not nursing, when it's bed time, after family prayer, Will still continues to lay in my arms. He isn't as calm, he grabs my nose, and chin laughing, but he is generally still and laying in my arms.

I think Will will grow out of his allergy, but if he doesn't , I am glad  that I can tell him,  that I know what it is like to eat a diet like him, and I did it for him for a long time,( in nursing terms) And I can tell him how, it's not that bad really. It is very healthy because you end up only eating fresh foods. I was happy to nurse that long, in order for Will to get the nutrients he needed, until he could find a drink that he liked.

Will's allergy actually helped me break bad habits about eating junk food. I didn't even finish this ice cream, and that is absolute craziness, for the old sweet lover Emily. I think the pain and discomfort of my body, that I am in,  is curbing my appetite also.