Soy Intolerance?? Have you read the labels in your food lately?

So as I was mentioning yesterday... we think E is lactose intolerant. She was very gassy when we first gave her milk based formula, and when we tried a milk based formula again, she projectile vomited it all over the crib. It could have been perhaps a coincidence, but it scared me enough to throw the entire expensive can of formula in the trash! Some may ask, why, if I am nursing am I bothering with Formula at all? My mother wonders the same thing regularly, pointing out I am obsessing over something that is potentially completely unnecessary. Well, note potentially completely unnecessary. I will unfortunately have to return to work. And I just do not know what will happen then. How nursing will go, and if pumping at work will prove positive, or if the whole thing will become too much. At any rate, I want to feel like I have something to back me up if for some reason we have to change to formula when I return to work. So, as I began, we've tried to give her milk based formula with very bad success. So, we of course moved to the next type that is advised to parents. Soy.

Well since we primarily nurse, and I pump extensively, mentioned again in a previous post, we started only giving her 1 oz a day. Honestly, it started because I heard adding formula at night could help them sleep through the night. And about 3 weeks of age, I was desperate. Now, at 13 weeks, my motives have changed slightly. Any way, I digress. So we started with 1 oz. Didn't seem like a big deal and she seemed fine. We gave her 1 oz for a long time. And then we moved it to 2 oz. Since E is my first child, I have nothing to compare her to, and consequently, nothing to compare her digestion, poop, gas, etc to anything other than what I know. So it wasn't until we moved her to 3 oz and started seeing an increasingly unhappy baby that I started to look into things a little closer. Honestly, when she was about a month old, she was exhibiting signs of sleeping through the night. But the older she got. The less she did it. That didn't seem to make much sense. So again, I started to look into it. And what I finally stumbled upon was mucus. Mucus in baby poop is a sign of intolerance. And *gasp* there was mucus in E's poop. AHAH! A moment of clarity. I was fairly certain that it was the soy formula. So I stopped the formula immediately and started to see a change in her poop immediately. CHECK. Put a win in mommies column.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I think I mentioned over and over this week, being a mommy is much harder than I ever imagined. Well. It is. So only this afternoon did Grandma (my mother) and I begin a conversation about Soy. It went something like this:

Grandma: I've been thinking, you mentioned eating Chinese food last weekend. You know what's in Chinese Food?
Mommy: OMG, SOY!!!!
Grandma: Yes. And I've been doing some research you realize soy is in a lot of things that we don't realize. So if she's developed a heightened sensitivity to soy, where you are picking it up in other things could also be bothering her.
Mommy: *sigh*

We had already realized that the prenatals I was taking for lactation were soy based. So I had stopped them a couple weeks ago. Only slipping up once while sleep deprived and forgetting NOT to take them, and reversely. Took them. But otherwise had not been taking them.

At any rate, Soy intolerance. Have you read the labels of the food you eat lately?

I decided today after listening to Daddy grumble about not having anymore sandwich baggies at 6:30 AM this morning. That a trip to BJs might be required today. Since Grandma had come down to help with E, we decided to make a trip of it. Perhaps getting out of the house would be good for her. So off to BJs we went. Grandma, Mommy and E.

I was on a mission. Food I could eat. Nothing with dairy. No gas causing veggies. Nothing with Soy. Check, check, and check. Oh, and don't forget the diapers. So up and down the isles we went.

Gerber Baby Cereal, rice and oatmeal (planning ahead) - have to return it, it has soy in it!
Frozen Angus Meatballs - didn't buy it, it had soy in it
Graham Crackers (to meet my sweets craving) - didn't buy it, it had soy in it
Peanut Butter - Had to buy the super expensive all natural variety, because otherwise, there is soy in it! (that include Jiff and Skippy brands BTW)... And now I'll probably find out she's allergic to peanuts.
Bread - Didn't buy ANY... couldn't find a single loaf w/o soy
Chicken fingers (2 different brands) - didn't buy contained soy
Non butter spread - Didn't buy apparently your spread will either have milk OR soy, but you can NOT have NEITHER
Quaker Oats granola bars - Bought them for Daddy, but apparently Mommy can't eat them (soy and chocolate)
Cheese Itz - Again, bought for Daddy, but Mommy can't eat them (soy and cheese)
Tuna Fish - Had to dig around and find the 50% more expensive variety that was actually packed in REALLY ONLY WATER, had no soy. But, BTW, there are water packed varieties that still contain Soy.
Perdue Shortcut Chicken Strips - Didn't buy, YES, seriously, it has soy in it someplace.

I left disheartened. I had bought ingredients for peanut butter and jelly, but couldn't find bread. I had ruled out virtually all the food we liked to eat.

I had Cape Cod Potato Chips for lunch. In case anyone is wondering they do NOT have soy in them anywhere. I am avoiding the tuna fish my husband made because #1 tuna has soy in it, and #2, has anyone read the ingredients in mayonnaise lately?

Daddy came home from work and we proceeded to discuss what Mommy can and can not eat for a while. Don't worry. We found our pasta has no soy, Classico sauce has no soy, I can have all the ketchup and grey poupon I want. But we also found I can NOT have the kielbasa in our freezer, the soups in our cabinets. And oh, BTW, would you believe there is soy in our wild rice mix by Uncle Ben?

So anyway, I have found there is no soy in most alcoholic beverages (I say most because I haven't investigated them all) and there is no soy in steak, and eggs, with roasted potatoes and ketchup. Obviously. That's what we've managed to put together for dinner.

Hopefully after getting E back on keel we can try to re-introduce some of these products and see just how much soy she can tolerate and how much goes through when we nurse. But until then, it seems as thought Mommy is on a diet.

So to Mommies and Daddies everywhere read your labels! And as always: Who dropped the pacifier?