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We made it back home from Georgia last Saturday morning. Trey and I (Trey, really) drove all night and pulled into Canton 8AM Saturday morning. Kate was a wonderful little passenger and only woke up when I woke her to feed her.

So what's been going on in our household since being home? Well let me tell ya! Kate was a bit fussy our last few days in Georgia. She also had green poop about once a day and seemed in pain when she'd pass gas. Nighttime was just rough, to be honest! I didn't think anything of the green poo because stool can be different colors for breastfed babies. Last Sunday, however, her little poop was green all day, and she also cried all day. She actually had diarrhea and started to get a little dehydrated. After a couple calls to our pediatrician (who is awesome for calling us back), she told us to bring Kate in the next day. Long story short, the symptoms seem to point to a food allergy, and dairy is the most likely culprit...which means mommy is cutting dairy out of her diet to cut dairy out of Kate's milk. I never thought I could live without dairy, but then Kate came along and I'm willing to take that chance. We are cutting all dairy AND soy for the next two weeks. Then I will reintroduce soy to see if she's also allergic to it (60% of babies allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy). We will wait two more weeks and then reintroduce dairy. If her symptoms reemerge we'll know she's allergic to dairy.

But here's the crazy thing. Soy is in EVERYTHING. I mean seriously. Dairy is in almost everything, but then soy really is in everything, especially processed foods. The crackers in your pantry, your peanut butter, salad dressing, cereal bars. I could keep going, but just believe me, it is. This news was devastating to me, but like I said earlier, Kate is worth the sacrifice. Eating without dairy and soy is like learning to cook again. But we are making it. I have had some wonderful friends share recipes and encouragement. I've found tons of websites. And I visited a health food store today and walked out with ice cream (made with coconut milk), chocolate bars (made with rice), cheese (I don't even know what it's made of but I'll take it), butter (made from almond or rice, I can't remember). Anyway, my point is there are lots of options and we are going to survive! Plus this will force us to eat healthier. Dining out...is out for now.

And the most important news of all: Kate is doing so much better! Her stool is still greenish, but it's getting better. The milk protein can stay in my system up to 3 weeks, so we're still phasing it out. But the fussiness has greatly improved to normal baby fussiness, and she is not crying from tummy pains. We don't hear her poor little tummy rumbling from being upset. It is all worth it for this improvement in my baby girl's health and well-being!