Dairy Free - the Way to Be?

Dairy and I have always seemed to butt heads.  From what I understand, when I was an infant I screamed a lot.  And it turned out to be dairy's fault.  Once on soy, I hear I was a wonderful baby ; )  Even as an adult, I've had my fair share of issues with certain dairy products, especially sour cream, and find that the only dairy I'm truly at peace with is yogurt...probably because of the active cultures and all that.  I experimented with lactose tablets and whatnot, but it didn't seem to help me tolerate lactose.  I finally concluded I must have some mild dairy allergy.  Who knows.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when my 5.5 month old, who is breastfed but has been given formula a few times in her life, breaks out in hives all. over. her. body after 2 ounces of Similac.  Thankfully, Erik was watching her and took her in to the doctor.  Strangely enough, the hives pretty much resolved on their own, but we of course still gave her the OTC allergy med to clear it all up.  2 weeks later, we gave her a skin test at home per the dr's recommendation using 2% out of the fridge.  Sure enough, a little red patch appeared, began to spread, and little hives popped up.  Aside from some ongoing congestion from the virus du jour, she has no other complaints.  Just the rash.

So...I get to drop dairy from my diet to help Miss Audrey make it through her breastfeeding year (God-willing).  We'll have some blood drawn and see an allergist to see what her antibody levels are for cow milk protein and see if soy makes the list.  It would be nice to know we have a back up in soy formula/milk if we ever had to go there.  Just hate to draw blood from poor baby girl.  After a cold and now RSV, she certainly needs a break from being poked and prodded and given treatments she's not too fond of.

Since I'm finding that dairy finds its way into just about every processed food, it seems I may not just be going dairy free, but also a bit in the "real food"/"whole food" direction as well.  At least it will be easier to know if dairy's in my food or not if either God made it or I did.  We'll see how serious this gets...

Sure wish he'd taken a picture of those hives!