Got Milk?

I got a really good article today about the dangers of modern day cow's milk. It inspired me to write this blog.
When Noah was born, my plan was to breastfeed him exclusively, no questions about it. Prior to the birth, we had no idea Noah had heart and spine defects, so life literally went into shock mode after his delivery. No cuddling my baby boy and nursing him right after birth. I got to hold him for about 2 minutes and he was taken to the nursery because something just wasn't "right." So needless to say, my normal birth plan was replaced by the fear of just hoping he was going to be okay. I didn't have the choice to begin nursing him, he was taken to Vanderbilt Children's hospital hours later while I lay in post-partum recovering from a tramatic labor and delivery. The next day around noon I was released to go be with Noah in the NICU at VCH.
By the time we arrived at the hospital in Nashville, it was around 5 p.m., almost a day since his birth. I hadn't nursed, pumped, or anything, I had no idea how this breastfeeding business worked, he was my first child. So the next morning we were visited by a lactation consultant because Noah was now able to be fed. But guess what, I had no milk yet. He was so hungry and tried to nurse but just couldn't latch. So I was introduced to the pump and had to sit in pumping stations and try to get as much colostrum and milk as I could for him. It just wasn't enough, so they told me he needed formula until I could get enough milk. I was in those pumping rooms every 2 hours for 30 minutes because I knew that breastmilk was best for him. I still kept trying to nurse him, but his latch was so weak that it only frustrated him. Eventually I began making enough milk and within 2 days he was on breastmilk exclusively, all pumped, and in a bottle.
So once we got to go home, I continued this trying to nurse, pumping, and giving a bottle routine. It was so exhausting, but I was determined to make it work, even though I cried every time he wouldn't want to even try to latch. I saw 3 lactation consultants and had so many people try to help. Because I was so exhausted, I began getting mastitis, five times in fact in two months. If you've ever had this, you know how sick you get. I couldn't take care of Noah, I was so sick. In fact, when he was three weeks old I was hospitalized for 4 days because I became so sick. I kept up my pumping routine even though I had to dump it down the sink because of the strong antibiotics I was administered. I'm telling ya, I was determined to keep giving him my milk and didn't want to lose my supply. I still kept trying to get him to latch because I heard that it takes some babies 3 months to really catch on, but he hated my breasts, it was so frustrating for us both.
Two months later, still pumping and getting sick every other week, a speech pathologist who specialized in latch problems did a home visit. She discovered two patches on the roof of Noah's mouth that indicated he had a submucosal cleft palate. Basically, he didn't have an open hole like some babies, but the muscle didn't completely close and the skin just grew over these two holes. So now we knew why he couldn't latch and had trouble even sucking the bottle correctly. I was furious that it took this long to discover, I mean he was at a top-notch children's hospital, how did they miss this?
I was still determined to pump, but then I got the worst case of mastitis yet and my doctor told me I had to quit pumping because my health was getting so bad and I just couldn't take care of Noah like I needed to. I cried for days and felt like I was letting him down. It was hard on me for years actually, and I still wish today that it would've worked out. We began formula and found a bottle made for babies with palate problems. He did so well with this bottle and it was a relief that he wasn't taking so long to eat. Then came the projectile vomitting. We started him on regular milk-based formula and it was apparent he could not tolerate it. So back came the guilt, I almost started pumping again. But we switched to soy formula and the vomitting stopped, but Noah didn't like it too much. After a few weeks, I noticed he was severely constipated and read that was probably because of the soy. So here we go, on another formula adventure. He was very picky and refused most of them. Then I bought a can of lactose free formula and that worked, he liked it and it didn't seem to upset his stomach.
We did formula for about 15 months, then decided to switch him to cow's milk. We were told that he should do okay since most babies outgrow lactose sensitivity at one year. It wasn't as severe of a reaction as the first formula experience, but over the course of a few months we began noticing he was not thriving and kept getting severe stomach issues. It just kept getting worse and worse to the point where he wasn't gaining any weight and began to almost look emaciated. We were referred to a gastroenterologist who after doing a endoscopy found out he was indeed lactose intolerant.
So then came some serious research and I learned more about dairy than I ever thought possible. I learned that it was a huge cause of ear infections and breathing issues, which Noah had suffered both. In fact, I began noticing that I too had suffered all these problems. I knew I had lactose issues, I always got cramps after consuming rich dairy and had also had problems as a baby with milk. Jason also had the same digestive issues, so as a family, we stopped consuming cow's milk. Noah was pretty much off of all dairy, but Jason and I consumed aged cheeses and yogurt since those seemed to not bother us.
Wow, what a difference we ALL saw in our health. Noah gained 5 pounds very quickly and stopped having stomach issues altogether. He has had maybe one ear infection since and doesn't have as near many cold/allergy issues. Same for me, I stopped having severe allergies and my skin actually cleared up quite a bit. It was a total turnaround for us, and we haven't gone back since. After about a year, we did start introducing aged cheeses and fermented dairy, such as yogurt into Noah's diet and he does okay with those now. We also did raw goat's milk for a while since it was a better fat source, but I think even raw milk was a little hard to digest for him.
So now we use enriched rice, almond, and coconut milk. Elijah has never had a glass of cow's milk and is extremely healthy. I breastfed him for 15 months and noticed the times when I ate ice cream or something with milky cheese that he would get a belly ache also. I never thought I'd not drink milk, since we are taught it is so healthy for us and mandantory for our children's calcium needs. That just isn't true! We feel better off of milk than ever before. I know that it was good intentions when they began pasteurizing and homogenizing milk, but it really messed up the natural design of milk. I know some people do great on raw milk and sometimes I wish we did, but I am so in love with our nut milks that I don't feel like I'm missing out on a thing.
Like the article says, if you can't imagine stopping milk, just give it a try for 30 days and see how you feel. There are ways to cut milk out of your diet, and it's not that hard, just an adjustment that is well worth the pay-off. And it doesn't mean no dairy, we still buy yogurt, kefir, and aged cheeses and tolerate them in moderation. So when I see those "Got Milk?" ads, I think "yeah, it's just from a nut, not a cow."