WWYD RE: 3rd baby and end of pregnancy

kris_kelsey

Background:
DS breastfed exclusively for 2 years with complementary foods starting at 6 months.  He never had signs of food intolerances until 1 yr when introduced to yogurt and whole milk.  If he had too much of either he would get an allergy ring/rash on his bottom.  So we stopped with whole milk, used almond milk if milk was necessary, and limited dairy.  He did just fine with a small to moderate amount of dairy and is now 6 and tolerates all foods.
DD was completely different.  At one day old she stayed for an extra night in the special care nursery due to reflux that she probably aspirated, continued to have reflux diagnosed by an upper GI study, had obvious mucus and blood in her stool starting at 7-10 days old, anal fissures, absolutely untreatable bleeding diaper rash, chronic congestion (maybe from food maybe from reflux), and terrible acne.  I started by eliminating all dairy, then added soy, then went on to eliminate gluten/corn/rice/nuts/fruit/honey/oats in addition (if I remember them all correctly).  I tried this for a few weeks but nothing improved and in fact her symptoms became worse.  She was switched to Alimentum with remarkable improvement in just 36 hours, and a month or so later switched to Neocate due to continued small levels of blood in her stool.  We had ups and downs while introducing foods from 6-12 months, but at almost 2.5 she now tolerates all foods without issue. 

So I am 31 weeks with baby #3.  I am debating cutting out all dairy around 36 weeks in an effort to have all dairy out of my system before baby is born.  We also will not be doing erythromycin (eye ointment for gonorrhea/chlamydia, which I don't have), or Hepatitis B vax during baby's hospital stay.  This is in an effort to reduce introduction to medications that may trigger a leaky gut issue.  But honestly I don't really want to cut out dairy at 36 weeks unless I have to.  I have only gained 12lbs so far from a pre-pregnancy of 126, and could certainly use the calories.  (I really can't eat much more volume because I get postprandial hypotension which causes my blood pressure to drop after I eat and leaves me feeling lightheaded and short of breath.)  If I eliminate dairy before baby comes and only gradually try dairy a month or so after it arrives, then I will have problems with knowing what foods are safe to eat while she are traveling for various family holiday dinners (there are at least 6 large communal meals planned that we will be attending).  If I don't eliminate before baby comes then I run the small risk of having a reactive baby right away, but then at least I would start eliminating and have a better idea of what I truly can and can't eat at the holidays.  I don't want these holidays to feel like I am starving and missing out unless I truly HAVE to in order to safely breastfeed my child. 

Eliminating last time was miserable.  I was starving for calories!  I lost my entire pregnancy weight (25ish lbs) in the first 2-3 weeks.  I am well aware of good nutrition and caloric value of foods, I just also have a high metabolism.  So what would you do?  What have you done with subsequent children after previous ones diagnosed with food intolerances?  

LSU628

To be honest, I tried eliminating b/c of DD's milk protein allergy, but without the baby there in front of me it was seriously hard for a pregnant lady to watch everything and read every single label. I knew within a week or two that DS was having the same issues as DD so we were quickly able to identify the problem. Unfortunately, DS's reflux was WAY worse than DD's and I wonder if I had completely eliminated dairy if that would have helped.

shotzie

I remember you and your struggles with your DD. Congratulations on baby #3!! I don't have any great advice, but just wanted to say hi, and wish you well with whichever route you choose.