Life has changed greatly since our last blog entry. Why write tonight? We just watched Food Inc., which obviously I would be a fan of (if you know me you will certainly not be surprised). We have been refining our diets/food choices over the past several months as it is....and will now refine them even more. One of the kick-offs to our decision to closely examine and dramatically change how we eat was Amaris's food allergies...which I realized I had now posted about. So you shall hear it now.
After spending the morning of June 1 in the ER with Amaris treating her anaphylaxis-unknown cause at the time, we've gone through all sorts of research and allergy testing to determine that she is highly allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts (likely tree nuts as well).
People have mixed reactions to this news, but its safe to group them all into the general categories of "pity" and "shock." We have had our own reactions, of course, which I would place into the categories of "fear" and "amazement." Fear is obvious-I never want to have to rush Amaris to the ER again, for any reason. I am still rather petrified when I introduce a new food and she coughs or I see a potential red spot on her face, etc. It's much more difficult to decide to leave her with a babysitter or put her in any "mass" of kids because of how easily she could come in contact with one of the allergens. Fear is fear. I hate it, because it controls me more often than I would like. That reaction has diminished since we first learned of her condition, but at a very, very slow rate.
Amazement. Short story=Jonathan had a nutrition course in March that prompted us to aim for a primarily vegan diet. In case you don't know..."vegan" = NO animal products. No meat, no eggs, no dairy. We considered ourselves 80% vegans.....8 out of every 10 meals were animal-product free. We still enjoyed occasional pizza, ice cream, seafood. I bought cookbooks, learned new recipes, found reliable restaurants, etc. We were ok with omitting these things from our diet for health reasons. June 1 and subsequent events occur and we're suddenly much more than 80%. We still eat meat occasionally, and I am ok with that, but dairy and eggs are gone. Breastfeeding means my food becomes hers, so I had to completely eliminate all of the allergens from my diet. People wondered why we didn't just switch to soy formula (yuck) or said "Well at least you can eat what you want in a few months!". Our approach is to eat how Amaris must eat....because who on earth wants to make one meal for their kid and one meal for themselves...as well as have potentially deadly ingredients laying around the kitchen for a kid to accidentally get into. So, yay providence....we were prepared in advance for this switch, and it could not have been easier (unless we were lifetime vegans....).
That's the main update...I'll spare you my praise for Food Inc, though I think you should all watch it. No, it doesn't promote veganism, or even vegetarianism...just exposes the mess of the food industry and gives you insight on what you're eating. It's not going to make you puke (well, I guess it could...I didn't feel sick once, and I have a weak stomach, especially for animal blood and meat...which there's little of). If you like money, at all, or need it, at all, you must believe that this film's message is truth.
Good luck.Good night.
