allergy food crisis... wah! help!

Food is becoming like a *major* crisis for me.

Background: I have a ton of allergies, including allergies to dairy, peanut,
lobster, hazelnuts, strawberries and probably a couple other things i'm not
thinking of right at the moment.

When I was pg with dd, I was vegetarian and most of my protein came from
milk, macaroni and cheese (with extra cheese and tuna (my one concession,
before we knew about tuna) for protein) eggs and soy. That was before I knew
about my milk allergy.

My daughter was born, and reacted on her first exposures to soy, egg and
dairy at 10 months, 1 year and 2 years respectively. She developed her
peanut allergy at age 6. I am *sure* that the first three allergies were
developed either in-utero or during my breastfeeding time.

I am no longer vegetarian. But I'm finding that I have no "default" foods
that are easy to prepare. The one I thought might work, whole grain cereal
with rice milk, bounced almost immediately the first time I tried it.
Because of dd's allergies, I'm trying to limit soy and eggs.

But I'm having morning sickness... not as bad as with her, because I'm
eating more consistently (I was dead broke then and just could not afford
enough food during the first couple months of pg until I got WIC and food
stamps), but it's even harder because the "easy" default protein foods
(piece of cheese, glass of milk) are off limits, and the soy substitutes are
not a good option for every day. Morning sickness feels better quickly if I
have a hard candy or something sugarry, but comes back rebounded. If I have
protien, I don't feel better as fast, but can maintain longer.

The things that are staying down best and longest are frighteningly bad for
me. Things like fried chicken and canned tamales. Oh, and I've had the
damndest craving for Thom Ka Gai soup...canned, restaurant, doesn't matter.
Expensive.... And while I don't mind living on Altoid Sours while I drive
across town, I cannot and will not live on sugar all day long just to keep
from throwing up.

Weird things make me feel less queasy. Sex for one, go figure... Not moving
(which is why the sex thing surprised me) seems to help--as long as I'm
lying down, I'm pretty much okay. Humming or singing stops the gags
instantly, but I can't keep it up for long.

I had this great idea that I'd have a wonderful diet during pregnancy and
was really on track, having old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast with flax
and berries, protein and whole grain bread for lunch, salmon a couple times
a week, etc... but that's gone out the window since oatmeal, one of my
favorite foods, now makes me gag. Wah. And my tolerance for raw vegetables
is much less, and fruit has to be perfect--if it's at all meally it makes me
gag and if it's not ripe it makes me gassy.

My daughter is making me an egg every morning right now, but even she is
saying, "Mom, you can't do this the whole pregnancy"... I feel like I can
probably get away with having eggs for the next couple months but I don't
know what the heck I'm going to do then!

Normally I'm fine with the whole allergy thing... but this is really
throwing me for a loop because I can't eat my "default" foods.

Right now, what sounds really good is some creamy macaroni and cheese with
extra cheese. But I *really* cannot eat dairy, period. And noodles have not
been sitting very well.

I can't put food next to my bed--it draws ants, and the best thing would be
protien and none of the protein foods I can eat can be at room temperature
overnight.

Today even a chicken leg turned out inedible and I had to give it to my
husband. I don't even know why.

I broke down tonight and got some soymilk and tofu pate just because they
are easy to eat and sit pretty well...but I really do not want to be doing a
large quanitity of soy.

Argh!

This pregnancy is going to end up being very expensive if my "default" foods
end up being natural chicken sausages and Thom Ka Gai.... Tasty, but
*expensive*.

The worst thing... my dad, my sister and I are all excellent cooks, but my
dad's remodelling his kitchen and my sister is getting married in less than
two months and my house is not air conditioned, so no one wants to cook
*anywhere*.

Wah.

I know what I'm generally *supposed* to be eating... but my pregnant brain
is flat out refusing to translate that into practical edible food.

I think what I really want is something I can freeze into serving-sizes and
prepare in the microwave. We did this with cookie dough (healthy, right? I
used non-hydrogenated shortening and organic evaporated cane juice and whole
wheat and it's healthy, right???? G) and those have been actually really
easy to prepare, but I think I'd like something with more substance and less
sugar, because sugar is *really* starting to send me for a loop... I react
*very* quickly--nausea goes away, blood sugar spikes, blood sugar crashes,
nausea comes back redoubled.... In my normal existance, sugar is NOT a major
part of the equation. I'd say my sugar consumption has tripled since I got
pg though.

Ideas?

Jenrose

Are you on B6? I know going on it helped me with the nausea some, so I could
get some food down and keep it down. Eating about 8 times a day also helped,
a little at a time. So did (worst case scenerio) phenergan, but I almost
never took it because I can't believe that something which knocks me almost
unconcious at the lowest dosage doesn't also drug the baby!

As far as specific foods, maybe your midwife has some suggestions? Mine
suggested liquid protein supplements early on, since I was having trouble
eating most protein (the smell while cooking seemed to do me in), but I
think they tend to be dairy based.

I hope you find something soon. For me, things got better at about 12 weeks,
but that first few months was horrible.

"Jenrose" wrote in message
news
Food is becoming like a *major* crisis for me.

Background: I have a ton of allergies, including allergies to dairy,
peanut,
lobster, hazelnuts, strawberries and probably a couple other things i'm
not
thinking of right at the moment.

snip

Ideas?

A couple of months after my daughter was born, she started to react to foods
in my diet, so I ended up doing a really extensive elimination diet, so I
have a pretty good idea of what you are going through.

Some of the snacks that I have found quick and easy a
seed butters (sesame seed, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed) on rice cakes or
whole wheat bread
hummus with crackers or on rice cakes
sliced meat from last night's dinner
avocado on rice cakes
fruit smoothies - banana, pear, peach, berries, or any combination of fruit
that you like, flax seed oil, rice milk - blend. This hides the nasty rice
milk taste and you can get an entire day's worth of fruit into one smoothie.
If you want it creamier, freeze the banana first.
trail mix - sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, prunes
puffed millet cereal with rice milk, maple syrup and berries - millet is
much higher in protein than most grains

A good book that you might want to look at is "Freedom from Allergy
Cookbook" by Ronald Greenburg, MD and Angela Nori. They have some recipes,
but the more useful part of the book is the section on how to prevent
allergies. In the 4th Edition, they even have a section on pregnancy and
how to try to avoid allergies from developing for the baby. One of the
things they suggest is a rotation diet. You eat a great variety of foods,
but within a 4 day rotation cycle, so you aren't dependent on any one food
or food family.

And a website that I really like is http://www.foodyoucaneat.com/ There are
lots of recipes there that are submitted by allergy sufferers. It is
another good place to get ideas from. When you sign up, you put in all your
allergies, then when you search the recipes, all the ones containing your
allergens are filtered out automatically.

Anyway, I hope it gets better for you. The worst thing is feeling hungry
and not knowing what you can eat!

Stacey

Jenrose wrote:

I broke down tonight and got some soymilk and tofu pate just because they
are easy to eat and sit pretty well...but I really do not want to be doing a
large quanitity of soy.

Tofu is made differently from things like soy nuggets (and they use
different parts of the bean, too). Maybe that will make you feel
better, but I wouldn't know. If tofu works for you, I would eat more of
it. Personally, I loooooooove tofu. :-) I especially love it fried.
mmmmmmm

Can you try fruits and veggies with more protein or fat content? I'm
thinking of things like avocadoes, which are very filling. Are you
allergic to coconut? It's the fattiest naturally occuring thing on the
planet. Although protein is better than fat, fat will do if you can't
get something with lots of protein. (also, you do need a certain amount
of fat in the diet, although not a lot)


Argh!

This pregnancy is going to end up being very expensive if my "default" foods
end up being natural chicken sausages and Thom Ka Gai.... Tasty, but
*expensive*.

The worst thing... my dad, my sister and I are all excellent cooks, but my
dad's remodelling his kitchen and my sister is getting married in less than
two months and my house is not air conditioned, so no one wants to cook
*anywhere*.

Wah.

I know what I'm generally *supposed* to be eating... but my pregnant brain
is flat out refusing to translate that into practical edible food.

I think what I really want is something I can freeze into serving-sizes and
prepare in the microwave. We did this with cookie dough (healthy, right? I
used non-hydrogenated shortening and organic evaporated cane juice and whole
wheat and it's healthy, right???? G) and those have been actually really
easy to prepare, but I think I'd like something with more substance and less
sugar, because sugar is *really* starting to send me for a loop... I react
*very* quickly--nausea goes away, blood sugar spikes, blood sugar crashes,
nausea comes back redoubled.... In my normal existance, sugar is NOT a major
part of the equation. I'd say my sugar consumption has tripled since I got
pg though.

Ideas?

I hate to tell you this, but the best food for me when I had nausea
(that was all I got for M/S) was french fries. A few mouthfuls of fries
(didn't even require a full order, so I would go and get a kid's size
order, or just cook a few in the oven) in the morning and I would be
cured for the day.

Foods high in starch really helped me a lot, so noodles and rice were
also in. I know that you weren't getting a good result with noodles,
though. Maybe try rice dishes?

Jenrose wrote:

My daughter is making me an egg every morning right now, but even she
is saying, "Mom, you can't do this the whole pregnancy"... I feel
like I can probably get away with having eggs for the next couple
months but I don't know what the heck I'm going to do then!

I could eat eggs every day for years ;-) Other things that might work for
you that I love....

Soups. I love soup! Beef barley, chicken noodle, potato (you could make it
in chicken broth instead of milk), bean soup. All favorites of mine. Chili
if you like spicy. I actually cut up hot peppers in bean soup and it is
great. Soups are pretty easy to freeze.

Spaghetti is good and easy to freeze. Since noodles are iffy you might not
like that suggestion!

Rice - can't hardly make rice I don't like ;-D. Chinese is good but I'm not
sure if there are things in it you can't have. Chicken and rice, Hamburger
and rice. Add veggies, peppers, onions, herbs and spices to taste.

Beans of all varieties.

If you need food near your bed you could put some deli meat sandwiches with
12 grain bread in a cooler next to your bed. Turkey breast is a good
protein source. If you use those refreezable things and don't open it until
you need it, the cooler will keep them overnight I think. Or freeze milk
jugs with water - they last forever and you have an ice cold drink as they
thaw ;-)

I think Tuna and Salmon have a lot of protein. You could buy the tuna in a
bag and keep in next to your bed. It doesn't need to be rinsed and you
could open and eat with crackers. I think the mercury is a concern so it
still has to be limited. The unopened Tuna is no concern and I'd put the
crackers in a zip lock to prevent ants.

How about those energy bars? I don't know much about them but I know they
have protein and I'm sure they have sugar so they might work well for the
nausea. Personally, I didn't care what I ate as long as it settled the
nausea. I should have bought stock in snickers, hee. I also had to eat
very frequently or I'd get to nauseous to eat.

Good luck and hopefully you'll soon enter a blissful second trimester where
everything under the sun seems like something that should be eaten!

--
Nikki

Jenrose wrote:

This pregnancy is going to end up being very expensive if my "default" foods
end up being natural chicken sausages and Thom Ka Gai.... Tasty, but
*expensive*.

Tom Ka Gai is the one with coconut milk, right? I've made homemade, and
it comes out pretty darn good, and not expensive.

Phoebe

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
.. .
Are you on B6? I know going on it helped me with the nausea some, so I
could
get some food down and keep it down. Eating about 8 times a day also
helped,
a little at a time. So did (worst case scenerio) phenergan, but I almost
never took it because I can't believe that something which knocks me
almost
unconcious at the lowest dosage doesn't also drug the baby!

I do take a b-complex and eat at least 8 times per day. Wouldn't take a drug
for it--I'm not throwing up that much.


As far as specific foods, maybe your midwife has some suggestions? Mine
suggested liquid protein supplements early on, since I was having trouble
eating most protein (the smell while cooking seemed to do me in), but I
think they tend to be dairy based.


I can eat protein, I just can't cook it. Fortunately, we've got a lot of
other people who can cook it...

I hope you find something soon. For me, things got better at about 12
weeks,
but that first few months was horrible.

With dd, it didn't get better until close to 20 weeks.

Jenrose

"Nikki" wrote in message
...
Jenrose wrote:

My daughter is making me an egg every morning right now, but even she
is saying, "Mom, you can't do this the whole pregnancy"... I feel
like I can probably get away with having eggs for the next couple
months but I don't know what the heck I'm going to do then!

I could eat eggs every day for years ;-) Other things that might work for
you that I love....

Soups. I love soup! Beef barley, chicken noodle, potato (you could make
it
in chicken broth instead of milk), bean soup. All favorites of mine.
Chili
if you like spicy. I actually cut up hot peppers in bean soup and it is
great. Soups are pretty easy to freeze.

One of my favorite non-pregnant things is lentil soup. But I *cannot* eat it
while pg. Dunno why--but it bounces almost instantly *and* gives me
heartburn. So sad. Chicken noodle sounds really good actually.


Spaghetti is good and easy to freeze. Since noodles are iffy you might
not
like that suggestion!

I did make a big pot of whole wheat spag a week ago--that was pretty good.

Rice - can't hardly make rice I don't like ;-D. Chinese is good but I'm
not
sure if there are things in it you can't have. Chicken and rice,
Hamburger
and rice. Add veggies, peppers, onions, herbs and spices to taste.

Beans of all varieties.

If you need food near your bed you could put some deli meat sandwiches
with
12 grain bread in a cooler next to your bed.

Finding affordable nitrite-free deli meats is just about impossible for
me...

Turkey breast is a good
protein source.

I *really* want to see if I can get an organic turkey and freeze it in
parts.

If you use those refreezable things and don't open it until
you need it, the cooler will keep them overnight I think. Or freeze milk
jugs with water - they last forever and you have an ice cold drink as they
thaw ;-)


We actually have a plug-in cooler... hmmmm...


I think Tuna and Salmon have a lot of protein. You could buy the tuna in
a
bag and keep in next to your bed. \
Can't eat that much tuna pg. Salmon..yes..but can't afford it bagged. We get
canned for $1 for 16 oz though. dd eats half.

It doesn't need to be rinsed and you
could open and eat with crackers. I think the mercury is a concern so it
still has to be limited. The unopened Tuna is no concern and I'd put the
crackers in a zip lock to prevent ants.

Fish stuff--I can eat it, but I have to be up enough to get the
can/bag/whatever out of the house promptly afterwards or the smell gets me.


How about those energy bars? I don't know much about them but I know they
have protein and I'm sure they have sugar so they might work well for the
nausea. Personally, I didn't care what I ate as long as it settled the
nausea. I should have bought stock in snickers, hee. I also had to eat
very frequently or I'd get to nauseous to eat.

Most energy bars are dairy or soy or peanut or all of the above. And high in
sugar... if I wanted to eat sugar, I'd just live on the cookie dough in my
freezer..g

Good luck and hopefully you'll soon enter a blissful second trimester
where
everything under the sun seems like something that should be eaten!

lol! I can't wait...

Jenrose

"Phoebe & Allyson" wrote in message
...
Jenrose wrote:

This pregnancy is going to end up being very expensive if my "default"
foods
end up being natural chicken sausages and Thom Ka Gai.... Tasty, but
*expensive*.

Tom Ka Gai is the one with coconut milk, right? I've made homemade, and
it comes out pretty darn good, and not expensive.

The last time I made it at home, it cost me like $30 for the
ingredients...now I did end up making three times as much as the restaurant
stuff at $10 per pot, but still... it was good, but not so good that I'd
rather it than have someone else make it! I think it's the galangal root,
lime leaves, lemongrass and fish stuff that really pushed the cost up.

Jenrose

Nikki wrote:

How about those energy bars? I don't know much about them but I know they

I got hooked on energy bars for a while, and I found that they
eventually got really hard on the stomach. Just personal experience,
though. Also, they killed my jaw. :-( Some of them are really tough
to chew. Some are nice and soft, but those killed the stomach even more.