Making the Ultimate Sacrifice

I. Love. Chocolate. So much so that one day, after Jesse and I had been married about a year, he asked me if I could make a dessert that was not chocolate based. I remember standing in the kitchen staring at him and asking, "What do you mean?"

When I think about satisfying my sweet tooth, chocolate of any sort comes to mind. Not pies, not fruit, not even the very accesible candy from the candy stores on every corner here.

My cupboard of American goodies is filled with brownie mixes, chocolate cake mixes, chocolate almond bark, chocolate chips . . . you get the idea. I. Love. Chocolate.


So imagine what went through my mind when I read that chocolate should sometimes be avoided in nursing moms. Psh, I thought. I ate tons of chocolate when nursing Renae, and when I was pregnant with Sammy. Shouldn't have any problems . . .

Then after a few weeks of a very fussy baby, I started to look at my diet. For a few days I'd been eating a brownie before I took a nap and I could never get to sleep. I wondered if the chocolate could affect Sammy too. So that night, I enjoyed an oreo/chocolate syrup ice cream treat for the last time. The next day I avoided (with great difficulty) any kind of chocolate. Twenty four hours after I had my last bite of chocolate, Sammy was a new man. He was happy and content. Gosh darn it.

The secret of the fussy baby had been discovered. I continuted to avoid chocolate that week and each day I saw what a happy baby he was. Usually a happy baby=happy mother. Not so that week as I went through the grieving process of saying good-bye to my beloved chocolate. Just so you know how drastic of a life change this was for me, let me recap what I had been eating during and prior to the very fussy weeks . . .

Brownies (at least 2 a day for 3 days), chocolate chip cookies for an entire weekend when a friend was here, Snickers bars from the candy store across the street (at least a few each week), pieces from a large dark chocolate bar, chocolate milk about every other day, chocolate cereal . . . I would go on if I could remember it all.

Sigh . . . so as you can see, I am making the ultimate sacrifice for my child. Breastfeeding sure saves us a lot of money so I really can't justify my selfish desire to eat a pounds worth of chocolate each week. I guess at least it will be good for my waist line. So think of me when you enjoy that next piece of chocolate, and don't ever take it for granted!

P.S. I also have to avoid peppers, onions, caffeine, and spicy food. Looks like I'm in need of some new recipes!