Milk Allergy

Three weeks ago we found out that Charlie has a milk protein allergy.  He is not lactose intolerant and it should be an allergy that fades by a year or so of age, but this does mean I had to stop breastfeeding immediately after learning the news.  We found out because we spotted small specks of blood in his poop, so we took him and a dirty diaper to his doctor.  That day they tested his stool sample and said he needed to go on a special formula, Alimentum.  The milk protein in it is broken down so finely that it doesn't affect him the same way my milk does or other regular or soy formula would.  After having worked so hard to get in a breastfeeding routine, suffering the initial pain of it and hiring a lactation consultant to come to our house in the beginning weeks, this was of course really upsetting news.  I have always thought that breast milk is the best for baby, it gives mother and baby that nice bonding time, it's free, and it's instant which is of course important for a screaming baby at 3AM.  Oh yeah, the calorie burning aspect didn't hurt either!  I had envisioned breastfeeding him until a year of age.  Charlie's doctor said that it would be almost impossible for me to go on a dairy free diet (which should have allowed me to continue breastfeeding).  So I was pretty torn...should I stop breastfeeding?  Or should I give up delicious cheese, yogurt, cereal and milk, ice cream, half and half, etc.?  I still had to stop breastfeeding him for a couple weeks so all traces of it would be out of my system anyway.  I hate pumping and would have welcomed being able to ween Charlie.  The dairy no-no list was never ending and would have meant reading lots of nutrition labels which would have been doable, but with going back to work just a couple weeks in the future, ultimately I ended up deciding to go the formula route.  At least Charlie got 2 and a half months of breastfeeding.  While I do sometimes miss nursing Charlie, it is also nice to "have my body back", be able to more easily feed him in public, and it's great to share the middle of the night feedings with Pat.  So we've been doing a lot of bottle washing these days.  And dang, Alimentum is expensive.  (We're working on getting health insurance to cover it.)  I was so upset that weekend we found out about this allergy and just a few weeks later it's not upsetting at all.  I know Charlie is doing well and that is all that matters.