MSPI in the Hospital

When M was born, I had been meticulously following the MSPI diet for over a month. No dairy or soy proteins and no soybean oils or soy lecithin (which are actually not proteins but fats). I had called the hospital months in advance to find out if they had dairy and soy free options and what the best way to convey my needs to dietary were. The dietitian I spoke with said that they had an MSPI menu and that when I called for my meals to let them know that I was ordering from that.

The day after delivery I received my menu. As I was looking through it, I knew that it didn't seem right. I noticed several cereals that I knew were off limits as well as wraps, breads, bagels, and entrees that I knew I wouldn't be able to have. In the hospital's defense, MSPI really does stand for just milk/soy PROTEIN intolerance and doesn't include fats and oils. The thing was, I had worked so hard for a month to make sure that everything I ate was completely dairy/soy free, and I wasn't about to let the hospital food negate all that hard work. My husband and my mom stepped in and provided dinners. I always had enough for the next day's lunch. I could order fruits and cereal that I knew to be ok with rice milk. Patrick brought me a few groceries like peanut butter, sprouted wheat bread, pretzel sticks from Trader Joe's, and Trader Joe's Salt Water Taffy! I had packed Enjoy Life Vanilla Graham cookies as well as Enjoy Life Smore's snack bars for a little treat. I also called down to the dietitian and explained my concerns to them.

On Monday, my discharge day, I called to get lunch and requested a salad with veggies. The gal that answered said, "oh, that is crossed out in red on your menu". Apparently over the weekend or Monday am, someone had done through the entire menu's ingredients and marked out all of the items I was not ok'd to eat. She listed off a few entrees that I could have and for whatever reason really wanted me to have a baked potato. I politely declined but asked for a green vegetable. Later, someone from dietary came up to profusely apologize for the issues. I explained why I was being so careful but let her know that I was not at all upset and that I understood completely. 

I have to say I was very very impressed with the hospital staff for making an effort to see that my nutritional needs were met. My mom and Patrick saved the day with food from home that I trusted.  It's funny, you would think that a hamburger patty would be safe no matter what. My mom sent two hamburgers with all the veggies over one night including homemade pickles!! They were delicious and didn't need a bun. If I would have asked for that from the hospital thou, it would most likely have been cooked on a grill sprayed with a spray containing soy. (All of the cooking sprays I have found have soy in them.) My mom also made homemade pizza with her own pizza sauce and a crust I recommended from Trader Joe's. She made everyone else's with cheese but left the cheese off mine and I didn't miss it at all! She sent two kinds, one with hamburger (I think she thinks I need more meat in my life!) and veggies and the other with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Soooo delicious both hot and especially cold!

I guess the moral of the story is, trust your instincts. It isn't worth "ruining" a lot of hard work and ending up with a crabby baby just because someone doesn't understand what you need. I had a great experience and I was very lucky to have wonderful people watching out for me. Don't hesitate to take your own food to the hospital and don't be shy about letting them know what you can't have!

E meeting M for the first time with Grammy supervising.

Grammy getting snuggle time with the new babe.