Goat Milk

I had my first glass of store bought goat milk today. It's not very good. It's not very bad. It's not quite right. But it will have to do.

Dannyboy, almost 17 months old, transitioned to soy milk three days ago, and then 12 hours later began watery diarrhea and vomitting which has lasted for nearly 3 days.

It was very, very bad, and I called the pediatrician. He existed on breastmilk, gatorade, Pedialyte popsicles, and mom holding him. The ped said that was the perfect combination. I went and bought more galactagogue herbs. You can google that if you wish.

Danny baby slept through the night, twice now. He was too weak to get up and ask to nurse, I presume. When I woke up, I was convinced he was dead and prayed myself backed to calmness. Then I sat up, and he smiled at me. Whew. DonotscaremeagainlikethatIamthemotherofoldageandcannotlivethroughthistwice.

I predict he never sleeps through the night again. And nursing at night is okay with me. I get him all to myself, and he gets a midnight snack. Or consolation. Or both.

Yesterday Danny started reaching for food to eat again, and I held him off with breaking up Pedialyte popsicles into a bowl and handing him a spoon and fork. His diarrhea was still rather aggressive, and I didn't think food was a good idea yet. Sister sneaked him a graham cracker, but he only ate one nibble. Perhaps food really wasn't a good idea yet.

When Papa called on his morning break at the factory, he wanted to know if his boyo was feeling better. He said he grew so worried about his quiet that when the alarm went off at 4 am he got his flashlight out and shined it in the crib to make sure the baby had not died. (It's not just me!)

Then Papa called at noon, asked how the baby was again (just fine, running around giggling, still has diarrhea). And then I said: can you please buy some of that $4/quart goat milk for the baby, I think he may be seriously ill from the soy milk.

The goat is leaving in a few hours, so we have a pint of real goat milk per day until then (she's almost out of milk.) Wegman's carries Meyenberg goat milk, which is whole goat milk, ultrapasteurized. I drank some this morning, it tastes less goat cheesey than 3 day old unpasteurized, the texture is wrong, it feels funny in my mouth, but it won't give me a belly ache. I made a smoothie, for my calcium intake, and just hid the oddity of it. Baby drank some and didn't notice anything worth tossing a sipper cup for.

I've put the word out on the farm network that we're looking to buy two goats that recently freshened, so we can milk again for real goat milk. Since our goats were evicted from the village a Mennonite farmer up the road offered to board our goats and we'll pay their 12 year old son to milk them twice a day for us, and provide our own grain and hay for the goat girls. I hope that works out long term. It sure beats the taste and price of soy milk or $16 gallon goat milk.