Oh Lovelies,
It happened. The thing that I have been praying wouldn’t happen since the day my baby was born. Allergies (both hubby and I have seasonal and pet allergies). Bean Sprout has them… And they are the food variety at that.
Before I tell you about the allergy journey of our little one though, we need to talk about the importance of regularly cleaning your air conditioning system. Last summer, my hayfever was the worst it had ever been. However, after reading some allergy resources online, I discovered that our HVAC system could actually be making my allergies worse. If your vents are not cleaned regularly, this can lead to an accumulation of harmful allergens which can trigger watery eyes, tickly coughs, and runny noses! I was horrified. Needless to say, I got in touch with an HVAC repair specialist who carried out a full service on our system. Within days, my allergies seemed to clear up. I was totally amazed. I suppose the point I am trying to make is that if you have an air conditioning unit in your home, be sure to get it seen to by an HVAC repair company on a regular basis to ensure that it is working at its best. To learn more about the importance of servicing your AC unit, take a look here: www.burichvac.com/chevy-chase-air-conditioning/.
Anyway, enough about my own allergies. For our little one, it all started when he was like 5 months old. He would randomly break out in hives but we could NOT figure it out. Detergent? Nope. Trees? Nope. Something I was eating? Not a clue. Dog? Please no?! As I said, the hubby and I have pet allergies and used to suffer badly, but we read this interesting blog and decided to get an air purifier for pet owners. It worked pretty well to be honest. I guess if it is the dog we could try purchasing the best carpet shampooer for pets to get all of the dog hairs and mess out of the carpets, which would limit allergies. Even so, the thought of having to get rid of our fur baby was heartbreaking, and I prayed he wasn’t allergic to the dog.
Then the tipping point. I gave him peanut butter… three times. Time 1: Fine. Time 2: One hive on lip, but, had I mentioned before that he gets random hives?! Time 3: Whole lower face breaks out in a mass of welts within a minute of consuming it. Panic! We dialed 911 and got a nice $300 ride to Children’s. They referred us to an allergist.
Did you know they do scratch tests on babies? I was so sure it would be a blood test, but nope.
Allergic to peanuts. And eggs.
Oh dear gods, NO!!!
And so begins a life of carefully reading labels. Trying not to be too overprotective. Breathing deeply when he gets invited to parties, especially when he’s still little and putting everything in his mouth, including things that people who have eaten eggs or peanuts have touched. Trying not to self destruct when people joke that this food allergy thing has gone too far and they are gonna send their child with a peanut butter sandwich.
Luckily neither is of life-threatening degree. I want him to get allergy shots… can they do that for food allergies?
Siiiiiiiigh. At least it wasn’t the dog.
The Chicken
(Note: Ironically he has no seasonal or pet allergies yet, which are what plague the two of us so.)
So my 10 month old was diagnosed with an egg allergy and it hasn’t been confirmed per se, but I get your feelings of “f***ity f*** f***! I have cat and seasonal allergies too and my husband has nothing, so it sucks. I feel ya, Mama.
Risa,
Yeah was anticipating the Peanut one as that’s what got us there but the egg through me for a loop and it was a bigger reaction than the peanut! he’s never eaten egg but I was instructed to start introducing small amounts cooked in things like muffins… so we will see.
XOXXO, The Chicken
I remember the day we have the Beats peanut butter for the first time (1 yr old) and She-Beat’s face became puff and red. Grey got to do the ambulance ride to Children’s while I packed up He-Beat. The paramedics and fire fighters kept emphasizing that I needed to drive carefully.
She-Beat is now in the clear for all nuts (tested the last one -pistachios- last night), but man was it scary. To this day, I jump on people who consume nuts on public transit (so not cool). My hope is that he outgrows them soon.
On an aside, scratch tests are not very accurate and can give false positives. They usually give a far higher dose of the allergine and there’s some data that suggests they can induce an allergic reaction by shocking the system. Because of this, we flat out refused the skin test and made them do a blood test (which is hard to do in and of itself).
Cristy,
It’s so shitty! I so hope that like your she-beat Bean Sprout outgrows it! Interesting about the scratch testing. I had no idea. Good to know that his reaction in real life might be less than on his skin, the welt for eggs was a good one.
XOXXO, The Chicken
Oh no, that sucks. Some good advice from Cristy though.
Mali,
It super does suck.
XOXXO, The Chicken
I was just about to say what Christy did about the scratch test. They can prove to be inaccurate.
I have a peanut allergy. I grew up with it in the 80s before people understood what allergies could be. There are a lot of places that are helpful with peanut allergies now. Also my allergy is specific to the meat of the nut. I can have peanut oil, but at restaurants like Five Guys, they throw peanuts into the boiling peanut oil and I have a bad reaction.
He may grow out of it. He may not.
Any questions, feel free to email me.
Journeywoman,
Thank you so much. As we figure this all out I may do that.
XOXXO, The Chicken
Craaaap. Sending lots of good thoughts. It’s so hard when they’re little and can’t really understand the concept of “don’t eat that.”
Mel,
Super, double, triple craaaaaaaap! Yeah and it’s hard to know what to limit… like other babies toys that they’ve had their mouth on and have eaten egg or peanut? I really am not sure.
XOXXO, The Chicken