My little family is about to go on a ride I never imagined taking. Chooo chooo!! All aboard who's going aboard, on the allergy express!
I previously said, "I can't imagine having food allergies" and I believe both myself and my husband have said "I hope M doesn't have any food allergies." Well, now I could just eat those words right up, but perhaps I'd be allergic to them...
For months I have suspected that M has a dairy allergy or sensitivity - I'll get into why later - but just recently decided it was time to find out. The short of it is my baby is allergic to dairy, eggs, and almonds - maybe more but that's all for now (we only tested dairy, eggs, soy, rice, coconut, and almonds). For the long of it, keep reading...
Not going to lie, I'm giving you fair warning that this is a long post, but if just one other momma reads this and either doesn't feel alone in what she's experiencing or feels more confident that she should follow her mom-stincts, then this is worth it to me. If no one reads it, then I'm just another chronic over-sharer on the web. Here goes!
October 2013, we went out to First Friday in town with some friends; it was hot and I felt guilty carrying around a sweating two month-old baby in a Moby that honestly just made hot and sweaty even worse for both of us. M behaved okay and fell asleep at dinner, he actually slept through the night. Looking back I think this was one of our first (of many since and to come) parenting fails. That weekend I noticed a rash nearly all over M, I thought for sure it was a heat rash but when it didn't go away I took him into the doctor's office. She said it was eczema and since it wasn't on his back it shouldn't be an allergy to detergent or food; she recommended aquaphor or something else "all natural" (since petroleum jelly is so natural... oh well). I found BabyGanics Eczema Cream and we were able to manage the eczema, but it became a constant.
Move on a little bit in the fall, I began to notice that M's poo was almost always green and sometimes had mucous in it. I read that green breastfed baby poo is okay, but it can be a sign of something wrong. I realized that the mucous coincided with increased dairy intake on my part - when I ate ice cream or yogurt, or had a big glass of milk. I asked the doctor we were going to at the time (a family practitioner), she asked if there was blood in the stool and when I said no she was unconcerned and continued to encourage me to get at least 5 servings of dairy a day. I however, continued to look into green mucousy stool as a potential indicator of dairy intolerance. (I have since learned from a friend that blood can be present in the stool and not be visible, it has to be tested).
In November, I quit drinking milk straight - I switched to almond milk (which I love by the way, yum yum yum). In December, I quit eating yogurt and ice cream (occasionally I would indulge but then I'd find what looked like a giant wad of snot in a diaper and feel guilty).
In late February, I decided to try to go dairy-free. Oh my goodness, that was HARD! Especially for someone who loves cheese (I could live on cheese). It was also hard because my birthday was in March and I had to find a cake/frosting recipe that was dairy free (by the way I finally found this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crazy-cake/detail.aspx It is SO yummy, my mom used a marshmallow fluff kind of recipe for the icing, I'll have to get it to share). Add to it that my husband brought me a box of Cinnabons after he was gone over my birthday; Cinnabons are like crack to me, I LOVE them. Every time I stayed off dairy, M's skin cleared up. Every time I fell off the wagon the eczema flared up again.
I am not a good eater apparently. After 2 weeks of dairy-free my favorite pre-pregger jeans fit again, but dropping a couple inches of waist-line while nursing in less than a month is probably not ideal. After maybe a month and a half I gave up. My milk supply had dropped to nada, I was barely getting anything when I pumped at work and was quickly demolishing the freezer stash. Typical formula is made from milk so supplementing with that would defeat the purpose of my eating dairy free. With reintroduction of dairy to my diet, the eczema came back but maybe a little better than before.
I decided, with some convincing from my boss (if you're reading this, THANKS!!), to switch from the family practice to a pediatric practice. Then came the 9 month appointment when I knew we'd be told M could have dairy products. I really liked the new doctor, but I didn't mention my dairy concerns. So I gave him cheese - he liked it - but saw some red spots on his face where it touched his skin. I gave him macaroni and cheese (he enjoyed it), grilled cheese (he devoured it) and yogurt (he seemed to like with slight reservation). Yogurt puffs left even bigger red welts on his face than cheese and I began to realize this wasn't going so well. Finally a bout of diarrhea (started by kiwi I think) forced the decision that dairy needed to be cut. After a week without dairy (including yogurt which is supposed to settle the tummy) the diarrhea subsided.
M just kept getting older and bigger (babies do that I guess, but it's sad and exciting all at once). Quicker and quicker we neared the 1 year mark that I dreaded for one reason - being told to give him whole milk. I knew I needed to have him tested before his birthday. I made an appointment and worried the doctor would think I was a crazy, over-anxious first time momma who didn't have a clue. But to my delight, she listened patiently asking a few questions as I went through all of this... then she agreed with my concern. She agreed he should see an allergist. WHEW!! I was thankful for sure!
I was starting to get nervous about the possibility that I was right; the possibility that my son may have food allergies. The appointment was getting closer but then there were these bumps... of course, I took him to the doctor again and he had hand foot and mouth. Timing felt like it couldn't be worse and I cried. I realized God might have a reason why we didn't get to go then, so I tried to stay calm. The blisters went away and we had our referral for the appointment.
I started to get nervous again... but this time I felt a little more calm about it, that maybe if this had to be one of our difficulties in life it would be doable. I realized that maybe God could use me, use M through this if he did have an allergy.
This morning came, the appointment time neared, we made it to the office on time (and I had actually showered!). But of course this couldn't go that smoothly, I forgot my wallet with my license and M's insurance card - thankfully they would allow me to get that to them afterwards. The screaming child in the back didn't help me feel any better. We went back and it was all going okay; however the doctor also seemed skeptical about whether my child had an allergy or just sensitive skin. She ordered the skin tests and the nurse came to do them. Well, talk about not fun, that was not fun. There may not be any needles, but scraping a child's back in multiple places and wiping possible allergens on the scratches, all while trying to hold said child still... that was fabulous! When they came to read them there were definite reactions; as I said he's allergic to dairy, eggs, and almonds. Thankfully not soy or coconut, so he will be able to have those alternative products.
I kind of skipped over this: I did have concern regarding egg, M's face broke out after I gave him hard boiled egg yolk. I had given him scrambled egg yolk the day before - either I didn't notice a reaction, it was slow or he didn't eat enough of it. I just didn't try this again, I figured I'd wait a month or two before trying again and then ask the doctor.
One difficult task I have found is finding egg-free/dairy-free snack and meal ideas for toddlers. I hope to keep blogging about how our ride on the allergy express goes - that way maybe, just maybe, another momma might come across some of the snacks, meals, recipes, and restaurant food we find and like (or dislike)! So much out there I find that's egg and dairy free is vegan; I'm not vegan or wanting to be (love me some steak, fish, chicken, pork... need I continue?), I just need egg-free/dairy free options to feed my little guy.
That's it for now. I'm going to go get the epi-pen into the diaper bag and see about getting the proper benadryl dosage. As Tigger says, TTFN! (Ta ta for now!)
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