Unbeknownst to me, our allergy journey started on October 29, 2016 when our son, Lucas, was born. He was covered in a rash from the moment I first laid eyes on him and then for the next 6 months. I breastfed him from the beginning. Pediatrician thought he just had very sensitive skin. I agreed. Being a first time mom, I had no idea. He never had any other, consistent, outward signs of a food allergy. He was growing perfectly fine, gaining weight like he should, no GI issues except some spit up and being cranky at times. He was sleeping long stretches overnight at 12 weeks. We tried different soaps, different creams, prescription creams or nothing at all. Nothing was working.
Easter 2017 came. It was a fun day filled with family and
food. Lucas just turned 6 months old. Dessert came out and without me knowing,
my mother gave him the slightest taste of vanilla ice cream. It was instant
hives all around his mouth. We took him upstairs and washed off his face and
watched him for the rest of the day. The hives slowly started to go away. Phew!
But I knew something wasn’t right. His 6 month well appointment with the
pediatrician was the next day, so I took pictures to document everything. Took
pictures of the food label too. I showed the pediatrician and immediately he
said food allergies and it would be in his best interest to see a pediatric
allergist. Two days later, we took him to the allergist. They skin tested him
for a few major allergies. It showed that he had allergies to Dairy and Egg. We
got handed a prescription for EpiPens. My world crashed. I got home that night
and just cried and cried some more. My perfect baby boy had a major problem. I
knew I couldn’t change anything with the diagnosis but I was faced with the
decision to stop breastfeeding and go to an allergy friendly formula OR cut
out, cold turkey, all his allergens from my diet. As much as I hated
breastfeeding, I enjoyed it. So I continued on. My wonderful husband stopped
everything, went to the grocery store and got me a whole bunch of dairy free
and egg free alternatives. As the weeks went on, the switch was becoming easier
on me and his skin cleared up. It was amazing! Major mom guilt though. How
didn’t I recognize this from the beginning???? I can’t imagine how he felt!
Life went on with major modifications and our “new” normal.
His daycare was and continues to be amazing with all his food allergies.
At 1 yr. old, he had an anaphylactic reaction to Pea protein
and green peas.
At 1.5 years old, he had another anaphylactic reaction to
Cashews, 911 was called and he went to the hospital via ambulance. At his next
allergy appointment, they skin tested for Tree nuts. He had major reactions to
all Tree nuts, except Almonds. Which we knew he’d most likely be fine with
because he drinks almond milk.
At 2 years old, he had his 3rd Anaphylactic reaction to Cross-Contamination at Daycare. To this day, we still don't know what he came in contact with. It wasn't a fault in the daycare. It was an oversight on my part. I thought I had all my bases covered. This reaction got us an overnight stay at the hospital. His worst reaction to date.
His 4th Anaphylactic reaction was at his allergist's office during our cooked egg challenge, soon after he turned 3 yrs old. They administered Epi and watched him for a couple of hours.
On the bright side. He outgrew his dairy allergy! He's still able to eat baked egg. We get yearly bloodwork to check his IgE levels on Pea, Tree nut and Egg.
It's a wild, chaotic, stressful journey for sure! But we were meant to walk to path for a reason.
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