His nut allergy is going to make me the nutty one!
Growing up with my sister has been such a blessing to me.. and even more now than it ever has. When my sister was two, my mom discovered that she was severely allergic to peanuts. I grew up knowing that we never had peanut butter in the house.. nor were we aloud to have it. My sister Amanda is so severely allergic to it that when she had just a small trace of it in a pack of sausages (maybe whoever packed them had a peanut butter sandwich and did not wash their hands after eating it) a few years ago within a few minutes her mouth was completely blue.. she couldn't breath and was rushed to the doctor and in ICU for a couple of days. I thought that day, I was going to loose my sister. A nut allergy is terrifying to me. Traces of peanuts can be found in almost everything!
While I was pregnant with both of my boys, I was told by my doctor to completely stay away from peanuts.. and while nursing. I was also told that because my sister was so severely allergic to peanuts, my children would have a higher likelihood of also being allergic to them. I was also told not to try any nuts with my babies until they were at least two years old.. this way their little bodies could make it through should they have a sever reaction to them. I was diligent, never cheated while pregnant or nursing and about 6 months ago we were at a friends house.. they had a little bowl of peanut M&Ms on the table. Carter quickly grabbed a few and put them in his mouth.. this is not how I wanted to have him tested.. but it just happened.. we waited.. and he was totally fine. No reaction at all! I was so relieved and totally thought we were in the clear. Carter has had nuts since then but usually chokes and gags like he hates them. We're still not sure if Bentley is allergic.. we are waiting until he is two as well before trying it out... but yesterday our life changed a little bit for us. I put Bentley down for his nap, and proceeded to make some breakfast bars with Carter. Carter LOVES helping me cook and bake. He always does the stirring.. standing up tall on his stool.. its picture perfect. I poured in the oats... he stirred them.. I then proceeded to put in the peanut butter... I told him it was kind of sticky... I turned around for one second and when I looked back, he was freaking out that he got "stickies" on his hands! He was totally freaking out! Way more than normal "sticky hand freak outs".. I washed his hand and asked him if he wanted to continue helping me.. he said.. that he was sick and went to sit on the couch and watch a cartoon while I finished making them myself. I looked over at him when I finished, about 15 minutes later and saw that he had hives like this one on his body...
I knew it was the peanut butter.. it had to have been... he didn't snack at all that morning, he was helping me clean all morning and everything was fine until he touched the peanut butter, but it seemed kind of strange that he had just tasted candy the previous night that had peanut butter in it and had no reaction. So I called the expert.. my mom! She has dealt with it with my sister so I knew she was the perfect one to call. Mom told me to draw a little circle on his arm and in the circle put a dab of peanut button on it.. wait 5 minutes and see what happens to that spot.. so I did, I washed it off after 5 minutes and nothing.. So I put a tiny tiny bit on Carter's tung.. he again started gagging and choking.. I was panicking but trying to keep calm.. 3 minutes later, Carter's arm where I had put the peanut butter on it had 3 hives surrounding it. I asked him to open his mouth and stick out his tung for me.. when he did, I knew he was allergic to peanuts. His poor little tung was fire engine red just where I put the peanut butter and little bumps all over his tung! Then the hives got worse.. all over his body and now on his throat, face, lips, eyelids. My Poor poor baby!
He was still breathing just fine so I didn't feel the need to call 911 like I would have for my sister but after 3 hours and Benadryl he still had hives..
And after 4 hours.. he still had some hives...
the rest of the afternoon and evening was alright. Our poor little bud was itchy and tells me that peanuts make him sick now. Its so sad that this is our new reality. I am confident that I know how to deal with it but I am so worried about everyone else that I cannot control. I remember my sister having to eat lunch in a secluded area at school... thank goodness schools don't allow peanuts anything anymore! My sister would always have to turn down home baked goods from friends or at parties.. even if they said.. "we have peanut butter in the house.. but it's not in the cookies" I just prayed and prayed that I wouldn't have to worry about that with my boys.. but yesterday reality changed. I am aware that usually peanut allergies just get worse and worse.. so if this is the start I am well aware of what it could turn into. I love Carter so much and like any mother, I just want to protect him, love him and keep him safe. This is our new reality I guess. We have a doctors appointment next week to get referred to an allergen and have him tested.
I am thankful for my two boys.. for their friendship.. especially on hard days like yesterday..
Now living with a new peanut allergy in our house and with it being inside my sweet sweet boy, I have immediately turned into the crazy.. ARE THERE ANY NUTS IN THERE?!! mom... Great...now I'm the nutty one!