Here's the story:
Samara has stopped liking her meaty baby food. Don't blame her. It's completely unsalted. Because the texture of real meat doesn't appeal to her either, we thought we'd get some protein in her via peanut butter.
When I dropped Samara off at Tim's mom's yesterday, she said, "So, what is Samara eating lately?"
"Anything!" I said.
"Anything? Even peanut butter?" said Mom.
"Sure! We've got to get protein in her somehow." (Additional note: she hates beans and is not a fan of eggs either.)
When I got back to pick Samara up, she was eating peanut butter. Halfway home while scarfing down an M&M McFlurry and trying to explain to Samara that I wasn't going to be able to feed her any because driving 75 mph and spoon gymnastics don't mix, I noticed splotches all over her face.
An hour or so later, Samara had splotches all over her entire body. She wasn't wheezing or anything. Just splotchy.
"Sounds like Samara has a peanut allergy," our pediatrician said.
So, we gave her Benadryl... I have to pick an epi-pen up from the pharmacy later today in case of accidental exposure. Apparently, multiple exposures can result in ever-worsening symptoms.
I'm not sure how to react to this. I'm less concerned that she's going to die from a peanut allergy, and more concerned that she's going to be the kid in the classroom that makes it so that no other kid can have PB&J sandwiches.
No more peanuts for my little peanut.
9 comments:
If its any consolation, our Dr. said the peanuts during pregnancy thing is hooey drummed up by the authors of "What to expect when you're expecting." According to him, maybe, just maybe, it will make a difference if you have peanut allergies yourself--but then what are you doing eating peanuts?!
Hi - I'm the mom of an 8-year old with peanut allergies, and we've found other families to be very helpful in protecting our son.
If you haven't found them yet, FAAN is a great organization for learning about food allergies:
www.foodallergy.org
Also, I've really appreciate the folks at this message board:
http://allergy.hyperboards.com
Poor Mara!!! Hope she feel better soon!!!
My nephew Myles has a peanut allergy we discovered when he was about Samara's age. Poor little thing his hands and mouth got all red and he kept rubbing his eyes which then also got all swollen and turned red.
Public schools in our area no longer allow peanut anything. At all of Samantha's therapy appointments we're not allowed to have peanut anything either, simply because there are so many kids with this allergy.
One way we were able to get Mandi to eat meat when she was a little swuirt was to cut it up and put a toothpick in each one. She thought it was great and we were eventually able to narrow it down to a toothpick for each hand.
My comment just got eaten. I hate Blogger some days.
Poor Samara! I don't think anyone will point at her for ruining their PB&J bliss, though - it's just such a common thing now.
I ate peanut butter throughout my pregnancy and while breastfeeding, and I DID get the memo. I had a hard time being as restrictive as my American books told me I was supposed to be when my (also pregnant) Japanese neighbor was eating sushi... It's amazing how even medical recommendations seem to be culturally-bound.
I actually heard/read about a group of researchers the other day (on NPR possibly?) who are thinking now that *not* being exposed to allergens like peanuts might be increasing kids' risk to developing allergies.
All this to say (after all Prof. Leder's efforts to teach me to be concise) that of all your concerns, fear that you somehow caused this should be at the absolute bottom of the list. No, actually, it shouldn't be on the list at all. Really.
Hey Heidi! Sorry to hear about Samara's new allergy. :( Doesn't sound like much fun. I got my first official allergy this past week--I don't know what to--but it's not nearly as much of a bummer as a peanut allergy.
Aren't we due for another coffee/lunch date?
Bets :)
Nut allergies are such trouble, I 'm sorry to hear about this, Heidi. I think she will be the classroom 'spoiler' (perhaps not the only one), pb just clings to everything, and has such potential to cause harm. Ugh.
Well, following Meika (hi Meika), I'll take the PB and pregnancy alert further in saying that I DIDN'T get the memo! I've eaten plenty of PB, and don't plan to stop, partic since my meat intake is more limited. I was told no alcohol (well, at least in the US...we went to Italy and I drank some wine...it's not taboo there, and my midwife gave the okay), no unpasturized cheeses, and no raw fish. This last prohibition should not readily be extended to sushi however, and seems to insult the Japanese to do so....it's a shellfish issue, oysters, clams, because of parasites. Sushi is nearly always flash frozen to kill parasites in any case. The fear tactics that make our pregnancies more anxious! Yes, take the notion of your agency off the list.
I hope Samara is doing okay now and that the allergies stop here...
love and miss you,
Shelly
I just tagged you in a Thanksgiving meme!
Second to Meika--definitely not your fault!!!
And, second to Meika, I just tagged you in a Meme about Advent.
Erica
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