Saddest blotchy baby ever! I always planned on giving Bennett his first taste of peanut butter/nuts at the doctor's office on his one year appointment. I figured, if he's going to be deathly allergic to peanuts/tree nuts, what better place to go into anaphylactic shock than at the doctor's office? I gave him a couple bites of my pita with peanut butter and almond butter in it. I wanted to just make sure he wasn't deathly allergic to either peanuts or tree nuts, knowing that I wouldn't know which caused the reaction, but at least there'd be no deadly reactions at home...During Bennett's appointment his mouth got a little red, but he gets that way from eggs too and that's it. He loves eggs and they never bother him besides making his mouth a little red. Doc said it was probably a very mild sensitivity and not to worry about it. We got home and around 11 Bennett started fussing so we figured he was ready for a nap. It turned out that he was fussy because he was covered in hives. We didn't have any Benedryl so Mark ran to Target to get some while I tried to keep our sweet boy from scratching himself to death. I called the doc office to ask them how much Benedryl to give him and (very calmly) described the sequence of events and symptoms, etc. The nurse asked me at some point, "Now, is he breathing?" I was like, "Um, of course he's breathing...do you think I would be calmly talking to my pediatrician's office if MY BABY WERE NOT BREATHING?!" Duh. By the time Mark got back his face was so swollen that he didn't look like himself and his ears were about 3 times their normal size. It was super scary.
I called the doc again to ask how long the medicine should take to kick in and the nurse asked if he had been coughing or throwing up, as that would be a more serious issue. I was about to say no when Bennett proceeded to start coughing and projectile vomit all over me. She made an appointment for us to come into the office after debating sending us straight to the ER and I started frantically trying to find Mark a ride to the airport. Mark gave Bennett a Priesthood blessing and around 1 the medicine started working and we got to cancel Bennett's appointment, drive Mark to the airport and get home safe and sound. It was a long day, but Bennett is fine, so I'm fine. We're fine.*Update - With allergies like this the second reaction is often worse than the first, so we're going to have to start carrying an epipen for him and we're waiting for blood work in a few months to figure out if it's peanuts/tree nuts or both (oh gosh, please just be peanuts...) Until Bennett is weaned, I also have to go nut free, which is totally lame, by the way. Statistically speaking, it's not likely that he'll outgrow a nut allergy and I learned that a family history of asthma or eczema (both of which run in our families) increase a child's chance of having a food allergy. Who knew? (clearly not me).
Enough about that - on to the 1 year check up! Here are his stats:
Height: 31 inches (80%)
Weight: 24 lb 6 oz (75%)
Head: 47 1/2 cm (80%)
For those of you keeping score, Bennett jumped from the 50% to the 80% in height/head but stayed in the 75% for weight. I would love to meet the baby that is chunkier than my little chunk-a-monkey! Seriously, this little baby is so solid! I guess he's not a baby any longer. He is officially walking. Done crawling. I'd be more sad if watching him toddle around the house weren't so cute! This was really text heavy so here are some cute pictures of the little guy to make up for it.
Still not much hair...Sunscreen does give him a sweet mohawk though.
Sweet little baby out cold for the night. Mark and I usually sneak into his room at night to check on him before we go to sleep. I love the random positions he sleeps in!
Oh poor little thing. Glad he's okay. Sucks about the allergy.. I hope it's not both. Yay for blessings! Cute pic of him!
ReplyDeleteWow! That is really scary! That is not a mild reaction. Don't you hate talking to the nurses sometimes? I feel like they often ask or say stupid things. One time one had me freaking out that my baby was dying and I'd need to take him to the ER. Then told me to bring him in to the office instead. The doc was mad at her for being so stupid and scaring me. Anyway...so glad B is ok. And he is such a cute boy. I love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the allergies. What a pain - speaking from personal experience! Scott is only allergic to nuts now. I don't know what your allergist will say, but mine has said they generally have people with peanut allergies avoid all nuts because it's really not likely that someone with a peanut allergy is not allergic to tree nuts as well. They also aren't as careful in processing peanuts and tree nuts separately, which you will notice in allergy warnings - peanut and tree nut warnings almost always come together. It is a pain, but once you get used to dealing with it, it isn't such a big deal. He sure is cute though!
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ReplyDeleteSarah Wilcox poor Bennett!!!
Caitlin Coleman Even with hives, Bennett is still the cutest little guy!