Don’t jump the gun. Don’t get your hopes up.
Let’s all join the “Allergy March” as Owen’s allergist likes to call it. I foolishly took both kids into Owen’s doctors visit. Two toddlers, one office, a few hours of work = horrible idea. I really thought Owen was at his prime. Surely he’d out grown a few of his allergies. He had secret missions of sneaking Brody’s food over the past month or so, and it had yet to result in an immediate/delayed reaction. We were sure he was well on his way of outgrowing his allergies.
The appointment started off with both kids holding their own. Brody was such a good big brother, explaining to ALL of the nurses exactly what Owen was allergic to. “No pancakes, no eggs, no cookies…” he went on and on. The nurse came in, and we explained Owen’s past. His breathing treatments, his asthma, and the “food experimenting” that left us so anxious to hear good news. Ten minutes past, waiting for the doctor to come in ( 1 hour kid time ) and the kids were beyond restless, trying to find the nearest escape route. No food is permitted in the room, so I threw a few drinking cups at them to play with. It worked.
It only took a few minutes until the cups were no longer the game of choice. Soon, the paper came off the table, in which my sweet boys rolled up and threw at the nurse. (She was a good sport) The kicking and screaming began, and no Iphone or LeapPad in the world could save me. I should have looked at the wording on the picture on the wall. It was definitely going to be a “challenge.” So, the doctor came in, talked with the kids and we got the testing started. 18 numbers total down Owen’s back, and the allergen drops were placed, followed by the painful pricks to insert it further into his skin. It’s quick, don’t get me wrong. But for a baby, it was awful. He was laying on top of me, (at this point I had to join him on the table) hugging my neck, screaming, and clawing me like a cat being forced to take a bath. My heart broke. As soon as the nurse was done with her pricking, she mentioned stickers and his attitude perked up a bit.
I kept staring at that little man’s back, grinding my teeth out of nervousness, hoping that they would not start to hive over. Owen was so cute running around shirtless, placing stickers everywhere in the office, and then the itching began. He was trying to hug himself to reach his back to scratch and I knew then, that we were right back where we had started. Here comes the hives…
We had to wait ten or so short minutes before the doctor could come back in and tell us exactly which hive was what. At four weeks of age, while I was nursing, we quickly learned he as allergic to ALL dairy and eggs. So I knocked that out of my diet. At around 6 months, I had lobster, the next day he was so swollen and uncomfortable we ruled that out too. So, just three allergens. We flipped his and our diets around, and it was an adjustment, but, like any parents we would do anything to benefit our children.
Oh, that drum roll…. Here is what Owen is REALLY allergic too now-a-days.
- DAIRY (big time)
- EGGS
- TREES (a little)
- GRASS (big time)
- DOGS (big time)
- And a few other simple things.
Grass took me a minute to process. Because he is SO allergic apparently. The doctor explained that this is why Owen’s asthma may kick up and down throughout different seasons. Plus, there have been plenty of times I remember Owen playing outside, and suddenly covered in hives, and I would blame it on the sand box, or something random. Now I know. It’s not like the kid cannot touch grass, he will just have heightened reactions at different times of year. DOGS. Lord, my german shepard loving husband was not happy to hear this one. I already got rid of our first dog we had, an english bulldog. His name is Gambino, this is him dressed up by his new mommy and daddy. His dad is my cousin and they take fabulous care of him!
Needless to say, it was a touchy subject giving him up (with Dan), so I always said he could have his german shepard one day… WHOOPS. In the long hall, thank goodness we did not keep him, because he is SO happy with my cousin. Anyways. Both grandparents have dogs. At my in-laws through the summer and over the past few months Owen would randomly be covered in hives on his face, and arms, and I would always relay it to the food we were eating, assuming someone did not wipe their hands enough. Now it all makes sense! Owen will now just have to take some medicine before he visits any pups. So far, in two years he has yet to react to my parent’s jack russel. So who knows! Time will tell!
We are back to full on protection mode with Owen. This week, he had a delayed reaction from something he had eaten and it was awful to watch. His belly was in so much pain, he could not stop crying. He is doing much better now as it is working its way out of his system. We are relieved though, to have a greater understanding of where his allergies are going. The doc said he calls it the allergy march, because it will keep going, and with kids like him, may just get worse with time. So, scratch that. Forget everything I said in the last post about all the hopes of Owen being able to eat what we eat. In the long run it really doesn’t matter. We are SO thankful that his allergies are manageable. Truly, he has made our family healthier. Tonight I will check on our boys ten times over before I go to bed. I feel like I will do that until they are away at college. Keeping our boys healthy, happy and safe. That’s all we can hope for.
