Dealing with Allergies

I’m not allergic to anything. Brett has had seasonal allergies off and on, but nothing serious. So we are relatively new to the allergy family.

Declan was diagnosed around a year as having a moderate allergy to eggs. We had a strong suspicious when he was ten months old and had scrambled eggs for the first time. What started out as “looking a little red” turned into full blown hives on his face, head and neck. We have a good prognosis that he could grow out of it by the time he starts school. Fingers crossed. When he was tested, he was tested for both eggs and peanuts. Eggs were a relief. Eggs are easy to cut out with only a little creativity and a lot of reading labels. We’ve only had one “accident”; a few weeks ago I gave him less than a teaspoon of Ranch dressing. Who knew Ranch dressing had eggs in it? He had a worse reaction than the first time, but still nothing a little Benedryl couldn’t handle.

Our latest dealings with allergies happened to be with Owen. After being on Amoxicillin for almost a week, he started with hives on his little behind one night. It cleared up with Benedryl. The next morning his stomach and chest were covered with hives and within a few hours they were spreading over his whole body. Two days and a few doctor’s visits later, we found ourselves in the ER with a diagnosis of Erythema Multiforme with a trigger of Amoxicillin. He had to undergo blood tests, urine tests, and needed lots of fluid due to dehydration. His hives spread and turned into a red rash with welts, and hives, and circles and all sorts of very scary looking marks. A scary site to see on your baby. He was so itchy and looked like he could crawl out of his skin; he was so uncomfortable. Talk about a mama just wanting to make it OK.

We are lucky. I have friends who have dealt with anaphylaxis and have to avoid places entirely due to allergies. Ours are relatively simple, but still just as scary. You never know when there could be cross contamination or that a reaction will be much worse than the last time.  That’s the scary thing about allergies…you just never know.