Well, it happened.
Our first trip to the E.R. with Eloise.
This is probably new news to you.
But it's old news to us...
since it happened back on Jan. 25th.
I never made time to post about it.
So here I am now.
Let's just say...
I had a dumb-o mama moment...
But in all reality...
it was inevitable...
Let me start at the beginning.
At Eloise's 1 yr appointment we got the OK to
try cow's milk and cheese and eggs.
In my mind I am doing the happy dance for 2 reasons:
1.) Though I am doing "baby led weaning"
(I don't think you should force your child to wean until they are completely ready)...
there is a sliver of hope that once we start on cow's milk,
Eloise will want to wean sooner rather than later.
Come on, now. Any of you nursing mama's can relate
with wanting to wear a NORMAL bra again!
and
2.) I was excited that Eloise and I could have the same breakfast!
Scrambled eggs and toast! YUMMO!
So, the morning of the 25th, I do the unthinkable.
Because... really.. I knew better...
I just wasn't thinking.
I gave Eloise a mix of 1/2 mama milk and 1/2 cow's milk.
She took a big swig and tossed it on the floor.
Typical.
I also gave her scrambled eggs and toast.
Can you see where this is going?
You should never introduce more than one food
at a time. And I did TWO of the worst
allergy culprits at the same time!
What WAS I thinking?
So... laa dee daa.. the morning goes on...
when about an hour and a half later I notice
Eloise getting kind of sluggish.
She will drape herself on me when she is tired...
and she started doing that...
but it wasn't nap time.
So I decided to take her temperature.
98.2*
Ok... hmmm...
She coughed a few times...
no biggie.
But I get online to look up milk and egg allergies anyway.
Eloise is playing near me...
and when she gets up and comes to my side,
I look down at her and notice that her face is pink...
(like she'd rubbed it).
I looked back at the computer...
30 seconds later, I look back and El...
and she is super red and puffy with hives!
Commence silent panic.
I didn't want to freak her out...
and I was trying to stay calm but
I have never dealt with allergies before, so
I admit... I was a little scared!
I called Cory (who flew home) and the Pediatrician's office.
Of course I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the Ped's
office, so we went straight to the E.R.
where it took forever to get signed in.
Seriously... EMERGENCY means URGENCY.
But what can you do?
A nurse came about 5 minutes later...
we went through the whole checking the vitals thing.
Eloise did NOT like that.
At one point, her pink puffy face went white and she
went limp in my arms. It was only for a brief moment...
but it was scary! I think perhaps she had worked herself
up so much into an overheated tizzy that she almost passed out.
The nurse gave her a kitty cat (pic above)
which entertained Eloise for about 30 seconds...
and then we were off to another room.
20 mins later... a doctor came to check her out.
He didn't seem overly concerned, though I am sure he didn't
want to make us panic any more than we already were!
20 mins after that... Eloise was given Benadryl... went home
to nap for an hour and the hives were pretty much gone.
PHEW!
The next day was a follow up appt at the Ped's office.
"No Milk or Eggs until 15 months."
(So much for weaning)
But a few days later the office called and wanted to set up
an appointment with an Allergist at a place over an hour away.
We gladly accepted the appointment!
Of course we want to find out what was causing the reaction!
Fast forward to yesterday...
We made it to our appointment.
Eloise got tested...
... and she is officially allergic to...
EGGS.
So. We have to avoid them altogether...
she can't even touch an egg in it's shell!!
There is hope that she will grow out of it since I eat
eggs all of the time and it hasn't bothered her system via
my milk... but we have to wait a year to have
another test!
In the meantime, I have to carry an Epipen
in case she has a severe reaction by accident...
and also Benadryl in case she has a mild reaction.
On the bright side...
she didn't cry at her appointment!
We figured she would FREAK!
...AND...
We get to try cow's milk again!
(Weaning... here we come!?)
Yea!
Do any of your kids have allergies?
What a trip, huh?
Our first trip to the E.R. with Eloise.
This is probably new news to you.
But it's old news to us...
since it happened back on Jan. 25th.
I never made time to post about it.
So here I am now.
Let's just say...
I had a dumb-o mama moment...
But in all reality...
it was inevitable...
Let me start at the beginning.
At Eloise's 1 yr appointment we got the OK to
try cow's milk and cheese and eggs.
In my mind I am doing the happy dance for 2 reasons:
1.) Though I am doing "baby led weaning"
(I don't think you should force your child to wean until they are completely ready)...
there is a sliver of hope that once we start on cow's milk,
Eloise will want to wean sooner rather than later.
Come on, now. Any of you nursing mama's can relate
with wanting to wear a NORMAL bra again!
and
2.) I was excited that Eloise and I could have the same breakfast!
Scrambled eggs and toast! YUMMO!
So, the morning of the 25th, I do the unthinkable.
Because... really.. I knew better...
I just wasn't thinking.
I gave Eloise a mix of 1/2 mama milk and 1/2 cow's milk.
She took a big swig and tossed it on the floor.
Typical.
I also gave her scrambled eggs and toast.
Can you see where this is going?
You should never introduce more than one food
at a time. And I did TWO of the worst
allergy culprits at the same time!
What WAS I thinking?
So... laa dee daa.. the morning goes on...
when about an hour and a half later I notice
Eloise getting kind of sluggish.
She will drape herself on me when she is tired...
and she started doing that...
but it wasn't nap time.
So I decided to take her temperature.
98.2*
Ok... hmmm...
She coughed a few times...
no biggie.
But I get online to look up milk and egg allergies anyway.
Eloise is playing near me...
and when she gets up and comes to my side,
I look down at her and notice that her face is pink...
(like she'd rubbed it).
I looked back at the computer...
30 seconds later, I look back and El...
and she is super red and puffy with hives!
Commence silent panic.
I didn't want to freak her out...
and I was trying to stay calm but
I have never dealt with allergies before, so
I admit... I was a little scared!
I called Cory (who flew home) and the Pediatrician's office.
Of course I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the Ped's
office, so we went straight to the E.R.
where it took forever to get signed in.
Seriously... EMERGENCY means URGENCY.
But what can you do?
A nurse came about 5 minutes later...
we went through the whole checking the vitals thing.
Eloise did NOT like that.
At one point, her pink puffy face went white and she
went limp in my arms. It was only for a brief moment...
but it was scary! I think perhaps she had worked herself
up so much into an overheated tizzy that she almost passed out.
The nurse gave her a kitty cat (pic above)
which entertained Eloise for about 30 seconds...
and then we were off to another room.
20 mins later... a doctor came to check her out.
He didn't seem overly concerned, though I am sure he didn't
want to make us panic any more than we already were!
20 mins after that... Eloise was given Benadryl... went home
to nap for an hour and the hives were pretty much gone.
PHEW!
The next day was a follow up appt at the Ped's office.
"No Milk or Eggs until 15 months."
(So much for weaning)
But a few days later the office called and wanted to set up
an appointment with an Allergist at a place over an hour away.
We gladly accepted the appointment!
Of course we want to find out what was causing the reaction!
Fast forward to yesterday...
We made it to our appointment.
Eloise got tested...
... and she is officially allergic to...
EGGS.
So. We have to avoid them altogether...
she can't even touch an egg in it's shell!!
There is hope that she will grow out of it since I eat
eggs all of the time and it hasn't bothered her system via
my milk... but we have to wait a year to have
another test!
In the meantime, I have to carry an Epipen
in case she has a severe reaction by accident...
and also Benadryl in case she has a mild reaction.
On the bright side...
she didn't cry at her appointment!
We figured she would FREAK!
...AND...
We get to try cow's milk again!
(Weaning... here we come!?)
Yea!
Do any of your kids have allergies?
What a trip, huh?
So happy everything went well Devon...it had to be so scary for you. Loretta
ReplyDeleteOk I would have freaked. Those test areas make me want to cry. Don't you have chickens? No gathering eggs for Eloise? I never thought my one son would wean. Me getting a heart monitor for just a short time weaned him. All the wires & patches were not to his liking. Good luck with cow milk. She is such a sweetie. Thank the good Lord she is ok. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteLara
Glad she is okay; it is quite scary when they are sick and you are somewhat helpless. Can you feed her food with eggs cooked in it such as cake and pasta?
ReplyDeleteShelby
Nope! No foods at all with Egg! We can't touch egg and then touch her without washing our hands... we can't give her food off of a plate that may've had eggs on it. It's pretty strict!
DeleteGood grief! What we don't take for granted sometimes, eating and sharing (plates/foot). When I was younger I had to get an allergy shot every other week for about five years. I eventually grew out of my allergies to dust, pine trees, feathers, and horses, hope your babe does also.
DeleteShelby
Yikes! We went through something very similar to this with Gage, only to find out that he has an enzyme deficency and can't digest iron rich foods. I'm glad Eloise is feeling better now, and I'll be praying for you and for her :)
ReplyDelete