Yesterday morning was quite eventful for our family. The boys had their first allergic reaction. God was gracious keeping them safe and keeping me calm. The boys have been doing so well with eating table food and feeding themselves. They love eating whole grain bread and I decided to spread a little peanut butter on it. They were eating it up and making their "num num" sounds indicating that they liked it. They ate the first couple cubes so I gave them some more. Winston started whining and rubbed his eyes and started pulling on his ears. I thought it was his standard sleepiness signals since they eat breakfast shortly before their morning nap. I realized that he was getting a red ring around his mouth. He was developing hives in the blink of an eye. I pulled the trays off the high chairs and pulled Winston out of his high chair first since he was not looking good. I quickly washed Winston's face and hands since everywhere he had touched his face was turning red and puffy. He was breathing fine but was irritable. I was mentally preparing myself to call 911 if his breathing became labored or wheezy. Abraham was completely unfazed. He had some minor redness around his mouth and a few hives on his face but was looking a lot better than Winston. I called Eric at work and thank God he picked up right away. I explained what was happening and that I had no Benadryl in the house. Eric left work right away and got children's Benadryl for me. While I was waiting I had the boys on the floor playing. I started nursing Winston because my thought was that if he was having trouble breathing then he would not be able to nurse. He was nursing just fine so I knew he could breathe through his nose okay. Then I nursed Abraham who was still acting like nothing was wrong despite his red face. I got both boys into the bath tub to rinse off any peanut residual. At that point Eric got home with the Benadryl and we began discussing dosage since it was not for infants. I had tried calling my pediatrician several times at this point and had no success even getting the answering service. I called the hospital where the boys were born and asked to speak to a nurse in the pediatric unit. I explained what was happening and they connected me to the pediatrician on call who is an associate of our regular pediatrician. The doctor was fabulous and made sure about the concentration of the Benadryl we had bought and gave us a dosage to use. She reassured me that it was prefectly acceptable to let them try the peanut butter and that I did not do something wrong. She was going to leave a message with our regular pediatrician and that he would refer us to an allergist. The boys were happily splashing in the tub at this point and I knew they were going to be okay. The boys got their Benadryl and took some good naps yesterday. Winston had the stronger reaction so he actually took three naps and I had to wake him up for dinner. They look great today and are acting like nothing ever happened.
This is Winston about 4 hours after his reaction. His face was looking a lot
better here but his whole body had a rash.
I LOVE peanut butter and eat it all the time. I have continued nursing the boys and they never developed eczema which can be a tell tale sign to being allergic to something within my diet. Neither Eric nor I have a family history of food allergies. Eric has some problems with lactose but nothing severe like what happened yesterday. The boys love peas and pinto beans which are also in the legume family like peanuts and have had no problems with eating them. I actually made sure before I let them try the peanut butter that I was not doing something against the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations. I read how in countries like Israel where infants are exposed to peanuts there is a lower prevalence of peanut allergies than in countries where it is advised against until later in toddlerhood. The abstract is
here. So all that to say I was not being flippant or taking an unnecesary risk in giving it to the boys.
I am humbled as a mother. I did everything "right" yet this still happened. I will confess that at times when I hear about kids having severe food allergies that I have wondered if they were not breastfed or if they were introduced to solids too soon. I am a jerk like that sometimes. God has used this to again show me of His sovereignty and that my children truly rest in His hands. I can try to control everything but ultimately things like food allergies are out of my hands.
My husband actually wrapped up two jars of all natural peanut butter for me for Christmas because I love it so much. Costco had discontinued their organic peanut butter several months ago and they finally got an all natural version in shortly before Christmas and Eric knew I was so excited about it. I now have several jars of peanut butter to get out of my pantry. I ate oatmeal for breakfast instead of peanut butter toast. It's going to be a process for me to get it out of my diet and to be vigilant about reading labels for the boys. I am going to eliminate tree nuts as well until we know what we are dealing with. I am telling myself to take it one day at a time and that this will again become our new normal.
My three men. I love them more than life.
