Austin had another reaction yesterday. It wasn't a sever one and I only had to give him an antihistamine. I've been keeping a food log and we really couldn't pinpoint what had caused it. Austin crawled for the first time yesterday and it got me thinking. He will be on the move soon and we shouldn't have anything in the house that he is deathly allergic to. I feel like it is a time bomb waiting to go off. So, before John came home I threw out anything that has milk, peanut, or tree nuts. It was a lot. Every Italian dressing I have has milk in it!
When John got home he was a little shocked. I did it before he got home because I knew he would have a harder time letting go of cheese and other dairy products than I would. As most of you know I've had issues with diary since I was in college so I have had ALOT more time to deal with this than John.
Anyway, I think he agrees with me that it was the right thing, but it doesn't make it easy. So I told him from now on I will not buy anything with milk or nuts and bring it into this house. If he wants to eat it then he needs to at work or outside of the house. I told him we will find alternatives, such as coconut milk ice cream. John really likes it and the allergist told us to not include coconut as a nut. For now I think that is what we will be doing. I also told John I will let him drink up his 2% milk but then I'm not buying anymore. I guess he will have to get used to soy milk.
I decided that we had to start somewhere, so anything with soy and wheat can stay for now. Austin just gets diarrhea when he eats soy or wheat so if he did get into anything it wouldn't cause as big a reaction as the milk and nuts. We will tackle the soy and wheat another time.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Struggling with Austin's allergies
At 6 months Austin had a anaphylaxis reaction to formula (milk). We saw an Allergist and conducted and blood test. Then a couple weeks later we conducted a skin test. We knew from those two tests that Austin was definitely allergic to milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. What we didn't know was that he would also be allergic to soy and wheat.
I have been doing lots of research. Did you know there are 8 main things that someone can be deathly allergic too? Austin is deathly allergic to 3 out of the 8 and has diarrhea and bad eczema from 2 more of the 8. So basically we have to avoid 5 out of the 8. I guess I never thought about how this would affect us on an ongoing basis, but as he gets closer to a year and starts eating "table scraps" I am realizing that this is going to be a big struggle.
John tells me "he will outgrow some", which is a good way to think, but what do we do NOW?? I mean Austin won't get tested again until next March, so until then we are on strict orders for TOTAL AVOIDANCE. We can hope that he outgrows some, but then they can come back.
I'm not sure where to proceed from here. Do we rid our house of everything he is allergic too?? I don't know how to eat that way... have you ever been to a store and had to read EVERY food label on EVERY food before you put it in your cart? Its EXHAUSTING. Even if it says "Processed in a facility with _______" or "may contain ____" we cannot buy it. Milk and nuts are in random things that you would never think about, like dried fruit. The list goes on... There are tons of foods out there that are gluten free. I have looked at the labels, almost all of them contain nuts or eggs. The problem isn't what he is allergic to but the combination. You can avoid one or the other, but trying to avoid all 5 is near impossible without eating fruits, vegetables, and meats only.
How do you cook without butter? without flour? without eggs? (We are to avoid eggs for now because the doctor thinks he is allergic and we don't want to test it and end up in the ER again). Also we need avoid sesame seeds, strawberries, acid fruit, ... because these are foods that cause lots of food allergies and to be on the safe side we aren't to give them to him.
For now Austin eats mostly pureed foods, and thankfully there are lots that I can find at the store that are organic that he can eat. I just know one day soon he will want to feed himself and then I really don't know what we will do.
I went to a friends house and she was trying to give Austin some food. I know she was just being helpful but it really opened my eyes. I asked to look at the package of everything and I could tell she was getting a little annoyed with me. Her kids don't have allergies, so she doesn't understand. At one point she said "you have an epi-pen don't you? just give it to him and see what happens". I'm saying this not to put her down, but because I think lots of people feel this way. I know I used to, what is the big deal, who cares. What she doesn't realize and I never did either is that it is Life and Death. People DIE from eating things they are allergic too. Now what I have the hardest time wrapping my brain around is why can Austin die from milk, peanuts, and tree nuts; but almost everyone else in the world can eat them without a second thought.
I know I'm rambling, but I just have to get this out. Our lives will forever be changed because of this. I think some of it is good. I'm sure John and I eat too much processed food, which we will have to remove from our house because of Austin's allergies. The hard part comes when we go to someones house or we go out to eat. Its almost impossible to ensure that the restaurant takes as much care as I do to make sure Austin's food doesn't come in contact with something that we eat that could cause a reaction.
Its summer now and so many people are having birthday parities and cook outs. For now we can go becuase I can bring Austin's food and he isn't mobile. What do we do next year when he is walking around and eating things off the floor? I can't watch him at ALL times. Do we just not go??? I have a friend who's child is so allergic to peanuts if you've had peanuts within 24 hours and washed your hands and touch him, he can still have a reaction. Austin is not that bad, but my friend goes to our church. Her son will be 2 this weekend and now that he is mobile they no longer stay for pot lucks at church. Her son only has a peanut allergy. What will we do?? I mean Austin is allergic to FIVE main ingredients in things. I don't want to be anti-social but will we have to avoid social gatherings with foods for a while until Austin is old enough to understand what he can and can't eat.
I'm going crazy, as you can very well see. I'm stopping the madness now, but this is what goes through my mind constantly. Hopefully we will learn as we go and we won't have anymore ER visits.
I have been doing lots of research. Did you know there are 8 main things that someone can be deathly allergic too? Austin is deathly allergic to 3 out of the 8 and has diarrhea and bad eczema from 2 more of the 8. So basically we have to avoid 5 out of the 8. I guess I never thought about how this would affect us on an ongoing basis, but as he gets closer to a year and starts eating "table scraps" I am realizing that this is going to be a big struggle.
John tells me "he will outgrow some", which is a good way to think, but what do we do NOW?? I mean Austin won't get tested again until next March, so until then we are on strict orders for TOTAL AVOIDANCE. We can hope that he outgrows some, but then they can come back.
I'm not sure where to proceed from here. Do we rid our house of everything he is allergic too?? I don't know how to eat that way... have you ever been to a store and had to read EVERY food label on EVERY food before you put it in your cart? Its EXHAUSTING. Even if it says "Processed in a facility with _______" or "may contain ____" we cannot buy it. Milk and nuts are in random things that you would never think about, like dried fruit. The list goes on... There are tons of foods out there that are gluten free. I have looked at the labels, almost all of them contain nuts or eggs. The problem isn't what he is allergic to but the combination. You can avoid one or the other, but trying to avoid all 5 is near impossible without eating fruits, vegetables, and meats only.
How do you cook without butter? without flour? without eggs? (We are to avoid eggs for now because the doctor thinks he is allergic and we don't want to test it and end up in the ER again). Also we need avoid sesame seeds, strawberries, acid fruit, ... because these are foods that cause lots of food allergies and to be on the safe side we aren't to give them to him.
For now Austin eats mostly pureed foods, and thankfully there are lots that I can find at the store that are organic that he can eat. I just know one day soon he will want to feed himself and then I really don't know what we will do.
I went to a friends house and she was trying to give Austin some food. I know she was just being helpful but it really opened my eyes. I asked to look at the package of everything and I could tell she was getting a little annoyed with me. Her kids don't have allergies, so she doesn't understand. At one point she said "you have an epi-pen don't you? just give it to him and see what happens". I'm saying this not to put her down, but because I think lots of people feel this way. I know I used to, what is the big deal, who cares. What she doesn't realize and I never did either is that it is Life and Death. People DIE from eating things they are allergic too. Now what I have the hardest time wrapping my brain around is why can Austin die from milk, peanuts, and tree nuts; but almost everyone else in the world can eat them without a second thought.
I know I'm rambling, but I just have to get this out. Our lives will forever be changed because of this. I think some of it is good. I'm sure John and I eat too much processed food, which we will have to remove from our house because of Austin's allergies. The hard part comes when we go to someones house or we go out to eat. Its almost impossible to ensure that the restaurant takes as much care as I do to make sure Austin's food doesn't come in contact with something that we eat that could cause a reaction.
Its summer now and so many people are having birthday parities and cook outs. For now we can go becuase I can bring Austin's food and he isn't mobile. What do we do next year when he is walking around and eating things off the floor? I can't watch him at ALL times. Do we just not go??? I have a friend who's child is so allergic to peanuts if you've had peanuts within 24 hours and washed your hands and touch him, he can still have a reaction. Austin is not that bad, but my friend goes to our church. Her son will be 2 this weekend and now that he is mobile they no longer stay for pot lucks at church. Her son only has a peanut allergy. What will we do?? I mean Austin is allergic to FIVE main ingredients in things. I don't want to be anti-social but will we have to avoid social gatherings with foods for a while until Austin is old enough to understand what he can and can't eat.
I'm going crazy, as you can very well see. I'm stopping the madness now, but this is what goes through my mind constantly. Hopefully we will learn as we go and we won't have anymore ER visits.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Busy Month
Well I can't believe it's already May and I only posted one blog last month. I'm starting to slack a little in the blog department.
Well this month all three of us were sick. John had strep and an ear infection. Then before he could get over it he got a nasty virus with a cough. Austin ended up getting strep and the virus. He also had diarrhea for 14 days!! I only got the virus. We have been out of commission for a while.
Because of his diarrhea for so long, we have taken him off of soy formula, which started the diarrhea. Soy has been added to the list of things hes allergic too. We have also taken him off breast milk, which we would have done within the next month anyway. We've been giving him frozen milk since I'm not pumping anymore. Hes now been off breast milk for a week and his eczema has almost completely gone away. I don't think this is a coincidence. I had a feeling that what he was eating was causing it. The problem is I was eating anything, even things we have now found out he is allergic to. This was causing his eczema. He eats solids, but I've been VERY slow about introducing things to him.
Austin gave us a scare a week ago. We had just finished giving him a bath and John was feeding him. John went to burp him and yelled for me. Austin's mouth, feet and hands were turning blue. He wasn't cold so we didn't know what was causing it. It reminded me of when he was first born, but not as bad. I called the doctor and since it was after hours they told us to go to the ER. Well this will be the third time this year I've been to the Children's Hospital. I hope we don't make this a habit. Of course by the time we got there he wasn't blue anymore. We got there about 8:15 am on Monday and they didn't release us until noon the next day! It was an exhausting 24 hrs of tests. Thankfully we found out that there isn't anything wrong with him. We still aren't sure why this happened, but at least we know there isn't anything wrong with his heart or lungs.
Well this month all three of us were sick. John had strep and an ear infection. Then before he could get over it he got a nasty virus with a cough. Austin ended up getting strep and the virus. He also had diarrhea for 14 days!! I only got the virus. We have been out of commission for a while.
Because of his diarrhea for so long, we have taken him off of soy formula, which started the diarrhea. Soy has been added to the list of things hes allergic too. We have also taken him off breast milk, which we would have done within the next month anyway. We've been giving him frozen milk since I'm not pumping anymore. Hes now been off breast milk for a week and his eczema has almost completely gone away. I don't think this is a coincidence. I had a feeling that what he was eating was causing it. The problem is I was eating anything, even things we have now found out he is allergic to. This was causing his eczema. He eats solids, but I've been VERY slow about introducing things to him.
Austin gave us a scare a week ago. We had just finished giving him a bath and John was feeding him. John went to burp him and yelled for me. Austin's mouth, feet and hands were turning blue. He wasn't cold so we didn't know what was causing it. It reminded me of when he was first born, but not as bad. I called the doctor and since it was after hours they told us to go to the ER. Well this will be the third time this year I've been to the Children's Hospital. I hope we don't make this a habit. Of course by the time we got there he wasn't blue anymore. We got there about 8:15 am on Monday and they didn't release us until noon the next day! It was an exhausting 24 hrs of tests. Thankfully we found out that there isn't anything wrong with him. We still aren't sure why this happened, but at least we know there isn't anything wrong with his heart or lungs.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Update...It's been a while
We got the results from Austin's blood test. He is allergic to milk and nuts for sure. We are going next week to have a skin test because the blood test was not conclusive enough to rule out an allergy to eggs, wheat and soy. He was definitely not allergic to shell fish! I'm praying that he isn't allergic to wheat or eggs. It is very hard to find foods like cheerios that are milk, nut, and wheat free.
We were in TX for two weeks. In the time we were there Austin got a tooth, learned to sit up on his own, started rolling over more, was doing "giddy up horsey", found his feet, started babbling and is grabbing for toys. When I brought Austin back to Chicago it was like he was a different boy! On Sunday he said "mama" while babbling three times and hasn't stopped since. Still no "dada".
I've started teaching Austin baby sign language. He has yet to do the movements back to me but I think he is getting it.
John is sick this week with strep and an ear infection. So I have Lysol the entire house and we are staying away from anything he touches.
I'm getting a little frustrated with making my own baby food. I don't know what Gerber puts in their food, but the label will say green beans and water, so I make green beans and water in my beaba cooker. Guess what he HATES the homemade green beans and loves the Gerber green beans. It used to be green beans but now almost anything I put in front of him that I've made he won't eat, but he will eat it out of a jar. Today I tried sweet potato and apple. He won't eat mine, I'm thinking I didn't have the right amounts. When I tasted it was like eating only apple and the Gerber one isn't like that. Anyway, so I'm still doing some trial and error. Also Austin is EXACTLY like Austin. He doesn't really care for fruits but he LOVES his vegetables. I don't get it. The only thing I can determine is that our taste buds must pick up on different things! He seems to think every fruit is sour. I keep giving it to him because I read somewhere that they need to be introduced to something over 50 times before they will like it. I hope I get the hommeade baby food down soon. I would much rather pay $.99 for a pound of the actual vegetable than $.89 for each 4 oz jar of baby food.
We were in TX for two weeks. In the time we were there Austin got a tooth, learned to sit up on his own, started rolling over more, was doing "giddy up horsey", found his feet, started babbling and is grabbing for toys. When I brought Austin back to Chicago it was like he was a different boy! On Sunday he said "mama" while babbling three times and hasn't stopped since. Still no "dada".
I've started teaching Austin baby sign language. He has yet to do the movements back to me but I think he is getting it.
John is sick this week with strep and an ear infection. So I have Lysol the entire house and we are staying away from anything he touches.
I'm getting a little frustrated with making my own baby food. I don't know what Gerber puts in their food, but the label will say green beans and water, so I make green beans and water in my beaba cooker. Guess what he HATES the homemade green beans and loves the Gerber green beans. It used to be green beans but now almost anything I put in front of him that I've made he won't eat, but he will eat it out of a jar. Today I tried sweet potato and apple. He won't eat mine, I'm thinking I didn't have the right amounts. When I tasted it was like eating only apple and the Gerber one isn't like that. Anyway, so I'm still doing some trial and error. Also Austin is EXACTLY like Austin. He doesn't really care for fruits but he LOVES his vegetables. I don't get it. The only thing I can determine is that our taste buds must pick up on different things! He seems to think every fruit is sour. I keep giving it to him because I read somewhere that they need to be introduced to something over 50 times before they will like it. I hope I get the hommeade baby food down soon. I would much rather pay $.99 for a pound of the actual vegetable than $.89 for each 4 oz jar of baby food.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Allergist
Austin and I went to the allergist today. He is going to be tested for wheat, soy, milk, shellfish, nuts, and egg allergy. Usually they do the test as a skin test on his back, but because he is still on so many drugs from his ER visit they had to draw blood and we will wait a week to get the results. The allergist recommended a formula we can use and he gave us a sample. It is REALLY expensive, but I can't keep breastfeeding (because I don't want to not because there is something wrong) so we are going to try it this weekend. I hope it goes well. I'm a little scared to give him something because of what happened last time, but we are prepared this time. Also the allergist said that the formula tastes bad. Here's to hoping he doesn't notice a difference!
6 month check up
Austin had his 6 months check up yesterday. He weighed 19 lbs 10 oz, was 25.5" long, and they also measured his head. He is in the 90th percentile for weight, 25th percentile for height, and 10th percentile for head circumference...basically this means he's short, fat with a small head :). (I'm having a hard time understanding how Austin is short with the families he came from! Haha!)
I have to say he's the cutest short, fat baby with a small head I've ever seen.
Today we are going to the allergist. Hopefully they can tell us what he is allergic too.
Also, I've been having vertigo for 2 weeks. It was getting better but the stress of this week has made it get worse again. Thankfully I can still do most normal things. I can't take the medicine the doctor prescribed and drive (which I'm not so sure I should be doing anyway with vertigo but have to because John is working) so I haven't been taking it. The doctor said I should go to PT for vertigo but I just haven't had the chance (this will be day 3 of doctors visits for Austin). So if I'm still feeling bad I will have PT in Dallas when we are there next week.
Since leaving the hospital Austin had developed a cold. Just a runny nose, sneezing... I woke up today with a runny nose and a sore throat. We are running on fumes here!
Thankfully Brandy will be here Saturday and we will be going to Dallas next week where I can have lots of help!
I have to say he's the cutest short, fat baby with a small head I've ever seen.
Today we are going to the allergist. Hopefully they can tell us what he is allergic too.
Also, I've been having vertigo for 2 weeks. It was getting better but the stress of this week has made it get worse again. Thankfully I can still do most normal things. I can't take the medicine the doctor prescribed and drive (which I'm not so sure I should be doing anyway with vertigo but have to because John is working) so I haven't been taking it. The doctor said I should go to PT for vertigo but I just haven't had the chance (this will be day 3 of doctors visits for Austin). So if I'm still feeling bad I will have PT in Dallas when we are there next week.
Since leaving the hospital Austin had developed a cold. Just a runny nose, sneezing... I woke up today with a runny nose and a sore throat. We are running on fumes here!
Thankfully Brandy will be here Saturday and we will be going to Dallas next week where I can have lots of help!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Exhausting Day
Yesterday was supposed to be a day of fun and adventure. It turned out to be this and much much more.
Austin and I went to see John at work for the first time. This was also the first time I had driven more than 5 miles by myself with Austin in the car. He did great! He was a delight at John's office as well. He really is such a good baby. We got to John's office around 12:30, this is because Austin slept for 2 hours for his morning nap. I thought this was so weird, he never sleeps that long. Luckily he did! When we got in the car to go home he slept for 20 minutes and then we ended up in bumper to bumper traffic so he couldn't sleep.
When we got home it was 3:30, I wanted to give him a bottle and then get him to go to sleep for a good nap before bed. I'm down to pumping once a day and have been meaning to give him formula since Saturday (he was officially 6 months old). I didn't have any milk out when we got home so I opened a new can of Enfamil formula. The same stuff he had used when he was a week old, but hasn't since then. I made him a 5 oz bottle and we went back to his room. He was downing it! I was so happy. All I could think was this transition to formula is going to be so easy. Before I could even finish this thought something weird happened. He had only drank 2 oz. but he started making this really weird noise...like he had flem in his throat. Then he stated to gag and was throwing up mucus. He was also crying REALLY WEIRD. I didn't know what was going on. I tried to give him more formula and he didn't want it, so I threw out the formula, got a new bottle and made him some breast milk. At this point I was thinking he just didn't like the formula.
I give him the bottle of breast milk and he won't drink. Now I'm really starting to wonder and he's still doing this weird cry and gagging. He almost sounds like hes crying under water. I tried to use the aspirator to suck out the mucus in the back of his throat but it wasn't working. By this time he had snot everywhere so I changed his clothes. He was going in and out of sleep so I tried to get him to go to sleep. I laid him in his crib and walked out of his room. About 10 minutes later I go back in his room because he still hasn't gone to sleep. I pick him up and he is covered in hives! OMG I freaked out. My neighbor, Olivia, is working on her pediatric nursing degree. Thankfully she is home on Tuesdays. By this time its been about an hour to an hour and a half since he had the formula. I take him to Olivia's and she said he was having an allergic reaction. That never even crossed my mind. I called our doctor, and its 4:45 by this point so the office is closed so I left a message with the answering service. A nurse called me back and said we needed to take Austin to the ER! WHAT! After I hung up we took his clothes off him and Austin was as red as a lobster, I am not exaggerating. He was red EVERYWHERE. Olivia was holding him and he finally puked a lot of the formula up. I called the doctor back to make sure that since he threw it up did we still need to go to the ER and they said yes.
I got Austin in the car and we went to the ER (even though everyone else I talked to said I shouldn't take him but I felt in my gut I needed to). We get to the ER, let me make a side note here. Having never been to the ER I didn't know if they would park my car for me so I parked the car my self in the parking garage. When I went to enter the ER the only way was through a long drive way where you are supposed to DRIVE. I had the stroller and we are running down the drive in the stroller. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person. Anyway back to the story... We got in line at Triage. Thankfully the line wasn't long and within 5 minutes of getting there we were being seen.
At triage they hooked Austin up to all kinds of machines, took his weight, bp, oxygen levels, ... I don't even know what all they did. There were tons of people waiting in the waiting room and I was starting to think we would be there all night. After the triage nurse finished she said we need to get him into a room hes having anaphylaxis. OMG again. So now we are in the room and hes still hooked up to all these machines and he is crying. So I picked him up but it was hard because he had all these wires everywhere. By the time we got to this point his entire body is red, even the whites of his eyes. They gave him an epipen, benadryl, and some mouth steroids. John is still not home from work yet. I have no idea how long we are going to have to stay. The nurse comes back and she said that when someone is having anaphylaxis there is an initial reaction and then there can be a more severe reaction 6-8 hours after the initial reaction. We were going to have to stay until after the 6 hour mark just to make sure he didn't have another reaction. Also now they wanted to monitor him closely because they want to make sure he doesn't have a reaction to the epipen.
He started looking better within 10 minutes of having the epipen and by the time we were released around 9:30 pm he looked almost back to normal. It was so scary, but I learned that I should definitely trust my gut instinct and that I was right to take him to the ER.
We have 2 epipens at home now that I need to take with me wherever we go. We are going to see an allergist to see what else he might be allergic to. We assume it was the milk protein in the formula but we don't know for sure. Also I want to see an allergist because we just started giving him baby food and I need to know what else he might be allergic to because I don't want to go through this again. They said we need to give him a formula that is neither milk nor soy based. So now I have to decide it we should do this or if I should continue pumping for the next 6 months. For now we are in limbo. I'm still pumping and he will get only the 5-6 fruits and veggies that I know he can eat. Unfortunately our battle with food allergies is not over but we are on our way to being educated so we know what to avoid in the future.
Austin and I went to see John at work for the first time. This was also the first time I had driven more than 5 miles by myself with Austin in the car. He did great! He was a delight at John's office as well. He really is such a good baby. We got to John's office around 12:30, this is because Austin slept for 2 hours for his morning nap. I thought this was so weird, he never sleeps that long. Luckily he did! When we got in the car to go home he slept for 20 minutes and then we ended up in bumper to bumper traffic so he couldn't sleep.
When we got home it was 3:30, I wanted to give him a bottle and then get him to go to sleep for a good nap before bed. I'm down to pumping once a day and have been meaning to give him formula since Saturday (he was officially 6 months old). I didn't have any milk out when we got home so I opened a new can of Enfamil formula. The same stuff he had used when he was a week old, but hasn't since then. I made him a 5 oz bottle and we went back to his room. He was downing it! I was so happy. All I could think was this transition to formula is going to be so easy. Before I could even finish this thought something weird happened. He had only drank 2 oz. but he started making this really weird noise...like he had flem in his throat. Then he stated to gag and was throwing up mucus. He was also crying REALLY WEIRD. I didn't know what was going on. I tried to give him more formula and he didn't want it, so I threw out the formula, got a new bottle and made him some breast milk. At this point I was thinking he just didn't like the formula.
I give him the bottle of breast milk and he won't drink. Now I'm really starting to wonder and he's still doing this weird cry and gagging. He almost sounds like hes crying under water. I tried to use the aspirator to suck out the mucus in the back of his throat but it wasn't working. By this time he had snot everywhere so I changed his clothes. He was going in and out of sleep so I tried to get him to go to sleep. I laid him in his crib and walked out of his room. About 10 minutes later I go back in his room because he still hasn't gone to sleep. I pick him up and he is covered in hives! OMG I freaked out. My neighbor, Olivia, is working on her pediatric nursing degree. Thankfully she is home on Tuesdays. By this time its been about an hour to an hour and a half since he had the formula. I take him to Olivia's and she said he was having an allergic reaction. That never even crossed my mind. I called our doctor, and its 4:45 by this point so the office is closed so I left a message with the answering service. A nurse called me back and said we needed to take Austin to the ER! WHAT! After I hung up we took his clothes off him and Austin was as red as a lobster, I am not exaggerating. He was red EVERYWHERE. Olivia was holding him and he finally puked a lot of the formula up. I called the doctor back to make sure that since he threw it up did we still need to go to the ER and they said yes.
I got Austin in the car and we went to the ER (even though everyone else I talked to said I shouldn't take him but I felt in my gut I needed to). We get to the ER, let me make a side note here. Having never been to the ER I didn't know if they would park my car for me so I parked the car my self in the parking garage. When I went to enter the ER the only way was through a long drive way where you are supposed to DRIVE. I had the stroller and we are running down the drive in the stroller. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person. Anyway back to the story... We got in line at Triage. Thankfully the line wasn't long and within 5 minutes of getting there we were being seen.
At triage they hooked Austin up to all kinds of machines, took his weight, bp, oxygen levels, ... I don't even know what all they did. There were tons of people waiting in the waiting room and I was starting to think we would be there all night. After the triage nurse finished she said we need to get him into a room hes having anaphylaxis. OMG again. So now we are in the room and hes still hooked up to all these machines and he is crying. So I picked him up but it was hard because he had all these wires everywhere. By the time we got to this point his entire body is red, even the whites of his eyes. They gave him an epipen, benadryl, and some mouth steroids. John is still not home from work yet. I have no idea how long we are going to have to stay. The nurse comes back and she said that when someone is having anaphylaxis there is an initial reaction and then there can be a more severe reaction 6-8 hours after the initial reaction. We were going to have to stay until after the 6 hour mark just to make sure he didn't have another reaction. Also now they wanted to monitor him closely because they want to make sure he doesn't have a reaction to the epipen.
He started looking better within 10 minutes of having the epipen and by the time we were released around 9:30 pm he looked almost back to normal. It was so scary, but I learned that I should definitely trust my gut instinct and that I was right to take him to the ER.
We have 2 epipens at home now that I need to take with me wherever we go. We are going to see an allergist to see what else he might be allergic to. We assume it was the milk protein in the formula but we don't know for sure. Also I want to see an allergist because we just started giving him baby food and I need to know what else he might be allergic to because I don't want to go through this again. They said we need to give him a formula that is neither milk nor soy based. So now I have to decide it we should do this or if I should continue pumping for the next 6 months. For now we are in limbo. I'm still pumping and he will get only the 5-6 fruits and veggies that I know he can eat. Unfortunately our battle with food allergies is not over but we are on our way to being educated so we know what to avoid in the future.
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