Well… we did it. We tried peanut butter with my 6-month-old son last weekend. And I must admit, this week has been a rollercoaster of emotions. The first day went well. No reaction. We purposefully picked a day when I was home from work so that my husband and I would both be there just in case. They tell you to introduce foods by having them for about a week straight just to make sure they can be tolerated, so the next day my husband, Ryan, gave him a little more. This time I was at work. This time I got a call I didn’t want.
My husband said he had thrown up twice. And not just spit up – but full blown vomit. He was pretty confident it was an allergic reaction to peanut butter. We’ve seen this before. This is the same reaction my daughter has had every time she’s ingested milk. I started crying on the phone. I couldn’t believe we were going through this again.
My husband started watching for hives or other symptoms. He thought it was done. But then Ezra threw up again. Ryan called to tell me. He said that Ezra hadn’t had any other symptoms, but was just super exhausted. He called our pediatrician’s exchange and spoke with a nurse and doctor at Children’s. They agreed it sounded like an allergic reaction but that it sounded like it was over. They said to watch him closely and call 911 if anything crazy happened. Ryan told me not to worry…
Yeah… that didn’t exactly happen.
I cried more. I went and told my boss what was going on and couldn’t hold in the tears. I ended leaving work knowing that I would be way too distracted and worried being away from my son.
I got home and cried some more. I said that I was having trouble wrapping my head around having another child with food allergies. Ryan said that we were prepared this time around. But that wasn’t what I was worried about. All I could think is that I had another child to worry endlessly about. Another child I had to protect fiercely. Another child that could potentially die just from one simple accident.
Ezra woke up from his nap and acted normal the rest of the night. I held him tight.
On Monday morning we took him to his pediatrician for a follow up. She agreed that it sounded like an allergic reaction, but there was always a chance it was a fluke and he had a virus or stomach bug. They decided to take bloodwork so they could test for peanut and tree nut allergies just to be sure.
Ezra was a CHAMP with the blood draw. I’ve literally never seen a baby take a stick so well! He even smiled at the nurses while they were taking the blood. I was a proud mama. My little man was a fighter.
This week was long. I kept anxiously awaiting the call from the doctor although I was pretty confident I knew what they would say.
Friday Ryan called me at work to tell me he had just gotten off the doctor’s office. The verdict was in. To our surprise – NO ALLERGIES!!!
We couldn’t believe it! Relief flooded through my body. I can’t explain the feeling I had. Our worries were for nothing! We don’t know exactly what caused the vomiting that day, but now we know it wasn’t from the peanut!
Food allergies sometimes feel like riding a roller coaster. You often feel like you’ve got everything under control, but then a sharp turn or a steep drop comes out of nowhere and takes your breath away. We still have a lot of other allergens to test with Ezra, but I’m so incredibly thankful that for the time being, we can enjoy the ride for awhile. My head can rest easy and my heart can beat normally for now. And we’ll keep taking one day at a time!
Food Allergies Mom 