It's Peanuts to Me

Well, this sweet love most likely has a peanut allergy. Bummer. I had a feeling she might which is why she hasn't had much peanut butter in her 3 years and 6 months of living. She had allergy testing done (blood work) when she was little and nothing showed up. I gave her peanut butter once with no reaction but then another time I noticed a couple of tiny red pin dots near her lip. I thought I was being paranoid but decided to hold off giving it to her until she was old enough to talk and communicate. Since that time she has had in in small doses on two other occasions with no visible side effects. Still, I just had a feeling she would be allergic.

Last week at school a teacher friend gave her a small Reese's Peanut Butter cup. I let her eat it knowing I needed to pay close attention to her. As soon as we got to the car she started scratching her tongue telling me it itched and that her mouth felt weird. My first thought was we might need to head to the Emergency Room. I looked inside her mouth and nothing was swollen. She had no issues breathing so I decided we'd take the short trip home and get Benadryl. When we got home things weren't worse but they weren't better either. I gave her the Benadryl and waited. After about 20 minutes she said her mouth didn't feel weird anymore but she said her tummy hurt. She acted funny for a second and then she threw up. It was just once and I could tell it wasn't a stomach bug. I knew it had to be the peanut butter. I decided to call the doctor and go ahead and make an appointment to talk about allergies.

We had her doctor's appointment last Thursday. Her pediatrician feels very confident we are dealing with a peanut allergy and prescribed us and EpiJr. I was so relieved. I knew I wanted one of those, just in case. I pray we never have to use it but if we do at least we have it.

Sadie has an actual appointment with an allergist in the near future. They will do the skin test to determine her allergies. I am very anxious for that appointment. She has such issues with eczema as well I am interested to see if she has any other allergies.

I will be honest, I was bummed when this all happened. Of course we want everything about our children to be perfect and we don't want them dealing with anything "different". The truth is, however, that just isn't possible. There will always be things out of our control. If the worst thing Sadie ever has to deal with is a peanut allergy then she will be VERY lucky. SO many people have much bigger issues that I can't even begin to complain about this. It really is no big deal.

I will keep you posted after her testing is finished. Until then at least she can eat chocolate.