Friday, April 16, 2010

this peanut can't have a peanut

At the last well-baby check-up, the Dr. said, "No peanut product until she is at least 2 years of age" for the reasons of choking but also an allergic reaction.

Well, a week and a half later, I'm dipping my slices of apple into peanut butter and I think it would be a great idea to see if Acacia would like it. So I dip my finger in, just getting a tiny amount (because I didn't want to make her choke!!)  and dab some into her mouth. I did this about 3 times. As I'm finishing up my last slices, I notice Acacia on the ground leaning forward and rubbing her face back and forth on the carpet. I pick her up and notice little bumps developing on the side of her neck... and then around her mouth. She started getting squirmy and was rubbing her face desperately against my shirt. Hives

Uff da.

I totally forgot about the part that I wasn't supposed to give her any peanut product until she was older so we didn't have to deal with an allergic reaction with a baby. Here I was trying to be a good mom and not give her too much to choke on, when she could have had her throat close up on her!

Jason called the Dr office for me, they said to go to the ER since the reaction was around her mouth. They were concerned that it might spread down her throat and she would start to suffocate. So we rushed to the ER, they checked her in and gave her Benadryl. Her hives subsided and we ended up leaving the ER because we didn't want to sit and wait there for three hours just to have them tell us that she is allergic to peanuts. 

I'll be calling her pediatrician today to update them. And we'll be getting her a prick test. 

I was really upset with myself at first for being so stupid as to forget the most crucial reason for not letting her have peanuts....

But once things calmed down, Jason and I are actually very thankful to know what we do. Otherwise, we could have waited until she was two years old fed her an entire pb&j sandwich. Or she could have been at a friend's house and eaten pb cookies. God only knows what would have happened then. Since I gave her less than a teaspoon and she reacted as so, I can't imagine what more would have caused her.

Acacia is perfectly fine now. We'll just be staying away from that legume as best we can. 


P.S. It is such a tragedy. Since Jason gags at even the smell of peanuts because he hates them so much, I was really looking forward to sharing pb with my child. Not to mention having a very easy and tasty lunch to prepare -- pb& j. Such a pity. 


1 comment:

  1. No PB and Banana either :/ BUT Cheese and Honey!! And plain ol' Jelly would be good. It might be a while she's young thing/ temporary. Just wait until she's older to see. Poor lil Cacia.

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