When We Became "That Family"

You know...that family...the one with epipens and the need to announce allergies as you sit down to dinner or arrive at a birthday party?  Yes, that is us...sadly...

Let's back up a bit...

In September, Daddy was driving with Tater and told her that she had an allergist appointment later that week for an asthma check-up.  She then proceeded to tell him how she ate a "nut" at Mimi and Papa's this past summer and it made her throat feel funny.  She said Mimi told her to drink some water and it went away.  Well, a funny throat and a nut isn't something you can ignore so Daddy shared this with the allergist.  Sure enough...she is extremely allergic to cashews and we now avoid all tree nuts to be on the safe side.  We earned our epipens and emergency procedure directions.  Tater now has a special bag to carry with her, just in case, and sits at the nut-free table at school for lunch.  We know which ice cream places are safe and try to avoid bakeries in general. 

It's a total life-change but we thought it was something we could handle...until...

 

...this is how Bubba's cheeks began to look.  At first it was a mystery.  Teething?  Sensitive skin?  Then we remembered that we had just started feeding him yogurt and introduced a milk-based formula to boost his weight.  Oh, yeah...milk allergy here we come!  And we're talking milk protein not just lactose...the big stuff...that's in absolutely everything!!!  I thought about cutting dairy from my diet to keep nursing him but he was more into the bottles and it was going to be quite a change for me with him not so into the nursing anymore.  So, we weaned him...and my heart broke a bit.  We found a formula that works (hypoallergenic) and cut all dairy from his diet.  And guess what?  His cheeks cleared up...immediately!  We have had a few relapses, like when I feed him Mum-Mums that were produced in a factory with milk...and when the kids fed him crackers after they had touched cheese.  Yeah...we think it's that severe...sigh...

 

We head to the allergist in May and hope to have a few more answers.  But thank god for coconut milk ice cream...because this boy does not like to watch him siblings eat and not get any!!!