We Have Allergies

I finally took the plunge and had allergy skin tests performed on Cooper last week. It was awful.

I had to hold my baby down while they poked him in the back with needles 22 times.

He kicked, he cried, he screamed "Please stop!" I tried really hard not to do the same. It was heart-wrenching.

Then I had to keep him from itching his back as welts started appearing almost immediately.

On a scale of one to five, he scored a four on peanuts, walnuts, eggs, shellfish, cats, dogs, dust mites and mold. He also had significant reactions to sesame and a few other things.

They made me watch a video on dust mites. I came home and, feeling like the worst mother in the world, stripped the kids' bedroom of every sheet, blanket, and curtain and washed them all, vacuuming and cleaning as best as I could. They also sent me home with inhalers, and other asthma medication, as it's presumed that he may have asthma as well.

I suppose the best thing out of all of this, is that now we know. Not having any family history as a guide, I never knew if there was a higher risk with any of the more common allergens.

We are now in a period of adjustment. This week has been completely overwhelming for me, and every little thing seems to send me into a tailspin. My body is reacting to the stress worse than it ever has. On top of all of the allergy testing, we were down to one car this week and had a huge repair bill we had to take care of, plus added stress at work and numerous other incidentals.

I guess I'm angry. I'm angry that I had to subject my son to such painful testing. I'm angry that I have no family history to fall back on. I'm angry that I never took his "dislike" or certain foods seriously. I'm angry that we are now having to change our lifestyles to accommodate all of these allergies. I'm angry that he will now be labeled as "that kid" in his class.

We went to a party today and the host had made cake pops for the kids to eat instead of having a large cake. Cooper chose one and started to eat it. After a minute he came back to me and said, "Mommy, I don't like peanut butter." His mouth started to hurt and his throat was itchy, but thankfully, a little Benadryl got him feeling better. I assumed the host knew and I hadn't even thought to ask what was in them. I'm angry at myself for that too.

Like I said, we are in a period of adjustment, but I'm faithful that God is walking beside, holding my hand and wiping my tears. The cake pop incident was a wake up call for me, and I know now that I have to be on top of my game all of the time.

Allergies, Part 2

Like I mentioned in this post, Cooper was tested for allergies. And it was a very traumatic experience. For me. I had to hold the poor thing down while they took four viles of blood. Ouch! (That's the sound of his Skechers kicking my thighs). Yes, it was a painful experience for him, but I am so thankful I did it.

Let me start from the beginning...

My pediatrician had always said that, because of his severe excema, it was probable that Cooper would have allergies. She even suggested at 18 months that I have him tested, because I was nervous about peanuts especially. But I just didn't want to put my baby through that experience if I didn't have to. So I told her I was going to bring a peanut butter sandwich with me to his two year appointment. She laughed.

I think she thought I was kidding.

I wasn't. I whipped that sandwich out at our 2 year check-up, and had him take a bite. He seemed to do fine, just complaining that something was stuck in his throat. We figured it was the texture he didn't like, and that was that. Yay, he wasn't allergic to peanuts! Since then he has had the same reaction when eating anything with nuts, and eventually would refuse it, saying he didn't like it. I started to get suspicious...

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.

Our babysitter had a friend stop by with a dog. Now, I knew Coop had sensitive skin and that if a dog were to lick his face, it may irritate him a bit, but just for a few minutes. This time was different.

I got a call from Rick as I was getting ready to go home from work, telling me that my son was having an allergic reaction. I asked if he was breathing, which he was. Rick told me his eyes were swollen and he was sneezing, and red and blotchy. I hurried home to see my son sitting on the couch, eyes almost swollen shut, skin red and itchy, looking so very uncomfortable. He was most definitely having an allergic reaction.

Scared the H-E-double hockey sticks out of me.

I scooped him up and took him to urgent care. He was back to normal within a couple of hours, and without medicine, but I was convinced now that we needed to have the testing done.

So, here's the results:
Highly allergic to DOGS (hence the reaction to the friend's dog)
Moderately allergic to CATS, PEANUTS, WALNUTS, SHRIMP, DUST, AND MOLD

I am now the proud parent of an allergic kid. I'm nervous because I've never had to deal with allergies myself for anyone in my family, other than Rick's daughter Gracie who is also allergic to peanuts. So we have become a no peanut household. We're preparing to see an allergist to determine the severity and preventative steps and to see if there's anything else to be worried about. In the meantime, I've got an Epi-pen, and a year's supply of Benadryl, just in case.

Allergies, Excema and Medical History in Adoption

One of the fears I have always had as an adoptive parent, even before Cooper arrived, was allergies. I realize that even with a bio child, there can be allergies that are unexpected, but with a child who was adopted, there is a lot of family history that you may not know. In my case, I know very little.

When a child is removed from the bio parents care, an extensive medical history is requested from the bio parents. Both parents were present to give information, but the BM was very unsure of her family's history. BD was a little more helpful, but still lacking quite a bit of information. So I have been constantly worried about what could potentially pop-up in the future.

Allergies & Excema, Part One:
My little guy had severe eczema as an infant. It was so bad that he got infections twice on his poor little cheeks, and required rounds of antibiotics. He would also get severe diaper rashes that turned almost immediately into yeast infections, requiring more steroids and antibiotics.

This picture was taken at his baptism, when he was four months old. See how red his cheeks are? That's after four days of antibiotics, and lots of this stuff:

Eucerin Calming Cream. It was recommended by the Dermatologist when the Aquaphor just made his condition worse. If you have a child with excema, this stuff rocks!

Thankfully, Coop seems to have outgrown the worst of it, but we still take precautions with his skin.


Because of the seriousness of his skin condition, our pediatrician suspected he would have allergies as well, so last week, finally, we had him tested. More about the results in my next post. Stay tuned...