Allergic

I believe there is only one more thing I need to document from our time in Fort Myers.   It was not a pleasant experience, but it will be forever in my memory.   I fed both my boys scrambled eggs as one of their first finger foods.   Lexi was 10 months old, so I figured I could go ahead and try out giving her eggs.   She didn't (and still doesn't) have any teeth, so she can only eat super soft things.   Anyway, I thought eggs would be perfect.   I blended like 1/4 of an egg into her food that evening to see if she liked the taste.   Before I get too far, let me also say that I had a small taste of her allergy when I was in Georgia with my college friends.   I gave her a small bite of a quiche, and she got a red mark on her cheek.   I commented to the girls that I wondered if she had a slight allergy.   She has always had eczema, which I know is usually a sign of some sort of food allergy.   Both the boys had eczema as babies, but they grew out of it - my wishful thinking was that she would too.   So back to the night of the "incident."   I had Tim feed her the eggful food, and after about 5 bites she started crying and arching her back in her seat.   Not a good sign and not normal for our usually happy girl.   It was her naptime right after, so I hoped she was just really tired and laid her down in the crib.   When I put her pacifier in her mouth she had a little red ring around her mouth.   I started to get nervous and called my mom's friend who is a pediatrician.   She told me to grab some benedryll and give it to her right away.   She also said if she threw up or made any weird noises in her throat to call 911 because she could stop breathing.   Awesome.   Not what I wanted to hear.   I ran to the store to grab the benedryll, while Tim stayed home to put Lexi in the bath to calm her down.   When I got back to the house she was covered in hives.   Like you couldn't see one spot of normal skin on her entire body.   I tried to give her benedryll, but she puked it right up.   Then she started making noises in her throat, and her ear swelled up.   You can imagine what we did next.   Called 911 and rode an ambulance to the ER.   On a stretcher in her car seat.    Saddest sight ever.    

The paramedic was nice enough.

He didn't have kids and laughed when I asked, so needless to say he probably thought I was totally crazy.

He was sorta right.

We got to the ghetto hospital, and they immediately gave her a shot of steroids and an antihistamine.

We had to go to an adult hospital because it was the closest, but it definitely wasn't the nicest.

Lady in the "stall" next to us was having neck pains and moaning for more pain meds every five seconds.

We had to stay for observation for almost two hours at which time they sent us home even though she was still covered in hives.

But she was happy.

The nurse said it had been long enough without throat closure that we were safe even though she still looked terrible.

So home we went.

And we watched her all night.

By morning she was back to normal.

And I have a child with an egg allergy.

It is no fun, but I am praying, praying, praying that she outgrows it by 3.

That is pretty common from what I hear.

We still haven't seen an allergist because of the move and insurance switches.

But we will.

And we will be swatting the boys hands away from her mouth as they try to shove baked goods her way.

At the moment my biggest issue is finding a decent cake recipe without eggs for her first birthday.

With so many much worse things that could be, I am grateful for that small issue.