Allergies!

We finally had Penner's allergy tests done. I was talking to the attending allergist and told him I had stopped eating anything that Penner could be allergic to in my milk. I stopped eating dairy, eggs, soy, all nuts, and fish. So I was pretty much starving all of the time. He was surprised to hear this because he really didn't think that Penner was allergic to milk or eggs. I did not back down this time, I told the doctor that Penn has been having unexplained allergic reactions even though I was staying away from all nuts. I kept pushing and so he gave in and tested Penn for egg, dairy, peanut, almond and cashew allergies.

They put a drop of the allergen onto Penn's skin and then use what looks like a tiny little fork to scratch the drop into the skin. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, they said it just felt like a little itch. Penner did not seem to mind the test, I think the worst part of it for him was having to sit still. If the allergy is positive they should get a bump (kinda looks like a mosquito bite) at least 3mm in size. His peanut, almond and cashew were all at 2mm. This is a borderline allergy I guess, so we still have to stay away from it, but there is hope that in the future these things will not bother him. The milk and egg were at like 11mm and 14mm which means he is definetly allergic!

I am so glad I did not give in to the pressure I was getting from the attending, but rather listened to my mom instinct. Because he was allergic to dairy they decided to also test him for soy allergy, he is not allergic to soy! I am so grateful for this because finding food without milk and eggs in it is difficult enough add soy to the list and it is near impossible. Even veagans can have soy. So the doctor also referred me to a dietician because there is not a lot that I can eat and he wants to make sure I get enough food while I am nursing.

They also drew blood from Penner's arm so they could see the levels of the allergy, which I don't completely understand. Food allergies are very confusing, it seems like every question that we have does not have a sure answer, it is always variable or there is not enough research to know for sure. It is hard that there is so much unknown still. When we went back to get Penner's blood drawn he thought it was so much fun in the room he kept jumping up and down. He loved the lady that was going to take his blood, and then she stuck the needle in him. She was very good and fast, not too much pain. but Penner would not look at her anymore and then when he finally did he gave her his angry eyes. It was pretty funny.

It will be hard to cut dairy and eggs out of my diet, but I am just so happy to finally know what Penn is allergic to. Now Sean and I can protect him from it. And me not being able to eat all of this stuff will better equip me to feed a child who will not be able to have egg or milk until he hopefully grows out of these allergies. 80% of kids grow out of egg and dairy allergies and we are praying that Penner is one of them. Also we got blessed with a very good doctor, the fellow who will be working with Penner most of the time is great. Her husband is one of the radiology residents where I work so I know she will look after us more closely because we have that connection.