No Peanuts, please

Well, apparently you should not give this little one peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, or anything peanut.

When Heidi had her one-year well child I asked about peanuts. No allergies in the family so the doctor said it was a go. I was still nervous and researched it a bit wondering why they recommended later. A lot of people think if you give it later, the are less likely to develop the allergy. Recent research suggests otherwise-no correlation, just better if they do have the allergy because they can communicate symptoms better.

So anyway, you may or may not know that Heidi is the pickiest eater on the planet...just like her daddy. Everything comes shooting right out as soon as it goes in. Finding anything she will even try is a huge undertaking. Long story short, I was eating a pb and j sandwich as I was rushing to get to the parade. Heidi was begging. I gave her a taste. She seemed to like it but I noticed she had two little red splotches under her lower lip. I wondered about allergies since I am ultra paranoid because of all the kids I have seen with the allergy at school. Then today she was again refusing to eat ANYTHING. The only thing she ate today was a few spoonfuls of yogurt in the morning. So I tried the pb and j again. Bad idea. This time her whole face was getting splotchy and she was rubbing her eyes like crazy. Within a few seconds I thought her eyes were going to seal shut they were so puffy and bloodshot. Jeff was sleeping and I was in serious panic mode. I called the pediatrician on-call and they told me to give her 1 tsp. of benedryl (thank goodness I had some from when she was having reactions to sunscreen...I never gave her any, but on a whim I picked some up just in case because she has seemed to sensitive to quite a few things). I gave her a bath and washed her hands and face really well. Then it was time for her nap and I panicked the entire time she was sleeping. Bless you video monitor...best investment EVER. She was still a little red looking when she woke up, but was acting fine and her eyes looked better. We went to her little buddy's birthday party and she looked back to herself by the time the party was over. I am still a bit on the paranoid side and have a feeling I won't be sleeping well tonight...especially since J is working.

So, that's it. Now I just need to figure out where to go from here. The pediatrician said the blood test isn't a great idea until they are a little older. She said to rub a little pb on her arm in a few days and see what happens. Supposedly the reactions get worse with each exposure so that makes sense as to why the second time she ate a bite of the sandwich was so much worse than the first. I am scared about where to go from here, how bad the allergy actually is, how I will figure out what she can and can't eat, etc. At the same time, I am grateful the reaction wasn't worse. We have no idea how serious the allergy really is, and of course are hoping for a very mild allergy that she will grow out of before school. In the meantime, if you're around my little Heidi Bug...please don't give her anything with peanuts!