Thursday, August 09, 2007

A leopard doesn't change its spots . . .

But Loaf does.

And not for the better.

My poor baby has hives. Big ugly red raised nasty itchy purplish painful-looking hives. EveryFUCKINGwhere.

Icky, yucky hives

We don’t know what brought them on. The doctor says it could be absolutely anything from the recent heat, to a chemical in the pool, to a food she ate.

My biggest fear is door number three: Food Allergy.

On Monday, the day before she started breaking out, she and Peanut ate a bunch of pecans. They also ate handfuls of big, fat raspberries. And on Tuesday, when all she had were two tiny red spots on her arms that looked like mosquito bites, I gave them each half a Luna “Peanut Butter Cookie” bar.

So it could certainly be either the nuts or the berries since both are common culprits.

It also could be wheat, eggs, or dairy. Or the grass in our yard. Or a bad reaction to a bug bite. Or something in our sunscreen.

For the moment, we’re being told not to worry, but anyone who is a parent knows that is much easier said than done. The thought of facing life with a child allergic to tree nuts makes me a very unhappy camper. Peanut butter & jelly is the world’s easiest on-the-go lunch. And I LOVE peanut butter. And nuts. And Luna bars. And if she is indeed allergic, it strikes me as incredibly cruel to go on eating those things in front of her. So yes, Selfish Mommy is certainly at play here, though the greater concern is for Loaf. I feel sad that she may never again know the joy that is a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup. Or Chubby Hubby ice cream.

Of course, it may not be nuts at all. The berries are just as likely a suspect.

So we wait for them to clear up and then slowly re-introduce some of the common causes in an effort to pinpoint the problem. There is a strong chance we’ll never know. The good news is there is a strong chance this will never happen again. A lot of parents have told me their kids had similar incidents once and never again. Fingers crossed that will be us.

Check out the photos below - she almost looks proud of them, doesn’t she? She walks around pointing to them saying, “Spot. Loaf spots." I guess looking on the bright side, this has given us a chance to work on several new words including: itchy, skin and hives, and I can say with 100% confidence she can now identify the color red. Fantastic.

Hives: it looks like she's been on the losing end of a fist fight

Allergy girl

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2 Comments:

Blogger Maureen said...

Awww, poor baby!! I hope you are able to discover the culprit. It could even be something simple like soap or detergent. Have you changed any of those recently? I've had that happen when I bought the "cheap stuff" on sale but, I have super sensitive skin.

Good luck weeding it out! At least she isn't feeling down about it, LOL!!

11:27 AM  
Blogger Kimberly said...

Maureen - nothing changed in the soap/detergent arena, and we use chemical/fragrance/color free for all those things anyway. I think she might just have really sensitive skin. She's much better now thank goodness!

12:03 PM  

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