Oh Nuts!

Mommy and her Noey-Bear

Well the title of this blog is my weak attempt to lighten up about something serious. We found out on Monday that our sweet 14 month old Noah is allergic to peanuts. When I went to pick him up from daycare yesterday I noticed a few hives on his jawline. I didn't think much about it because his sensitive skin breaks out alot. In the time it took me to walk out to the car and get Joshua in his seat and strap Noah in his carseat Noah had hives all over! His torso, face, and his neck were covered - his neck was so swollen and broken out, it looked like he had a rope around his neck. I took the boys back into the daycare to find out what he had eaten and when. I found out that right before I picked him up, Noah was given a peanut butter cookie as a snack. This was the first time he'd ever had peanut butter. I gave him some Benedryl and we got in the car. I called Matt and we decided to stop by the pediatrician's office to have Noah checked out. Of course it was closing time and they weren't answering their phone but it was on the way so we were going to stop. It was a stressful drive as I heard Noah starting to have a wheezy cough. The doctor came out to meet us in the waiting room. He took a look at Noah and decided he wanted to check him out in an exam room. Dr. Hensley was great. He stayed and answered our questions, gave Noah a prescription for an epi pen and gave us a referral to a pediatric allergist. Overnight his hives disappeared and we took him back to daycare this morning.

While we are glad the reaction wasn't worse than it was, the disgnosis is scary and disappointing. This is just not something we wanted for our son. Most children do not grow out of a peanut allergy and have to learn to live with it. Also no one in either of our families has a nut allergy so this was a complete surprise. We have a lot of questions and a lot to learn. Right now my biggest concern is protecting Noah - especially now when he's at an age where he can't speak for himself to ask if something contains nuts. On a positive note, I was pleased that when we showed up at daycare today, the director had already seen a note I posted about this on facebook and made signs to post in the kitchen and classroom about Noah's allergies. I'll post more about this after we see the allergist.