Last fall, I read about an essay contest in Real Simple magazine. The essay question was: What is the bravest thing you have ever done?
At the time, I was looking to write more, so I figured I would jump into the contest. How cool would it be to be published in Real Simple? I conveniently forgot I would probably be up against thousands of entries.
The winning essay (which is extremely touching and well done) was published in this month's issue. And while I didn't win first, second, or third place, I thought I'd share my submission here.
I'd like to say that, despite my serious initial struggles with becoming a mother, I'm really happy with where I am now, so please don't worry that I'm in a pit of parenting despair or anything!
As always, feel free to share any thoughts.
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I don’t consider myself brave. I’ve never run into a burning building to save a person or fought a life-threatening disease.
But if I had to nail bravery down to one act, I’d have to say that walking away from my career and becoming a stay-at-home-mom was by far the bravest thing I’ve ever done.
I became a parent at the age of 31. I’d been working full-time in non-profit communications and public affairs for a number of years in New York City and then Washington, D.C. My job took me all over the country and I felt blessed to have it.
Some come into parenthood easily. I am not one of those people. From the induced labor forward, I struggled desperately with motherhood. Looking back, it’s clear I suffered from some level of postpartum depression. I was getting no sleep, my baby girl was struggling with issues I couldn’t figure out (we know now that she suffers from severe food allergies), and I felt trapped. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.
About two weeks after my daughter’s birth, we celebrated Christmas with my family (who had lovingly made the trek from Canada to D.C. to visit us for the holiday). The Ryan family loves Christmas. But as much as we tried, Christmas 2006 was not the same as years past.
I can vividly remember getting out of the shower right before for Christmas dinner (my Mom calling from downstairs that the food was ready) and breaking down in tears. My heavy breasts were leaking milk all over my stomach and blood was draining from the wounds of having given birth to a 9 pound 6.5 ounce baby only weeks before. At that moment, on one of my favorite days of the year, I imagined what it would be like to walk in front of a truck and put an end to the misery. Pretty dark stuff.
I dreaded every night. As much as my husband tried to help, he had to perform at work and needed to get some sleep. I felt so alone and scared when bed time would roll around. My child would not sleep, which meant I could not sleep. And I am one of those people who really need their sleep (as in eight hours a night). The cycle of sleepless nights and lonely days left me desperate, at times. I sadly never reached out for any help. Perhaps motherhood was supposed to be this hard? People had always told me you don’t know how hard it is until you do it. But this seemed extreme.
We lived in a small row house in a central neighborhood at the time. Every morning I would stand in front of our living room window watching all of the “worker bees” head towards their various workplaces. They looked so fresh and well dressed. They walked with such purpose. They were like I used to be, and what I still wanted to be.
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world without guaranteed paid maternity leave. I was lucky my place of employment offered eight weeks.
Before I knew it, those eight weeks had passed by in a foggy haze of depression, dirty diapers, constant breast feeding, swaddling, shooshing and exhaustion (I now understand why sleep deprivation is a form of torture). Most days, I couldn’t think straight. I had a lot of what I called “no drive” days because I would have been too much of a hazard on the road.
Clinging to the idea that I would go back to work, I took advantage of 12 weeks leave provided by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). I figured that would give me time to get my head screwed back on properly, or to magically snap back into the person I was before becoming a mother.
As the seasons shifted from Winter to Spring, I would day dream about how amazing it would be to sit at my desk and catch up on emails while drinking hot coffee. I would imagine how sweet it would feel to board a plane solo for meetings in another city. How I would be able to sleep all alone in a nice, quiet hotel room. How I would only have to worry about taking care of myself and my professional commitments. And to converse with intelligent adults? Oh, how divine. How could I have taken it all for granted?
As I slowly made my way out of the fog of new motherhood, I realized that having a small baby and a full-time career wasn’t going to blend as easily as I had first anticipated. If I was going back to work, I would need quality child care that would cover my travel schedule and allow my husband and I the flexibility to continue with our professional commitments (he’s in consulting and has an unreliable schedule).
Frankly, I wasn’t making the kind of money that would easily cover the additional expenses of child care, dry cleaning, daily lunches, etc. How far ahead financially would I need to come out to make going back to work worth it? Or should I be working simply because I was not cut out to be a full-time, at-home parent? What was best for me? And what was best for my little family?
The answers to those questions changed as rapidly as the diapers I was changing. One moment I would be sure I had to go back to the office. How could I have invested all those years in school to now sabotage everything I had worked so hard to build professionally? The next moment I would think of how fast my beautiful (and still extremely difficult and exhausting) daughter was growing and how it would be such a shame to miss out on all those “firsts.” I knew in my heart that as shaky a job as I was doing, no one else was going to try to soothe and comfort her like I was.
I had become a mom and I was slowly realizing that my identity had profoundly shifted.
And here’s where the bravery part kicks in. About half way through my FMLA leave, I met my boss for a lunch date, ordered a glass of white wine, and quit my job. He knew it was coming...even if I hadn’t been willing to admit it to myself for months.
I had absolutely no plan. How long would I be home for? How would I fill our days? And what about all the other jobs I was taking on? I was now CEO of our family and that came with some serious responsibility.
I became the house cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry doing, dinner making, stay-at-home mom. I had to shake off my old “worker bee” identity and try to embrace this new, and frankly, much less glamorous identity. And I realized I was lucky to have the choice.
There were many bumps along the path to finding our family “groove.” Especially as we threw another baby into the mix two years after my daughter’s birth. I frequently questioned my parenting abilities (or lack thereof). I wondered why I still struggled while other moms made it look so easy (especially the moms working outside of the home! How did they do it?). I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it was a good five years before I felt like I (mostly) had a handle on everything.
On tough days, my old “worker bee” identity would pop out and reprimand my current “stay-at-home” identity for having given up my job. To this day, almost seven years into it, I can’t help but wonder how far I could have gone if I had stuck with my career. I’ll never know. While I’ve been doing some freelance writing, my old career path is dead.
It’s funny because I probably could have written the same essay if I had made the opposite choice. Going back to work, as the majority of new moms do, would have been extremely brave. But for me, walking away from my career was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. I’m proud of what I did and I’d like to think it was really brave.
Showing posts with label food allergies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food allergies. Show all posts
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Kids and Food Allergies
As you may know, my daughter has severe food allergies. I meant to post this article I wrote about it last fall.
If you're a parent of a child with food allergies and are looking for ways to save money (because who isn't?), have a look:
Kids & Food Allergies: 4 Ways to Keep High Costs in Check
Have any more ideas? Let me know!
If you're a parent of a child with food allergies and are looking for ways to save money (because who isn't?), have a look:
Kids & Food Allergies: 4 Ways to Keep High Costs in Check
Have any more ideas? Let me know!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Peanuts
A teenage boy died last week from eating half a cookie. He didn't know it was made with peanut oil and took a chance. After years of being super vigilant about his food allergies, he made one wrong decision which ended up costing him his life.
This is a story no parent of a kid with food allergies wants to read. It is a sad reminder of how much we need to pay attention, how we can never forget the Epi pens and how we need to educate any adult or care giver who spends time with our kids.
The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece on the changing nature of food allergy research. Many doctors are now claiming that kids should be exposed to allergens at a young age to help them build up immunity. This is the exact opposite of what they were instructing parents of babies only ten years ago.
I don't know what I did wrong or what I didn't do right when I was pregnant, but the babe has lived with food allergies for the past six years. It is a part of our life, and while she continues to outgrow her allergies (she recently passed a food challenge and can now consume dairy), we are still looking at peanuts and the majority of tree nuts.
While I know there's a wider understanding and acceptance in society of nut allergies (as compared to egg or dairy), I still can't shake the sense of dread that came over me when I read the article about the poor teenager who made one wrong move.
I will continue to be paranoid, because as another family's misfortune has just reminded me, I can't be paranoid enough.
This is a story no parent of a kid with food allergies wants to read. It is a sad reminder of how much we need to pay attention, how we can never forget the Epi pens and how we need to educate any adult or care giver who spends time with our kids.
The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece on the changing nature of food allergy research. Many doctors are now claiming that kids should be exposed to allergens at a young age to help them build up immunity. This is the exact opposite of what they were instructing parents of babies only ten years ago.
I don't know what I did wrong or what I didn't do right when I was pregnant, but the babe has lived with food allergies for the past six years. It is a part of our life, and while she continues to outgrow her allergies (she recently passed a food challenge and can now consume dairy), we are still looking at peanuts and the majority of tree nuts.
While I know there's a wider understanding and acceptance in society of nut allergies (as compared to egg or dairy), I still can't shake the sense of dread that came over me when I read the article about the poor teenager who made one wrong move.
I will continue to be paranoid, because as another family's misfortune has just reminded me, I can't be paranoid enough.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Steak, Margaritas and Poop
To eat: Six ounce Fillet Mignon (cooked medium) with blue cheese crust served with garlic mashed potatoes and a side salad.
To drink: Two margaritas and some water.
That is a pretty ideal meal in my world. It is a meal I don't get at home. And sadly, it is a meal I only get when my family and I venture out for dinner together every five or six months. Last Saturday we decided we would take the chance and head out to the Outback for a family restaurant dinner.
There are numerous reasons we never go out to eat with our kids, and they include:
- The babe's food allergies make it scary
- The little guy acts like an animal
- My husband and I barely get to look at each other, let alone talk
- I have to eat WAY too fast as any second the scene could dramatically change and we will be leaving with take out containers instead of enjoying our hot meal
- It costs a lot of cash and I don't find it a particularly relaxing experience. Quite the opposite, I'd say.
Sadly we had to make a pit stop at the park near the babe's school as we had left her jean jacket there the day before. Jean jackets aren't cheap and I really wasn't ready to permanently part with it. Sadly that meant dealing with DC traffic and the always stressful Connecticut Avenue, which added a nice chunk of drive time for us.
We made it to the restaurant in one piece and managed to dodge quite a few potentially nasty children losing it type scenarios (example: my daughter is so competitive she was getting upset when my husband beat her at the tick tack toe game on the children's menu). Our food arrived and everyone seemed to be doing OK. The little guy, who has become a terrible eater lately, managed to eat all his burger and start demanding "more burger" from our poor waiter. The babe seemed more into her apple juice than her chicken. And my husband and I managed to polish off everything put in front of us, although in a seriously rushed fashion (I am a slow eater and eating fast really irks me).
Then it was time to take my juice consuming daughter to the bathroom (the ride home is a trek). We settled into one of the two stalls and the babe proceeded to have a good pee. When she didn't immediately finish up, my heart kinda sunk. "Oh No. She's not doing what I think she's doing, is she?" I panicked. The babe is extremely comfortable doing her business pretty much anywhere....public or private bathroom doesn't seem to phase her (probably because she's five and all). The line of people grew outside the door and I could tell the babe (and the person in the next stall) was in for a long session. I tried to encourage her along in a positive way, realizing everyone is the bathroom was listening to me babble on like a loon. After a few minutes I realized I couldn't chat anymore. I needed her to focus, and I told her so. I know you can't rush a pooping five-year-old, but man oh man, as people started leaving the bathroom out of annoyance, I also started to feel pretty annoyed. And I knew the little guy and my husband were probably starting to feel the same way.
By the time we made it back, we had been gone for over 25 minutes, which is longer that we had taken to "enjoy" our meals. The babe seemed pretty clueless about the whole situation but my husband and I automatically exchanged looks and discussed on our way to the car how we keep forgetting how stressed out we get going to restaurants with our kids.
Now maybe us parents need to chill out a bit, or maybe our kids don't get enough practice in public eating establishments, or maybe we should move to Europe so our kids can see how well behaved all those kids are in public. Regardless, I am fine with another six month break before we try that again. It just doesn't seem worth it to me, and if that makes me a negative, crotchety Mama, than so be it. I can wait for my steak.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Pass the Almonds, Please
About a month ago, I took the babe in for a food challenge. Our allergist, Dr. E, believed the babe was ready to try her first ever nut. The almond. The beautiful, tasty, and seriously missed (by me) almond.
For 5 years I have not had almonds in the house. And for 5 years I have missed those tasty little buggers.
When the day came, the babe and I packed off to the allergist office for our 7:00 a.m. start time. We had our books, games, crayons, DVDs, and of course, a container of pure almond butter made in a dedicated almond only (i.e. peanut and other tree nut free) factory (not so easy to find, and in case you're wondering, it's called Barney Butter).
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. To say the babe was nervous would be a serious understatement. But we were there on a mission, and we were both in it to succeed (thankfully, the babe had passed her previous 3 food challenges). On a side note, my feisty girl can really amaze me; at times I truly wonder how a 5 year old can be so strong. Dealing with life threatening food allergies at such a young age has shaped her and caused her to deal with issues other kids her age couldn't imagine. You've gotta respect the hell out of that, at least I do.
And guess what? After six hours of gradually increasing amounts of almond butter and more vital checks than I could keep track of, it was determined that the babe can now eat almonds. She has outgrown her allergy. And I can not explain how thrilled I am.
We are making so much progress, and by knocking off almonds, we can now look at knocking off a few other nut candidates over the next year. While it is unlikely we will ever be able to say good bye to the dreaded peanut allergy, there is a good chance that the babe, over time, will continue to outgrow her tree nut allergies. And that is progress my friends; THAT is progress.
So here's to almond butter and jam sandwiches. Because frankly, soy nut butter just wasn't cutting it for her anymore.
For 5 years I have not had almonds in the house. And for 5 years I have missed those tasty little buggers.
When the day came, the babe and I packed off to the allergist office for our 7:00 a.m. start time. We had our books, games, crayons, DVDs, and of course, a container of pure almond butter made in a dedicated almond only (i.e. peanut and other tree nut free) factory (not so easy to find, and in case you're wondering, it's called Barney Butter).
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. To say the babe was nervous would be a serious understatement. But we were there on a mission, and we were both in it to succeed (thankfully, the babe had passed her previous 3 food challenges). On a side note, my feisty girl can really amaze me; at times I truly wonder how a 5 year old can be so strong. Dealing with life threatening food allergies at such a young age has shaped her and caused her to deal with issues other kids her age couldn't imagine. You've gotta respect the hell out of that, at least I do.
And guess what? After six hours of gradually increasing amounts of almond butter and more vital checks than I could keep track of, it was determined that the babe can now eat almonds. She has outgrown her allergy. And I can not explain how thrilled I am.
We are making so much progress, and by knocking off almonds, we can now look at knocking off a few other nut candidates over the next year. While it is unlikely we will ever be able to say good bye to the dreaded peanut allergy, there is a good chance that the babe, over time, will continue to outgrow her tree nut allergies. And that is progress my friends; THAT is progress.
So here's to almond butter and jam sandwiches. Because frankly, soy nut butter just wasn't cutting it for her anymore.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Halloween 2011
I really like Halloween. My kids do too. The few weeks leading up to it are filled with such beautiful anticipation. I love seeing it though my kids eyes and remembering the good 'oll days of my childhood.
We spent a good part of Tuesday dealing with the fact that "Halloween is over." The babe asked, "Mama, how many more days before we have Halloween again?" It hurt to tell her 364.
I have taken down the spider webs from the bushes out front. I have packed away the costumes. But I still have a lot of candy. Too much candy considering I have a daughter with food allergies and a son who is not used to eating food his sister can't eat.
The tough part about Halloween is sorting through my kids stash at the end of the night. I take away all the candy and chocolates my daughter can't have. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups being a prime example. She remains seriously allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and can't eat dairy products that haven't been baked at 425 for 25 minutes or more. I am too paranoid to give her things without labels and usually end up taking away most of her trick or treating collection. I am the bad guy. I would have hated myself now as a kid. Luckily she is good about it and doesn't lose her cool.
I try to replace the candy I take with approved candy I have bought in advance. So I guess that makes me the good guy. The kids still get to sit at the dining room table after they eat dinner and eat too much sugar. They still get to experience the sugar highs and lows of a normal post-Halloween childhood.
Although yesterday was a reminder that perhaps my kids aren't that used to getting loaded up on sugary candy treats. Our first incident was during nap time when the little guy barfed up chocolate I had given him after lunch (his sister was at school and I figured she wouldn't know the difference). The little guy sadly knew the difference. This barfing episode may be due to the fact he doesn't consume much dairy or that he doesn't consume much chocolate. Regardless, no more dairy chocolate for that kid.
The second incident was before bath time. Both kids had consumed a good chunk of candy after dinner so were a tad ramped up by bath time. I was on my own last night and was sorting out pajamas, etc. for after bath when I heard a horrific cry. The crying continued and before I knew it I had a sobbing little boy in my arms. My hyper daughter had managed to close the bathroom door on my hyper son's thumb. We had a solid 20 minutes of theatrics and I broke a sweat worrying that his little thumb could be broken. By 8:25 pm everyone was safely tucked in bed....clean and calm.
Oh, and by the way, the babe was a witch for our neighborhood party on Sunday and then an astronaut for Halloween on Monday. The little guy, my crustacean, was a lobster. They were both darn cute, if I do say so myself. Another successful Halloween under our belts with a few lessons learned to boot.
We spent a good part of Tuesday dealing with the fact that "Halloween is over." The babe asked, "Mama, how many more days before we have Halloween again?" It hurt to tell her 364.
I have taken down the spider webs from the bushes out front. I have packed away the costumes. But I still have a lot of candy. Too much candy considering I have a daughter with food allergies and a son who is not used to eating food his sister can't eat.
The tough part about Halloween is sorting through my kids stash at the end of the night. I take away all the candy and chocolates my daughter can't have. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups being a prime example. She remains seriously allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and can't eat dairy products that haven't been baked at 425 for 25 minutes or more. I am too paranoid to give her things without labels and usually end up taking away most of her trick or treating collection. I am the bad guy. I would have hated myself now as a kid. Luckily she is good about it and doesn't lose her cool.
I try to replace the candy I take with approved candy I have bought in advance. So I guess that makes me the good guy. The kids still get to sit at the dining room table after they eat dinner and eat too much sugar. They still get to experience the sugar highs and lows of a normal post-Halloween childhood.
Although yesterday was a reminder that perhaps my kids aren't that used to getting loaded up on sugary candy treats. Our first incident was during nap time when the little guy barfed up chocolate I had given him after lunch (his sister was at school and I figured she wouldn't know the difference). The little guy sadly knew the difference. This barfing episode may be due to the fact he doesn't consume much dairy or that he doesn't consume much chocolate. Regardless, no more dairy chocolate for that kid.
The second incident was before bath time. Both kids had consumed a good chunk of candy after dinner so were a tad ramped up by bath time. I was on my own last night and was sorting out pajamas, etc. for after bath when I heard a horrific cry. The crying continued and before I knew it I had a sobbing little boy in my arms. My hyper daughter had managed to close the bathroom door on my hyper son's thumb. We had a solid 20 minutes of theatrics and I broke a sweat worrying that his little thumb could be broken. By 8:25 pm everyone was safely tucked in bed....clean and calm.
Oh, and by the way, the babe was a witch for our neighborhood party on Sunday and then an astronaut for Halloween on Monday. The little guy, my crustacean, was a lobster. They were both darn cute, if I do say so myself. Another successful Halloween under our belts with a few lessons learned to boot.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
All in a Day's Work
A few weeks back the babe and I were attending her classmate's birthday party.
As with all birthday parties we attend, I had brought her a special treat to make up for the fact she couldn't have the birthday cake the other kids were bound to be eating in her front of her. Usually this plan has worked. Sadly, it didn't work at this party. When it came time for snacks and cake, the babe came to me crying. She couldn't eat the sandwiches the other kids were eating and didn't get to indulge in the brownie cake that followed.
I felt so terribly bad for her. I have always been impressed with her ability to deal with eating different food than the people around her. I thought that since we've been aware of her allergies since she was 5 months old, that she was used to eating different food. What I am now realizing is that almost 5 year old girls don't like to be different. What they want is to eat the same cake as everybody else.
As you may recall, the babe has outgrown some of her allergies and can now have eggs, sesame and baked milk. While this opens up many doors, parents are never able to tell me the ingredients of what they are providing at birthday parties. They don't know if the party food may contain trace amounts of peanuts. They don't know if there is butter in the icing. They don't know if the food was manufactured on equipment which is used to produce tree nut products. And I don't want to take any chances.
Anyway, yesterday I spent an hour going through the list of snacks that are provided at the babe's school. For over 2 years, I have sent her snacks in with her and she has eaten different food than the other kids at snack time. I decided it was time to reevaluate this system and go through all the items that are served and read all the labels I could get my hands on. I came up with a solid list of the foods she can have at snack time, and a list of those which she is not to be served.
I have put some faith in her teachers and in her by doing this. I have lost some control. But for the first time the babe was able to share in snack time with her class yesterday. She was thrilled she got to eat what everyone else ate. And I got to feel like I had done my job as her Mama. It certainly feels good to make some progress. It also feels good to know that my daughter is one step closer to culinary independence.
As with all birthday parties we attend, I had brought her a special treat to make up for the fact she couldn't have the birthday cake the other kids were bound to be eating in her front of her. Usually this plan has worked. Sadly, it didn't work at this party. When it came time for snacks and cake, the babe came to me crying. She couldn't eat the sandwiches the other kids were eating and didn't get to indulge in the brownie cake that followed.
I felt so terribly bad for her. I have always been impressed with her ability to deal with eating different food than the people around her. I thought that since we've been aware of her allergies since she was 5 months old, that she was used to eating different food. What I am now realizing is that almost 5 year old girls don't like to be different. What they want is to eat the same cake as everybody else.
As you may recall, the babe has outgrown some of her allergies and can now have eggs, sesame and baked milk. While this opens up many doors, parents are never able to tell me the ingredients of what they are providing at birthday parties. They don't know if the party food may contain trace amounts of peanuts. They don't know if there is butter in the icing. They don't know if the food was manufactured on equipment which is used to produce tree nut products. And I don't want to take any chances.
Anyway, yesterday I spent an hour going through the list of snacks that are provided at the babe's school. For over 2 years, I have sent her snacks in with her and she has eaten different food than the other kids at snack time. I decided it was time to reevaluate this system and go through all the items that are served and read all the labels I could get my hands on. I came up with a solid list of the foods she can have at snack time, and a list of those which she is not to be served.
I have put some faith in her teachers and in her by doing this. I have lost some control. But for the first time the babe was able to share in snack time with her class yesterday. She was thrilled she got to eat what everyone else ate. And I got to feel like I had done my job as her Mama. It certainly feels good to make some progress. It also feels good to know that my daughter is one step closer to culinary independence.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Bad Blogger
I have been irresponsible. I apologize for not posting to tell you that the babe's food challenge was a success! She has now been cleared for baked dairy (like cake, cookies, and other good stuff). We are all thrilled and so relieved that she seems to be growing out of her food allergies.
In the past week, my husband and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary (yay, us! and, where has the time gone?), went for dinner a few times, went to a movie (it had been a year and a half since my husband and I were in a theater together), bought a mini freezer for the basement (my husband's Mother has been visiting and cooking up a storm for us!), celebrated Canada Day, celebrated the 4th of July, went to a BBQ, hosted a BBQ, dealt with various home owner related issues and have generally been running all over the place like a chicken with its head cut off.
These things do not amount to a valid excuse for not writing, but finding computer time has been challenging.
More news: I am taking off by myself for the first time in over a year. My train to NYC leaves in a few hours and I am so very, very excited. A weekend in my favorite city with my old and lovely friends. How delicious is that?
I will get back into the swing of things upon my return. But I did want to say hello and that I miss updating you on all the excitement and chaos of life in our home.
In the past week, my husband and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary (yay, us! and, where has the time gone?), went for dinner a few times, went to a movie (it had been a year and a half since my husband and I were in a theater together), bought a mini freezer for the basement (my husband's Mother has been visiting and cooking up a storm for us!), celebrated Canada Day, celebrated the 4th of July, went to a BBQ, hosted a BBQ, dealt with various home owner related issues and have generally been running all over the place like a chicken with its head cut off.
These things do not amount to a valid excuse for not writing, but finding computer time has been challenging.
More news: I am taking off by myself for the first time in over a year. My train to NYC leaves in a few hours and I am so very, very excited. A weekend in my favorite city with my old and lovely friends. How delicious is that?
I will get back into the swing of things upon my return. But I did want to say hello and that I miss updating you on all the excitement and chaos of life in our home.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Enjoy Life
Tomorrow the babe and I are going for another "food challenge" at the allergist's office. This will involve sitting in a small room with my daughter for about 6 hours as she is slowly fed muffins made with real cows milk. Apparently when you bake milk it breaks down the protein which can cause allergic reactions. And apparently the doctors think she is ready to take on the "baked milk challenge."
I haven't spent too much time thinking about it, until today. My Mother-in-Law and I were having lunch and she started asking questions about the appointment and how long we'd be gone. As I explained to her how the appointments go (I've done 3 challenges with my kids already), I realized I had not thought about the fact that all the challenges we've done so far have been successful. My kids had out grown their "challenge" allergies and did not have any reactions whatsoever.
What I haven't spent time thinking about is the fact that not all food challenges are successful and that sometimes kids have severe reactions. That said, I am not going to stress about it now. The only way we can really know if the babe is ready for baked milk is to give her small amounts in a safe environment and monitor her along the way.
All this reminds me that I want to say a big thank you....not to my husband, not to my Mom, but to a food company. I am not being paid to give this endorsement, I just feel so grateful that Enjoy Life Foods exists and are creating foods that help my daughter feel "normal." Enjoy Life Foods makes amazing chocolate chips which I have been using in the babe's treats for some time. Last week I discovered that they now make chocolate bars she can have (imagine eating your first ever chocolate bar!). And yesterday, I was beyond thrilled to discover 3 varieties of granola bars that will be safe for the babe and her lunch box. It has been hard living without the easy to grab granola bar, and while I like the ones I make, I don't exactly always have them on hand. While the babe is now only allergic to dairy, peanuts and tree nuts, it is rare to find a company that is making tasty treats that are dairy, gluten, peanut, tree nut, soy, egg and casein free! I just want to thank Enjoy Life Foods for helping my daughter enjoy her own.
I haven't spent too much time thinking about it, until today. My Mother-in-Law and I were having lunch and she started asking questions about the appointment and how long we'd be gone. As I explained to her how the appointments go (I've done 3 challenges with my kids already), I realized I had not thought about the fact that all the challenges we've done so far have been successful. My kids had out grown their "challenge" allergies and did not have any reactions whatsoever.
What I haven't spent time thinking about is the fact that not all food challenges are successful and that sometimes kids have severe reactions. That said, I am not going to stress about it now. The only way we can really know if the babe is ready for baked milk is to give her small amounts in a safe environment and monitor her along the way.
All this reminds me that I want to say a big thank you....not to my husband, not to my Mom, but to a food company. I am not being paid to give this endorsement, I just feel so grateful that Enjoy Life Foods exists and are creating foods that help my daughter feel "normal." Enjoy Life Foods makes amazing chocolate chips which I have been using in the babe's treats for some time. Last week I discovered that they now make chocolate bars she can have (imagine eating your first ever chocolate bar!). And yesterday, I was beyond thrilled to discover 3 varieties of granola bars that will be safe for the babe and her lunch box. It has been hard living without the easy to grab granola bar, and while I like the ones I make, I don't exactly always have them on hand. While the babe is now only allergic to dairy, peanuts and tree nuts, it is rare to find a company that is making tasty treats that are dairy, gluten, peanut, tree nut, soy, egg and casein free! I just want to thank Enjoy Life Foods for helping my daughter enjoy her own.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
More Words of Wisdom
We had a great weekend. We really, really did (don't look so surprised!). It was so nice to just enjoy being a family and have things go well. I'm not sure exactly how we accomplished the smooth sailing we all experienced, but I'd like to copy it, if I can figure out what the secret to our success actually was (having a full agenda, perhaps?).
On Sunday night we piled into the car and drove out to the Outback Steakhouse for a rare family restaurant meal. You may recall that this is about the only restaurant we go to with the kids because they handle the babe's food allergies so well. It's loud, family oriented and fast which makes it a perfect fit for us. Sunday was another reassuring reminder that we can actually dine in public like other "normal" families.
While all the little guy consumed was fries and orange juice, the babe was awesome and pretty much ate everything on her plate. She tried every vegetable and decided she wasn't going to eat the squash, which we said was fine. My husband and I complemented her on what a great job she did eating and she apologized that she didn't want to eat the squash. We told her that it's fine to not eat something if you've tried it.
Then she made her super wise comment: "You can't taste with your eyes!"
How true is that? The girl knows you cannot judge food without putting it in your mouth first! I feel like we took a huge step forward with that one comment and I left the restaurant feeling positive and empowered (and really, really full). Kids really can have the most insightful thoughts.
On Sunday night we piled into the car and drove out to the Outback Steakhouse for a rare family restaurant meal. You may recall that this is about the only restaurant we go to with the kids because they handle the babe's food allergies so well. It's loud, family oriented and fast which makes it a perfect fit for us. Sunday was another reassuring reminder that we can actually dine in public like other "normal" families.
While all the little guy consumed was fries and orange juice, the babe was awesome and pretty much ate everything on her plate. She tried every vegetable and decided she wasn't going to eat the squash, which we said was fine. My husband and I complemented her on what a great job she did eating and she apologized that she didn't want to eat the squash. We told her that it's fine to not eat something if you've tried it.
Then she made her super wise comment: "You can't taste with your eyes!"
How true is that? The girl knows you cannot judge food without putting it in your mouth first! I feel like we took a huge step forward with that one comment and I left the restaurant feeling positive and empowered (and really, really full). Kids really can have the most insightful thoughts.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Catching Up
The babe was home from school for 11 days straight. And you know what? We made it!
Spring break is a wonderful concept, but it has the ability to really mess with your schedule. Luckily my amazing Mom flew down from Ottawa and helped take care of the kids, the house, and me.
In the week she was here, we managed to take the kids to the National Museum of Natural History (LOVE IT!), the National Building Museum (not a whole lot of love for this one), Costco, the shoe store, and the park (numerous times). In addition, I managed to take myself to the dentist (yuck and ouch), for a (Groupon inspired) massage (yum), for a baseline mammogram (it wasn't that bad and I'm gratefully in the clear), and on a variety of solo shopping quests (yes, shopping for just moi). Oh, and I managed to go on a dinner date with my Mom, and ANOTHER dinner date with my husband. Not too shabby!
I also spent six hours with the babe at the allergist's office doing her second "food challenge," this time with sesame. She slowly ate measured pieces of bread with fake cream cheese and sesame seeds over a period of a few hours. And I am so pleased to announce that she passed her sesame challenge and is officially able to enjoy sesame in whatever she pleases (bring on the hummus!). This is super good news because she has now outgrown 2 of her allergies (the first was egg, which we cleared last month). According to her doctor, things look good for outgrowing the majority of the remaining ones (although the babe will likely have to live with her peanut allergy for the rest of her life). I have spent about 17 hours in the same small room at the allergist's office since last month, and every minute has been worth it. I really can't explain how awesome it is to see your kids move beyond a food allergy.
As you can see, it was quite a week here. After all the excitement, it was odd to go back to our old routine on Monday. My Mom had left, the babe headed back to school, and all of a sudden the little guy and I were left staring at each other. Unfortunately his classes don't start up again until next week, so we've been drifting through the days and catching up with fun things like groceries and laundry. I did however take him to the community center gym to run around for an hour this morning...so I'm not as evil as it sounds.
Anyway, I had no real deep message about how I've grown as a parent in the last few weeks, but I did want to let you know I'm still standing...even after 11 days straight with my kiddies.
Spring break is a wonderful concept, but it has the ability to really mess with your schedule. Luckily my amazing Mom flew down from Ottawa and helped take care of the kids, the house, and me.
In the week she was here, we managed to take the kids to the National Museum of Natural History (LOVE IT!), the National Building Museum (not a whole lot of love for this one), Costco, the shoe store, and the park (numerous times). In addition, I managed to take myself to the dentist (yuck and ouch), for a (Groupon inspired) massage (yum), for a baseline mammogram (it wasn't that bad and I'm gratefully in the clear), and on a variety of solo shopping quests (yes, shopping for just moi). Oh, and I managed to go on a dinner date with my Mom, and ANOTHER dinner date with my husband. Not too shabby!
I also spent six hours with the babe at the allergist's office doing her second "food challenge," this time with sesame. She slowly ate measured pieces of bread with fake cream cheese and sesame seeds over a period of a few hours. And I am so pleased to announce that she passed her sesame challenge and is officially able to enjoy sesame in whatever she pleases (bring on the hummus!). This is super good news because she has now outgrown 2 of her allergies (the first was egg, which we cleared last month). According to her doctor, things look good for outgrowing the majority of the remaining ones (although the babe will likely have to live with her peanut allergy for the rest of her life). I have spent about 17 hours in the same small room at the allergist's office since last month, and every minute has been worth it. I really can't explain how awesome it is to see your kids move beyond a food allergy.
As you can see, it was quite a week here. After all the excitement, it was odd to go back to our old routine on Monday. My Mom had left, the babe headed back to school, and all of a sudden the little guy and I were left staring at each other. Unfortunately his classes don't start up again until next week, so we've been drifting through the days and catching up with fun things like groceries and laundry. I did however take him to the community center gym to run around for an hour this morning...so I'm not as evil as it sounds.
Anyway, I had no real deep message about how I've grown as a parent in the last few weeks, but I did want to let you know I'm still standing...even after 11 days straight with my kiddies.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Eggs, Eggs, Eggs!
Guess who can eat eggs now? EVERYONE IN MY HOUSE!!!!!
Guess who likes scrambled eggs? NO ONE BUT ME!
I am seriously thrilled to announce that the babe passed her "egg challenge" yesterday. We got started at 7am and were done by noon. The babe ate a piece of french toast with maple syrup in small doses over a period of a few hours and then she was closely monitored for a few hours. She loved it, and after I got over my nerves, I loved it.
Having spent 10 hours at the allergist's office since Wednesday, I can now officially say both kids have outgrown a food allergy. I never thought the day would actually come, and I am still coming to terms with the fact that eggs will now be allowed into our baking, our meals, our flu shots, etc., etc.
I offered to make the babe more french toast for brunch today but she claimed she wanted scrambled eggs. So I whipped up a batch, and despite offering a lot of ketchup, the babe told me she doesn't like scrambled eggs. Above is her place mat after brunch was complete. I'm not sure she actually put any in her mouth or if she was too grossed out from looking at them.
Perhaps we just stick with eggs in baked items, pancakes, and french toast for now. Regardless, it is one less thing to fear in life. YAY!!!!!!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Bring on the Dairy!
Cheese stick? OK. Yogurt? Sure thing. Some ice cream and chocolate milk? Why not?
Dear friends, I am happy to announce that my son passed his "food challenge" today at the allergist's office. We were there for about 5.5 hours and the little guy had 5 doses of whole milk. He showed no reaction whatsoever. He was, in fact, remarkably well behaved considering he was dragged out of bed in the dark, walked in the cold to an office where he had to remain in a small room being forced to repeatedly drink milk and have his blood pressure and heart checked every half hour or so.
It was a strange experience and I'm glad we went through with it. I was pretty nervous and had trouble sleeping last night (as did both kids), but was so relieved when the doctor said he was officially in the clear.
I am not sure how I'm going to deal with having one child who can consume dairy products and one who cannot. But for now, at least I know that he and I can snack together during the day without any fear.
Realistically, this is going to mean I live in a house with soy milk (the babe), lactose-free milk (my husband), whole milk (the little guy), 1% milk and half and half (for me). Seems a bit ridiculous, no?
While we have one food challenge out of the way, I remain extremely nervous about the babe's egg challenge on Friday. One way or another, we are giving it our best shot this week. Hopefully this weekend will involve some celebrating in the kitchen!
Dear friends, I am happy to announce that my son passed his "food challenge" today at the allergist's office. We were there for about 5.5 hours and the little guy had 5 doses of whole milk. He showed no reaction whatsoever. He was, in fact, remarkably well behaved considering he was dragged out of bed in the dark, walked in the cold to an office where he had to remain in a small room being forced to repeatedly drink milk and have his blood pressure and heart checked every half hour or so.
It was a strange experience and I'm glad we went through with it. I was pretty nervous and had trouble sleeping last night (as did both kids), but was so relieved when the doctor said he was officially in the clear.
I am not sure how I'm going to deal with having one child who can consume dairy products and one who cannot. But for now, at least I know that he and I can snack together during the day without any fear.
Realistically, this is going to mean I live in a house with soy milk (the babe), lactose-free milk (my husband), whole milk (the little guy), 1% milk and half and half (for me). Seems a bit ridiculous, no?
While we have one food challenge out of the way, I remain extremely nervous about the babe's egg challenge on Friday. One way or another, we are giving it our best shot this week. Hopefully this weekend will involve some celebrating in the kitchen!
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Distractions of Life
Believe it or not, we actually had a good weekend! Yes...the 4 of us, together (even though my husband had to work in our "home office" on both Saturday and Sunday). It felt really good and I'm not sure what the secret ingredient to our success was, but whatever it was, I want more weekends like it.
It's funny we managed to pull it off as last week was pretty stressful. By Friday night we were all fried. Once we got the kids to bed and ate, my husband and I managed to switch the mood around by 9:30pm, and after that things got much better.
Haven't had much down time, but am excited to report that today I have dealt with the painters who are doing our basement (yay!), the floor guy who is going to cover up the concrete in the basement with flooring (yay!) and the HVAC guy who hopefully figured out why the thermostat isn't communicating with the furnace (yay!). I've also had both kids at home as the babe didn't have school today.
She wasn't feeling well for the first half of the day (possibly related to not feeling well and trying to wiggle into our bed all last night). I guess the babe wouldn't have gone to school today anyway, so it kind of worked out (except for the fact that we had to miss the little guy's sports class, which is seriously unfortunate as he's literally been inside for days).
Another unfortunate thing is the amount of TV the kids have watched today as I deal with contractors and such, and the amount of paint fumes we are all currently inhaling. I know they say low VOC is OK, but I'm feeling pretty raunchy having been trapped in here all day. If it were spring, you can bet every window we own would be pumped open.
Anyway, this is a pretty random post, but I wanted to get something up that wasn't about crazy drivers! Hopefully I will have some good news for you later this week as both kids are undergoing "food challenges" at the allergist's office. The little guy will be trying dairy (which he is still testing negative for and hasn't had in over a year) and the babe will be trying egg as her levels have apparently dropped enough that they think she may be OK with it. Fingers crossed we can start marking things off our food allergy list!
It's funny we managed to pull it off as last week was pretty stressful. By Friday night we were all fried. Once we got the kids to bed and ate, my husband and I managed to switch the mood around by 9:30pm, and after that things got much better.
Haven't had much down time, but am excited to report that today I have dealt with the painters who are doing our basement (yay!), the floor guy who is going to cover up the concrete in the basement with flooring (yay!) and the HVAC guy who hopefully figured out why the thermostat isn't communicating with the furnace (yay!). I've also had both kids at home as the babe didn't have school today.
She wasn't feeling well for the first half of the day (possibly related to not feeling well and trying to wiggle into our bed all last night). I guess the babe wouldn't have gone to school today anyway, so it kind of worked out (except for the fact that we had to miss the little guy's sports class, which is seriously unfortunate as he's literally been inside for days).
Another unfortunate thing is the amount of TV the kids have watched today as I deal with contractors and such, and the amount of paint fumes we are all currently inhaling. I know they say low VOC is OK, but I'm feeling pretty raunchy having been trapped in here all day. If it were spring, you can bet every window we own would be pumped open.
Anyway, this is a pretty random post, but I wanted to get something up that wasn't about crazy drivers! Hopefully I will have some good news for you later this week as both kids are undergoing "food challenges" at the allergist's office. The little guy will be trying dairy (which he is still testing negative for and hasn't had in over a year) and the babe will be trying egg as her levels have apparently dropped enough that they think she may be OK with it. Fingers crossed we can start marking things off our food allergy list!
Friday, July 30, 2010
The New Tradition
Over the years, when I have wanted a special treat, I have always made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (based on the recipe for Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies). They are shared with my husband on Friday and Saturday nights as we chill out and watch TV. It has become a special tradition.
Today I decided I wanted some of those cookies. I figured with all the vegetables we've been eating from our awesome garden, we were due for a sweet treat. But I wanted the babe and her brother to be able to enjoy this special tradition with us. I can't believe it took me so long to try this, but this afternoon the babe and I put on our aprons and altered my recipe into a non-dairy, non-egg version, and it worked out really well (although it was hard to shape the cookies as the batter wasn't really sticky).
I wanted to share my new version of an old favorite with you:
1 cup (2 sticks) of softened non-dairy Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 mushed up banana
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Dash of salt
3 cups of old fashioned uncooked oats
1 cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Beat together melted buttery sticks and sugars until creamy
3. Add mashed up banana and vanilla; beat well
4. Add COMBINED flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well
5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips; mix well
6. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookies sheet
7. Bake for 11 minutes
8. Cool 1 minute and move to plate or wire rack
The great thing about this recipe is you can load up 12 cookies for immediate use, and divide the rest of the batter into 2 separate bags for the freezer for future indulgence. It's reassuring knowing you've got another 24 cookies just waiting for you. When the last bag is done, time to start all over again.
After years of buying allergy friendly Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate chip cookies (which are great), I think I'll be making more of an effort to make the kids cookies from scratch. It just feels (and tastes) right.
Today I decided I wanted some of those cookies. I figured with all the vegetables we've been eating from our awesome garden, we were due for a sweet treat. But I wanted the babe and her brother to be able to enjoy this special tradition with us. I can't believe it took me so long to try this, but this afternoon the babe and I put on our aprons and altered my recipe into a non-dairy, non-egg version, and it worked out really well (although it was hard to shape the cookies as the batter wasn't really sticky).
I wanted to share my new version of an old favorite with you:
1 cup (2 sticks) of softened non-dairy Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 mushed up banana
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Dash of salt
3 cups of old fashioned uncooked oats
1 cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Beat together melted buttery sticks and sugars until creamy
3. Add mashed up banana and vanilla; beat well
4. Add COMBINED flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well
5. Stir in oats and chocolate chips; mix well
6. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookies sheet
7. Bake for 11 minutes
8. Cool 1 minute and move to plate or wire rack
The great thing about this recipe is you can load up 12 cookies for immediate use, and divide the rest of the batter into 2 separate bags for the freezer for future indulgence. It's reassuring knowing you've got another 24 cookies just waiting for you. When the last bag is done, time to start all over again.
After years of buying allergy friendly Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate chip cookies (which are great), I think I'll be making more of an effort to make the kids cookies from scratch. It just feels (and tastes) right.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Food, Planes, Food
Last night was a beautiful night out. The weather was perfect. Georgetown, where we first lived together as a newly engaged couple, was action packed with all the pretty people. We managed to have a drink by the water/people watch and make it to our dinner reservation, no problem. It was 4.5 hours of bliss (although we did eat a rather large amount of food a little too late). To not have the diaper bag was a real feeling of freedom, even if we were only a 10 minute cab ride from home. We should do it more....famous last words.
Today had a wonderful second half. We drove out to the park by Reagan National Airport and watched the planes coming in to land. The little guy got the biggest kick out of it. He would point at the planes flying just overhead and start yelling and jabbering in his special language that only he understands. The babe was a big grumpy pants, but we managed to ignore it enough that it didn't ruin the experience.
We then took a chance and did something crazy. As we were already in Virginia, we decided to pop over to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner (despite the fact we went to a "real" steak house last night). We thought it would be cool to do something special with the kids as it was just Canada Day, our Anniversary, and it's Independence Day tomorrow. This restaurant welcomes families, has booths, serves your food fast, and is good at dealing with food allergies (in our rather limited experience). I have to say it was about as successful as I could expect, even though we constantly felt like we were one step away from chaos. I managed to scarf my pasta down while trying to get the kids to eat their steak and chicken. They basically ate the snacks I had in my bag already. We didn't break any dishes or glasses which felt pretty good (at one point we had 9 glasses of various liquids on the table!). A very different experience from our dinner the night before!
Anyway, it's the long weekend so the good times will continue. Hope you're all having fun out there.
Today had a wonderful second half. We drove out to the park by Reagan National Airport and watched the planes coming in to land. The little guy got the biggest kick out of it. He would point at the planes flying just overhead and start yelling and jabbering in his special language that only he understands. The babe was a big grumpy pants, but we managed to ignore it enough that it didn't ruin the experience.
We then took a chance and did something crazy. As we were already in Virginia, we decided to pop over to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner (despite the fact we went to a "real" steak house last night). We thought it would be cool to do something special with the kids as it was just Canada Day, our Anniversary, and it's Independence Day tomorrow. This restaurant welcomes families, has booths, serves your food fast, and is good at dealing with food allergies (in our rather limited experience). I have to say it was about as successful as I could expect, even though we constantly felt like we were one step away from chaos. I managed to scarf my pasta down while trying to get the kids to eat their steak and chicken. They basically ate the snacks I had in my bag already. We didn't break any dishes or glasses which felt pretty good (at one point we had 9 glasses of various liquids on the table!). A very different experience from our dinner the night before!
Anyway, it's the long weekend so the good times will continue. Hope you're all having fun out there.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Summer Is Summer
Sometimes our trips to the library produce real gems. Sometimes they don't.
Luckily we found a few great books on our last visit.
My recent favorite is a book about summer. I love this one because it really hits the nail on the head. It's called "Summer Is Summer" by Phillis and David Gershator with illustrations by Sophie Blackall. Short and sweet, you almost think you're missing something on the first read through. But the more I've read it, the more I have come to appreciate its understated beauty.
My only problem with this book is that it mentions watermelon and ice cream on the same page. The illustration is of a couple kids eating these summer treats. Only problem is I'm reading it to my daughter who can have neither. This past week we found out the babe is allergic to watermelon.
What? Watermelon? Yes, watermelon. On Monday I gave her some watermelon after her fish stick dinner and she broke out in a rash on her face and developed some hives on her cheeks. I thought she had developed an allergy to Pollock. Then on Wednesday we had watermelon as out after school snack, and again, she broke out in hives and an itchy face rash. So there ya have it, we are off melons of any kind now.
Summer is summer at our house, but just a little different.
Luckily we found a few great books on our last visit.
My recent favorite is a book about summer. I love this one because it really hits the nail on the head. It's called "Summer Is Summer" by Phillis and David Gershator with illustrations by Sophie Blackall. Short and sweet, you almost think you're missing something on the first read through. But the more I've read it, the more I have come to appreciate its understated beauty.
My only problem with this book is that it mentions watermelon and ice cream on the same page. The illustration is of a couple kids eating these summer treats. Only problem is I'm reading it to my daughter who can have neither. This past week we found out the babe is allergic to watermelon.
What? Watermelon? Yes, watermelon. On Monday I gave her some watermelon after her fish stick dinner and she broke out in a rash on her face and developed some hives on her cheeks. I thought she had developed an allergy to Pollock. Then on Wednesday we had watermelon as out after school snack, and again, she broke out in hives and an itchy face rash. So there ya have it, we are off melons of any kind now.
Summer is summer at our house, but just a little different.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Music Truck
Today is the day the "music truck" became the "popsicle truck."
Since the weather has warmed up, the ice cream truck has been driving through the neighborhood every night. I had convinced the babe last summer that the truck was a "music truck" because it blares its child friendly songs as it drives slowly around the 'hood searching for dessert deprived children.
We always stop when we here it and watch it drive by. And I have always felt terrible when I see it stop for the neighborhood kids and not for my daughter. Having a child with a dairy allergy makes you see everything in a different light, and the music truck has always been one of those things.
But today we changed things. When we heard the music truck coming the babe stationed herself on the front lawn to watch it drive by. An idea flashed across my brain...perhaps they have non-dairy, non-tree nut, non-peanut, non-sesame, non-egg type treats?! So I ran up to the passing truck to wave him down.
And guess what? He had a few options for us....some yummy sugary, multi-coloured, high fructose corn syrup special treats (the kind I never ever buy). So we dropped the 2 bucks and got the babe her first music truck treat. We took a picture so we could remember this awesome moment.
She didn't finish the popsicle, but you could tell it made her day. Just seeing her face light up made me want to wave down the popsicle truck at least once a week. After all, we all deserve something special on the weekends.
Since the weather has warmed up, the ice cream truck has been driving through the neighborhood every night. I had convinced the babe last summer that the truck was a "music truck" because it blares its child friendly songs as it drives slowly around the 'hood searching for dessert deprived children.
We always stop when we here it and watch it drive by. And I have always felt terrible when I see it stop for the neighborhood kids and not for my daughter. Having a child with a dairy allergy makes you see everything in a different light, and the music truck has always been one of those things.
But today we changed things. When we heard the music truck coming the babe stationed herself on the front lawn to watch it drive by. An idea flashed across my brain...perhaps they have non-dairy, non-tree nut, non-peanut, non-sesame, non-egg type treats?! So I ran up to the passing truck to wave him down.
And guess what? He had a few options for us....some yummy sugary, multi-coloured, high fructose corn syrup special treats (the kind I never ever buy). So we dropped the 2 bucks and got the babe her first music truck treat. We took a picture so we could remember this awesome moment.
She didn't finish the popsicle, but you could tell it made her day. Just seeing her face light up made me want to wave down the popsicle truck at least once a week. After all, we all deserve something special on the weekends.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Our Scare
I'm embarrassed to write this post, but have to share our experience in the hope it could help others who deal with food allergies.
Yesterday the babe had the most severe allergic reaction I've witnessed. And it was my fault (even though this is not about "fault").
She is fine and back to normal, but I think it's going to take me a while to get over this.
I usually make Sunday brunch with pancakes being the main feature. Yesterday, pretty exhausted and distracted, I threw together my standard brunch. I always use banana as an egg replacement but had already used my last one in a pumpkin cake I had made earlier. So, I decided to use some of the babe's yogurt instead. But it wasn't the babe's yogurt, it my mine. I had recently bought a new brand of soy yogurt and a new brand of dairy yogurt and simply mixed them up.
The babe ate a huge meal and commented on how much she loved it (she even ate some of the leftover yogurt directly out of the container). After we cleaned up the maple syrup from around her mouth, I noticed some redness on her face. "What could that be from?" I wondered out loud. I quickly realized it was a rash with some hives developing. I gave her some Benadryl and watched the reaction get increasingly worse.
I won't go into too much detail, but if my husband hadn't been with us, I would have called 911. It got scary and the adrenaline was pumping. A call placed to our allergist was not picked up by the emergency answering service which caused me to fret even further. She ended up throwing up everything in her little body and started to improve after that. She had a warm shower and we snuggled in bed as her face and body began returning to normal.
It was a learning experience for both of us. Now we have seen what can happen and I have been reminded of how careful and vigilant I have to be. It has been some time since we've had a slip up, and this was the worst reaction yet, so I am counting my lucky stars that it wasn't worse and that my little fire cracker of a daughter is OK.
I am feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of parenthood and have been reminded, yet again, just how precious our children are.
If anyone knows of a good pediatric allergist in the DC/MD/VA area, please pass along the information as we are going to leave our current practice. If you can't count of them in an emergency, what's the point?
Yesterday the babe had the most severe allergic reaction I've witnessed. And it was my fault (even though this is not about "fault").
She is fine and back to normal, but I think it's going to take me a while to get over this.
I usually make Sunday brunch with pancakes being the main feature. Yesterday, pretty exhausted and distracted, I threw together my standard brunch. I always use banana as an egg replacement but had already used my last one in a pumpkin cake I had made earlier. So, I decided to use some of the babe's yogurt instead. But it wasn't the babe's yogurt, it my mine. I had recently bought a new brand of soy yogurt and a new brand of dairy yogurt and simply mixed them up.
The babe ate a huge meal and commented on how much she loved it (she even ate some of the leftover yogurt directly out of the container). After we cleaned up the maple syrup from around her mouth, I noticed some redness on her face. "What could that be from?" I wondered out loud. I quickly realized it was a rash with some hives developing. I gave her some Benadryl and watched the reaction get increasingly worse.
I won't go into too much detail, but if my husband hadn't been with us, I would have called 911. It got scary and the adrenaline was pumping. A call placed to our allergist was not picked up by the emergency answering service which caused me to fret even further. She ended up throwing up everything in her little body and started to improve after that. She had a warm shower and we snuggled in bed as her face and body began returning to normal.
It was a learning experience for both of us. Now we have seen what can happen and I have been reminded of how careful and vigilant I have to be. It has been some time since we've had a slip up, and this was the worst reaction yet, so I am counting my lucky stars that it wasn't worse and that my little fire cracker of a daughter is OK.
I am feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of parenthood and have been reminded, yet again, just how precious our children are.
If anyone knows of a good pediatric allergist in the DC/MD/VA area, please pass along the information as we are going to leave our current practice. If you can't count of them in an emergency, what's the point?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Soy Down Low
Sorry to keep you hanging.
Things are looking good on the soy milk front for the little guy.
On Friday I gave him 10ml in a syringe. After 5 minutes, no reaction. 10 minutes, no reaction. 15 minutes, no reaction. You see where I'm going with this.
So every day I've given him a little dose and have been watching him like a hawk. I think he's going to be OK with this and after the 7 day mark, I will start giving him soy milk in larger doses.
The allergist hasn't been much of a help on this and I am beginning to think the whole allergy medicine field is a quack science. I just don't understand how a skin test and a blood test can come back completely negative but the actual food/beverage can cause an allergic reaction.
I suppose it's a lesson learnt and I will continue to be hyper vigilant about what goes into my kids mouths. This has become our way of life. But at least I've been through it once before.
Things are looking good on the soy milk front for the little guy.
On Friday I gave him 10ml in a syringe. After 5 minutes, no reaction. 10 minutes, no reaction. 15 minutes, no reaction. You see where I'm going with this.
So every day I've given him a little dose and have been watching him like a hawk. I think he's going to be OK with this and after the 7 day mark, I will start giving him soy milk in larger doses.
The allergist hasn't been much of a help on this and I am beginning to think the whole allergy medicine field is a quack science. I just don't understand how a skin test and a blood test can come back completely negative but the actual food/beverage can cause an allergic reaction.
I suppose it's a lesson learnt and I will continue to be hyper vigilant about what goes into my kids mouths. This has become our way of life. But at least I've been through it once before.
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