There are moments that are ingrained in our memories. Ones that you can close your eyes and instant remember every detail, feeling and smell.
My daughter, Kiersley was 14 months old. We had done baby led weaning with her, so she skipped the “baby food” phase and we started with real food around 7-8 months. I had a Lara bar that I was eating...and she reached for it, wanting a piece. I broke of a tiny chunk of it, about half the size of a penny. She put it into her mouth, sucked on it for a few seconds and started coughing.
I’ll never forget what happened next. She immediately spit some of it out, and started having a hard time breathing. Her face was beet red, she began vomiting, and I realized she was NOT okay. We should have called an ambulance, looking back, I analyze every second of what was happening. Instead, we ran to my husband’s truck and he drove ridiculously fast to the hospital.
Thankfully my in-laws were there to be with my son while we took her. She went limp in my arms on the way to the hospital, coherent, but couldn’t lift her head. Everything was red - her face, arms and legs were beet red, all except her trunk. They rushed us in, and when they finally gave us the shot of epinephrine, the redness immediately went away, and our little girl came back to us. I remember hugging her and just being in complete shock, and realizing our lives were about to change.
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When my daughter was born, I thought I was prepared. After all, my son was three years old and I was no longer a “newbie” mom. I had experience (and the milk stains and stretch marks to prove it :)). No two pregnancies are the same though, and no two kiddos either. Hunter was an easy baby and a relatively easy toddler. He had no major health issues, with the exception of the occasional cold, etc. So, I was not prepared for my daughter’s journey… which was very different.
She changed our world from the moment she was born, and challenged us as we dealt with different issues. I remember early on dealing with her severe skin issues. She would have huge red patches on the back of her knees, elbows, her cheeks, and the folds of her neck. It was an early sign of allergies, but we didn’t know that yet.
We cleaned up our laundry products, changed out our soap - made sure we eliminated as much as could with fragrance. There were other signs as well, she needed tubes in her ears early on and her immune system was so weak. She was truly the kid that was going to catch whatever bug was going around.
When she was 4 months old, she was dealing with bad reflux, had a week long stint in the hospital, and I made the decision to go dairy-free while I nursed her. That helped her skin some… but not a significant amount. Looking back, I realized she was ingesting her allergens constantly through my breastmilk, while I was nursing!
Fast forward to her first appointment at the allergist. I had no idea about the world I was entering. I was scared, overwhelmed and confused. I will never forget the welts on her back after doing her skin testing and realizing it wasn’t just dairy we needed to avoid… but cashew, peanuts, the rest of the tree nuts and egg as well.
While food allergies are definitely not a death sentence, until you are IN that world, you don’t realize just how much they affect EVERYthing in your day to day life.
My goal in sharing this is to help moms who were in the exact same spot I was… trying to come to terms with a food allergy diagnosis for their child and trying to wrap their heads around what that means. I want to share the years of experience I have with you. I want to share my resources with you, and help you as you navigate the food allergy world.
You are NOT alone… You can get started by grabbing this free guide I have here: 3 Tips for Adjusting to Food Allergies.
We also have a wonderful group of supportive moms who are in this with you, who have been where you are and can help you on this journey! You can join them here
Also, stay tuned for my course - I am going to break down ALL the big things that come with a food allergy diagnosis. Including early signs, prepping for testing, easy swaps, how to advocate for your child at school, restaurant tips and trick, how to support your immune system and more!
