Allergic

We found out the hard way that Kylie is allergic to peanuts. We had known that it was a possibility that she was allergic because she did have a small reaction when she was younger. The day after her first birthday party, I gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that was left over from her party. She had a few small red spots show up on her throat so I immediately took away the sandwich. We took her to the doctor and he said that normally a child will grow out of an allergy by the time they are two. The doctor said to wait a while, maybe until she is two, and try again. Well I waited until she was over 4 years old! We had a friend over two weekends ago and decided to make peanut butter cookies. Kylie and I were babysitting Autumn (our little cousin) so we thought it would be a fun activity for Kylie. Joe and I knew that we needed to try and give her peanut butter again, but we had been nervous as to what might happen so we kept putting it off. That day I decided that we needed to do it because if she wasn't allergic than we had nothing to worry about. Since her reaction when she was one we have made sure that there were never any kind of nuts in the foods she ate. We had been careful to monitor what she ate and what others gave her. Kylie was so excited to help with the cookies. She loved to dump in all of the ingredients and stir everything up. She couldn't wait for them to be done. After they were done we all got a cookie and some milk. Kylie took her first bite and seemed okay. However, she started coughing but she said she was fine. She continued to cough and I kept asking her if her throat was itching, but she said no. She finished her cookie and milk but her coughing continued. Our friend that was visiting read her a book and she liked it and was interested, but kept coughing. I knew something was wrong. I immediately called my mom and Joe (who was working the Baylor football game). My mom had mentioned that she had been coughing because of seasonal allergies a little during the day so it may have just been a little worse because it was getting later in the evening. I gave Kylie some allergy medicine anyway just in case. Our friend left and Kylie seemed a little better, but not much. She seemed like she was a little tired and hot so I let her relax in our bed with the fan and my phone to play on while I took Autumn in the other room to clean up. Not five minutes after putting her in the bed I heard her throwing up. I got her off the bed and took her to her bathroom to give her a bath. It was no fun trying to bathe her and keep up with a 14 month old. Autumn kept wanting to get in the bathtub with Kylie and I had to try and bathe Kylie and keep Autumn from joining her. After Kylie had been in the bath for just a minute I noticed a huge red spots on her abdomen and side. I knew it was getting worse. I called my mom who texted Autumn's mom and dad to come get her. I finished cleaning Kylie and got her out. I put her on a blanket in the living room and waited for Autumn's parents to arrive. After Autumn was picked up I cleaned up the mess that was on the bed. The lovely throw up had soaked through Kylie's sleeping bag that she was laying on, through our comforter and both sheets on the bed (the flat and fitted). I tried cleaning as much up as possible and took her sleeping bag outside and rinsed it off. I took everything off the bed and put it in the washing machine. I checked on Kylie and nothing had changed. The rash was still there and she had no energy. I called my mom who said she was on her way. Joe had been working the football game and couldn't leave so I'm so glad my mom came over, even though it was almost 10pm. My mom got there and Kylie got worse. The rash spread and she got hives. Then her face started to swell. I called the on-call doctor for our doctor's office and explained to him what happened. He suggested I give her allergy medicine (which I already had, but she had thrown up) and then said "Well we can officially say she is allergic to peanuts"...Well no duh!!!! He told me to keep an eye on her breathing and her tongue. He said if her breathing started to become labored or her tongue started to swell to take her to the ER. He told me that as long as neither of those happened then I should just keep her cool and calm and the rash/hives would go away and the swelling in her face would go down. He also told me that the rash and hives would probably change and she would probably throw up again. Joe was finally able to come home from work and checked on Kylie before going to bed because he had to be up early for work in the morning. I called my supervisor and told her I would not be coming in the next morning because I knew it was going to be a long night. My mom held Kylie and we made sure that she was cool and calm. After she threw up a second time we decided to try and get some sleep. Thankfully my mom stayed the night. She slept on the couch while Kylie and I shared the loveseat. I set my alarm on my phone for 3am so I could give Kylie another dose of medicine. We tried to get as much sleep as possible, but it was hard. When we woke up Sunday morning Kylie was much better. She still had a little swelling in her face, but her rash/hives were gone and her energy started coming back. She started acting more like herself and enjoyed spending the morning with YaYa and mommy. Mom went home early in the afternoon and Kylie and I lounged around and took naps until Joe got home from work. The doctor had suggested that we come in and get an epi pen for Kylie just in case anything happened again. We made an appointment to talk to the doctor and combined her allergy appointment with her four year checkup. She did great at her checkup and loved talking to the doctor. We found out that she is 43 pounds and 45 inches tall. The doctor said she will probably be 6 feet tall! He checked all of her reflexes and everything else. She counted and said her ABCs and showed off her skills for the doctor. Then it was time for the fun part...SHOTS. We had prepared Kylie earlier in the day and after crying for about five minutes she said she was going to be brave. We reminded her how brave she had been when she got her flu shot last year and I think that helped. She told everyone that we saw that day (before we got to the appointment) that she wasn't scared and that she was brave. She got four shots and didn't cry a bit. She got four bandaids (which she loves) and then an "ouchie buddy" (a stuffed doll that some ladies had sewn for the doctor's office to give to kids after shots). Her buddy hasn't left her side since. After her appointment we headed to Walmart to pick up her epi pen. Thankfully her epi pen came with a trainer that we can practice with. The trainer doesn't have any medicine or needle and talks you through the steps. Hopefully we will never have to use it. We have been doing fine for the past three years with watching what she eats so I think we will be okay. I am just scared for when she starts school and she will be away from us. I know the school nurse will know what to do and we will make sure her teachers are aware, but I'm scared if someone tries to trade with her at lunchtime or if other parents bring in treats. I know I will be a nervous wreck every day until she comes home from school. I am so thankful to my mom for coming over and staying with me. She is always there for me and I know I can count on her for anything. I don't know what I would do without her. Thanks again mom (who I know is checking to see if I updated my blog).