So we’ve been a little quieter lately…just not a whole lot to write about. Anyone got any ideas?
Just after he turned 2, we had to take Curly in for his second blood draw to measure his lead level and also do an allergy panel. His first blood draw was at 1 year old, and he was so good about it. I mean, he cried the whole time, but he let me hold him and didn’t fight it. We were worried how he would be at the second draw, being a year older and much stronger, but he handled it just like the first one. He cried, but didn’t bawl, he let me hold him and cuddle him on my lap and he also watched what was happening…fascinated by his blood going through the little tube. We are so proud of our brave boy.
We had the allergy panel done because even though he had been eating peanut butter with no problem from the time he was 10 months old, at 16 months he had a reaction. He spit out his pb & j and began to cry and scratch at his tongue. The next night we gave him a tiny amount to see if the reaction would be the same and it was. We haven’t given him peanut butter since and the doc told us to wait and do the allergy panel at his 2 year blood draw. She called us yesterday with the results (yes, our awesome pediatrician actually picked up the phone out of the blue and called us with the results, which is why even though her office isn’t that great, we’ve stuck with her this whole time).
She gave us the good news- that Curly’s lead level was nearly undetectably low (it was in the mid-range at his one year appt, so this was relieving) and he did not show an allergic reaction to anything but a mild reaction to peanuts. She told us to continue to stay away from peanut butter, but that he could possibly grow out of his allergy to it, and we don’t have to worry about cross-contamination (and we haven’t been). So yay!
1 In Vermillion 
Good news all around!! As for blogging topics, I feel your pain! I did the 30 Days of Blogging and 30 days of Truth, but they get tiring and redundant! They need a 30 Days of Blogging for parents! Oh, there’s an idea! You write that up and I’ll get right on it, ha ha!
ohh, i like CJ’s idea! want to work on creating that 30 day challenge together?! i havent blogged in more than 3 weeks…i need inspiration!
glad to hear curly is doing okay w/the peanut allergy. and what a rockstar with the blooddraw!
Great news! I’m glad the peanut allergy isn’t serious.
I would totally do the 30-day parenting blog challenge the commenters above suggested. 🙂
I have cousins that are deathly allergic to peanuts, its a nightmare! I’m so glad curly’s is just a little reaction.
Lol, I have similar blogging issues! I blank out. Sometimes I think I don’t want to write about hard(er) stuff, other times I think our lives are just boring, who knows? Regardless, it’s always good to hear about Curly and how things are going in chez Vermillion. So glad you got good news r.e. the blood panel. I’ve heard peanut allergies (mild) are easily grown out of, too – hoping that’s the case here.
Such good news! I am kind of surprised that you have given curly pb so early. I know very ped is different and has different recommendations, but everything I have ever read has said to avoid pb until at least age 2. Chunk has never pb and I don’t plan on it for awhile. Hopefully he will outgrow it because food allergies are horrible to live with, esp pb. I love the idea of a 30-day parent challange, even though the other 30 day challenge burned me out a tad. 🙂
Jen – Some pediatricians say it’s ok as long as there’s no history of allergies. Ours said age two, some say age one, my friends’ said any food was fine except honey if there was no history of allergies. I have another friend whose ped said age 3 which was a bit extreme since their son is 8 now and still terrified to eat nuts. We didn’t plan to give it to Erik until he was 2 but a babysitter gave it to him at 13 months. Ian definitely had it before age 1. Since Erik was kissing him all the time right after eating it, we figured what the hell. 🙂
An Offering of Love and I are now working on a new blog challenge for June 🙂
Jen- We decided to give Curly PB early on because a) we were doing baby-led weaning b) we are not alarmist in general and waiting until 2 to give PB is a fairly recent development (some docs say 1, some say 3), and the most important reason c) his daycare at the time was not peanut-free. We decided it was better to give him some at home and be able to see if he had a reaction than to have him ingest a peanut product at daycare and have a really bad reaction. As you can see, he ate it regularly with no reaction for 8 months. It was really strange when he developed a mild allergy to it then, but hopefully he’ll grow out of it. This was a helpful article to read on “forbidden foods”: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/forbiddenbabyfood.htm There’s a really interesting study cited (from 2009) that says giving PB during later infancy actually leads to a lesser prevalence of peanut allergies later on. The U.S. is very different than most other countries when it comes to giving babies certain foods.
I’m on the same plane– I can’t really think of much of interest to write about these days, either, after the 30 Day challenge. But, I would totally try another one. I am excited to hear about the next challenge for June.
Whoa, peanut allergies can be scary– I’m glad that he’s only got a mild reaction to them… I have a little cousin who can’t even smell them. Lucas does eat PB&J fairly regularly, but we just discussed the whole allergy panel thing at the doctor today and we’re going to wait until 2, too.
Yeah for good news! Our little one was just diagnosed with an allergy to milk. Unfortunately for us we have to avoid everything that has milk in it.
So glad it is only a minor allergy. We’re headed to an allergist with O. at the end of the month to see why he’s always rattly in his chest….glad to hear that they can do a blood draw in addition to the prick test.