Every Christmas morning breakfast has been the same for my family, for as long as I can remember. Scrambled eggs, ham, fried potatoes, OJ, and my mom's famous homemade cornsticks. Even after I moved out Christmas breakfast was always the same, and Mike and I would head over to my parents' house Christmas morning to indulge in our tradition. For Dylan's first Christmas in 2008 the tradition changed slightly, and my parents and sister brought Christmas breakfast to us. Of course, at only two months old Dylan just slept right through it!
Christmas 2009 started in much the same way. My family was heading over with Christmas breakfast, and we were so excited that Dylan was going to be able to sit at the table with us and continue our tradition. My parents knew about Dylan's allergies and everything was safe except the corn sticks, which are laden with butter. He'd had everything else in some way before: eggs (in processed foods like pasta), ham, potatoes. The OJ he'd never had, but he had clementine oranges at daycare with no problems at all.
About 5 minutes into breakfast I noticed that Dylan's top lip looked funny... And it got puffier, and puffier... Then he started frantically rubbing his eyes and I noticed hives on his hands and around his mouth. I started to panic, and told Mike to get Dylan's Benadryl as I started getting him out of the high chair. Then I noticed the hives all over his chest and belly. We laid him down, Mike gave him the medicine, and I just stared at him waiting for any signs of tongue swelling or laboured breathing, ready to rush to the hospital if needed. Fortunately, the Benadryl kicked in and within about fifteen minutes the lip swelling was going down and within about forty-five minutes the hives and everything were gone. After that he was perfectly fine, except that his eczema has flared up.
Once the adrenaline wore off, all I could think was WHAT THE HECK??? Everything was safe. EVERYTHING. He didn't touch the cornsticks. We started wondering if it was cross contamination, but my mom assured me that this was impossible and she had taken the utmost care in preparing everything. Orange juice? He had never had it before, but wouldn't he have reacted to clementines too? Eggs? He had them in other things before (like the pasta in stage 2 baby food) without any problems, and didn't even really consume them - brought one bite up to his lips and just spit it out. Everything else was our 'usual' brands, or things that he consumed regularly with no troubles. We were stumped, and obviously very worried.
As soon as the new year hit we called our family doctor for an appointment. After describing our Christmas morning panic, and the probable mustard allergy we discovered at daycare, he gave us a referral to a popular allergist. I called immediately, and got an appointment months away. The receptionist asked if we wanted to be placed on the cancellation list to get an earlier appointment if one became available - I said yes immediately, and it paid off with an appointment at the end of January. I was nervous, and not looking forward to putting Dylan through the tests that were sure to be needed, but I was also looking forward to finally figuring everything out.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Dairy, egg and nut free banana muffins
This is my (and Dylan's!) favourite recipe. It was one I modified to make it safe for him and it has never failed me!
3-4 lg ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar (the original recipe called for 1 cup but I reduced)
1/3 cup dairy free margarine, melted (I use Becel vegan)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla (not necessary, I forgot to add it once and the muffins were still good!)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Combine mashed banana, sugar, melted margarine, applesauce, and vanilla in mixing bowl, stir well. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to banana mixture, stirring well. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 350F. Bake 20m for regular sized muffins, 12-15m for mini muffins, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
3-4 lg ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar (the original recipe called for 1 cup but I reduced)
1/3 cup dairy free margarine, melted (I use Becel vegan)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla (not necessary, I forgot to add it once and the muffins were still good!)
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Combine mashed banana, sugar, melted margarine, applesauce, and vanilla in mixing bowl, stir well. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to banana mixture, stirring well. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 350F. Bake 20m for regular sized muffins, 12-15m for mini muffins, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Starting daycare
Not too much changed in our household since Dylan's milk allergy was diagnosed. Because he was so young, I didn't find it too difficult to avoid dairy. I was able to find a dairy free brand of organic baby cereals at our local health food store, and I slowly introduced single pureed fruits, vegetables, and meats. We had a rough go with solids at first and Dylan was definitely not a big eater for quite some time, but we were getting there. And getting there without any more allergic reactions, which was key! He moved from the single foods to mixtures, purees to mashed, and finger foods. I always kept Benadryl with us, just in case, but fortunately didn't have to use it. My biggest difficulty was actually finding a commercial bread that didn't have milk ingredients in it!
Over the months we did discover that the milk allergy was a bit more challenging than we had originally thought... Despite my care, and the fact that I was reading ingredients and preparing everything myself, Dylan kept getting hives. Sometimes it was just a few that went away on their own, sometimes a bit more severe. I finally realized that he had a contact allergy - so if I ate cheese, and then touched him with my hands, he got hives. If I drank my coffee with cream, and gave him a kiss, he got hives. Fortunately, if he did get hives in this way, usually we just had to wash the area well and the hives went away. I avoided dairy (though certainly not the way I did when I was on my elimination diet) and washed my hands/rinsed out my mouth when I did have something. We still didn't have to use the Benadryl, so everything was well under control.
In October 2009 my year-long maternity leave was up, and I had to return to my full time job. Fortunately, Mike's sister worked in the infant room of a very reputable daycare in our town - I felt much better leaving Dylan at daycare with his Auntie rather than with strangers. She and the other ladies in the infant room were well aware of Dylan's allergies, and they had an anaphylaxis emergency plan posted. We filled out a form and provided the kitchen with a list of ingredients that had to be avoided, and the cook went out of her way to ensure that she made meals safe for him whenever she could. For example, when the lunch was fettuccine alfredo with chicken, she set aside pasta, chicken, and broth to make him his own dish; or she'd make him his own pizza with no cheese. I even brought in Dylan's dairy-free margarine, and she used it to grease the dishes for meatloaf and the like to ensure that they were safe for him. She was (is!) a fabulous woman.
But Dylan kept getting hives. Sometimes it was easily explained - one time, they had a rubber dinghy in the room because of a water theme. Dylan and one of the other little boys found the inflation valve and the other boy started pretending to blow it up. Dylan followed suit, and within minutes had hives from ear to ear and nose to chin. As it turns out, the other boy had had yogurt for breakfast at home, and the residue in his mouth was enough to cause a reaction. My sister-in-law and the other ladies always tried washing first, but in this case and several others they did have to give medication.
There were a few cases of hives though that weren't easily explained. They were after lunches (which were eaten in highchairs) that were known to be dairy-free. I think the poor cook was going crazy trying to figure out what could have caused them. She finally realized that on three occasions, Dylan's unexplained hives happened after lunches containing dijon mustard. She told my sister-in-law, who took matters in hand for us and eliminated mustard from his diet at daycare. She had Mike sign another form eliminating it from his diet, and voila - mystery hives drastically reduced.
And so allergy number two was discovered. And as frustrating as the dairy allergy was (and is) the mustard allergy actually makes shopping much more difficult. Because milk is one of the top 10 allergens, Canadian law requires it to be listed in plain English on all food packages. Mustard is not a priority allergen, and so can be hidden in ingredient lists under "spice(s)". So whereas before I just had to read and put back on the shelf, now I had to read, write down upc's and phone numbers, and call companies. And while a couple of companies were fabulous (Kraft was amazing, for example) and others were okay, many had no idea, and promised return calls or emails and did not follow through. I thought dairy was a challenge, but mustard threw me some curve balls I was not expecting.
And unfortunately, we weren't done yet.
Over the months we did discover that the milk allergy was a bit more challenging than we had originally thought... Despite my care, and the fact that I was reading ingredients and preparing everything myself, Dylan kept getting hives. Sometimes it was just a few that went away on their own, sometimes a bit more severe. I finally realized that he had a contact allergy - so if I ate cheese, and then touched him with my hands, he got hives. If I drank my coffee with cream, and gave him a kiss, he got hives. Fortunately, if he did get hives in this way, usually we just had to wash the area well and the hives went away. I avoided dairy (though certainly not the way I did when I was on my elimination diet) and washed my hands/rinsed out my mouth when I did have something. We still didn't have to use the Benadryl, so everything was well under control.
In October 2009 my year-long maternity leave was up, and I had to return to my full time job. Fortunately, Mike's sister worked in the infant room of a very reputable daycare in our town - I felt much better leaving Dylan at daycare with his Auntie rather than with strangers. She and the other ladies in the infant room were well aware of Dylan's allergies, and they had an anaphylaxis emergency plan posted. We filled out a form and provided the kitchen with a list of ingredients that had to be avoided, and the cook went out of her way to ensure that she made meals safe for him whenever she could. For example, when the lunch was fettuccine alfredo with chicken, she set aside pasta, chicken, and broth to make him his own dish; or she'd make him his own pizza with no cheese. I even brought in Dylan's dairy-free margarine, and she used it to grease the dishes for meatloaf and the like to ensure that they were safe for him. She was (is!) a fabulous woman.
But Dylan kept getting hives. Sometimes it was easily explained - one time, they had a rubber dinghy in the room because of a water theme. Dylan and one of the other little boys found the inflation valve and the other boy started pretending to blow it up. Dylan followed suit, and within minutes had hives from ear to ear and nose to chin. As it turns out, the other boy had had yogurt for breakfast at home, and the residue in his mouth was enough to cause a reaction. My sister-in-law and the other ladies always tried washing first, but in this case and several others they did have to give medication.
There were a few cases of hives though that weren't easily explained. They were after lunches (which were eaten in highchairs) that were known to be dairy-free. I think the poor cook was going crazy trying to figure out what could have caused them. She finally realized that on three occasions, Dylan's unexplained hives happened after lunches containing dijon mustard. She told my sister-in-law, who took matters in hand for us and eliminated mustard from his diet at daycare. She had Mike sign another form eliminating it from his diet, and voila - mystery hives drastically reduced.
And so allergy number two was discovered. And as frustrating as the dairy allergy was (and is) the mustard allergy actually makes shopping much more difficult. Because milk is one of the top 10 allergens, Canadian law requires it to be listed in plain English on all food packages. Mustard is not a priority allergen, and so can be hidden in ingredient lists under "spice(s)". So whereas before I just had to read and put back on the shelf, now I had to read, write down upc's and phone numbers, and call companies. And while a couple of companies were fabulous (Kraft was amazing, for example) and others were okay, many had no idea, and promised return calls or emails and did not follow through. I thought dairy was a challenge, but mustard threw me some curve balls I was not expecting.
And unfortunately, we weren't done yet.
Friday, 15 April 2011
The beginning...
Hi and welcome! My name is Vikki, and I'm proud mommy to my little man, Dylan, born in October 2008.
I've always wanted children, and after being together 10 years my hubby Mike and I decided that the time was right. I got pregnant quickly and had an incredibly easy pregnancy, an okay labour (as far as labours go!), and had my beautiful, healthy, 9 pound boy.
The first inkling of trouble was his eczema... It started a couple weeks after his birth, but we thought it was just baby acne. It was only when we went to our doctor's appointment for his two month immunizations that we found out it was actually eczema. It was almost everywhere within weeks: his face, neck, hands, elbows, calves and feet. When he was awake he was generally a happy guy, but when he was tired he would rub and scratch incessantly at his face and neck. When we finally did get him to sleep (usually breastfeeding to sleep or walking and patting his bum) we would coat him with every cream you can imagine and put mittens on him to prevent him from scratching. We would then put him in the crib fast asleep. We even used a heating pad before we put him down so that the sheets weren't cold! He would start stirring and rubbing his face anywhere from 5 min to an hour after putting him down. Sometimes we could get him to settle just by holding his hands away from his face, but more often he got frustrated and woke up crying. We then had to resettle, re-cream, and carefully try to get him back down and snatch what sleep we could.
He literally woke every hour or less, all night long, for the first months of his life.
When he was four months old, a friend suggested I try a dairy elimination diet. I did some research, and I confirmed that eczema in infants can be caused by food allergies/sensitivities, and dairy is often a culprit. I eliminated everything, even hidden and trace dairy, for one month (two weeks to eliminate all of the proteins from my system and breastmilk, and two weeks to eliminate them from Dylan). I read every ingredient label and even avoided foods that "may contain traces". I saw no improvement - not in his skin, not in his sleep. So when I reintroduced, I went for broke. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, a big glass of milk, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I figured that any improvement might have been so gradual that I didn't notice, but that if dairy in my breastmilk truly bothered him, I should notice a flare up if I reintroduced in such a dramatic way.
Nothing. My dairy elimination was a failure. Though I was certainly happy to go back to an unrestricted diet, I would have done anything to make him feel better.
At five months old (and 19 pounds!) we decided to start solids. We started with rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, and Dylan did quite well for the first week. Then, for convenience sake, I decided to buy the "just add water" rice cereal. Within minutes Dylan had hives all over his face and hands. I was in an absolute panic and we rushed him to the emergency department. I still remember that car ride as if it was yesterday - Mike was speeding, I was sitting in the back seat with Dylan, and there was a black pickup truck in front of us that was driving more slowly than you can possibly imagine. When we got to the hospital, we were rushed in right away. By this point the hives were nearly gone, but his eczema was flared up more than it had ever been, and in places that he never had it before. The paediatrician confirmed a dairy allergy, suggested eliminating it from my diet again, and told us to ensure that Dylan did not ingest any milk products at all until at least one year old. He told us that infants often outgrow food sensitivities by their first birthday, but that we should discuss any food trials with our family doctor at that time.
That was allergy number one. We had no idea what else was coming our way.
I've always wanted children, and after being together 10 years my hubby Mike and I decided that the time was right. I got pregnant quickly and had an incredibly easy pregnancy, an okay labour (as far as labours go!), and had my beautiful, healthy, 9 pound boy.
The first inkling of trouble was his eczema... It started a couple weeks after his birth, but we thought it was just baby acne. It was only when we went to our doctor's appointment for his two month immunizations that we found out it was actually eczema. It was almost everywhere within weeks: his face, neck, hands, elbows, calves and feet. When he was awake he was generally a happy guy, but when he was tired he would rub and scratch incessantly at his face and neck. When we finally did get him to sleep (usually breastfeeding to sleep or walking and patting his bum) we would coat him with every cream you can imagine and put mittens on him to prevent him from scratching. We would then put him in the crib fast asleep. We even used a heating pad before we put him down so that the sheets weren't cold! He would start stirring and rubbing his face anywhere from 5 min to an hour after putting him down. Sometimes we could get him to settle just by holding his hands away from his face, but more often he got frustrated and woke up crying. We then had to resettle, re-cream, and carefully try to get him back down and snatch what sleep we could.
He literally woke every hour or less, all night long, for the first months of his life.
When he was four months old, a friend suggested I try a dairy elimination diet. I did some research, and I confirmed that eczema in infants can be caused by food allergies/sensitivities, and dairy is often a culprit. I eliminated everything, even hidden and trace dairy, for one month (two weeks to eliminate all of the proteins from my system and breastmilk, and two weeks to eliminate them from Dylan). I read every ingredient label and even avoided foods that "may contain traces". I saw no improvement - not in his skin, not in his sleep. So when I reintroduced, I went for broke. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, a big glass of milk, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I figured that any improvement might have been so gradual that I didn't notice, but that if dairy in my breastmilk truly bothered him, I should notice a flare up if I reintroduced in such a dramatic way.
Nothing. My dairy elimination was a failure. Though I was certainly happy to go back to an unrestricted diet, I would have done anything to make him feel better.
At five months old (and 19 pounds!) we decided to start solids. We started with rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, and Dylan did quite well for the first week. Then, for convenience sake, I decided to buy the "just add water" rice cereal. Within minutes Dylan had hives all over his face and hands. I was in an absolute panic and we rushed him to the emergency department. I still remember that car ride as if it was yesterday - Mike was speeding, I was sitting in the back seat with Dylan, and there was a black pickup truck in front of us that was driving more slowly than you can possibly imagine. When we got to the hospital, we were rushed in right away. By this point the hives were nearly gone, but his eczema was flared up more than it had ever been, and in places that he never had it before. The paediatrician confirmed a dairy allergy, suggested eliminating it from my diet again, and told us to ensure that Dylan did not ingest any milk products at all until at least one year old. He told us that infants often outgrow food sensitivities by their first birthday, but that we should discuss any food trials with our family doctor at that time.
That was allergy number one. We had no idea what else was coming our way.
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