I'm trying to decide where to start as I write this post. I feel like so much of this is tied into things that started happening years ago, but I don't think I'll go back that far. So, let's start w/this past Wednesday & I'll see where it leads me! We took Blaise to an allergist in TN. My wonderful friend's Mom works there, so I felt comfortable going. Rewind about 3 weeks. We were finishing up with lunch, and within 5 minutes, Blaise started to break out in hives. They were on his face, neck & shoulders. I immediately threw all the kids in the car & booked it to Walgreen's. My intention was to talk to a pharmacist about a dosage for Benadryl. Being that we aren't doctor or medicine people, I had no idea how much to give him or if I even could. Unfortunately, the pharmacist was no help & told me to get him to the dr. ASAP! This helped my anxiety none. So, I then book it to Urgent Care. I sign him in & sit in the "well patient" waiting room then I look around at the 15+ people hacking in there. It only took about 2 minutes before I decided to leave. It wasn't going to do me any good to sit in a nasty waiting room with 3 kids while my baby's hives got worse. So, back to Walgreens. This time, I called our pediatrician in TN on the way & got a dosage for him. (I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't take him to the pedi in the first place. Well...we don't have one. Remember the whole "we're not dr. people" thing?? Yea...) So, I ran in again & gave him Benadryl in the parking lot. I headed back home & got him undressed so I could see if the hives had spread. They had. They were now all down his back, chest & stomach. His eyes were also starting to swell. He seemed very agitated too. So, I put him in the bathtub to try & soothe his skin & called Bobby. By this point, I was in full blown panic mode & balling. Bobby came home, we got him out of the tub & w/in minutes, he projectile vomited everywhere. So, it was back to the bathtub. I could see his skin starting to clear. The red patches were slowly starting to turn back to his normal skin color & his swelling was going down. After his bath, he fell asleep in my arms & slept for about 2 hrs. & work up totally fine. And that was it. It was terrifying, but I was so grateful he never had trouble breathing, which I knew was a possibility. So....back to the allergist in TN. After telling him the story, he decided to test him for strawberries & nuts. The test showed that he is allergic to nuts. All nuts. In a sense, I was bummed, but honestly, I was relived to know what it was that caused that horrible attack.
Here comes the blessing in all this! At that time, I was still nursing Blaise just in the morning & at night. (And in the middle of the night when he would wake up to get in bed with us.) The dr. told me if I was breastfeeding, I couldn't have nuts either. Now that is a problem b/c I'm eating a lower carb diet, so nuts are a staple. So, it was good motivation for me to weane him. I knew that getting him to sleep through the night was the first thing we needed to do b/c that's when he's most interested in nursing. So, Bobby & I decided that we would start last Wed night. We even shook on it to make it official! ;) I was dreading the next few nights. But, to our surprise, Blaise slept through the night Wed night. I nursed him as usual Thurs morning & in the back of my mind, knew it might be the last time I nurse him. Again, he slept through the night Thurs night, Fri night, Sat night & Sun night!! Y'ALL.....the child has slept ALL night (8ish-7ish) IN HIS CRIB!!! No waking up at all!!!! He's 14 months old & I can count on one hand the times that has happened prior to Wed night! I'm amazed! He also hasn't nursed since Thurs morning & seems totally ok with it! If I wanted, I could be totally sad & depressed over this, but I'm looking at the bright side. Momma gets a new bra! My boobs will now be two separate entities & hopefully will be raised above belly button level! Also, I'm sleeping again!! Like 8 hours in a row! That hasn't happened since I was about halfway through my pregnancy! I hardly remembered what it felt like to sleep an entire night! WOW! I'm feeling like a new person.
OK. I'll get past the excitement of sleep eventually. Maybe. What's amazing is why he's sleeping now. Bobby & I are convinced that the nuts were making his skin itch and/or his tummy hurt. He had some places he had scratched until they bled & were scabbed. Those are totally clear now. Poor, sweet baby!! He was probably just irritated & it was keeping him from sleeping! Isn't that amazing? I am in awe! My sis said it best. It's like I had all the pieces to the puzzle, but couldn't make them fit together! Now, that they do fit, it all makes so much sense!
I'm grateful to know what was bothering him & to be able to avoid foods that bother him! My next post will be on that & how God is already using this as a blessing for our family.
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