Intro

As a Mom of 5 I have a lot on my plate already. Of course if any of my kids are eating off that plate please hold the Eggs, nuts, and milk...oh and other odds and ends allergy foods. That's right we're the weird family that has to ask what is in every little thing. You know, the ones that no one wants to invite over for dinner for fear of killing their kids. You laugh, but it's true that's really what's in the back of their heads. I got my first crash course in allergies when my first child was 10 months old. The doctor wanted to give him a flu shot, but said if we hadn't ever fed him eggs yet we should probably try him on it before the vaccination. So on Halloween I scrambled up an egg and gave it to him for a late lunch. After a few minutes I noticed his face had red dots all over it then he started rubbing his eyes and his face started to swell including the whites of his eyes. As I realized what was happening to my child I started to panic. I was home alone with no car (we were trying to survive of one car at the time) and I didn't even have Benadryl in the house. After banging on neighbors doors a relative of mine showed up for a visit and helped me rush my son to the hospital. That evening I learned all about Benedryl, and nebulizers, and allergies. By time we got out our sons swelling had gone down, but he was bruised from the severity. He really looked like he'd been in a fight. My husband even joked that since it was Halloween he should go as Rocky instead of the dinosaur we had planned. Over the next year we would find that he was allergic to not only eggs, but Cow milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. Unfortunately we did not have a good pediatrician or we would not have found those allergies on our own. Most good Peds doctors will send for allergy testing right away. When we moved and got a new doctor he sent us for testing and we found some of the sources for what we thought were constant colds. Turns out he was also allergic to green peas,lentils and mushrooms. With mild allergies to dry beans and corn. At this time they said this was so rare that it would probably never happen again. Ha! 4 more children later we got our second almost identical to him...but much worse. Our youngest, who is also our only girl, is also allergic to Eggs, milk, and nuts but with much worse reactions. She is also allergic to Watermelon with mild allergies to banana's and sensitivities to tomato's, peppers, and strawberries. Luckily because we had had one like her before we were ready. As well as her more severe food allergies we have a son who is allergic to bees and wasps, one who has severe reactions to poison ivy and one more son with less food allergies, but more severe asthma. And since Asthma and Allergies are best friends we have to deal with them both in all our allergic children. So You may be asking what is this blog going to do for me. Well...what ever you will let it. It all depends on what you need and what you will accept. I have met so many mom's with allergy kids that stand in fear of living their lives. I on the other hand have decided to not allow allergies to take over our lives and stop us from living. This blog is intended to help empower you and your children. I plan on sharing stories, recipes, and helpful teaching tips. As I will be sharing personal information I will not however share my children's names. So for future references our children will be named as follows from oldest to youngest Adam, Ben, Caleb, Daniel, and Ester. Last but not least please remember to be civil and appropriate in your comments. I do have the moderator on to screen comments for inappropriate remarks. I hope we can all take the advice of Thumper's daddy on this one. " If you can't say something nice...don't say nothin' at all."