The first two months of Cora's life were great. She was a happy baby and relatively good sleeper. Then, she turned 2 months old. Suddenly her skin looked rough and dry. She was not happy. She also stopped growing, both in length and weight. We knew something was not right, but could not figure out what it was. It was a scary time.
After numerous doctor visits and research, we discovered that she has food allergies. I was elated to be through those rough 4 months and finally have an answer to what was wrong with my baby. It was not anything life threatening. It was something I could deal with. I took out her problem foods in my diet so she could have allergy free breast milk, and within days she was a different child. She was happy and healthy looking again.
We recently went back to the allergist for a more specific check with her allergies. We did a blood test to find that she is Very allergic to eggs, pretty allergic to peanuts, allergic to dairy, and somewhat allergic to almonds. Now that she is eating all table food, I need to figure out how to deal with this.
It is just hitting me that this could really affect our life for a long time to come. On Sunday, we unexpectedly stayed after church for a luncheon. I had not planned on being there, so I had no food for Cora and there was nothing she could eat. The rest of us ate quickly then went home to feed her. For her birthday party on Monday, I brought along a special egg free dairy free cupcake just for her while everyone else ate the "regular" cake. Next week we go on vacation. I am going to have to be proactive in bringing along enough food for her to eat because she can't eat most restaurant food.
I know that none of these things are major problems, but it will be a part of my life. Do I change the way our entire family eats and make everyone egg, nut, and dairy free, or always have special food for her? How do I watch out for her when we go places? She is already small in size, how is she going to get enough nutrients, fat, and calories with her reduced diet? What can I do to help her grow out of this?
This is new territory for me. It is well worth the trouble of an allergy free life to behold the joy of healthy Cora. Thankfully, there are many resources out there to learn how to adjust my cooking for allergies. If you have any insights, send them my way.
So sorry that you she has multiple allergies! I am sure that just one seemed manageable, but eggs and nuts too! :( As we have start down this road I often joke with my brother-in-law that he is my allergy poster boy because he out grew all of his allergies by age six. (He was allergic to all the same things as you daughter!) It has encouraged me that if I work had at this maybe my son won't have to. It is hard now (15 mo) that he is recognizing his plate looks different than others. I try to always keep food in the van for him. Our family has gone dairy free for the main meal (sans pizza, we can't live without our pizza!) I have just found that easier with meal planning!
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