we had a scary first for oakley: an allergic reaction to kiwi. i know, kiwi?? i would have never guessed he would be allergic to any food (only because we have no allergies to food anywhere on either side of our families), but kiwi seems like a strange allergy to have. here's how we found out.
we bought kiwi, by oakley's request, last week at the grocery store. he was so excited. it had been a long time since we had it last. he loved it as a baby! i guess i just forgot about it. anyway, we bought a few and i sent it with him to eat during lunch when he was at lindsey's house (on a work day for me-tuesday). he gobbled it up. lindsey didn't notice anything different about him. we weren't really looking for anything different, though. how would you know? he was totally himself all night and woke up the next morning a little itchy on his legs. i noticed him scratching his legs but never really thought anything of it. i remember asking him about it and he said, "somethings just itching me." and we continued on with breakfast. we were lazy the night before and skipped bath, so i gave him a bath that morning. that, and he was extra stuffy so we thought a warm bath would help clear him out (he was had a sinus infection a month before and started to get sick the day after he finished his antibiotics. poor baby!). during his bath, i noticed a bright red rash on his legs. and he was scratching like a mad-man. i removed him from the bath, thinking the warm water was irritating it. by the time i dried him off, the rash had spread to his trunk and it was also on his arms and face. i immediately called his dr. and the nurse said to bring him in (she was concerned that he was still sick and had a rash). we went to the dr. and he figured out oakley never got rid of his sinus infection. again, poor baby! they put him on stronger antibiotics that will hopefully kick it. the dr. asked if we changed anything we were using-soaps, detergent, or if he wore new clothes without washing them first. no, no and no. i was racking my brain. nothing new. so we went on with our day. the rash was definitely better by the end of the day.
thursday, we had bridgette over to play. fun! she is just the sweetest baby. we had a fun morning at the park (60 degree weather, we couldn't resist!) and had lunch, then nap. after nap, oakley requested kiwi and crackers. perfect! i sliced the kiwi and he gobbled it up again. about 10 seconds after eating the first bite, i noticed him itching his neck like crazy. it looked red, but i have never been around someone who has an allergic reaction, so it was not the first thing i thought of when i saw this. i asked him if his neck was ok and even went over to look at it...all the while, oakley is continuing to eat the kiwi. when he was done, his neck was bright red all around and he was doing strange things with his tongue--scratching it with his fingers and running it through his teeth. that's when the lightbulb came on. it's strange to say this, but i am thankful i have friends who have told me about their experiences like this with their kids or themselves, otherwise i would have no clue what was happening. i called my friend whose son has food allergies, just to validate. she said it was worth a call to the dr. i called the dr. and they said that he was, indeed, having an allergic reaction. i ran to the store to get claritin because oakley can't take benedryl because it makes him hysterical. we watched him closely for hives to appear or swelling in his face/neck, but thankfully, nothing else happened. the rash took a while to go away and it moved down to his back and chest a little. by the next night, he was rash free. we were able to connect the rash wednesday morning to the kiwi he had tuesday afternoon.
there's his story. i really wanted to blog about it just so it made it into our story and so our family and friends are aware of it. it was a big deal for me, being home by myself with oakley and bridgette. i was stressed and worried, but my friend was very calm on the phone and made me feel better. thank you!! we are staying away from kiwi for now and i am calling the allergist tomorrow to make an appointment for some testing to be done. right now, i'm not sure of cross-allergies, but i am educating myself. thank you Lord for protecting oakley.
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