When I got pregnant I was determined to breastfeed even though there were a few people that said I will not be able to and some even said it’s pointless. Nothing against formula as long as it works for you and your baby, but I wanted to breastfeed because I did my research and though it would fit my lifestyle. I saw the benefits and to me it is just naturally better. It fit my lifestyle.
I have been a vegetarian since 2006 but still ate eggs and milk throughout the pregnancy. Aiden developed eczema when he was about four weeks old. There were good days and bad days and then there were terrible days. At times when his eczema flared up it looked like burned marks on his body and face. He was prescribed steroid creams (cortisone) which helped control the breakouts but it never went away. We swaddled his legs and arms at night so he wouldn’t scratch his face. Once we couldn’t swaddle him anymore we put socks on his hands since mittens would come off too easily. It was heartbreaking to watch our son scratch his face and neck uncontrollably. Sometimes it would last for hours. His entire head was covered in puss and sometimes even blood. His neck had constant scratch marks. His body was puffy. We just continued to put creams on him hoping it created some sort of a relief.
On June 1st when Aiden was 7 months old Jared and I had eggs for dinner and I decided to give some to Aiden to play with so it would keep him occupied and we could finish having dinner. He didn’t know how to put food in his mouth yet, he only knew how to play with it. He ended up rubbing some of the egg on his eye. We started noticing him rubbing and scratching his face within couple of minutes but didn’t think anything of it since he is always itchy from eczema. I did a very quick bath and put him on the changing table and noticed his swollen eyes. I yelled for Jared to come upstairs and look at it and that’s when we started panicking. He started scratching more and more and within minutes we were driving to the hospital. I think from the time he played with the eggs to the time we were in the car must have been no more than 15 minutes. He wasn’t really responding when he was in the car and was quite and sleepy. I kept trying to keep him up and play with him but he just wanted to sleep. It took us under 10 minutes to get to the hospital and they immediately gave him steroid shots and Benadryl. We were in the hospital for about 6 or 7 hours before going home with a very sleepy baby.
I felt very guilty for giving my 7 month old child eggs since every book and every website states to NOT to give your child eggs until he is 9 months (some say 12 months, some say 2 years..), but then I felt glad because if I waited until he was 9 months, he might have swallowed it and the outcome would have been a lot worse. We now carry around two epipens just in case he comes in contact with eggs.
I continued to eat eggs since we were hoping his allergy was only with direct eggs. His eczema would still flair up and we continued to think it was eczema, not allergies. About a month later we went for breakfast at a diner after a wonderful day at the pool. To keep Aiden occupied I gave him one of those small containers of half and half milk to play with. He bit on it and it squirted onto his shirt. We didn’t think much of it until Jared lifted his shirt and saw a rash. The rash was on his neck also. Thank God the milk squirted out instead of in. We immediately went home and called his pediatrician and made an appointment with an allergist. I immediately stopped eating anything with eggs and milk.
The allergy test confirmed Aiden’s egg and milk allergy. A week later we had a blood allergy test and it showed Aiden is now allergic to eggs, milk, peanuts and sesame. The egg and peanut allergy seems to be much worse than milk and sesame. We hope he will outgrow all of his allergies but in the mean time I have became a vegan and no longer consume anything that has dairy, eggs or meat in it.
I would like to continue to be a vegan even after I am done breastfeeding so this is Aiden’s journey with his allergy and my journey of being a vegan.
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