Wordless Wednesday

 

Allergy Testing......the Sequel Was Itchier

I took Leo for his 2nd round of allergy tests.  As you can see from the below picture it was a lot more itchy for him this time.  The biggest thing we tested for was fish and tree nuts. As you can imagine he is allergic to both (along with peas and mustard).  The final list (I hope) is peanuts, tree nuts, all kind of fish, mustard, and peas.  The allergist wants us to stay away from shell fish as well, even though he was negative for shrimp, clams, and crab.  Oh, he isn't allergic to cacao beans either, so chocolate is good :-)

I have to say that it was terrible watching him so unhappy today.  Although, once again he was his smiley wonderful self (even sans nap).  We will be taking all fish and fish products out of the house and will be very diligent about reading ingredients.  If it says "may contain peanuts or tree nuts (or fish)" we will not have it in our house. 

The grandparents will have to be very creative considering most candy is manufactured with nuts.....especially M&Ms which Gwen loves.  We don't want Gwen to have anything that Leo can't eat because he is starting to understand.  Maybe on the occasional girls day we will have peanut butter!!



PS.  We will dedicate a post to Gwen at some point in 2013.  It has been a rough go with all of Leo's issues.  We are very lucky that Gwen is the "boring" child..........even though she is FAR from boring.  She's loving gymnastics and swim.  She is learning to read and is a ball of energy from the moment she wakes up and has a brain like a sponge.  She is just so smart and funny.  I just adore her!!

Potty Potty in the House Tonight..........

Leo likes the potty.  It makes changing his diaper so much easier as we don't have to wrestle with him to change him. All we have to say is "Leo, do you want to go on the potty?".  80% of the time he does and when he is done he just lays down for his new diaper.  It's wonderful.  I don't have any hopes that this means anything though.  Gwen started sitting on the potty at 18 months and was fully potty trained (easily in 1.5 days) at 27 months.  I highly doubt we will get that lucky twice........but here's hoping!

400th Post and I wish...........

it were about something other than another one of Leo's doctor's appointments.  Well it isn't, so here goes.  Leo went for his upper GI appointment today.  The worst part of the whole situation was him not being able to eat or drink in the morning.  He went ballistic.  He was crying so hard that he couldn't breathe.  Seriously, it was only an hour from the time he woke up to the time we left for the appointment. 

Anyway, he drank the barium just fine (would have probably drank anything since he was obviously starving) and was fantastic during the X-rays.  The X-ray doctor said that everything looked great.  Reflux didn't even show up thanks to his Prilosec.  This is good news!!  He hasn't thrown up in 2 weeks, so I do feel like the medicine is finally working. 

Mike and I are so impressed with Leo.  Through all his appointments and all of his tests he keeps a smile on his face.  We are so lucky that he is such a happy baby. We are also extremely impressed with Children's Hospital of Denver.  They take such great care of Leo and we barely have to wait.  The staff is wonderful and Leo always walks out with a fun toy (not the lame plastic crap that they get from their normal doctor or dentist).  Kuddos to them and I am glad I started donating a year ago. 

Next step is another round of allergy tests and a stomach scope.  After that I hope we are good for a while (knock on wood, fingers crossed....etc). 

Severe Allergic Reaction

That is what they called what happened to Leo last night.  He was sitting in his high chair, eating, as he always is.  He then chocked, gagged, and started to throw up, like he normally does.   This time it was different.  He had shallow breathing, his voice sounded like he was talking through a straw, and he had clumps of hives all over his hands.  He seemed eerily calm.  We immediately gave him Benedryl and off to Urgent Care he went.  They gave him the equivalent of an EPI pen, lots of Benedryl, and an oral steroid.  We learned that next time we have to use our Epi Pen and call 911 (how scary is that??) because he had a severe allergic reaction to something from his dinner.  Unfortunately we have no idea what caused it.  He had eaten almost everything before.

We were able to get into an allergist today.  The course of action is to test him for everything he ate that night as well as any other items that we may think causes any kind of rash or swelling.  For the first time ever, a doctor actually addressed Leo's throwing up all the time.  She thinks it could be esophageal allergies so we are off to see a GI on Monday.  I feel like we actually have doctors listening to us rather than just brushing off us telling us not to worry and to "wait and see".  No more waiting and seeing.  My baby has been suffering since September and I am over it.  Watching my son wheeze and barely able to breath ripped my heart out.  I want answers!!

Here is a picture of Leo from Urgent Care.  Makes me so sad.............

Where Has The Time Gone????

My little baby boy is 18 months old.  I can't believe it!  He is so incredibly sweet and funny, without even trying.  He's learning to run and march.  He loves to dance.  He repeats everything and makes the cutest animal noises.  My favorite is when I ask him what sound a lion makes.  He does the biggest roar.  Every morning he sits with me while I put on my makeup (today he sat in the sink- see the below picture).  After each bath we have to wrap him in his hooded towel and show him what animal he is in the mirror (it's either a lion or penguin).  He loves to be outside and even wears his winter jacket in the house.  He loves his big sister and is learning to torture her which makes us laugh, since she has tortured him for 18 months.  He loves to eat.......yogurt, cereal bars, vegetables, cheerios (he even had an imprint of a cheerio on his shirt the other day).  He gets just as excited to brush his teeth as he does to eat ice cream.  He is too happy for words and makes my heart melt.  He says "mama" with authority and when I say "I Love You"........he repeats it back to me in a way that only a mother would understand.

On Sunday I walked around the block with him.  It took an hour, but we made it the whole way.  I enjoyed watching him play in the dirt, throw his football, touch all the leaves and rocks, run, say "hi" and "bye-bye" to dogs and garbage.  He watched birds fly and looked through holes in fences.  The moment wasn't even lost when he stuck his fingers in dog poop that was relatively fresh.  I just wiped it off with my hat and prayed he didn't put his hand in his mouth (he didn't). 

We took him for his 18 month appointment yesterday.  He weighs 26 lbs 13 oz (65%), is 33 inches tall (85%) and of course has a giant head (95%).   He was so cute to the doctor and nurses.  He played with all the toys and had to touch everything.  I gave him a cereal bar and he couldn't figure out where the garbage was.  The doctor was impressed that he knew he had to throw it out and said "well, we don't have to worry about his development".  He blew kisses and said bye-bye, even to the nurse that gave him his shots.  He didn't like getting his head measured, but got over that quick. 

We have had issues with him puking a lot so he is now on Prevacid.  The doctor thinks it is reflux.  He spit up a lot as a baby, so that was a tell tale sign.  We'll monitor him on it for a month.  If it gets better we will keep him on it for 3 months and then take him off it to see if it was enough to jump start a normal digestive system.  If he doesn't get better we may take him to a GI.  We switched doctors as ours was an asshole (sorry about the language) who was even mean to Mike.  Who's mean to Mike??  I love this new doctor, mainly because she oohed and aahed over my baby!!

Most people ask if he is always this happy, and the truth is yes he is.  He obviously has his moments, but overall he is such a joy.  I always say that I had no idea what I would do with a boy.........but now I couldn't imagine my life without one.

WW: In Daddy's Shoes