Life around the Schumann household recently got a little more interesting.

Arya was a colicky baby. I tried all the various remedies for colic – gripe water, mylicon, the colic hold, etc. – but none of them worked. By the time a woman at church suggested that I cut dairy from my diet, I was willing to try anything. It worked! It was difficult for me to avoid all milk and cheese, and I could no longer give Arya the weeks and weeks worth of milk I had pumped, but it was worth it to get a little bit of sleep. As she got older, I introduced a little milk at a time until I was sure she could handle it. She now drinks cow’s milk with no problems.

At about 4 months old, however, Arya’s skin began to have issues. Her cheeks and her upper back were especially tender, but there were sores all over her body. I tried every home remedy I could find, and a cream from her pediatrician, but nothing worked. Arya’s pediatrician eventually referred us to a dermatologist in Memphis, TN who diagnosed her with eczema and prescribed a regimen of washes, creams, and medication. The creams contain steroids, so I only use them when she has a flare up. It has pretty much been a cycle of one week on the regimen and 3 weeks off.

A little before Arya’s first birthday, we gave her her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. About an hour after eating it, I noticed her face had gotten a little swollen and she wasn’t in the best of moods. I figured she was just too small to handle the peanut, like she had been with the milk, so I never gave it to her again… until a month ago. At 16 months old and less than 30 minutes after having a single bite of a peanut butter sandwich, Arya had a swollen face, swollen eyelids, and runny eyes. She then proceeded to throw up all evening. That’s when I knew she had a peanut allergy.

We saw her pediatrician again. He agreed with my assessment and referred us to an allergist. In the meantime he prescribed an EpiPen, just in case she reacted again. I went through all of the kids’ snacks and discarded everything containing and contaminated by peanuts.

Fast forward to yesterday morning at our visit with the allergist. He performed a skin prick test for 14 different things, just to be safe. As he came in and read the results, imagine my surprise when I herd him tell me my daughter was indeed allergic to peanuts… and eggs! He explained both allergies to me, and mentioned that food allergies and eczema often go hand in hand. The doctor said that Arya’s skin troubles are simply her body trying to fight off the exposure to egg protein. It makes perfect sense, and explains why the medicine never could cure her: All this time I was treating reactions when I should have been preventing them. So I went through the fridge pantry yet again, this time on the search for egg protein. Turns out there is a lot that Arya can no longer eat, but the allergist thinks Arya is likely to outgrow the egg allergy by the time she is 5.

The bad news is that now we all have to be very vigilant about what is given to Arya. The thought of having to inject her with the EpiPen and take her to the ER terrifies me. No more cookies, no cupcakes, and definitely no restaurants. I will need new groceries, and I’ll need to experiment with new recipies.

The good news is that we found out about her allergies early, and that the peanut reactions weren’t as severe as they could have been. Not being able to eat out will be good for our budget. I’ve been wanting to move towards cooking 100% from scratch (or as close to it as possible in 21st century America) but get lazy, so this is a perfect motivator to go all the way.

And the best news is that we now have an answer to why Arya has been so uncomfortable for so long, and that we can hopefully help her feel her best all the time.

Tags: arya, parenting