The Allergy Factor

This morning I got the news...

Tinkerdoodle is allergic to Eggs, Milk and Peanuts. Now, this is not a big deal here, really. I have many allergies, including Eggs. My oldest two are allergic to Peanuts. But all of them? Together? Yuck.

In the last month I have totally slacked. I have been letting milk slip through on everything. I even, gasp, made blueberry muffins with milk in them, even though I haven't done that in YEARS. You see, I had decided that since he didn't seem to be anaphylactic to dairy, a little would be fine, right? Not so. His eczema has been flaring badly on his legs. The prescription eczema medicine was not ridding him of it, so we had him tested for food allergies. For me, the biggest marker is his weight (or lack thereof).

We have a history already of failure to thrive due to food allergies. Little Man was all of 35 lbs at 5 years of age, the same weight he was at 3 years of age, because of a soy protein allergy we found through an IgE/IgG blood test. Once we dropped soy protein, he gained 10 lbs in about 3-5 months. It was an amazing transformation. I can only hope that the same thing will happen with Tinkerdoodle. He is 25 lbs at 2. My Dr. encouraged me, saying that he had just had a patient diagnosed with Celiacs (at 3). After one month on a wheat-free diet, she came back 10lbs heavier. My Dr. is hoping for 35lbs at 3 and I would be thrilled with that.

Ten pounds seems like a lot to gain in three months. But with the Allergy Factor identified, it should be much more attainable now.