Life with Allergies

I don't know why this happens, but I seem to get a second wind each evening sometime around 10:00ish. I think it's b/c the day is gone, the children are (usually) sleeping, and it's nice to have a few moments to do whatever in the world makes me happy. As long as "whatever in the world makes me happy" is something that can be done late at night and at home since it's too late to go anywhere and everything's closed anyway. So that does narrow down my choices a bit. It's still nice to have a few minutes to myself. Ironically, it's also the time of the day when I should be going to bed b/c the boys (Cade) wake up so dadgum early and I'm not a happy mommy when I'm tired and awakened at dark:30 in the morning. It makes more sense to go to bed and get some sleep, but I just can't pass up these last few quiet minutes.

This happens to be my 3rd post of the day- that's definitely my personal best. Makes it kinda seem like I don't have anything better to do or something. The safer bet is that I've got too many "somethings" to do and blogging is just my avoidance mechanism.

This post will also be more about Piper and my failure as a mother. I'm really on a roll, I tell ya! I mentioned in an earlier post (that I'm too lazy to link to) that Piper is allergic to eggs. We even have an Epi-pen in case she accidentally ingests an egg-contaminated product and starts to go into anaphylactic shock. Obviously, Jason and I are both diligent to make sure that whatever she eats is egg-free. We would really like to avoid the drama that goes along with jabbing your child in the thigh with a high dose of adrenaline to save her from the possibility of death. People comment that it must be really hard, but usually it's not such a big deal. We avoid fried foods (which almost-2-year-olds should probably be avoiding anyhow. Alright, EVERYONE should be avoiding) b/c usually an egg-wash is used to hold the batter on. We avoid baked goods. We have to be careful about pastas, breads, and ice cream. So far, we've done OK. And if we aren't sure about something, we stick to the motto "better safe than sorry" and just avoid whatever "it" is.

I've become an ingredient-reading fool. I know all the nicknames and aliases for eggs and egg products and I'm even starting to memorize which brands of foods have eggs or are considered "safe." At least I thought I was doing a great job with all of this... Tonight, I got her new toothbrush and new toothpaste out to clean her sweet (and sharp) little baby teeth. Before, we were just using a thing I stuck on my finger and brushed over her teeth, but she has alot of teeth now and she bites. Hard. So sticking my finger in her mouth is no longer on my list of Things I Like To Do. On a recent trip to the store-who-must-not-be-named, I bought her her own special toothbrush and flouride-free toothpaste so it's safe to swallow. I should clarify... it's safe for average kids to swallow. Not safe for egg-allergic kids to swallow. Because it contains lysozome from eggs!! It never once crossed my mind to check the list of ingredients on the toothpaste.

It had to have been divine intervention that I even noticed it- as she was brushing I just happened to glance at the tube of toothpaste in my hands and the words 'eggs' caught my eye immediately. And boy was she was M-A-D when I grabbed the toothbrush away from her in order to rinse off the poisonous substance. She loves to brush her teeth. As long as I'm not trying to kill her. As always, her face started to break out so I had to give her a dose of Benadryl. I put her to bed not long after that, which is probably a no-no. I guess I should have waited a half hour or so before putting her down to make sure she was still breathing, but I figured it was such a tiny amount that she would probably be OK. The good news is that I did check on her a bit ago and she is still breathing just fine.

Tomorrow I get to conduct a massive search for egg-free flouride-free toothpaste that's safe for toddlers. I bet you're jealous, huh? Wish me luck!