Allergic Reaction - The Whole Saga!

When we first had Z, I remember many of our friends had kids who had severe allergies to certain foods. This meant that when they came over to our place for a dinner party, I would have to ensure that the foods they were allergic to would be omitted from the dish. I remember there was one time, it had slipped my mind that our friend's little boy was also allergic to dairy and I had smeared a drop of  butter on the corn cobs he was eating. Immediately, his face turned red, he was scratching himself and then before you know it, little rashes start to pop out from his face. His mother was calm as the sea as she had his epi-pen nearby just in case it became life threatening. She knew exactly what to do because because she had learned it the hard way when he had turned blue and had to be rushed to the hospital the first time he had an allergic reaction. I remember she would tell me stories about how she would have to read every food label under the sun just to ensure it was safe for him to consume. I can still remember how I was thinking to myself  'wow!, imagine spending hours in the supermarket aisle just to read food labels or asking the waiter to ensure the food 'excludes'certain type of foods in the meal or being at a birthday party and have to ask the host if there was anything your child could eat. It would be absolutely exhausting...'

So when Zach was a baby, being a first time parent, I took extra pre-caution to ensure he would not have any food allergies since I knew this could not be hereditary. I would sterilise his bottles for nearly a whole year. I would introduce foods to him slowly and not be rushed to expand his taste buds especially on high risky foods such as eggs, dairy, nuts & honey. Even if it was time for him to try these high risky foods, I would always test it out on him with one teaspoon before giving him the whole lot. Moreover, I would always make sure I would be the first person introducing 'new' foods to him before any of his carers. I remember every time I tried new food on him, I would hold my breath and be all anxious just to see if there was any reaction. Fortunately, there was never any 'dash to the hospital' moments. Thank God!

Since Zach had no food allergies, the paranoid self me became more relaxed when Davina came along.I had stopped sterilising her bottle at 6 months. I was relaxed with introducing new food groups to her. In fact, I don't just give her a teaspoon and wait for her reaction, I would feed her the whole thing especially if she had showed an interest in the food.

So yesterday, when the MCH nurse told me at Davina's 8months check up that she should be able to eat everything under the sun (except for nuts), I thought to myself  'Great! no more cooked apples but onto the more exciting food groups!'. I told my mother that night that we should feed her egg yolk (no egg white until they are at least 1y.o). My mum had assumed I had tested it on her already.

Fast forward to today. I had an extremely busy morning where I was attending business meetings one after another. So when I had finally came back to my desk, I noticed I had 5 missed calls from my mum. I started to panic. My mum NEVER rings me when I'm at work! Then I noticed she had left a voicemail. My heart started to race. What was wrong? My hands started to shake. I heard my mum saying 'Vicky, please ring home immediately. Mei mei had an allergic reaction to the egg I had fed her. She is all swelled up'. At that point, I wanted to cry. What have I done? I blamed myself as I dialed the phone immediately to my parents' place. My mum picked up. 'Mum! What happened to mei mei?' I asked in a state of disbelief. She told me that she had fed her more than half an egg yolk. Immediately after, she started to scratch her face which lead to her screaming and crying. Then her entire face turned red and rashes appeared all over her face. Her lips too had swelled. Can you believe she had lips bigger than Angelina Jolie's? (and we all know she's got big lips already!).

My mum then continued on the story. As soon as she saw the change in Davina, she immediately rang me, but of course I did not pick up. The maternal instinct & all the years of nursing training in my mum told her that she needed to take D to see a doctor straight away despite my dad telling her to calm down and not to worry. Thank God my mum didn't listen to him. So off they went in the car with two kids Malaysian style (ie. their car has no child seats so mum had to carry them both while Dad drove!). Now, our family GP usually has a very long queue and you would need to wait at least an hour before it is your turn. Moreover, you usually need to book at least 3 days in advance just to get an appointment! But, my mother God bless her, as soon as the car had parked, she took mei mei in her hands and went straight into the clinic. Thank God at the same time, a patient had just walked out of the Doctor's room and my mum went straight to the Doctor without even signing Davina in at the reception. My mum told me it was because this was an emergency. She didn't want to waste any second filling out new patient's form. Thank God our family doctor (who happens to be the husband of my obstetrician who delivered Davina) agreed to see her. After his assessment, he said that D's case was a mild one as her heart was not beating rapidly nor was she struggling to breathe. So he wrote up a prescription for children's anti histamine for D to take.

I must thank God that I only found out all this had happened AFTER my mum had already taken D to the doctor's. Otherwise, I think I would've been in a state of panic and driving with shaky hands definitely won't do justice for the other drivers on the road! I must also thank God that my little one's life was preserved. I can't even imagine what if it had been worse. Haiz..

Anyway, I guess now if any of you ever see me reading every single product's ingredients at the supermarket, you will know why. Make sure you come say hi & perhaps point out to me if there's anything else which is made out of eggs that I should not be feeding my little one?

*A HUGE THANKS TO MY MUM FOR BEING THE BEST WAI POH IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!! I LOVE YOU WAI POH!! *