Discovering Food Allergies

The first moments right after me and my husband found out that our (at the time) almost 6 month old daughter has severe allergies to dairy and eggs, we immediately traced our steps and began to blame ourselves. Should we have waited longer before introducing new foods to her? In our case it was baby cereal. Did I drink too much milk and have too many eggs during my pregnancy? Was it because both my husband and I have seasonal allergies, and me with my countless allergies to dust, dogs, cats, horses, perfume, mildew, mold...and the list goes on...are food allergies genetic? Whatever the reason behind this new problem we now faced with food allergies, we had to prepare for a complete lifestyle change. We went from being worry free --may I also add ignorant-- eaters, to being completely paranoid, label-reading, watching-every-morsel-of-food -that-goes-into-our-kids-mouths, asking-too-many-questions type of parents. But alas 3 1/2 years later, we have finally 'somewhat' mastered the art of living with a food allergy child. It wasn't an easy journey getting here; there were the numerous scares after accidental exposures to the allergens and ending up in ER. There's the asthma which is almost inevitable when your child has severe food allergies. Then there's the tough task of figuring out what to feed our child to ensure that she was nutritionally getting what she needed. And lastly (and deffinately not the least), where do we find it? There's the feeling of isolation and frustration at times when you're at the grocery store and everything you pick up has some allergen or another in it...and when you've already got a fussy eater on your hands, you better be prepared to be really committed. Thank God for specialty grocery stores and websites catering to the needs of people with limited diets. We still have a long way to go, we just had her tested again and her numbers were no better than they were the dreaded day we discovered the allergies. There is hope, if you're reading my blog because you've just discovered your child, or someone you love has food allergies, then you're not alone. I hope the information you find in my blogs will be of help to you, and I welcome any questions and advice. There are parents out there who know far more than I do about Food Allergies, so if you're one of them, please pass on your wisdom!

Kay