Week by Week, Day by Day

The first week of January Elianna had symptoms of a reaction from a bath soap with wheat protein. By January 4th she was having a typical upper respiratory response to the reaction which looks a lot like a bacterial or viral infection. Off to the pediatrician we went for a nebulizer refill (nebulizer medications do not have corn, while all of the inhalers and asthma medications I have researched do). We ended the almond milk and went back to all formula in an effort to help her get better and eliminate any possible complications. And so ended the first week of January.

Here comes week two. I noticed that Elianna's eczema was the worst it has ever been, and that we truly needed to focus on getting her a safe lotion. That led me to the Eucerin, which she ate during week two. For details on this incident see my previous post here. I finally decided that anyone who ate lotion would not feel very good. I decided to put my energy into finding an oil that might work, and thus we trialled almond oil and it was a pass!! It has not completely fixed the problem, but so far we have seen some good improvement.

With the arrival of week three and no more 'prunus' foods to go with, I was feeling a little bit brave and purchased grape juice from the store. All of her safe foods are now out of season, and the choices are limited. I understood grapes to be one of the few fresh fruits you can buy in the store without the traditional corn, soy or dairy derived coating. Soooooo..... daring the issue of cross-contamination, I handed her a cup of grape juice on Monday morning. After two big gulps and about 10 minutes she began to have a glazed look and just sat in her highchair and stared. This prompted me to get her down, and enlist Jason is the observing. Then the reflux coughing, urping and vomiting started. Nothing projectile but she cried in pain. At about 25 minutes she began pointless running in circles around the kitchen island, which was very bizarre to watch. Around and around and around and around. This lasted for about 5 minutes at which case she stopped and we noticed that her face and around her eyes were getting puffy. We stood and watched her eyes swell within a matter of minutes. Another 20 minutes later it seemed to decrease and she was feeling better. Except her eczema was bright red and raised all over her body, almost like hives. Truly bizarre and unlike the reactions we have had prior.

Hooray for January. And, oh, yeah.....that was just the start.