My Son's Allergies
He's a big boy!!!
My son William was born Jan 4th 2010. He was just over 10lbs as you can see in the picture. When my NCO(boss in the Army) came to visit later that day he nick-named him "Frank the tank" after awhile the nurses starting calling him Frank so we shortened it to Tank.
Hospital Stay
Holding him for the first time.
The usual length of stay after childbirth is 48-72 hours depending on if your a first time mom or not. I have an older child, a girl named Taylor who was just shy of two. The hospital stay was pretty normal. I had more visitors than most since I worked across the hall as an Operating Room Tech. He was doing just fine but he wasn't feeding very well. The doctors knew I had trouble breastfeeding with my daughter and figured that was the reason he was down to just over 6lbs when we left the hospital.
First Few weeks home
Our first day home.
The Army gives you six weeks of maternity leave. So I got to stay home with him and adjust to having two kids. I was still having trouble getting him to eat and it seemed like he just threw it all back up anyway. The doctors kept telling me that he was great for height and great for his big head but he wasn't gaining weight back like he should. It got to the point they said I should start bottle feeding part time. The down side to this is you eventually stop producing breast milk.He started to get these really bad rashes around his neck and face. He was also getting them where ever he had creases. I was having to put Nystatin powder on him four to five times a day. He would just bleed and ooze pus around his neck. It hurt so bad to see him in pain. The Doctors said his head was too big and him losing weight wasn't helping. He wasn't able to move his head around. They said he basically had althlete's foot around his neck. I would put the powder on him and it would dry him up but then if he managed moved his head or I did holding him the dried powder would crack and pull his skin causing him to bleed. He still wasn't eating right when I went back to work.
6 Months Old
William at the Doctors
This is William at his first allergy appt.
By the time we had reached his 6 month check-up the doctors had given us 5 different formulas to try and get his eating and weight under check. They decided we should have him allergy tested to see if we could find a reason for his issues. Since we lived in Fairbanks, AK we had to fly down to Anchorage for his testing. It would take a week to test him. On Monday we saw the Doctors for the fist time and decided on a plan of action. On Tuesday they placed 20 pieces of food on his back and taped over them. This is called Patch Testing. They do this to see if he has skin reactions. They also pricked him 25 times with needles. This is called Prick testing and is done to see if he will have internal reactions. Thursday they took the patch off to see the results. The areas that were red a swollen were positive. In the end we found out he was allergic to Milk, Wheat, Soy, Barley, Chicken, Garlic, Eggs, Peanuts and Almonds. He also tested positive for Lanolin which is a by-product of wool and found in many lotions. We had to change our living and eating habits. We were given epi-pens in case of a reaction.
His testing
He was such a trooper.
Today
William is 2 1/2 and a happy boy. He has eczema on top of his allergies but we have learned to overcome them. He can tell you what he can't eat. We have had some scares but we have gotten thru them. They can't tell me why he has health problems when my daughter doesn't but I've learned not to let it bother me. We are a happy family and can get thru anything. We make sure that if he goes to daycare or to visit a friend that we have an epi-pen and that an adult knows how to use it. The Doctors say that he may one day "grow out" of his allergies. I hope that day comes and he can live a life without having to read labels all the time. Allergies are a hard thing to live with but not nearly as bad as other health issues.
My daughter Taylor and my son William