Allergies

We have had a tough time lately, but now that we finally know why, we are ready to move forward and make it better.  A few weeks ago, Nathan started getting a bad rash on his face, neck, and body.  It was super itchy and was clearly making him miserable.

The pediatrician said it was eczema, and after hearing about Jon's allergy history (deathly allergic to milk as a child) he referred us to a pediatric allergist.  Allergy testing sucks, by the way.

They tested for 14 common allergens, including dogs at my request.  I was terrified he was allergic to the pups.  See the test in the picture?  I was absolutely floored when the doctor told us what #4 was.  Eggs.  So our little sweetheart is allergic to eggs, a fairly common preschool allergy, I've since learned, and one that won't become so serious that it could be fatal.  They didn't even give us an epipen because he wasn't having any kind of respiratory reaction.  The good news is, controlling the eczema is not going to be too difficult.  We have been giving him baths every night in Aveeno Oatmeal bath for babies and use Aveeno baby eczema lotion all over his body.  We will not being using steroid treatment because I don't want to put that on my baby's tiny body unless we absolutely have to.  But a tiny bit of hydro-cortisone cream when it was really bad and the Aveeno lotion seems to be clearing everything up nicely.  His skin isn't even really dry anymore, where a week ago it was raw, blistered, and looked like the worst sunburn you have ever seen.

So I'm looking up egg-free recipes for his 1st birthday cake and learning how we can keep eggs from his diet completely.  Until this clears up - if it does - I don't want any exposure.  Most of the time, it does go away before the child even starts school, but I'm not taking any chances.  Luckily, no allergy to dogs or to milk.  That's a relief, at least.