Egg Challenge

We had another egg challenge for Aiden....um, three weeks ago. We've been a bit busy since then, had company, dealt with allergies, sickness, etc. So, yeah, I've been absent. Here's the scoop now, though...

We did get through the challenge this time, I guess. Five hours away from home, three hours for the challenge, and a LOT of stress. But Aiden did ok with the eggs, for the most part. He didn't eat a lot, though. The dr said based on what little he ate and how he seemed to be doing, we could gradually start introducing him to some baked items *at home* and see how he does with that. We have to be sure he's ok with that before moving on to pancakes/waffles; and then pancakes/waffles come before just plain cooked eggs. So, we'll see.

We thought the shirt was fitting for the occasion.

You can probably see where he was crying...

We were told to do it all gradually and take it easy - not introducing too much at a time or too often and just at home for now. It's been over a week now since the challenge, and we haven't made anything else with egg yet. He did have a bit of the "heated egg" dish they had us bring to the challenge (a baked good with egg in it). He didn't really eat much there, a couple bites maybe, but a couple days later at home, he ate a whole slice. Go figure! We were going to make some muffins with egg the week after the challenge, for a playdate we were having at home, but then Aiden came down with a virus. Playdate was canceled and so were the muffins - we wanted his system completely back to normal before introducing the eggs again.

 

Actually eating some egg...FINALLY!

It was very stressful trying to get Aiden to eat anything with egg. You know how hard it is to get a toddler to eat something he doesn't want to eat...then try doing that for three hours straight (and then add in some stranger trying to also convince him). Not fun. But he got a tiny bit of egg in him (sandwiched between some crackers) and ate a couple bites of a baked item they had us make. If he noticed there was egg, he spit it right out and then refused to eat anything. They even put some egg protein powder in a bit of yogurt that we brought (yogurt he normally loves!), and he wouldn't even consider trying that. Very frustrating...for us AND him. He only actually ate a little more than 1/4 of an egg during the visit, and he threw numerous fits. He did get red and had some hives on his chin where the baked item touched, and his upper lip was swollen, but eating the food didn't seem to do much, so there's a good chance he'll be ok with that. It seems like eggs touching him will give him a reaction still, but he should still outgrow that - and it doesn't bother him, which is nice.

Some of the hives on his chin (kind of hard to really see them in pictures) and a swollen upper lip from touching the baked egg product (pretty much like a sponge cake, just more egg-y)

So, I guess that was a successful visit. We were just all a bit exhausted from it and happy it's over. And while it sounds exciting to be able to start some eggs...it is, but we're going to take it one bite at a time.

Being cute with Daddy

This last week we received the official letter from the dr over the challenge at the hospital (for us, for our primary physician, and for the allergist). It kind of annoyed us b/c while there certainly was no serious reaction, the letter stated that there was NO cutaneous reaction, which is NOT true. I'm trying to figure out how much of an issue to make from that. (If you know me, it's hard for me to keep my mouth shut when I disagree.) The lady was out of our room for the last hour...in which the hives got redder and then were mostly gone before she returned. But we have a picture to prove it, as you can see in one of the pictures above. He did get hives on his chin and had a swollen lip from eating egg. That's annoying (the note from the lady over the challenge, that is). I realize our plan of action might not change if she was really aware of the reaction, but I don't like the main allergist believing Aiden had no reaction when he did have one, regardless of how small it was. He's had some muffins this past week with egg with no reaction. A recipe that made 23 muffins and had only one egg. But it's something.

(PS - For those reading this in facebook, remember I'm not on facebook during Lent, so if you want to comment, please follow the link to the actual blog post and comment there. Otherwise I won't get the comment and won't be able to respond until after Easter. Thanks!)