Egg Allergies

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "I gave my babies all kinds of things to eat and they never had a problem"? Well, now you can tell them that you know someone who did have a reaction. A severe reaction. I scrabbled an egg this morning for Aydri to try. It is her 11 month birthday. She absolutely loved the egg and ate the whole thing. Within minutes she threw up. It seemed like she had a lot of air in her stomach so I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I didn't put her down for a nap so I could keep an eye on her. A little while later, I heard her bump her head and cry a little. I checked her out and I noticed she had a red mark on her nose and forehead. I thought about the eggs, but still didn't want to jump to conclusions. I had given Aydri things with eggs in them before so I thought that I already knew she wouldn't be allergic. A few minutes later, a friend knocked on my door. Aydri came crawling to see who it was. That's when I noticed a lot more redness, splotches and hives. I asked my friend what she thought, but it was obvious to both of us. I stood there thinking about what I needed to do next and my friend was probably thinking, "Hello, get her some help!" Allergic reactions are common for us. We usually take some benadryl and keep an eye on it. In fact, Jared just had one a few days ago. Either blueberries or laundry detergent. I told Jared to get home as soon as possible and then I called the doctor to see how much benadryl to give her. I was going to take her to insta-care, but he suggested the ER. That's when I realized things could get bad fast. I had to put her on the bathroom scale to see if she weighed enough to get the benadryl. Jared came flying through the door and I told him we were going to the ER. When I handed Aydri to him her face and ears had started to swell. Will Smith on Hitch was no exaggeration. Kendi was hiding as usual, but when she realized the seriousness of everything she became very adult-like and was an angel through the whole ordeal. I searched the cupboards for a medicine dropper, but couldn't find any so I grabbed a teaspoon and my purse and ran out the door in my PJ's without my hair being combed. I squeezed between the car seats and gave Aydri the dose. The sploches had turned into hives and she was miserable. She started rubbing her eyes and sounded like she was sucking in air. I didn't want to make Jared panic while he was driving so I just told him that he needed to take Aydri in while I parked the car and got Kendi out. They got her admitted right away and put her on oxygen, gave her a shot of benadryl and put tagament (sp?) in an IV drip. They told me they wouldn't let kids in the ER so i sat in the waiting room with Kendi for what seemed like FOREVER! Kendi was so good that the nurse let us both go in. I could tell Aydri was doing better, but it was hard to see her wrapped in bandages and monitors with tubes coming out of her. I immediately felt relieved though. She reached for me and babbled and whined like she was telling me what was going on. She got fussier and tired and fell asleep on Jared. They monitored her for a little longer while Kendi watched cartoons. The doctor came in and told us not to give her anything with eggs until she was eighteen even though she has had small amounts before she would have another severe reaction because of the whole egg she ate today. Hopefully she'll outgrow it sooner than that. Right now I'm trying not to cry about her not getting cake and ice cream on her birthday. I know there are worse things out there than this, but at first it's going to be hard to get used to.