Aidan's New Food Allergy

There is always some sort of health issue occurring at our home. This week it has been Aidan's turn. I picked him up from preschool on Monday, and when we got home I noticed a white sort of bump on his left arm, and then noticed another bump on his right arm. When I lifted up his shirt he was covered, and they went all down his legs. I didn't immediately think it was hives but I knew in my gut he was definitely having some sort of allergic reaction. I called his pediatrician and we got an appointment that evening. The on-call doctor said it was indeed hives from an allergic reaction to something that he most likely ate in the last 12 hours. He said to give him Benadryl and told me the signs of things to watch for. Aidan hates medicine and has never had Benadryl. The poor kid was so itchy he begged for it and was asleep within 30 minutes. So starting Tuesday David and I were trying to figure what he ate since nothing about his diet has changed. However, we have learned you can develop an allergy to anything at anytime. Allergies occur through contact, you are not necessarily born with them. We thought at first it was fish sticks, since David is severely allergic to seafood. Just to be safe we cut his food back to the basic bland simple foods until we figured it out. But today when Aidan went to preschool David asked if they had eaten anything on Monday or did any special crafts with different materials. Now, we have never had to worry about snacks at his preschool since they treat it like a real school and never have snack time. Come to find out they were given animal crackers on Monday for some reason, as a treat I guess, and one of the ingredients was nutmeg. So suddenly things become clear. When Aidan was 15 months or so we gave him pumpkin bread and he had a similar reaction so we never gave him anything again with nutmeg. Who knew that Costco animal crackers had nutmeg? So we are positive now that he's allergic to nutmeg. Well, I was thinking today after preschool, I wonder if it's more than that. Aidan has never eaten peanut butter (crazy I know since Seery loves it) or any nuts for that matter. So I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies so that I could get him to eat one and see what happens. Unfortunately he had an instant reaction. His face became red and he immeadiately broke out in hives, luckily his breathing was fine. I gave him Benadryl and called his pediatrician. He has a nut allergy. So we went from wondering what's going on to now we have to carry Epi needles at all times for him. They are mailing me a list of "How to read a label" since nuts are listed under different names. And he has a referral to the top allergist in the state of Utah, whom we will schedule an appointment with tomorrow. So things are about to drastically change in our home. We will be surprised, I am sure, with how many things probably contain nuts or their oils. We will have to bring his snacks for him when he eats outside the home. We will have to notify the primary and his preschool. Anyone who ever watches him will have to be trained with how and when to use the Epi needles and when to call 911 just in case he is ever exposed to nuts. I learned today that allergic reactions worsen with each exposure, which explains these last few days. So there you have it. I feel so bad for him!