Andrea's Adventures in Binkyland

News and Nostalgia

Last night, we visited Sasha's allergist to get the formal lowdown on her peanut situation. First, she is allergic to milk, but only barely. The doctor didn't think we would need to go to any extreme measures to avoid it, but in light of her overall improvement in health and disposition since we've stopped, I think we'll carry on as we have been. Goldfish crackers and the odd mac & cheese won't hurt her, but we'll stick with soy milk and soy yogurt for now.

As for peanut, she isn't a Class 3, as the nurse told me over the phone, she's a Class 2! This means it is a milder allergy than we had thought. She is, in fact, in the category of children most likely to outgrow the allergy, and the doctor said if she were older, he would consider doing a food challenge now. As it is, for now, we should avoid giving her peanuts and peanut butter by any means, but we don't need to worry too much about manufacturer cross-contamination or peanut residue. When she's three, we'll have her blood retested, and consider doing an oral challenge then. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to order some Sunbutter. I've heard great things about it.

Through the course of my research about the allergy, I've learned about other children her age who are deathly allergic, not just to peanuts, but to any nuts or legumes, milk, soy, eggs, wheat, fish, corn, berries, AND a few other things, besides. My heart really breaks for those poor kids. What on earth do you feed such a child? What kind of a life can you lead when your main focus is on what kinds of food you have to avoid? It makes me feel like we've been unbelievably lucky to get off so light.

On a different note, I've had this photo knocking around in our office for a bit, and I wanted to preserve it before something baby-related happened to it. This was taken the day my dad and stepmother got married, so I think in this picture Matt and I are 21 and 20, respectively. Don't we look like middle-school children?

Amazing to think how far these two little kids in the picture have gotten, isn't it?

My kitchen is: Messy, but really quite nice. I even plan to make dinner tonight!

Posted by andrea at July 16, 2003 10:18 AM