You Let Your Child Eat WHAT???!!!

Yes, soooooooooooo, last night I let Nikolina have 1/2 a Cashew Nut, no more. She has had a peanut before by accident and nothing happened, so she was begging for one, and I let her try one. I know, I know, 1 1/2 year olds are not supposed to have NUTS, yes, yes, I KNOW, I KNOW. I get it. NOW I GET IT!! 

This was my end of the conversation that I had with my mother this morning when I called to tell her what happened last night.  "Yes, Mom, Thanks Mom, Yes, I know Mom, that 1 1/2 year olds are NOT SUPPOSED to have Peanuts at this age, bc their can be allergic, and their throat can close up, and restrict their breathing, and go in to anaphylatic shock, yes, I know that. Yes, I know it's serious, yes, Mother, I know. Why do you think, I lay AWAKE holding her ALL NIGHT LONG, just in case her throat DID start to close up, or some other horrible thing.  Yes, I gave her Benadryl. It's not like I shove peanuts down her throat all day long, obviously, in hindsight, yes, it was not a good idea. Yes, I did think that at the time I probably shouldn't have done it. Yes, I only gave her 1/2 a cahew, yes, I monitored her all night.  Yes, she appears better this morning.  No, Mom, I probably will not be giving her any more cashews.  Thanks, Mom, Love you Mom. Talk to you later, Mom."

I won't show you pics of the poor pumpkin, but you can kind of get the gist from this pic below.   She pretty much had them all over her tummy and legs. 

I, of course, called the Pediatrician, yes, at 12:30 AM (Yes, I am one of those), this was before we knew they were hives, when they were just starting. I didn't really want to over-exaggerate and take her to the ER, if she didn't need to go (obviously). But, on the other hand, I wanted to be prepared if she would need a shot, if for example her throat started to close up or her breathing became restricted. I mean, he's asking me if she seems to be having a difficult time breathing, and I don't know what to say. Of course, I am a mother, so I over-react, and to me, of course, I think she is going into shock. I mean, at this point, I am already fully dressed, have the pumpkin fully dressed, my purse and diaper bag on my arm ready to fly out the door to the ER.

Thankfully we have a hospital about 2 minutes from our house.  Of course, she also has a cold and a cough (she has one every three days now, love daycare, love it:), so her breathing and airways are already restricted and congested.  It wasn't until after I got off the phone with our pediatrician that the hives worsened and I discovered she did in fact have hives, and that she was having an allergic reaction to the peanut, we think. I had hives as a child a few times, and my dad has had them a few times as well, so I was familiar with them, where Josh had no experience with them. 

They are basically harmless, unless they are in a child's mouth bc they can restrict breathing/pathways in throat/mouth. But, Nik's mouth never appeared to have any infection, thank goodness. They are hjust a little uncomfortable, as they can itch.  It's basically your body's reaction to a foreign substance, such as peanuts, or an allergy, it's your body releasing histimine to fight what it thinks is an enemy.

Since I gave her the 1/2 cashew, I volunteered to stay awake with her all night to make sure that she didn't start haveing trouble breathing. Nik will not sleep on your lap, or on the couch or bed, unless she's EXHAUSTED.  So, I had to put her down in her crib. Obviously, we figured that if she was going to have a reaction she's have had it, but I was being cautious.  I already prior to her inflamation, had the baby monitor up to my ear, and I could very clearly hear her breathing since has a cold, her breathing is kinda heavy. I also went and checked on her a couple times earlier in the night, and rocked her in the rocking chair, while she slept in my arms.. It's hard not to wake her though, bc our door creaks everytime you open it, and she always wakes up. But, I would rather wake her up, obv, then something happen.  Josh had gone and gotten her at 12:30 AM and brought her into the bedroom, and that was when we first discovered the rash starting. 

We gave her 3/4 tsp Benadryl and tried to make her stay up to make sure she was alright. She was having a good time playing, reading, and doing puzzles, till she finally became exhaused around 2, and we let her sleep in the bed with us, or rather, she was so exhausted, that she was able to fall asleep in bed with us.  Finally around 4 AM, I started taking little 15 min cat naps, bc she appeared Ok.  I was so in "mommy ready/aware/awake/protect mode" that I don't think I even got the 15 min cat naps completely in.  By morning, when she woke up right before 7, her hives had gotten much better, but were still kinda bad around her legs. 

I would've loved to stay home with her, but I have already used all my vaca (yes, I have to use vaca when my daughter is sick, stinky, I know) staying home with her in the Spring when she was sick frequently (love daycare:), and for other things, and she's in perfectly good spirits, so we just told our daycare provider to be cautious.  We are going to continue to give Nik the Benadryl until they are gone, per the doctor's instruction.  Hopefully, we have seen the worst of it, and YES, NOW I KNOW, NEVER TO GIVE MY CHILD EVEN 1/2 A CASHEW, no matter how bad she acts like she wants it.  Lesson Learned.