Our Allergy Journey: A Preemie Mum's Story
For a while I hesitated to publish this post, worried about how it might reflect on me as a first-time mum. In the end I decided to share our experience, because if it helps even one new parent navigating baby allergies, then it was worth writing.
Lilly arrived six weeks early at 34 weeks because of severe pre-eclampsia. I'm still waiting on an appointment with my obstetrician to work out whether I actually had HELLP, but that's a story for another post. She weighed just 1.59kg (3lb 8oz), only 90 grams above the low birth weight threshold. That label brought extra considerations and a stay in the NICU rather than Special Care, where she spent her first four and a half weeks.
We've spent Lilly's whole life juggling her real age against her corrected age. Nobody advised us whether to begin solids at six months real age or wait the extra six weeks for six months corrected. So I watched her closely for readiness signs: no tongue thrust reflex, showing interest in food and reaching for it while I ate, and sitting fairly well with minimal support. Once she met most of them, we started.
Looking back, I wonder if we should have waited a few more weeks. Her first taste was a mango smoothie made from just yoghurt and mango. There was no reaction, though she clearly wasn't impressed. I waited a few days, then tried vegetables and toast, which she enjoyed, so we carried on with baby-led weaning.
The First Warning Signs
Once she tasted a bit of milk froth and a small red spot appeared on her lip. Unsure what it meant, we simply watched her closely after her next taste of dairy. Not long after, I gave Lilly some yoghurt to play with. She adored it and was covered from head to toe. Within minutes a nasty rash appeared and grew darker, with welts forming around her neck wherever the yoghurt had touched.
I sat by the front door and called my husband in a panic; luckily he was only a minute or two away. I couldn't tell whether I was overreacting or whether I needed to panic more. Those two minutes felt endless. When he came through the door he confirmed my fears and we rushed to the doctor, who is also just minutes down the road. We didn't even dress her first. They squeezed us in to see my GP straight away.
The photo above was taken while we sat in the waiting room. Wherever the yoghurt had touched her, even near her eye, the skin was very red. I was terrified, even though she seemed quite happy.
The GP concluded it was simply a skin reaction and told us to keep offering as much milk as we liked. Unhappy with that diagnosis, we booked in with another GP, the one my husband usually sees. After hearing Lilly's history, he agreed it sounded like a milk protein allergy and referred us for allergy testing.
Avoiding Dairy and Accidental Slip-Ups
We kept avoiding dairy, but had a few careless slip-ups, the worst being mashed potato at a restaurant. The first six pictures below show the result of just a few spoons of that mashed potato. The next few were from soldiers of egg and toast. It was only a very light rash, but it was still there. We assumed I had spread too much margarine on her toast, since she had eaten egg and margarine on toast many times before.
Allergy Testing and What We Learned
About two weeks ago it was finally time for Lilly's allergy testing. She was very brave while the top allergens were tested: milk, egg yolk, egg white, white fish, shellfish, peanuts and sesame seeds. To our surprise, both egg white and milk came up positive.
After meeting the specialist once the test was done, we concluded that Lilly is allergic to the uncooked protein in both milk and eggs. She can tolerate them when very well cooked, at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Anything less triggers an allergic reaction, which for her means hives. She is still too small for an epi-pen, so we have to be very careful. Lilly still enjoys quiche for dinner now and then, but we make sure to avoid anything where the proteins may not be cooked through enough. We have been rash free since that appointment.
It has been a stressful and frightening few months trying to work out what was going on. I often wonder whether starting solids too early contributed to her allergies. It's strange, because she tolerated milk-based formula for about a month as a newborn.
Filed under: allergies, baby led weaning, preemie journey
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