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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

We may be peanut free but are we nut free?

I was one of those people who used to roll their eyes a lot.  I think this whole ordeal may be Karma, or God laughing at me.

I worked at a summer camp a long time ago.  The second summer I was there, the director had decided to go totally nut free.  I used to joke that the camp may be peanut free, but there were more than enough nuts floating around the place.  I was the camp secretary, and all around whipping girl.  I did some of the purchasing, so I had a quick crash course in the peanut free market place.  Lots of stuff that you wouldn't expect has peanuts in it.  It can be "traces" or peanut oil, so you have to read carefully.  Baked goods and candy are especially problematic.  Planning events for school age children is not much fun if there is no candy or baked goods.

Fast forward 10 or so years.  My eldest daughter started preschool.  There was a child with a severe peanut allergy in her class.  Snack days thrust me back into the peanut free mindset. No peanut anything was allowed in the classroom, even in a personal lunch.  Being that Rory could not have any peanut butter in school, she would always ask for a PB&J on the weekends.

One fateful day, she decided to share her sandwich with her little sister, MJ.   Hives and vomiting quickly ensued.  There was a frantic call to the pediatrician, and a debate over whether or not to go to the ER.  I was also scolded for letting a 14 month old have peanuts.  Hey - I didn't give it to her, my 4 year old did.  I was just happy they were sharing nicely.  I wonder if this person has more than 1 child.  Seriously - who are they to judge?

I did call the pediatrician back that week, and discussed the whole ordeal some more at our 15 month appointment.  I was not quite happy with the answers they were giving me.

A.  Keep her away from peanuts (DUH!)
B.  Do you really want to put her through allergy testing?
C.  She is too little for an Epipen

Thankfully, she was also under the care of an ENT.  We had ear tubes put in just after her 1st Birthday. In addition to ENT, they also do some allergy stuff.  I called them for a second opinion. They informed me that no skin testing was necessary. There is a blood test they can do.  We were all over that.

A week after the blood test, they called me.  The nurse called with the news that MJ indeed has a peanut allergy.  She was also allergic to eggs.  The egg allergy was not as severe as the peanut allergy, but something to watch.  They also gave us a Rx for an Epipen Jr.

To that point I did not think I had seen an egg reaction.  She had an MMR and a Flu shot with no repercussions.  Then I started to think back.  I had a text conversation with my husband as proof.  The first time I ever gave her pancakes, she vomited all over the excersaucer.  I detailed for him the joy of cleaning all of the nooks and crannies of the plastic monstrosity. I realized then that all of her seemingly random vomiting was likely a result of her egg allergy.

Things went along fine for a while.  She eventually grew out of the egg allergy.  We had a peanut challenge, and it took her quite a bit to react, so we don't worry as much about accidental contamination as we used to.  I lightened up and let some peanut butter back into our house, which is when we found out Antonio has allergies of his own.

Read more about that ordeal if you wish.


Cross Country Trip Preparation

     As you may know, we had decided to embark on a cross country trip.  The planning for this type of undertaking is by far the worst part.  It all fell to me, as my husband was putting in as many hours as possible in preparation for taking the 3 weeks off from work. Anyhow, he tends to be more spontaneous.  For him, packing is throwing an extra pair of undies and a clean t-shirt into a grocery bag.  The logistics of a cross country trip with 3 kids involve a little more forethought than he would generally give a vacation.

     My first order of business was to get a AAA card. I then contacted them for help planning our route.  May I just say, AAA was great.  They sent us tons of maps, one for each state, and every big city we would pass through, all for free.  The membership cost was more than paid for just in maps.  Not to mention I locked my keys in the car several days before we left.  Money well spent for the membership (I just hope we don't need it again for a while).

     One thing we didn't do was make reservations at hotels.  This again, is my husband's spontaneous side.  He prefers to drive, see how far we can get, and then book hotel rooms from our phones along the way.  I did sign up for the Hotels.com rewards program, so we should end up with a night free at the end of all of this.  (edited to add we did, but still have yet to use it 10 month later)

     As we got closer to our departure day, I made a spreadsheet.  The list was quite extensive. I made a check off box for each of our sets of shoes, and for the sum total of suitcases, to be sure nothing got left behind.  One trick I learned a while ago is not to pack a suitcase for each family member, but pack a suitcase for a day, with one set of clothes and PJ's for each family member.  I had 4 small carry-on size suitcases, so I was able to do 4 days worth.  I then packed 2 bigger suitcases, one for the kids and one for myself and the hubby, with our nicer wedding clothes, and extras of everything for our week long stay at our eventual destination.   I had all of our bathing suits in one bag, and sweatshirts and rain gear in another, in order to be able to quickly grab for everyone at once when they were needed.


DVD Player

VTechs
Basket
Game Boys
Basket
Chargers
Basket
Ipad

Lap Top

Camera
Basket
Batteries

Floaties
In Van
Towels

Cooler
In Van
Snacks
In van
Fruit

Cutting Board & knife

Cork Screw & Can Opener

Benedryl
In Van
Advil & Tylenol
In Van
Epi pen

Sunblock
In Van
Sunburn Stuff

Bug Spray
In Van
Rain Ponchos
In Van
Sweat shirts
In Van
Pillows

Blankets

Laundry stuff
In Van
Insurance cards
Wallet
Coloring books
In Van
Bingo
In Van
Maps from AAA
In Van
First Aid Kit
In Van
Wipes
In Van
Paper Towels
In Van
Kids Maps
Folders
License Plate Print Out
Folders
Scissors
In Van
Duct Tape
In Van
Toilet Paper

Tampons/Pads

Shampoo/Conditioner/Gel

Contact Stuff

Deodorant/Soap

Make-up

Clinique

Jewelry

Socks
In Van

Flip Flops






Sneakers






Dress Shoes






Suitcases