I stink at posting regularly.
Lots has happened since Christmas. We took a trip to Falls City, Nebraska last month (farm town where I was born, hence the name of my blog) where we spent time with my parents, my grandparents, and my Great Grandpa Joe Darling. Will has 5 generation photos with his grandpa's grandpa. Awesome. We had a great time visiting. Other than Will not sleeping well, which is par for the course these days, the trip was very restful.
The week we returned to Denver, my uncle Keith, Grandma K, and cousin Joni were visiting. It is fun to be living near so much family, because it means we get to see even more family (from out of town) when they come to visit. It was great to catch up with Joni after not talking for so long and to spend time with them all.
The end of that week is the cause for this post title. I took a break from work to meet Megan and Will and have lunch with my uncle, cousin, grandma, and aunt before several of them headed home. Since he is almost 9 months old, we pretty much feed Will bits of anything these days (though 95% of his food is made by his awesome mama). I headed back to work, and Megan and Will headed home. An hour later I was about to head into a meeting and Megan called saying that Will was throwing up everywhere - throwing up, not spitting up -- and he had never done this before. I was very disoriented by the call and said I had to head into a meeting (it was hard to hear what was going on because Will was screaming and I had people talking to me at my desk). I was thinking I'd have a 20 minute meeting and call back in a bit.
Well, the more I thought about it the more I realized I had made exactly the wrong choice in that moment. I had designated work a higher priority than my wife who sounded very nervous and my son who sounded very sick. So I called back. Twice. No answer meant that Megan was on the phone with someone else, which meant this situation was not good. I finally got through and Megan said her Aunt Mary (a retired nurse who recently moved back to Denver and lives .6 miles from us) was on her way over, and that Will had thrown up more and was shaking. Megan said she'd call me back in a few minutes with an update.
My meeting at work was postponed so I quickly called again. Megan and Mary were packing Will into the car to head to the doctors. Apparently a rash was quickly spreading over his body. I knew immediately what this meant: allergic reaction to something. I felt MUCH better knowing Mary was there and that they were heading to the doctor, but still felt badly that I hadn't been much help the first time Megan called. After we hung up I decided to head to the doctor's office to make sure everything was OK.
As soon as I arrived at the doctor's office, I was glad I had come. Will was covered in bright red rash from head to toe, and he looked miserable. He looked exactly as I had looked when I discovered that I was allergic to shellfish in 2007 - red, swollen, and extremely uncomfortable. The poor little guy had bloody marks on his nose and chest from scratching himself. I reached out for him and as soon as I had him he immediately curled up into a little ball in my arms (our boy is not generally a cuddler). After a couple of failed attempts at an IV, my overhearing the doctors and nurses talk about how serious the case was, and my realizing I was in shock and feeling like I could throw up, faint, or start bawling at any second, we were told an ambulance was on the way to rush Will to the ER. Not exactly the words any parent wants to hear from their pediatrician.
The allergist made the call because Will's rash was not alleviating (he threw up the Benadryl they gave him) and at times his lips looked pale. We know this was the right call to make and glad they took every precaution. We simultaneously also keep reminding ourselves that we can't panic when we get the bill (the hospital was one block away from the peds office). Thankfully, we were only in the ER for a couple of hours. After two more attempts at an IV, one was finally successful (5 tries!), which got Will the steroids he needed and reduced the swelling very quickly.
The culprit: Eggs. And maybe milk. He tested positive to both, and we're 100% certain he is allergic to eggs. We'll have to test milk products whenever we're brave enough to do so (we can do this at the allergy office, thank goodness). We're hoping he grows out of the allergies, but mostly feeling very relieved that at least now we know what to watch for.
Now we have grown up epi-pens in the house for daddy and mini-epis for Will. Here's to hoping we never need to use either of them.
Lots has happened since Christmas. We took a trip to Falls City, Nebraska last month (farm town where I was born, hence the name of my blog) where we spent time with my parents, my grandparents, and my Great Grandpa Joe Darling. Will has 5 generation photos with his grandpa's grandpa. Awesome. We had a great time visiting. Other than Will not sleeping well, which is par for the course these days, the trip was very restful.
The week we returned to Denver, my uncle Keith, Grandma K, and cousin Joni were visiting. It is fun to be living near so much family, because it means we get to see even more family (from out of town) when they come to visit. It was great to catch up with Joni after not talking for so long and to spend time with them all.
The end of that week is the cause for this post title. I took a break from work to meet Megan and Will and have lunch with my uncle, cousin, grandma, and aunt before several of them headed home. Since he is almost 9 months old, we pretty much feed Will bits of anything these days (though 95% of his food is made by his awesome mama). I headed back to work, and Megan and Will headed home. An hour later I was about to head into a meeting and Megan called saying that Will was throwing up everywhere - throwing up, not spitting up -- and he had never done this before. I was very disoriented by the call and said I had to head into a meeting (it was hard to hear what was going on because Will was screaming and I had people talking to me at my desk). I was thinking I'd have a 20 minute meeting and call back in a bit.
Well, the more I thought about it the more I realized I had made exactly the wrong choice in that moment. I had designated work a higher priority than my wife who sounded very nervous and my son who sounded very sick. So I called back. Twice. No answer meant that Megan was on the phone with someone else, which meant this situation was not good. I finally got through and Megan said her Aunt Mary (a retired nurse who recently moved back to Denver and lives .6 miles from us) was on her way over, and that Will had thrown up more and was shaking. Megan said she'd call me back in a few minutes with an update.
My meeting at work was postponed so I quickly called again. Megan and Mary were packing Will into the car to head to the doctors. Apparently a rash was quickly spreading over his body. I knew immediately what this meant: allergic reaction to something. I felt MUCH better knowing Mary was there and that they were heading to the doctor, but still felt badly that I hadn't been much help the first time Megan called. After we hung up I decided to head to the doctor's office to make sure everything was OK.
As soon as I arrived at the doctor's office, I was glad I had come. Will was covered in bright red rash from head to toe, and he looked miserable. He looked exactly as I had looked when I discovered that I was allergic to shellfish in 2007 - red, swollen, and extremely uncomfortable. The poor little guy had bloody marks on his nose and chest from scratching himself. I reached out for him and as soon as I had him he immediately curled up into a little ball in my arms (our boy is not generally a cuddler). After a couple of failed attempts at an IV, my overhearing the doctors and nurses talk about how serious the case was, and my realizing I was in shock and feeling like I could throw up, faint, or start bawling at any second, we were told an ambulance was on the way to rush Will to the ER. Not exactly the words any parent wants to hear from their pediatrician.
The allergist made the call because Will's rash was not alleviating (he threw up the Benadryl they gave him) and at times his lips looked pale. We know this was the right call to make and glad they took every precaution. We simultaneously also keep reminding ourselves that we can't panic when we get the bill (the hospital was one block away from the peds office). Thankfully, we were only in the ER for a couple of hours. After two more attempts at an IV, one was finally successful (5 tries!), which got Will the steroids he needed and reduced the swelling very quickly.
The culprit: Eggs. And maybe milk. He tested positive to both, and we're 100% certain he is allergic to eggs. We'll have to test milk products whenever we're brave enough to do so (we can do this at the allergy office, thank goodness). We're hoping he grows out of the allergies, but mostly feeling very relieved that at least now we know what to watch for.
Now we have grown up epi-pens in the house for daddy and mini-epis for Will. Here's to hoping we never need to use either of them.
We had a wonderful time relaxing, making old-fashioneds in honor of Megan's Grandpa Gordon, and watching movies. It is fun to spend the holidays in the mountains -- though sadly there was a lack of snow this year which made the skiing less enjoyable for the skiers. It was a gift to be able to hand off Will at 6:00AM each morning so that we could get a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep. We are very blessed to have such a supportive and loving family around us.