Man's Best Friend.. Apparently Not

I am learning with each new experience that I need to be more cautious and aware, and in Liam's case, being a helicopter parent is necessary. I took the kids to a birthday party recently and there was an overly friendly and excited doggie that came to greet the kiddies. It knocked Liam over, and proceeded to give him doggie kisses all over the right side of Liam's face. Liam was wailing from being over-powered by Fido.

Shortly afterwards, I noticed Liam's right side of the face and neck start swelling up, turning red, especially around the eyes and lips. Little bumps formed and I knew he was having an allergic reaction. I wiped off his face with water, and I kept monitoring his reaction, as well as keeping an eye on the where abouts of the dog to make sure it didn't come close to Liam again. Luckily, after an hour the reaction subsided.

Liam has been around dogs before. He has received kisses from dogs before too, so this reaction is a first in severity to be noticed. Luckily there's Google and a way to research. Apparently, 15 percent to 30 percent of people with allergies have allergic reactions to cats and dogs.

So, another one to add to the list of Liam's allergens and for the allergist to do follow-up checks. Sigh.

Dog Allergies can vary from dog to dog, from breed to breed. There's no set condition on if a particular dog will cause a reaction. Here's a good overview of dog allergies.

Now I have a gripe... Start of RANT.
My son, his allergies, indicate he is someone with a more sensitive immune system. I worry for more severe reactions later in life, especially when I am not around or there is no one paying attention to him having a reaction.

There are parents that pack peanuts in their kids lunch without thinking or caring about the impact it may have on a kid with allergies. I have read forums where pro-nuts parents fight for their right to bring peanuts to school and that other children's welfare are not "their responsibility". This is one such instance of many more Pro-Nuts advocates, Parents Protest Peanut Butter Ban.

I do what I can to protect my child and to teach him, and while I cannot prevent exposure to everything that may harm him, surely I would think people would want to work together to minimize deathly exposure to anyone. But WOW..seriously, parents are upset because their kid cannot have their favorite PB&J versus a kid possibly dying??! The selfishness and inconsideration astounds me.

Open Letter: No Peanut Butter

Take this up a notch, and vaccination mentalities are along the same lines. Vaccinations can protect the individual as well as those around with weaker immune systems. Vaccinations are meant to be used as herd immunity, to protect those with weaker immune systems that cannot protect themselves. They benefit more than they harm. Statistical data.

For allergic ridden people, luckily there is modern day medicine, Benadryll, Epi-pen, etc that make it possible to have something to alleviate reactions with potential life saving measure. It's not 100% guaranteed, but at least its some form of reassurance for those of us with no choice of the matter. They are are modern day meds that are full of unnatural, chemical laced drugs that pharmaceutical companies make a lot of money out of. Epipens retail for approximately $450 for each. To be safe, you need at least 2-3 pens around.. one at school, one at home, one in the daily travel bag, etc. But you know what? I don't care that the big companies make money (EVERY industry pushes to make money, its called a capitalistic economy) or that these are chemicals, the bottom line is that these drugs work and they can SAVE a life. Same thing with vaccinations. End Rant.

#annoyed_mamabear
#sons_health_can_be_directly_impacted_by_others_choices

Vaccination Day

Yesterday was not Emilia's favorite day. She got her first round of vaccination shots for Rotavirus, DPT (Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis), HIB (Haemophilus Influenza B), Pneumococcal (Prevnar), and Polio. She had her Hepatitis B shot about a week ago.

Before heading to the doctor's office, we prepped her by giving her some infant Tylenol as recommended by our pediatrician. That was an ordeal in itself as there was a recent recall of infant Tylenol due to QC problems. All of the store shelves were empty. Finally found CVS brand at, uh, CVS. Infant Tylenol is in liquid form, and you adminster it using an eyedropper. I squirted the recommended dose in her mouth, and she reluctantly swished it around in her mouth for a while before finally swallowing it.

The shots are all administered to the thighs. Since there were four shots, two went into each thigh. The needles are big and long :^( When they did the first one, Baby Em did not react. So I thought, Oh, she doesn't even feel it. But then a few seconds later, there was a loud scream. Yeah, she definitely felt it. The nurse acted very quickly, and got the remaining three shots finished literally in seconds. Emilia cried for a few more seconds, and it was over. She slept all the way home, and hasn't had any apparent complications from the shots.

Other notes from the pediatrician visit:

• Baby Em is at ~50 percentile for both weight and length. So she's neither a runt nor ginormous.
• Her skin is dry and sensitive (especially the face) so we need to treat it more. They recommended some stuff called Cetaphil.
• We asked about some popping in her joints that we feel. The doc felt that it was just normal infant joint looseness.
• Emilia's been sleeping up to 10 hrs at night. The doc sees no problem in this as she does not have any weight or growth issues. In fact, she called her "chubby".
  
• We discussed her daytime sleep issues, and the doc said that some babies just don't need long daytime naps. So maybe her 30 minute sessions are all she wants (and needs).
• We were told that we need to give her a lot more tummy time. Not only does the tummy time help her head shape, but it also works a lot more of the baby's muscles. Only problem is that Baby Em hates her tummy time, but looks like she'll have to get used to it.