Horrible night this past Friday. I was cooking up some potstickers in a pan with about a tablespoon of sesame oil to give them some flavor. I served it to my son and about twenty minutes into the meal he started to grow irritable. Meredith noticed a raised spot on his eye and it looked like he had gotten a mosquito bite. Well, that raised bump moved over to the other side of the bridge of his nose. Then his eyelids and face started swelling. He was having an allergic reaction to something and we figured it had to have been the sesame oil, because we had served the potstickers to the boy before, but they had been steamed and not fried in oil on that previous occasion.
So this is the moment when living so far out in the country really sucks. I had to drive around looking for Benedryl. None of the local gas stops had any Benedryl for children, so I had to go nearly into town which is about twelve miles away but takes almost twenty minutes to reach.
When I got back to the house, the hives had radiated all throughout the boy's body. His face was plump and it looked like he was having trouble seeing out his eyes. All along his diaper line, he had beet-red rashes, and he seemed extremely uncomfortable. The poor kid.
We made the executive decision to go into town and stay with my parents. I just felt more comfortable spending the night in a pediatrician's (semi-retired) house.
L's okay. He never swallowed the potstickers. I think he had just gotten a bit of oil on his fingers, touched his eyes, and the rest is history.
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The allergic reaction didn't deter him from dressing up for Halloween and visiting the local merchants. By the end of the day, he was a natural--grabbing single pieces of candy and thanking the merchants with a "quack." I dare say he was quite cute.
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Changed all the calendars in the house and set the clocks back. I want to say that we'll be gaining an hour of sleep in the de la Paz household, but this I know to be a lie. The toddler is like the birds. He wakes up when he feels compelled to wake up. His usual time has been 6:45AM. I fear that he will now be waking at 5:45AM.
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Current Spin:
Choir of Young Believers.
4 days ago
4 comments:
Glad the little duck is feeling better. So cute.
First: SOOOO cute!
Second: Wow. How scary -- I'm so glad the little guy is OK.
Hi Oliver,
I'm so sorry to hear about this! Be very careful--he may be even more sensitive to sesame next time. Hives on the outside could be indicative of throat swelling if swallowed.
You should probably stock Benadryl not only in the house, but in the glove compartment. Unfortunately, it is not on the list of top allergens in the U.S., which means the ingredient labeling is not as stringent as it is for milk, peanuts, etc.
Not trying to be scary--just practical. Glad he's feeling better.
Cheers,
Sandra
Thanks gang.
And, thanks Sandra for the tips. We've bought a lot of Benedryl and are reading every label nowadays.
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