Relief

I was so proud of Ava for wanting to bring some of her own money to donate to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. Some of the Japanese families at school have organized a drive to collect money for the American Red Cross. Ava has been coming home each day with paper cranes and telling me she needs to remember to bring some money. Then I realized Ava thought she was just buying the bracelets and the paper cranes that they get when they donate. Yes, major parenting fail.

We ended up having a long discussion about what happened in Japan and how they need our help. After the conversation Ava decided to double her donation and I got out my own checkbook. Just as I walked in to talk to Tyler about how much we ought to give, he told me he just got a small bonus, which was clearly no coincidence. We decided to follow Ava's example and double our donation.

The Verdict

Naomi passed her milk challenge at the allergist. We were thrilled. We were relieved. We went to dinner to celebrate. Then she projectile vomited all over the table. It was a serious bummer.

I woke up the next day and decided to try again. Naomi is no lightweight when it comes to vomit. She just barely outgrew a serious gag reflex that had her puking multiple times a day, every day, for months straight. I decided to try again on my own, since we knew for certain that she wasn't going to go into anaplylaxis. I gave her yogurt which she loved. She's tried bites of cheese, and some regular milk on cereal, but she's not a huge fan of either. Most importantly, she has been absolutely fine. Yeah!

Today I indulged her with all the dairy she's been missing. She had bites of mac and cheese for lunch and grilled cheese for dinner. These are new tastes and textures, so she wasn't too sure if she liked them, but certainly thinks real cookies are heavenly.

To top off her adventures in dairy for the day she had sips of milkshake after dinner. Not surprisingly, the shake was good enough to elicit some new words for the occasion. Every time Tyler pulled the cup away she screamed, "Daddy! Me! Me! Me!" Really, who can blame her?

Milk Challenge

Today we go in for Naomi's milk challenge with the allergist. I'm bringing in a sippy cup of regular milk, which she will drink (hopefully). Then we watch her for two hours to observe what kind of reaction she has, if any. I can't wait. The thought that we might end this day with an all-clear for her to eat whatever she wants has me giddy. Of course, I'm setting myself up for major disappointment if she has a reaction. Not only that, but I'm setting her up for potentially serious reaction - hello anaphylaxis! I should be a little more scared, but she's had two exposures to yogurt recently with zero reaction, so I'm hopeful.

You see, I noticed within the second or third day of her life that something was off. The nurses, doctors, and specialists all assured me she was fine, but things didn't add up to me. When we finally got our allergy diagnosis, I felt relief that we had an answer, but one fear was replaced by another. I was perpetually scared that she was going to be exposed to something and die. It was really stressful.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. She had an exposure and didn't die. She didn't even get a rash! Then I manage to find a new allergist. One without a three month waiting list. One with a more laid back, intuitive style who is willing to reevaluate her status. I'm feeling a weight lifting. If she's really outgrown her allergy, and outgrown it this soon, it will be like winning the lottery.