I find myself frustrated

Back a long time ago (over 2 months, for those who may not be familiar with my distorted sense of time), I figured out that I have a gluten intolerance. Shortly thereafter I was informed that #3 is sensitive to milk and I had to cut it out of my diet in all forms. I was also told that going to an allergist would help. So, to an allergist I went. #3 had a reaction to eggs on the scratch test, so I was told no straight eggs for me, and no eggs for him in any form. I was also told not to do a blood test because he's just a baby, and it's a lot of blood.

After about 6 weeks of misery, not eating, and #3 not really gaining much weight, I went to see one of the top allergist groups in NYC on Monday. There they repeated the scratch test, and told me that because the reaction on his arm was smaller than 3mm, it wasn't really an allergy. I was told to resume eating eggs, and that he could eat baked goods with eggs in them.

Fast forward to Tuesday lunch. I gave #3 some chicken to eat along with butternut squash kugel, which had egg whites in it. The kugel was very squishy, and as he fed himself, he was getting coated in it. When he finished eating, I took a wipe to his face, and quickly swiped his chest and abdomen. I worked at his face again, then glanced down and noticed red marks on him. I took the tray off his chair and saw that he had hives across his chest and abdomen. I pulled him out of the seat and started washing him off more thoroughly. I found redness and some hives on his arms as well.

And then.

And then he started sneezing.

So. I called the allergist. I text Avraham. I'm on hold. The baby is sneezing, a lot. Every 30 seconds to a minute, he sneezes a massive sneeze. Then he starts coughing. I'm no hold. I call Avraham and ask him to call the pediatrician, because I'm not freaking out, but I'm freaked out (there's a difference).

Every time he sneezes, I have to wipe his entire face, and I'm scared to put him down or walk away, because what if he starts wheezing? So I'm using my shirt to mop him up, and he's coughing and sneezing on me, and his hives are bright red, and he's totally fine if somewhat annoyed by the sneezing and the lack of a shirt. Because I wasn't about to put a shirt on him - I want to see what the hell is happening to my baby!

The resident on-call finally gets to the phone. It's been 45 minutes since I took him out of the chair, and he's sneezing, coughing, and the hives aren't receding. She speaks to the doctor I met with. She gets back to me and asks if I have Benadryl or an Epi pen. I say, as politely as I can, that having been sent home the day before assured that he has no allergies, I don't own anything of the sort. She asks if he's hacking. I can't tell. She asks if his eyes or lips are swelling. At this point, it's been over an hour since I took him out of the chair, and one of his eyes is reddish and a little swollen, but you know what? He's also kind of upset and sneezing and coughing. She tells me not to give him any items with eggs at all until 9 or 10 months because he has a contact allergy. I think "Yes, duh, why didn't you guys say so yesterday?"

I get info on the dosage of children's Benadryl to give my infant (scary), get some? most? of it down his throat, clean up the mess from him crying hysterically during that process, and notice that his nose and the inside of his ears are red. Not pink. Red. Like the-color-of-McDonald's red. The pediatrician calls back and tells me that they can't do anything, even prescribe an Epi-pen for me, because they're didn't do or see the tests. Great, thank you very much for absolutely nothing, and for not calling back for over an hour.

Avraham comes home. The hives are starting to recede, 1.5 hours after I took him out of the chair, one dose of Benadryl down. He has 2 new hives forming. I'm super agitated. #3 cranks out a bit, goes to sleep, and I am now going to be militant about keeping egg away fro his body.

I love that the allergist said that he can eat eggs, they just can't touch his body. Brilliant!