Hello! I am Katie, the lady behind The Free From Mummies, wife to Laurence and mummy to Teddy (3) and Brodie (14 months).
To say that allergies have changed our lives would be an understatement. As much as we do our best to not allow them to control our lives, or stop the boys from having as 'normal' a life as possible, allergies are constantly in the forefront of our minds. They are considered in the everyday decisions that we make and are lurking away in our darkest worries that keep us awake at night.
It is hard to believe that it has been almost three years since Teddy’s allergies were diagnosed. Those three years have determined who I am as a mother and have changed me to the core and my entire outlook on life. The road to getting his diagnosis was incredibly difficult and frustrating. Even the thought of the wasted months that Teddy spent in pain makes me so angry and it still baffles me how the system can be so uncertain and indecisive. I had to fight tooth and nail at every medical appointment that I made, during visits to A&E, with the private care that we sought as a last resort, just to not be dismissed as an over worried first time mum. But I guess many of you reading this will know this battle all too well.
Like so many allergy parents, I knew that there was something wrong, something different about Teddy and this was apparent from when he was only a few days old.
It started with a rash that permanently covered his body, ‘baby acne’, his puffy face, his explosive nappies, his sickness and reflux, his difficulty to settle and his restless sleep. When I write it all down like this, knowing what I know now it seems obvious, but as a first time mum you put all your faith and trust in the professionals.
I visited the doctors and the hospital at least 20 times before a diagnosis, each time getting more and more desperate and caring less what they thought of me, and each time getting no closer to any answers and no mention of allergies at any appointment. Why? Are allergies so rare and seldom seen? If it was some tropical disease picked up in the Amazon then fine, no problem, I'd completely understand, but allergies...
Teddy was born on the 91st centile and managed to maintain this throughout the first year of his life. This contributed greatly to why the doctors would not diagnose allergies, because he was exclusively breastfed and 'thriving' on paper.
Although it is painful to admit, when I look back on the first few months of Teddy's life, we had a very unhappy baby. His eczema would ooze through his clothing causing them to become fused to his skin, he rarely slept due to the constant itching and he had around 8 explosive nappies every single day. Because of these symptoms and after some general medical advice we started weaning at 19 weeks.
I can remember the details of the morning that I gave Teddy porridge containing cow's milk like it was yesterday. Within seconds of giving him the very first tiny baby spoonful, I knew something wasn’t right. He started coughing and I could see a distinct look of panic in his eyes. I bent him forward and gave him a sharp pat on the back, thinking that it must be a result of the new taste/texture. I gave him another mouthful, again followed by coughing and spluttering and at this point, he started getting upset. I got him out of the highchair and within seconds he was hysterical.
I looked at his face and was worried but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was about him that made me feel so concerned, so I took him out into the garden for some fresh air to calm him down. The next time I looked at his face it was completely unrecognisable. I ran into the house screaming for help to which my little brother, who luckily was at home, came running. He took one look at Teddy and I could see from the look on his face, that he was just as scared as me. All of the information went through my head from all of the first aid courses I'd attended over the years. After treating him for choking to no avail, I decided to ring for an ambulance, thank god I did. Teddy went in and out of consciousness, was wheezing and he looked like a baby I have never seen before. His eyes were almost completely swollen shut and his bottom lip was so swollen that it just hung down on his chin. I focused on the sound of the sirens in the distance and ran out into the street as I heard it getting louder and louder. When the paramedics arrived they whisked Teddy out of my arms and ran with him into the ambulance. They gave him a shot of adrenaline, a shot of steroids, placed him on oxygen and told me that we needed to leave immediately. I got into the bed and they strapped Teddy to me, giving him another shot of adrenaline on the way to the hospital. The usual twenty minute journey took seven minutes. As we pulled up, Teddy was quickly taken from me and ran into the hospital where a full team of medical staff were waiting. I followed behind them in a daze, feeling pins and needles from head to toe, buzzing in my ears, needing my brother to hold me up and practically carry me to the room where they had taken our baby.
Teddy made a full and quick recovery in hospital and was able to come home that evening. We left that day armed with two Jext Pens, and they haven't left his side since.
We have come a long way since Teddy’s anaphylaxis. We have had many hospital appointments, skin prick testing, blood tests and multiple food challenges in hospital and we currently know that Teddy has allergies to dairy, egg, soya (top of the ladder), sesame, nuts, peas, avocado, kidney beans, lentils, shell fish, celery (raw), apples, strawberries, dog saliva and dust mites. Is that all I hear you say? We have gained such a greater understanding of what will trigger a reaction, though we still battle with daily unforeseen reactions.
In December 2017, we had our little baby boy, Brodie. Upon the advice of our dietician I ate and drank everything a pregnant person would during their pregnancy. We decided that at the first sight of allergies I would exclude allergens from my diet to continue breastfeeding, in the hopes of preventing Brodie going though what our little Teddy had to endure. Teddy's allergies had a huge impact on Laurence and I and admittedly, it did not take much to convince us to cut our dairy. It was Christmas Eve at nine days old to be exact. By February, Brodie was having the all too familiar explosive nappies, with a sore itchy face and body, so I continued to exclude more food from my diet until we reached some kind of calm.
Brodie has had multiple reactions where his throat and eyes have swelled and is currently free from 14 foods. We will be having more skin prick testing, blood tests and challenges this year and look forward to hopefully crossing some off the list.
Before we had our boys we were so ignorant to the life altering impact that food allergies can have. I created The Free From Mummies as a safe place for like-minded parents to come together, get and share advice, and more than anything else just to know that you aren't on your own.