Brooklyn's Peanut Allergy

We had quite a scare in August when Brooklyn had an unexpected anaphylactic reaction to peanut butter. Her face began to swell and she became lethargic. Luckily there was an instacare close by that treated her quickly and probably saved her life.

With such scary traumatic and life-altering things it is often hard to find the positives and the blessings, but I have no doubt that we were blessed by our loving Heavenly Father on that day. We were blessed to be in Utah when it happened surrounded by loving family. It terrifies me to think how much scarier and harder it would have been if her first reaction had been while I was home alone with two kids. 

I am also blessed with an honorable priesthood holder for a husband who takes his fatherly duties seriously and lives so he can be close to the spirit. Eric had an unexpected prompting to fast the night before Brooklyn's reaction and was able to strengthen our family even though he was in Minnesota when it happened. 

We took Brooklyn to an allergist once we got home and she confirmed the allergy through a skin test. She did not react to tree nuts, which is a positive thing. We will take her in each year to do some blood work and eventually hope to begin treatment options as she gets older.

Adjusting to a new peanut-free, epi-pen carrying, label-checking family has seemed overwhelming at times and continues to take time. I know what foods Brooklyn can tolerate but have a hard time branching out to new unfamiliar  things.

I feel so blessed to live in a time where we have life-saving medications like epinephrine in case of an emergency. It's also a blessing to have the support of such amazing family and friends. 

As far as Brooklyn goes, no peanut allergy is going to keep her down! She continues to be our happy, delightful and loving girl. She blesses our family with her sweet spirit every day and we are so grateful to have her as a part of our family!

Our trip to the allergist

Positive skin test