Friday, April 10, 2009

Bad Parenting and Grace, Part Two

24 hours later. Just a hint of what happened yesterday remains.


I am tired, need to go to bed, but also feel the need to communicate what happened in our lives today. Long story short, this morning we took Samuel to the ER because he was having trouble breathing after drinking soymilk that I accidentally gave him. The whole thing was really scary, but he seems to be okay now.
Having a child with food allergies is so mind-boggling and scary. I am very diligent, always so careful what he puts in his mouth and touches, and yet, somehow I picked up soymilk instead of his usual ricemilk from Whole Foods last night. The packaging looks identical except the obvious labeling. On top of that, after he started reacting, for some reason I was so confused and didn't trust myself...and did not give him the Epi-pen when I should have. I was afraid to give it to him, to be honest. Fortunately, God was gracious. I am so thankful that we live less than 3 miles from a hospital, David was home due to it being Good Friday, and everything else that transpired served my little man. After a couple of powerful shots, he was breathing fine despite his little body looking like a burn victim.
Despite being thankful, I also just feel sad and worn out by it all. He is allergic to all the top 8 allergens (milk, eggs, nuts (peanut and tree), wheat, soy, and fish(shellfish and other). His blood and scratch tests indicate that soy is one of the least of his concerns...and we had anaphalaxis to THAT! So I just feel sad at the severity of his allergies. Praying they go away. Until then, just glad he is sleeping soundly in the next room.