Eric's First Big Reaction

I got the phone call while in a meeting at work last night. When Ryan called the 3rd time I decided to answer.

"Um, I did something wrong. I gave baby Eric milk."

My heart dropped. "Do you need to know where the Epi-pen is?"

"No, I found the Benadryl and gave him some of that. He seems okay. Just rashed and swollen."

"Do I need to come home?"

"No, I think I have things under control now."

Thirty minutes later I called as I walked out of the office.

"How is he?"

"Well, he's not getting any worse, but he's not getting any better."

"Give him more Benadryl."

"I've already given him 4 times the dose for his weight."

"Give him more anyway. Thats what the allergist had me do when Caden reacted."

"He was scratching at the rash, so I've slathered his head in Cortisone cream a few times."

"Good idea. I'll be home in 20 minutes."

By the time I got home the second dose of Benadryl had kicked in. Eric was doing much better, but still looked pretty sad. Ryan filled me in on the whole story. I'd left both boys home while I went to Provo for a meeting. I'd be gone just 2 hours and we figured Ryan could feed Eric rice cereal if he got hungry. He loved the cereal, but was coughing just a bit so Ryan decided he needed a drink to wash it down. Eric wasn't a fan of the water, or the sugar water. Resourceful Ryan decided to try a little bit of 2% milk, warmed up in a sippy cup. The milk was a winner and Eric began to gulp it down. Less than a minute into drinking it, Ryan noticed a rash starting to form around his mouth. That was the beginning of the 'uh-oh.' Then Eric began to scream. Ran started calling me and hunting for medicine. Once he found and administered the Benadryl he did what any dad would do - started a photo shoot. :)

Eric hadn't been reacting to milk through my milk, and he'd tested negative. We really thought we were in the clear on that one. Ryan doesn't have much experience with little kids. He didn't know you don't give any child under the age of 1 milk, he just knew we didn't give it to Caden because he was allergic. He figured since there was no allergy the milk wouldn't be a problem. We're back on hyper vigilance as we SLOWLY introduce solids.