Allergy Rerun...

I am a little worried that we were overly optimistic in saying that Maya has grown all her allergies from babyhood. As a baby and young toddler, Maya had allergies to wheat, all berries and guava. But by about 18 months, and definitely by age 2, she had outgrown every single one of those allergies.

We delayed introducing some other common allergens, like peanuts, shellfish and tree nuts. But then one day Maya got ahold of a peanut butter granola bar and started sucking on it. No reaction. So we figured we were in the clear for nuts, and we started letting her have foods that have trace amounts of peanuts in them. Again, no problem. We are still avoiding shellfish until age 3...

Anyway, today Maya tried a piece of walnut. I figured it would be OK as she has had other similar stuff, like sesame seeds and pine nuts, with no reaction. She chewed the walnut a little, but didn't like it and spit it out. Then she went down for her nap. When I went in to her room to get her after she woke up, I was greeted with a 2-year-old with two black eyes. I felt her belly and felt the telltale bumpy skin. These were the exact same reactions she had to berries and wheat early on. But the strange thing is that the reaction to walnuts faded quickly. It was almost completely gone within several hours. Her previous reactions had stayed for up to a week. So I am not sure how to interpret it, whether it is a real allergic reaction or not. I guess we will ask Maya's doctor when we go home to the U.S. for home leave, but that is not until sometime this summer. Until then, well, let's just say we'll be avoiding walnuts...