My cousin celebrated his 46th birthday this past weekend. Our family visited with them and enjoyed some good food, sharp wine, and fun company to mark the occasion. One of the foods there was shrimp, and considering I haven't had any in a while as we don't keep it in the house (Matt's severely allergic to shellfish), I decided to really dig in.
About 12 hours later, we started to find hives on Tycho's body. They started on his neck, spread to his torso, and extended onto his arms and legs. They didn't appear itchy, but Tycho is still too young to scratch an itch, so who knows how they felt. But considering he was otherwise looking fine, we decided to just see where it went.
Then started the diarrhea. And the nausea and vomiting. And the screams that pierced the house when we gave him a bath that night. After we put him to bed, we sat and tried to think where all this was coming from, and after some Googling for symptoms, we determined...
Tycho has a shellfish allergy.
The symptoms line up. The shrimp probably really started digesting through me after he was put to bed (and I admit that my stomach was NOT happy with me, either), and his symptoms started the very next morning, when the concentration was highest. Since he breastfed the rest of the day, the allergen kept piling up in his system, leading to additional and more severe reactions throughout the day.
We visited our pediatrician today as a follow-up to his ear infection (which is completely clear now, by the way... and we were rewarded with two bottom teeth! OMG, I don't think I ever told y'all!), and we asked if he thought if it was an allergy as well and whether allergens can pass through breastmilk. In short: Yes, he believes the reaction was caused by shellfish rather than a virus, and yes, allergens can and do pass through breastmilk, so I'm officially allergic by proxy until Tycho has weaned.
In the meantime, we just wait until it clears my system, hopefully sooner rather than later. Apparently it can still be affecting him, even though the shellfish was eaten days ago. It also means dumping all the milk I pumped yesterday, a full 13oz. :( Oh well... it's what we've gotta do!
If you're ever concerned about a potential food allergy in your baby or if your baby has an allergic reaction to a food, contact your pediatrician or call 911 immediately.
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