Eggs Erroneous

Ok, I'm officially the worst mother ever. Today I made a huge mistake. I've had my share of worry moments as a mom, but I don't think I've ever been more terrified in my life than I was this morning. Here's what you need to know.

First of all, SB thinks she is all grown up. She thinks she needs to be eating anytime we are eating, and she thinks she needs to taste everything I eat. I've been giving her little bits of food off of my plate, soft things like a baked potato or a tiny bite of bread. She always really appreciates it, and we've never had any problems.

Today we had biscuit, sausage and eggs for breakfast, and as usual, SB was clawing at my plate like she hadn't eaten in weeks (it had been 2 hours) so I obliged her with a tiny bite of my fluffy scrambled egg. I remembered a friend of mine telling me that her little girl eats eggs for breakfast every morning, so I figured, what the heck. She proshated it so much that I gave her another bite and another after that. Maybe 4 bites, most of which ended up on the floor, as she sometimes has trouble landing the food from her fist to her mouth.

Immediately following breakfast, I had to run over to my parent's house to get SB's diaper bag, which had been left there the night before. I was gone for about 15 minutes, during which SB played happily on the floor while Jack hung out close by. When I got home, it was nearing naptime, so I scooped her up to rock her to sleep. One look at her tiny little face sent me into a panic.

Her face was covered in red splotches, her eyes were bloodshot and she was starting to swell up like a pregnant woman's ankles. I screamed for Jack to come look, and I ran for the Benadryl. Thankfully, we had just bought a bottle the day before, and I had just retrieved it from my parent's house. Thank the Lord.

I immediately called the doctor and took her to her bedroom to undress her and check for hives or some other sign of an allergic reaction. I was certain her airways were going to constrict, and I was praying with all my might that God would have mercy.

He did. I was surprised at how quickly the benadryl seemed to work. By the time the doctor called me back, the swelling was already going down and the red splotches were wearing off as well. She never acted like she was having trouble breathing.

I tried to relax a little; the nurse advised me to just watch her and give her benadryl every 4-6 hours. She was so sleepy, but I was terrified to put her down. So I just rocked her for a few minutes, then noticed that the redness seemed to reappear. I took her to the living room to show Jack, and that's when she threw up.

Jack was trying to reassure me and said, "it's ok, she spits up all the time." I knew this was different though, and sure enough, the real vomit started immediately after that. I really think it was the most awful thing I've ever experienced. She was gagging and choking and wouldn't stop. I was scared to death. Jack came to the rescue, holding himself together amazingly well while I was a complete mess, crying my eyes out in the middle of the kitchen.

He took her back to her bedroom to change her and clean her up; then I heard him yelling for paper towels. Her diaper was exploding. I was in complete panic mode. We cleaned her up as best we could; then Jack put her in the bathtub. Twenty seconds later, it was like nothing had ever happened (except for the huge mess in the kitchen and SB's bedroom). SB was splashing happily in the tub, the redness and swelling gone and no more projectiles flying out of either end.

I held her close the rest of the day, and she seems to be fine now. It was like she just needed to get those 2 tiny bites of egg that she actually swallowed out of her system; then she was fine.

Needless to say, we won't be feeding her any more eggs. I shudder to think how bad it would have been if she had actually eaten all 4 bites or if I had given her more. Thankfully I was pretty hungry this morning and therefore a little stingy when it came to sharing my breakfast.

Also, Jack was only home because of the weather (can't roof in the rain), and I have no idea what I would have done had I been home alone with her when it happened. I don't know how he managed to stay so calm, especially when he admitted to me after the fact how worried he was during this whole ordeal.

Anyway, we are all fine now. Just a crazy, scary day. I have to give thanks to God for taking care of my little girl today. It's good to know that He is in control, especially when we are so helpless. I believe He intervened on our behalf today. I'm so grateful.