Blood Test

I thought I'd get on here and give the latest on Clara's allergy situation.

I took her to the doctor last week. Her pediatrician took some of her history and Chris' allergy history and sent us home with a prescription for an epipen and paperwork to get bloodwork done to test for allergies. I think she decided on bloodwork instead of the skin scratch test because of Clara's ezcema.

Well, I finally got around to getting it done this morning. I wasn't looking forward to having her blood drawn because she's never had it done and I wasn't sure if she would go completely nuts or not. We explained to her last night exactly what was going to happen and got out her doctor kit to practice. We told her it would hurt just a little, but that she needed to be brave and very still. We promised her a new toy if she was brave. (I still remember getting a Charmkins carrying case when I was brave while getting stitches in my eyebrow when I was in kindergarten.)

When I made the appointment, I didn't know that I would have all of Jessica's kids today. They had off today for a teacher workday. I had Chris meet me at the place and take her in, while I stayed in the car with the kids and turned on a movie for them. Worked great!

I cannot tell you how proud I am of my little girl. Chris said she did awesome. She was great until they took her into the little room and then she said "I need Mommy. Let's go get Mommy." Awwww, it makes a Mommy feel good to hear that. Chris said she was obviously agitated, but wasn't doing too bad. She put her arm up and let them tie the strap around her arm. When the needle was millimeters away from her arm, she said "I need to go.", so Chris was ready to pin her down tight, but never had to. She cried a little when it went in, but held still and actually watched the whole time. She had 3 vials drawn. Poor thing. She immediately stopped crying when the needle came out.

So, the kids and I headed to Toys R Us afterwards and Clara picked out a My Little Pony as her reward for being so good and brave. She was zapped though. I had to carry her through the store half the time. I had her take a nap today because I figured she needed it after her morning ordeal.

We're testing for a few things, including peanuts, walnuts, cashews, bananas, pineapple, shellfish and several environmental allergens. She decided to include some of the foods that have caused redness and bumps on her face before, as well as some of Chris' allergies. I'll be sure and update whenever we get the results.