He threw up again today

He threw up again today. I'd given him a new calcium/magnesium chewable vitamin, and about two minutes after he chewed it up, he started heaving. Only spit came out for those first couple of heaves, and then he seemed to settle down. And then, about 20 minutes later, he started heaving again, and left three big mucousy puddles on the hardwood floor. At least it wasn't on the carpet.

His name is Andrew, he's three years old, and he's allergic to a lot of things. Milk and all other dairy. Peanuts. Tree nuts (but possibly not almonds). Eggs. Cats. Mold. Dustmites.

I'd read the ingredients on this bottle of vitamins very carefully, and there was no declared dairy in the ingredients. But there was a comment that it didn't contain eggs or soy, but didn't say anything about not containing dairy/milk. So for that omission, I've returned the bottle of vitamins to the store, and purchased another one that says that it doesn't contain dairy. When I left the house this afternoon, he was finally taking his afternoon nap next to his father. And his breath was wheezy and hoarse-sounding.

Life with an allergic child is always frightening. It's all about listening to your child sleep, to make sure he's still breathing. It's about reading every label, and hoping that the manufacturer hasn't lied about something. It's about having nightmares about letting him out in public where peanut-butter-eating children lurk in every corner, waiting to smear him with enough peanut butter to kill him.

Yeah, I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today. It always happens after an allergic incident. :-(