After All That Drama and Trauma...

Madeline doesn't have any allergies. But it was a rough road to find that out.

I purposely never said we were going to the doctor. I just told her we had an appointment. We dropped Charlotte at Grandma Mimi's (Marilyn's) and as we were pulling out, Madeline started sobbing saying "my Charlotte, my Charlotte." At that point I knew it was going to be a really rough morning.

We got to the "appointment" and walked in, and Madeline immediately looked up at me and said "Momma. I don't need to go to the doctor. Let's go." Ugh.

We couldn't get her to stand on the scale or against the wall for a height measurement, but she did let the nurse check her ears and her chest. She sat cuddled on my lap with her arms and legs around me while we went through the medical history interview with the doctor. Then the nurse came back and the really awful stuff began.

I took off her shirt, and the nurse was able to get the grid drawn on her back. After the first prick, she started screaming like I've never heard her scream before, and it didn't stop for about 15 minutes. Once they did the 12 pricks, I had to restrain her against me for 10 minutes because if she scratched at the stuff or rubbed against anything, they'd have to do the test again because it could intermix the different things they were testing for.

She screamed. And screamed. And kicked. And screamed. She wailed "why did you do this to me?" and "I want to put my shirt on and leave" and I just restrained her the best I could, stifling down tears. I knew that if she saw me cry, it'd be even worse.

Eventually the doctor came back and nothing really registered. She had a mild reaction to dogs and cats but nothing of any significance. The doctor said that means she probably has more of a topical sensitivity to things and that we just need to be good about wiping her hands and face promptly after eating acidic foods.

After that, I told her we could get anything she wanted and do anything she wanted. We'd talked about going shopping for boots, and she said "I want red boots and shake milk (milkshake)." By the time we were pulling out of the parking lot, she was fine.

She got her shake milk and more. We couldn't find boots, but she got a fun new toy and some sparkly lip gloss.

I'm so proud of her for taking it all so well and then being totally ok and happy. We spent the whole day together - just us - and she was so amazingly good and happy. It just reminded me once again how exceptionally blessed we are.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice and encouragement. I still know it was the right thing to do because both Brian and I have food allergies. I just worried that one day it wouldn't only be hives.

Tell me this isn't the face of someone really enjoying their treat? Before anyone flips out - it's a chocolate chocolate creme. No coffee in it :-)

Nope momma. You can't have any. This is all mine.