The verdict is in....

We took Emma to the Allergist today. After testing her for twenty different allergens the results came back that Emma is severely allergic to peanuts and dogs! The peanut thing we fully expected. The dog thing has us shocked but it all makes sense now. Remember here when I talked about how she broke out in a rash for the second time but less severe? I tried to connect the bread between the two incidents when in fact I glossed over the fact that our friend had brought his dog with him who Emma had been playing with in our house. So that time it had nothing to do with food, the rash was due to the dog! I'm so sad about this. Emma absolutely loves dogs more than anything in the world! And selfishly I had a moment of sadness when I realized that my own childhood wish for a dog will never happen. I had dreams of when Emma and Kate got a little older and we delighted them by getting a family dog. The peanut allergy brings me more concern due to the severity of the reaction. Peanuts are in so many products and while I feel confident in being able to read labels when she's at home, it's when she's elsewhere that I worry. I can easily see a friend giving her a cookie or fruit snack that was manufactured in the same plant as a peanut product and innocently causing a reaction. Seeing the good in it all is that we now have a final answer of what caused all this craziness and we can adapt accordingly.