Mom reacting to allergy of fetus?

[Tiffanoodle]

Is this completely crazy? I'm 16w along right now and through my whole pregnancy I have had zero chance of keeping down peanut butter. Even after my normal m/s stopped, anytime I would eat a pb&j sandwich I would get sick at some point that day/evening.

The other day I was feeling relatively good, no nausea or anything. I ate a pb&j sandwich and about a half hour ater I felt really sick. I faught it off until a couple hours later when I got violently ill. I was talking to dh and mentioned that this baby must not like pb&j; I can't keep it down at all. He said that the baby's probably going to be allergic to peanuts. We've always talked about how even though ds has food mild allergies/intolerances (pears, red dye, berries, etc.) we're glad he doesn't have a serious allergy like peanuts.

Do you think it's possible that the baby will have an allergy to peanuts, or is it just a weird pregnancy thing?

[lach]

Anecdotally, I have definitely heard of this. My mother even had this issue with me.

However, I wouldn't necessarily freak out. I had the same experience with eggs with my daughter, and I completely freaked out. Even the smell of eggs was enough to make me feel sick, and if I ate them they barely made it to my stomach before coming back up. I was very worried because egg allergies and peanut allergies go hand in hand. She is 2.5 now and has no allergies.

It's possible your baby is reacting to the nuts, but it's also possible that your body is reacting to such a super-oily food, or something like that.

[MaerynPearl]

my son i could not even look at eggs or peanut butter without getting sick

he is not allergic to either.

its totally normal to have food aversions that have nothing to do with the baby and just the pregnancy.

[mclisa]

I wouldn't be worried about the baby having an allergy.

[mommysaurus]

Interesting....my last two pg's I couldn't drink milk or eat anything dairy (sour cream, ice cream, etc). Both babies had sensitivies to dairy and a couple of other foods.

[orca]

With DS I had MAJOR aversions to seafood. I love seafood. All of it. We live on the westcoast and I'd eat fish three times a day (if I could) but when I was pregnant with DS I couldn't even be in the room with fish. Our wonderful friends had us for a BBQ and she planned to grill up a gorgeous salmon. Well, I took one look at the raw filet and started barfing like crazy.

DS has an anaphylactic allergy to all fish and shellfish which was discovered at a seafood restaurant when he was about 18 months old. He'd had fish before, many times in fact, but that particular time he couldn't tolerate the fish and has been super allergic ever since. It makes no sense to me and is a major bummer because we love fish... but I have to say it is an "easier" allergy to cope with than nuts or eggs since fish is rarely concealed in kids snacks, lunches etc.

I'd pay attention to your gut feeling and keep the baby away from nut products for a few years. Apparently that helps, if the allergen is introduced later in childhood.

[chattyprincess]

I am not sure but I guess it could be possible. My dd has huge dairy intolerences/allergies (she is 3.5years) to the point I could not consume it while she was breastfeeding. However I was drinking close to 3 GALLONS of milk in the last trimester of my pregnancy...(on top of eating a ton of custard every day)

[Jelinifer]

If you were getting nauseous from the sight or smell of it... I wouldn't really worry, but it sounds like from your post that you can eat the stuff just fine and have the reaction a little while afterwards.... which does sound more like an allergy/intolerance more than pg stuff. That may be worth bringing up at your next appointment (or with your ds' allergy specialist if he sees one.) It could also be that you had a very minor allergy pre-pg that you couldn't tell otherwise that has been exacerbated by being pg.... that happened to me and I'm dealing with flares of hives and eczema like I've never had in my life.

[RedOakMomma]

I think peanut butter is a common trigger for pregnant women. I definitely had it with both pregnancies, and no one in our family has an allergy. If that were the case, mustard (NASTY in pregnancy!!!) would be deadly!

[marinak1977]

Not sure about peanut butter but my mother acquired a really bad egg allergy while being pregnant with my brother. He has a milder egg allergy, but hers is really strong. She thinks she got it from his sensitivity.
Not sure if this is relevant though. Her allergy would send her into anaphylactic shock, not just cause nausea

[Thankful'n'Blessed]

Originally Posted by Tiffanoodle

Do you think it's possible that the baby will have an allergy to peanuts, or is it just a weird pregnancy thing?

It's possible. There's really no way to tell now what the reason is. Could be just a weird pregnancy thing, could be more. I know for a fact that moms can feel worse after eating something the baby doesn't like, not necessarily even an allergy. My Mom said that when she was pregnant with me, she could tell every time she ate too much mayo, and especially tartar sauce, that she would feel sick. To this day, I HATE tartar sauce with passion and only tolerate mayo if it's disguised with lots of other seasonings etc. And no, I'm not allergic to either, just don't like 'em!

So yeah, it can happen!

[Tiffanoodle]

Very interesting insights. Thank you all.

I don't think it's an aversion thing. I LOVE peanut butter. It always sounds and tastes great, until a little while later when I get really sick. Sucks, 'cause this is a pregnancy where nothing sounds good at all, so to not be able to eat one of the like 3 things I can think of eating is rough. Oh well. We will definitely be on the lookout for a peanut allergy. We try to hold off on the "normal" allergens (pb, eggs, shellfish) until the recommended timeframes, since allergies to all kinds of fun things run in our family. I will be interested to see.

Oh, and today I ate a few chocolate covered peanuts and had the same reaction. This is one that I hope goes away after pregnancy. Although, I might have more success losing weight afterwards if I can't eat peanut butter.

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by orca

DS has an anaphylactic allergy to all fish and shellfish which was discovered at a seafood restaurant when he was about 18 months old. He'd had fish before, many times in fact, but that particular time he couldn't tolerate the fish and has been super allergic ever since. It makes no sense to me and is a major bummer because we love fish...

This actually makes perfect sense. You don't develop an allergy until AFTER you are exposed to the allergen. You simply can't be allergic to something until you've been exposed, because your body can't make the necessary antibodies (the ones that cause the allergy) until your body has an exposure to the protein. Your immune system won't just make antibodies to random proteins, in the hopes that one will "stick". That would be a huge waste of energy. It only makes antibodies to things you've already been exposed to. For some people, that happens within weeks of birth or possibly even during the last few weeks of gestation. For others, it happens after years and years of regular exposure. Either is normal. Well, for allergy sufferers anyway.

[MammaB21]

My daughter has egg and peanut allergies. I didn't notice any aversions to peanuts while pregnant, but I did get sick when I ate eggs. Mostly if they were sunny side up. I couldn't handle it at all. Which was weird because I craved them all.the.time. But every time I would give into that craving I would regret it.

I think it's possible, but I think it's more likely an intolerance that YOU are experiencing. Pregnancy changes our bodies a lot. I crave things I would never eat if not pregnant.

[organicpapayamama]

when I was pregnant with DS I became lactose intolerant which was a huge shock and change in my everyday life since I drank so much milk. The thought did cross my mind that my DS might have an allergy to it. Well DS does NOT have an allergy. That kid drinks so much milk I kinda wish he did lol.