My second child, now 3 years old, flared with eczema before she was 3 months, thus introducing us to the confusing world of allergies. She had a very bad case of eczema, but by her first birthday RAST helped us identify her unusual food allergies and she cleared up soon after. Since then we've been v-e-r-y slowly adding foods to her diet, pretty much all successfully, and I think she may actually only be allergic to 2 or 3 things (dairy & wheat) rather than the several we are still avoiding. By the way, I find it a curious coincidence that I ate dairy and wheat at just about every meal before dd#2 came along to help me learn a healthier way to eat.
My question is not about her though! (Although I would like to discuss her situation too.) Five weeks ago I gave birth to my third child and though I've been thinking about it since even before he was concieved, I am having trouble deciding what to do this time around, with regard to preventing allergies and/or avoiding major reactions. I began taking probiotics midway through this pregnancy. I hope they're working to heal my gut, if that was indeed the problem. How can I tell? My digestion improved after avoiding foods for dd#2, who was reacting to foods through breastmilk, but I haven't noticed anything different in me with any of the three jars of probiotics I have been taking. I continue eating a healthy primarily whole foods (little packaged food) diet, still avoiding peanuts, severely limiting dairy and wheat (and don't eat much fish, soy, or nuts anyway). However, I loved being able to eat eggs again and did so about every other day. What else could I be doing?
I'm watching my baby's skin closely, and he does already seem to be sensitive, but my midwife tells me it's just normal newborn sensitivity, to fabric and such. His face and sometimes upper back and chest gets little bumps that mostly look just like the baby acne my first non-food allergic child had briefly at this age, but sometimes his cheek has a little patch that sort of remind me of dd#2's eczema. His skin changes rapidly. I take zillions of photographs, so I have even looked at photos of all three of my children as newborns to compare. Although we took three months to realize dd#2 had eczema, after I learned what it was I was able to see it in her photos as early as one month. So my son has reached that age.
A few days ago I decided to try strictly avoiding all the top allergens for at least a week and see what his skin does. But a thought struck me yesterday. If we are born with allergic potential, not specific allergies, and if my son is going to be allergic to something, then going back on a severe elimination diet could mean he becomes allergic to one of his sister's staples like rice or sunbutter! Perhaps it is better to eat freely but in moderation and wide variety. For instance, during pregnancy I aimed to eat wheat and dairy no more than once per day.
Thank you for taking time to read this lengthy post. I'm eager to read about what you did for your subsequent children who came after an allergic one, and any advice you have.
p.s. Just some genetic background: I have no identified allergies, neither through testing nor through obvious reactions (However, I do believe my gut is healthier since being on dd#2's safe diet and even after she weaned and I went back to eating her allergens, just much less often.) My husband's only allergy is grass (same as his father). My side of the family only has mild seasonal allergies, and my 83yo grandma's lifelong asthma. My dd#1 who never had a touch of eczema or food reactions has, in the past year or so, begun to react to fur with itchy welts in the elbow. I'm guessing my third chiild must have some genetic allergic potential too. What I want to do is keep it from being huge, if I can't prevent it entirely.
My question is not about her though! (Although I would like to discuss her situation too.) Five weeks ago I gave birth to my third child and though I've been thinking about it since even before he was concieved, I am having trouble deciding what to do this time around, with regard to preventing allergies and/or avoiding major reactions. I began taking probiotics midway through this pregnancy. I hope they're working to heal my gut, if that was indeed the problem. How can I tell? My digestion improved after avoiding foods for dd#2, who was reacting to foods through breastmilk, but I haven't noticed anything different in me with any of the three jars of probiotics I have been taking. I continue eating a healthy primarily whole foods (little packaged food) diet, still avoiding peanuts, severely limiting dairy and wheat (and don't eat much fish, soy, or nuts anyway). However, I loved being able to eat eggs again and did so about every other day. What else could I be doing?
I'm watching my baby's skin closely, and he does already seem to be sensitive, but my midwife tells me it's just normal newborn sensitivity, to fabric and such. His face and sometimes upper back and chest gets little bumps that mostly look just like the baby acne my first non-food allergic child had briefly at this age, but sometimes his cheek has a little patch that sort of remind me of dd#2's eczema. His skin changes rapidly. I take zillions of photographs, so I have even looked at photos of all three of my children as newborns to compare. Although we took three months to realize dd#2 had eczema, after I learned what it was I was able to see it in her photos as early as one month. So my son has reached that age.
A few days ago I decided to try strictly avoiding all the top allergens for at least a week and see what his skin does. But a thought struck me yesterday. If we are born with allergic potential, not specific allergies, and if my son is going to be allergic to something, then going back on a severe elimination diet could mean he becomes allergic to one of his sister's staples like rice or sunbutter! Perhaps it is better to eat freely but in moderation and wide variety. For instance, during pregnancy I aimed to eat wheat and dairy no more than once per day.
Thank you for taking time to read this lengthy post. I'm eager to read about what you did for your subsequent children who came after an allergic one, and any advice you have.
p.s. Just some genetic background: I have no identified allergies, neither through testing nor through obvious reactions (However, I do believe my gut is healthier since being on dd#2's safe diet and even after she weaned and I went back to eating her allergens, just much less often.) My husband's only allergy is grass (same as his father). My side of the family only has mild seasonal allergies, and my 83yo grandma's lifelong asthma. My dd#1 who never had a touch of eczema or food reactions has, in the past year or so, begun to react to fur with itchy welts in the elbow. I'm guessing my third chiild must have some genetic allergic potential too. What I want to do is keep it from being huge, if I can't prevent it entirely.
My oldest was dairy/soy/ egg intolerant, Evan was intolerant to about everything and ended up on rx formula, I'm dairy/soy free now and Ilana is already reacting to something (thinking it was the ham I had over the weekend) so I've hit the allergy jackpot for everyone. 
). i took probiotics, drank mostly raspberry leaf tea for minerals (as well as nori, prenatals). but it was hard, because i have absolutely no appetite when pregnant. i couldn't stand to cook and i had to remind/force myself to eat; my hunger cues were fatigue and bitchiness, with strong aversions combined with occasional phases of strong cravings. i would get nauseated very easily until 2 weeks postpartum, gained <20# both pregnancies (not that i'm a lightweight).
20/20 hindsight.
