Dee: (The) Mama Blog

Seeing as Matthew's allergies are pretty severe... he was prescribed an epi-pen and an inhaler, because apparently if your child has food allergies, they are prone to eczema, (which he did have when he was a baby) and asthma. I'm familiar with Epi-pen's already.. I worked in a school where there were a lot of children with severe peanut allergies, so I had to be trained to use one. They have epi-pen's for children, "Junior" epi-pen's and epi-pen's for adults. An Epi-pen is an Epinephrine pen-- it's in a shape of a pen that you inject into your thigh to give you a dose of Adrenaline in case you have gone into anaphylactic shock; and this is when you have ingested something that you are allergic to.. and you have responded quite badly, either your airways have closed or your tongue has swollen up so much where you can't breathe.. so that shot of Epinephrine or adrenaline will be enough to get you to a hospital to be treated-- it is not a cure, it...

If you see a child throw something out of anger... what comes into your mind? When you see a child screaming bloody murder when seeing an ice cream truck and they were told no.. what do you think? When you pass a child shouting no at their parents with an unhappy first..what are your thoughts? My now 5 year old would kick, spit, bite, hit... amongst others.  When he was younger, he wasn't talking. He didn't start saying audible words until he was nearly 3 and a half. So because of his inability to communicate verbally.. he would express physically. But I can only wonder what people were internally labelling my child... and I know I shouldn't care but you can't help but run it by your mind sometimes. As time went by.. his speech began to improve.. and he started to be able to say how he feels slowly but surely.. so the physical aspect of expressing also went down. So instead of kicking and spitting, he will shout 'No, no like it!' or 'No, Don't want it!...

I've learned a lot about autism since Jeremiah started exhibiting characteristics of it since he was 2. The first with having a speech delay. He's currently on the waiting list to be assessed. So much so.. I booked a GP session to discuss it with one of the doctors. When the doctor encountered Jeremiah... they said he's not autistic.. he's giving me eye contact and he's smiling at me. But upon deeper research, a child can have autism and make eye contact and smile. Autism doesn't only have one way, and even it can be hidden, you wouldn't see it the way you think. But what is funny is that no educational professionals have actually taken me to the side and asked me 'Have you checked for autism? or 'Do you think your child is autistic' My fear is though... I don't want to overlook anything, so what was even suggested by Jeremiah's speech and language therapist at the time was to just 'go through the process' get everything checked.....

So following on from last week.... Now discovering that my son has this bucket list of food allergies: Milk, egg, coconut, soya, oat, legumes... (more recently salmon, cod, and sesame) what in the world will my son eat? Well. I figured it out. lol. It's a very limited menu.. and I do have to cook a lot-- but literally.. pasta/spaghetti/noodles (rice noodles) rice with different sorts of stews and soups with vegetables and different meats and then find small snacks to top it off. Chips.. (sweet potato chips.. he doesn't like them though lol) Because of his limited diet, he's also had to go on supplements.. so he's on a calcium supplement seeing as he does not get any calcium (due to the milk allergy) and an iron supplement (Where he would get iron from... he can get it from the meat, but just so he meets his daily intake) Surprisingly enough he hasn't gotten bored with the same foods... or it's because he knows that's all he can eat for now. I do tell him tha...

What unpopular opinions have you heard that you agree or disagree with? Here are some that I've seen over social media... and I do agree with them. Unlimited screen time allowed once homework/housework is done. Agreed! I do this. Because I've noticed that the kids are a lot calmer-- the kids aren't on youtube, they are playing games and doing educational games too. But I make sure they do their homework, or they do their reading etc.. and once it's all done they can play. No sleepovers I haven't reached this stage yet.. but I wouldn't. Unless I can come too. lol! Using the correct words for body parts I'm struggling with this for some reason. lol. I still call it a "pee pee" for Penis. I guess I still feel like they're too young to being say such grown up words? But yet, that is the actual name? I'm going to work on it. Choices. 'You can give your auntie/uncle/relative a hug if you want to' I think this is more of a cultural thing.....

I am so thankful for the progress that Jeremiah has gone through in relation to regulating and addressing his emotions. He has come a long way... when he was younger he would throw things.. bite, scream, bang his head, slap himself, pinch, spit, kick.. throw himself on the floor... Yeah... it was a lot. Out of that list, he still slaps himself and screams.. but he screams words now and not inaudible words/sounds.  He has really struggled with his emotions; and I have realized he is an emotional child.. he certainly knows how to show when he's upset or angry, but doesn't know how to address it or regulate it by himself. With a lot of modelling, patience, meltdowns.... and all of it in between we have reached a good place. One morning I told Jeremiah that he has to eat his breakfast, then he can play on his tablet before we leave for school. He didn't want to eat breakfast.. he wanted to go on the tablet. I kept on repeating what I said... and he got upset. Started shouting ...

When you have a baby-- it does not cross your mind that your child may obtain food allergies. My first child has absolutely NO allergies. Zero. Zilch. Nada! So... it was really not in my mind. I always wanted to exclusively breastfeed... but it didn't happen the first time and I also supplemented with formula. So I did the same with my second. I actually start supplementing at 2 months. Everytime I would give my child the formula, he would immediately vomit and get a horrible rash over his face. I would only supplement at night.. but each time I would give it to him he would vomit. So that started to become concerning and took him to the GP. The immediately pointed it out as a milk allergy and I should get him tested. He had a cows milk allergy. What in the world do I do now? I don't have any experience in this-- my first song guzzled down formula like water! And in this my son was faltering in weight so I had to find something that would stay down... so I even started food pur...