Kiddipedia
What better way to start, than from the beginning?! See my business is built from a place of personal need. And I know there are thousands of parents out there that need the same stuff.
Food allergies are everywhere. Every time I chat with someone new about my story, they too have their own story. It might be personally, or through friends and family, but they always know a child with allergies.
Why is this? Well, the easy answer is because 1 in 10 Aussie kids under the age of 12 months is allergic to something! That is quite a number I think.
At age 24, I suffered my first life-threatening allergic reaction. Before that there were signs some food didn’t agree with me, but nothing significant at the time. Then BOOM! I went into anaphylactic shock in my friend’s dining room.
Some years later, I gave birth to my second child, a gorgeous little girl, a little sister for my not yet 2 year old. It was a difficult delivery and recovery, so my newborn being super unsettled was just passed off as being normal.
Over the first months of her life though, she proved to be anything but normal, in fact, she was pretty bloody sick. She screamed and vomited constantly, and when we added solids the situation simply got worse.
After months of fighting doctors for answers, she was diagnosed with a rare food allergy called Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. FPIES was a poorly understood type of allergy, different to anaphylaxis, but scary all the same.
For the last 5.5 years we have been on our allergy journey, often taking a few steps forward, only to then take all those steps plus some back again. It has been hard, frightening, anxiety-inducing, negotiating the reactions and food trials and constant illness.
But there has never been a time to quit, never a time to wallow for more than mere moments. Why? Because whenever I do, this cute little face, with the most beautiful smile appears, reminding me that she is here, she is loving life and she is going to conquer the world with her determination to push through.
Being on this journey has been rocky, and I knew as I travelled to it that so many others were running the same race. Bringing all those people together and providing quality information and support is the mission of Aussie Allergy Mum.
You might also like to read:
What allergy & anaphylaxis parents want you to know
