Holy Bananas!

Sunday morning, I decided it was time to start Cole on fruit. So far, he's done very well with vegetables. He's had pumpkin, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, acorn squash, green beans, and sweet peas. For his first fruit (besides pumpkin - which I don't really count as a real fruit), I decided to go with banana. Banana is typically considered a mild fruit that's easy to digest. Here's a great description of banana from one of my favorite baby food sites (www.wholesomebabyfood.com):

Bananas are also known as one of nature's own antacids. They are known to help protect against stomach ulcers and ulcer damage. The reason for this seldom known and almost odd fact is that bananas contain "mucilaginous bulking substances". They help the intestines with producing a mucousy lining and are very very easy to digest.

Awesome! I thought that maybe bananas could even help Cole with his acid reflux. So, we went for it. I mashed up an organic banana and went to town. The first sign of trouble came when it was clear that Cole didn't really care for the bananas - I mean, really - who doesn't like bananas? I gave up after getting maybe 10 little baby spoonfuls of bananas in him.

After breakfast, I headed upstairs to drop Cole's crib. He's recently learned how to crawl and how to sit up from a laying position, so I figured it was time to drop his mattress so he didn't take a header. I got as far as taking the mattress out of the crib, when I turned around to see Cole's head and neck covered in hives and his skin a fiery red. It was clear he was very itchy, too. I quickly took him downstairs to show Tom. We decided to go ahead and give him some Benadryl and keep an eye on him.

He seemed to get a little better. After the Benadryl, he stopped itching, but the hives and red skin were still present. He was able to take a little nap, so how bad could it be? After his nap, I was on the phone with Grandma Bergeman when I noticed he was almost falling asleep (passing out) in my arms. I was able to keep him from losing consciousness (although I didn't realize that was the case at the time) but as he became a little more alert, he immediately started projectile vomiting. All the bananas - every last bit of them - made a return appearance. After the vomiting, he lost all his color; he was grey. At that point, I called the 24-hour nurse line. The nurse who answered suggested I take him straight to the ER.

At the ER, I was told that Cole was experiencing anaphylaxis also known as a severe allergic reaction to bananas. He was given an epinephrine shot, steroid shot, and another dose of Benadryl. Within minutes, he was 100% better!

Needless to say, this experience was a scary one! Cole's headed back to the allergist for a follow-up this week. I'm hoping to learn more about this particular allergy and get some advice on how to proceed with introducing Cole to other kinds of fruit. In the meantime, I'm going to follow this post with a PSA on anaphylaxis. Stay tuned.