Open Sesame?

So in Charlotte's 12 month recap, I wrote: Charlotte appears to be allergic to peas (peas!).  Twice now, she's broken out in a blotchy rash on her face and then furiously rubs her eyes until they're both bright red.  It's strange because she's had peas before with no adverse effects, but maybe allergies develop over time? No idea. The Kaiser Advice nurse dubs her a "sensitive" child.  Anyway, Benadryl is now on hand.

I wrote this thinking it was strange, but not overly disconcerting. I mean, how hard is it to avoid peas?
Not hard at all, I thought, until we realized that peas aren't the only thing Charlotte's allergic to.

Last night, we bought some take out from a local Mediterranean place. I got the chicken shwarma and Chris got the gyros.  Both platters came with a side of baba ghanoush, a roasted eggplant dip similar to hummus.  I was giving Charlotte pieces of lamb and chicken and she was happily eating them.  Then I thought I'd have her try some baba ghanoush, so I dipped some lamb in it and gave it to her.  Almost immediately after sucking on the piece of lamb, Charlotte started fussing.  We assumed she was just tired, so Chris gave her some milk in the sippy cup.  Suddenly, we saw the tell-tale sign of an allergic reaction with a blotchy rash appearing on her face. But it didn't stop there.  Her lips started swelling.  Chris grabbed Charlotte from the high chair, and I ran to get the phone.  I hesitated, wondering whether to call Kaiser or just dial 911, but giving the swelling, I opted to just call 911.

A team of firefighters arrived within five minutes and Chris met them outside.  We explained what happened, and one of the firefighters asked if we'd given her any Benadryl yet.  We hadn't, only because the swelling gave us pause.  By this point, Charlotte's lips had swollen to five times their normal size, and her bottom lip had started to blister like hives.  I gave her Benadryl, while one firefighter continued staring at Charlotte's lip.  He exclaimed that he thought it was still swelling, so to be safe, they should take her to Kaiser in Roseville via ambulance.  Chris went in the ambulance with Charlotte, and I gathered up important documents to follow behind in our car.  Just as I was about to leave the EMT comes running up and says that they think her tongue is swelling and aren't willing to risk the 20 minute drive to Roseville and wanted to take her to the nearest emergency room, about two miles from our house.

(While all of this was happening, Charlotte, despite swollen lips, is smiling and laughing at the firemen - she seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the rest of us were panicking.)

We arrived at the hospital. Actually, I got there first because the EMTs took a longer route.  She got seen right away, and within a few minutes they gave her an upped dosage of Benadryl combined with some steroids.  We stayed at the hospital for about 90 minutes, but were discharged with the instructions that we wake Charlotte up at 2AM to give her more Benadryl.

Needless to say, we're a bit shaken.  We're not entirely sure what ingredient in the baba ghanoush caused the allergy -- it was such a small amount of food.  It could be the eggplant, which she's had before with no prior reactions, or maybe it's the tahini (ground up sesame seeds) that's causing it. Or it could be any number of spices added.  Who knows? Chris is terrified now of giving her anything that we don't know exactly what's in it.  I'm suspecting that maybe it's the sesame seeds, as I've read that it's not uncommon for children who have allergies to legumes (peas, lentils, peanuts, etc.) to also have a sesame allergy.  If this is the case, it will be rough.  Sesame seeds are in a lot of breads (hamburger buns for one, breadcrumbs for another) and are used in a lot of cosmetics like lotions.

I spoke with Charlotte's pediatrician this morning as I had the Kaiser advice nurse send a message to him to request a referral to an allergist.  He wants to see her this afternoon and do some blood tests to check on the most common allergies before needing a specialist.  All I know is that I hope we can get this allergy isolated so that it doesn't happen again.  And I wonder where this allergy came from?  Neither Chris nor I have any known food allergies, and from what I've read, allergies are generally hereditary.  And it seems surprising for Charlotte to have such severe reactions.  In any case, now Benadryl really must be on hand at all times.