Rowan's updated blood test results

We had Rowan's blood re-tested about a month ago to see if anything had changed with her food allergies. We just got the results and they were very disappointing.

The range for moderate is 0.7 - 3.5. High is anything over 4.0.
Last year, she was at an 85 for eggs and milk...extremely high. Peanut was around 9.34. Wheat was 5.3, Soy was 4.6. Chicken and turkey weren't in the blood test, but the skin test showed she was allergic.

This year, her numbers actually went up - which surprised me, because she was already so high. Her current numbers are below. Anything over 4.0 is high.

Milk: above 100
Egg: above 100
Peanut: 28.3
Turkey: 16.3
Wheat: 10.3
Chicken: 4.6
Pork: 3.0

I was hoping that the turkey, chicken and wheat numbers would drop and we could try reintroducing these foods. She was already eating a little bit of wheat every day, so I need to ask the doctor about that one. For now we'll try to avoid it. Citrus still makes her wheeze, so we'll avoid that too.

The numbers of the top 3 or 4 on the list are an indication that she will not outgrow them. I feel like it would be a miracle if she could just outgrow a few of them.

We'll just keep avoiding all the things we've been avoiding, and be super careful about touching her after handling any of these foods. Rylie's last test was above 100 for peanuts, and 3.0 for milk and shellfish, so nothing new there. We never go anywhere without our epi-pens!

Possible Changes to US Food Labels

Has anyone seen the articles regarding possible changes to U.S. food labels? Among the suggested changes would be to have minor ingredients and allergens listed separately, with allergens in red. I would love to see these changes happen - it can be easy to miss hidden allergens in long ingredient lists and this would help tremendously. I also work in packaging design, so this could effect some of the processes we have in place.

Here is an article from the Well Blog on the subject: A Makeover for Food Labels. Ms. Pope also links to other sources with additional information and insight on the topic.

Crane Animal Humidifiers

The cold weather has arrived and the air is getting dry - a great time to buy a cool-mist humidifier for your kids rooms. We found these really cute animal humidifiers at Target for $34.99, and bought the frog and the penguin. There are so many more animals on Target.com...I wish I would have waited! Ours are really quiet and will hopefully help when our girls get coughs and colds this winter. Both of our girls have also been dealing with asthma.

I would not recommend the filter cartridge. One of ours broke apart and emptied into the water the very first night.