Our cute toddler tot has had recurrent sinus infections since infancy, so we finally had her tested by a pediatric allergist yesterday morning. After sticking our sweetpea 16 times with various potential allergens, we received a diagnosis. Abby is allergic to dust mites! Aaah! In the past few years, I have become a fairly decent housekeeper, but dust always seems to get the best of me. Of course, that would seem to be the one thing that matters most for my kid's health. Great, huh?
The good news is she is not allergic to any of our pets (Bryan says that is bad news), but the frustrating part is that it is not easy to get rid of dust mites! Here's what we have to do.
-Abby will now have to take allergy meds twice a day along with a nasal spray.
-She is on antibiotics for the next 20 days to clear up the current sinus infection that has been lingering for a while (I'm just relieved that she has been whiny lately for a reason. I'm not a failure as a mom!).
-No more carpet- it needs to be replaced with laminate, wood, vinyl, or tile.
-No more upholstered furniture- it needs to be replaced with leather, vinyl, or wood.
-Frequent air filter changes
-Frequent sheet changes
-Plastic covered pillows and mattresses for Abby's room
-Limit the number of stuffed animals (only as many as you can wash every week in hot water)
-No more clutter or fabric decorations
-No more running the fan at night in Abby's room
-We have to get a dehumidifier to run all of the time where Abby sleeps since dust mites thrive in high humidity (explains why the humidifier was making her symptoms worse!)
-We need to keep our air below 70 (our summer electric bill won't be fun)
-I will have to vacuum frequently with a vacuum with a HEPA filter (guess it's good that we have a used vacuum salesman in our neighborhood).
Fun, Fun, Fun. I must say... all of these changes (some of which we will have to make slowly as we get the funds for them) are worth it if Abby gets well and stays well.
On a bright note, I can already see how God is providing for some of these needs. A few weeks ago, a friend's dad who owns a flooring business contacted us and wanted to barter flooring labor for a website package. One of the families that are church planting with us found boxes of laminate flooring that they had left over from doing their own house about 5 years ago. What they gave us will get us started in changing out our flooring (starting with Abby's room).
God's sovereignty and provision are pretty humbling.
Maybe I can find a furniture store that needs a website now. ;)
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