Canker Sores yuck and ouch!

Lately I've been getting a lot of canker sores and I hardly ever get them. I think I can count on one hand the instances I've gotten one throughout my life. But in the few weeks I've gotten three!!! Ewww! So the student in me decided to do a little research to find out what the deal was. Let me just say I heart wikipedia! It is such an amazing tool! I also love medical websites hehe. From one I found that "Canker sores can be triggered by emotional stress, dietary deficiencies (especially iron, folic acid, or vitamin B-12), menstrual periods, hormonal changes, food allergies, and similar situations." -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001993 What triggered my interest was the dietary deficiencies and emotional stress, since the others really didn't apply to my case because I rarely got them before. I searched Vitamin B12 and folic acid, since those were the ones that I was the most familiar with. I found the following on wikipedia: "Vitamin B12 is found in foods that come from animals, including fish and shellfish, meat (especially liver), poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.[25] Eggs are often mentioned as a good B12 source, but they also contain a factor that blocks absorption.[29]" -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12 "Certain foods are very high in folate: Leafy vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, turnip greens Legumes such as dried or fresh beans, peas and lentils Egg yolks.[13] Baker's yeast Fortified grain products (pasta, cereal, bread); some breakfast cereals (ready-to-eat and others) are fortified with 25% to 100% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for folic acid Sunflower seeds Liver and liver products also contain high amounts of folate Kidney[13]" -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folic_acid So now thanks to my research and can better feed myself the things that I need and hopefully not get canker sores anymore lol. Sorry for this long educational post, but I have come to appreciate the internet as an awesome tool to further your education, even if you aren't in school :) Woohoo for education!

New Diet

Many of you may or may not know that about 2 weeks ago Lincoln had a visit with the allergist. I was hoping something would be found out to help me out with his poor sweet cheeks and constant rash break outs. The doctor was a little worried that the test results wouldn't really show up on the skin of his back, since it was already red and a little inflammed. But nonetheless the nurse came in and had ten small needles; 8 were common food allergies (corn, egg, fish, milk, oat, peanut, soybean and wheat), the other two were a negative and positive control to make sure the test worked properly. She wiped down Lincoln's back with alcohol and poor sweet boy cried because it stung his irritated skin. Then she poked his back with each of the tiny needles. She said that she would be back in 15 min and can tell by then if any spots had a reaction. I saw within 5-10 min that 4 of the ten spots had a protruding bump appear. When the nurse came back she said that the tenth one was supposed to have a reaction for positive control. In my head I was like "Wow, not only is he allergic to one thing, but he's allergice to 3!" I waited for her to measure and note everything and then she gave me a printed copy of the test results. A little while later the doctor came back in and went over the results with me. He said the top food allergen that people usually have is eggs and the second was milk/dairy. Lincoln has both! And to add on to that haha he was allergic to peanuts, so the doctor told me to cut out all nuts from my diet. It was so funny when the doctor saw my reaction because his quick response was "I know this is a lot to cut out, but it would really help in finding out if these are the only things that Lincoln is allergic to." I full-heartedly agree! You know I admire ALL mothers for the wonderful things that they do for their children. Heavenly Father has blessed us with such sweet, kind, loving and nurturing spirits that we would do anything for the sweet children he has blessed us with. These past couple of weeks had been an adjustment, but they have made me realize how blessed I am :)