I Have Eaten PB & J to Mark Every Major Life Event
A childhood staple has turned into a family tradition
Being pregnant with Grace, now 2, was relatively easy — even with the technical issues that go along with IVF. But during pregnancy and in those first few months after she was born, I had an outsized fear she’d be allergic to peanuts. Mind you, there weren’t nut allergies in our family; and this wasn’t about my fear of EpiPens and trips to the ER, or having to police what she would eat at school, on airplanes, in restaurants, and other people’s houses. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I know! It sounds absolutely crazy and completely disproportionate to rational ‘I’m having a baby!’ thoughts, so from the beginning, I devoured studies on peanut allergies and pregnancy. My doctor suggested eating nuts regularly while pregnant and when breastfeeding so that they would pass to her in my womb and my milk. Dutifully, I did both. But, of course, there were no guarantees.
After Grace was born, I was quick to ask her pediatrician about peanut allergies the second he brought up the idea of starting purees. By six months, I was rubbing peanut butter on her gums and mixing peanut powder into her oatmeal. The day after her first birthday, I gave her tiny pieces of a peanut butter and…
