allergic reaction

Quinn had another allergic reaction yesterday. I don't think I ever posted about the first one though.

It was back in early December and I had taken the day off of work to get my Christmas shopping done. Around 3 in the afternoon I received a call from the daycare saying Quinn had thrown up and was completely broken out in hives. She told me not to panic but that I needed to come get him right away and take him to the doctor. Of course I did panic because I was in Greenville, 45 minutes away! The hubs was on a plane at the time and the one friend who was in Spartanburg (and authorized to sign him out) wasn't answering his phone.

I'm pretty sure I cried the entire drive there. When I got to the daycare Quinn was happy and the hives were nearly gone. Even though the allergic reaction never restricted his breathing, I'm sure me obsessively hugging and kissing him did ha! We concluded that he's allergic to raisins and have made sure to stay away from them. I haven't tried grapes yet though.

Yesterday I received another call from the daycare. I had just pulled into the parking lot on my way back from lunch so I made a loop around and headed home to get the benadryl. This time there was no throwing up and there were no hives. Instead, my poor guy was bright red with a swollen puffy face. His eyes were almost swollen shut and he was tugging at his ears because of the itch. He looked so sad and pitiful as I gave him the medicine.

At first, the daycare thought he might have a peanut allergy because he was given a pb&j for lunch, but we've given him some peanut butter crackers at home without a reaction. The next thought was that it might be a laundry detergent allergy. He was just moved from nap time in a crib to nap time on a mat. The mats for the toddlers are washed in a different detergent than the crib sheets for the babies. Based on his reaction and how different it was from the first time, my gut says it was the laundry detergent.

Either way this guessing game is terrifying. Neither I nor the hubs have any allergies that cause severe reactions (just seasonal stuff like pollen). I feel so helpless when something like this happens. All I want to do is protect my baby, but I can't because I have no idea what might set him off.

Luckily the benadryl did the trick. I called the daycare a couple of hours later and they said he was almost 100% again. When I picked him up his eye lids were still a bit puffy but by bedtime it was all completely gone. I pray that we won't encounter any more scares and that he is able to grow out of his current allergies.

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