random hives

Right now, I just want to put Andrew into a plastic bubble and serve him nothing but food that's been certified to be safe for him.

I had to work late today, and when I got home, Tony told me that Andrew was covered in hives and calamine lotion, and had been dosed with Benadryl.

What happened?

We're not sure ourselves. He hasn't eaten anything out of the ordinary today. He got picked up by Granny this morning, and they went and played at the beach. It was cold today, so he was in his galoshes and jacket, and the only exposed skin he had was his face and hands.

But after she washed his hands of all the beach sand and seaweed, she saw that he had what looked like bugbites popping up on his arms. She then took him to his favourite fish&chips place (where the batter only contains water, flour and vinegar, and is SO tasty!) and he had lunch there.

After lunch, the "bug bites" had gotten bigger and itchier, so she called Tony to find out what to do. He came home early and took Andrew to the clinic, who agreed that it was definitely hives. By this time, they were all over Andrew's chest, back, arms and legs.

But he didn't have any breathing difficulties, so they just said to give him Benadryl and cover him in calamine lotion for the itching.

When I got home, I got all of this news. He looked okay, and just a little bit bumpy when I checked his skin. But by around 8:00, he was itchy all over again, and the hives were getting big again.

So we popped him into an oatmeal bath, and dosed him with more Benadryl, and tucked him into bed. I've just checked on him, and it looks like the hives are going down again. Thank goodness he's being so cooperative about everything. He even let Tony trim his fingernails down so that he won't scratch himself bloody in his sleep.

Every cough he makes, and every weird sound I hear from his room, is setting off my fight-or-flight instinct. I'm totally on edge right now, and just trying to calm down.

I hate allergies. I hate that he has them. I hate that we don't know what caused this round of hives. (Our best guess is that maybe someone was shelling peanuts on the beach, and he played in some residue?)

I was riding so high on the fact that his dairy count seems to have decreased from last year. And now I've been brought crashing back to earth with this case of mystery hives.