TenOnTues: allergies, and recalls, and the end of an era.

1. Tonight is the first night in about a week that my little love has gone more than 6 hours without Benadryl.
2 weeks ago [Aug30], Cam broke out in a patch of hives on her neck and chest that we thought might have been a reaction to what we ate for lunch at Ikea that day (the lingonberry sauce with their meatballs). A dose of Benadryl cleared them up, but then the hives returned that night. Another dose of Benadryl, and she went to bed. A few days later, the hives returned in a bit of a larger patch. One dose of Benadryl. The next day (in Houston), hives on her arm. One dose of Benadryl. Saturday, hives on her chest. Benadryl. Two days later, on Monday, hives on both arms and her chest/belly. Benadryl. Tuesday night, while eating dinner, Cam very suddenly broke out in full body hives. I mean, zero to a million hives from head-to-toe in a matter of minutes. It was terrifying. And she was miserable. This was the first bout that seemed to really bother her. The only way to keep her from scratching herself silly was to keep her in the tub. She took about an hour and a half long bath that night just to keep her from scratching. Benadryl didn't totally clear it up, but it brought her enough relief to go to sleep. Poor thing.
The following day was her 12 month well check, so of course, we talked to the doctor about it. We were told that allergy tests in kids Cam's age are largely inaccurate and can often give false positives. He said that allergic reactions can linger for up to 2 weeks sometimes, so we agreed to just let this wave pass and as long as any future reactions were just hives, we'd hold off on testing until 2 and just continue to use caution in what she's exposed to.
We went home, Cam was doing pretty well, and we had a normal evening. Dinner, bath, bed.. no problems. But about 2 hours after she went down, she woke up screaming. Usually if she wakes in the middle of the night, I can just go in and let her cuddle my arm and she goes right back to sleep. This time though, she was clawing at me and herself, trying to climb up over shoulder, inconsolable. I turned her night-light on to find that  the right side of her face was swollen and PANICKED. I gave her a dose of Benadryl while I was calling the triage nurse and trying to hold my shit together. And failing. I was a crying, shaking, baby-soothing, scared mess. And Andy was at work. Go figure. The nurse wanted us to give the meds one hour to kick in but if she didn't improve or got worse in that time, we were instructed to go straight to the ER. Andy got home just before the one hour mark and the swelling had gone down a tiny bit. She still couldn't open her right eye all the way, but it did look better. Since she was breathing and swallowing okay, we decided to just stay at home and monitor her closely then call the pedi in the morning. I woke up every 2 hours that night to listen to her breathe, and since she always sounded okay, I let her sleep. Big mistake. We woke up in the morning and I noticed immediately that her whole face was swollen.. both sides. Again: Panic.
We went straight to the pediatrician again where we were told to keep her on a 6-hr Benadryl regimen and given an Rx for an epi pen. We were referred to an allergist for testing (false positives, be damned!) and told to monitor closely everything she eats and comes in contact with.
We tried to delay a dose of Benadryl on Sunday to see how she would do, and within 20 minutes of when we should have dosed her, this happened:

Major Boo. We dosed her up right away. :(
But then....

2. Our super awesome friend Tabatha had a light bulb moment. Camy's hives started the day after we moved her to the floor bed in her room full time. Could it be something in her room? Something with that bed? The mattress? Pillows? New duvet and cover from Ikea? Dust mites? Dog dander (even though they have never been in her room, her window goes to the yard where the dogs live)? So, as of this morning, we are issuing our very own voluntary recall of the floor bed idea. At least for a couple days while we put this theory to the test. Today she napped in our bed and is sleeping in there now. (Trying to resist the urge to do the Happy Dance about the three of getting to snuggle some more!). And ya know what? She hasn't had a dose of Benadryl in 13 hours and she's HIVE FREE. Coincidence? Hmmm... we'll see.

3. I'll try to keep number 3 short... because once I get started, I usually get mad. And when I get mad, I can go on forever. Basically, our health insurance is laughable. Enraging. Absolutely farking reeee-diculous. That allergist appointment we made? That should have been today? To, you know, see whatthehell is making her face explode? Yeah, we had to postpone it. Until Sept28, because that is when our stupidstupid insurance will cover it. After paying out of pocket for her well check (because our stupid insurance wouldn't cover it), we couldn't afford another out of pocket visit so soon, especially one that can end up costing upwards of $500 depending on what they test for and how. I am so FUMING mad that we are having to delay the care that our sweet baby needs based on health insurance. Mad. And sick. And sad.

4. Which leads me to a depressing fourth thing for today. Tomorrow I have an interview at a preschool, where I am applying for a full time job as a co-teacher. Andy has been doing everything he can to find a better job with better benefits and not having any luck, and given our current situation with Camy, continuing with this insurance is no longer an option. Its my turn now to try and find a better option for our family. For Camy. Which means a full time job with benefits. My days as a stay-at-home-mommy are numbered, and that breaks my heart. Into a million little pieces. :sigh:
I am so blessed that I was able to spend Camy's first year at home with her, and I know that she will do very well once she adjusts to a group-care environment... but dammit, I don't want this adventure to end. I love being a SAHM. I love getting to be there to watch Camy learn, to snuggle her to sleep for naps, to take her on playdates or just hang around in our jammies, soaking her in all the time. I love it. And I will miss her so so much during the day. But we need a change, we are doing this for her. I wish I could explain that to her. I wish there was a way to make her understand that I would give ANYTHING to always be at home with her.

{Gotta give a big thanks! to MC for putting in a good word for me and helping me land this interview!}

Boo.

5. But let's turn this around.. let's talk about happy things. Successful things. Like Pizza Pinwheels. Made these little guys for dinner the other night and all 3 of us gobbled them right up. They were seriously yummy, for something so simple and quick. And we are thinking about trying the concept out with BBQ-Chicken, or Turkey-Mozzerella. Hmmm.. the possibilities are endless. We also made the Mexican Pizza recipe found on that blog last night, and it was another hit. Even for Cam! :) Hooray for new, easy meals that the whole family can enjoy.
What are your go-to family meals?

6. It was brought to my attention recently that I skipped 2 rather important updates recently. First, the 12 month stats. Our little growing bean tips the scales at 23 pounds, 11oz these days, putting her in the 75-90%. Her height came in at 30.5", again, 75-90%. And her head? 95%. Hasn't changed since birth. That girl's got a big ol' noggin! Aside from the allergy mess, she was given a clean bill of health. The heart murmur she was born with has now gone undetected for 2 appts, so it appears she grew out of it just as we hoped she would! Her ears looked great, her lungs sounded great, she's an eating champ and a wonderful sleeper, she's trying to communicate even though she doesn't have many "real" words... all went really well at her check-up.

7. And the other update I failed to give, can you believe it?, is that she's a full-time non-stop WALKER these days. Remember she took her first unprompted steps on her birthday? Well within just a couple days, walking became her primary mode of transportation. And since she got started, there's been no slowing her down. She's very confident on her toes now and can turn around, and side-step, and turn corners like its no big thing. :)

8. Despite the Benadryl haze she has lived in for the last week-ish, she's still been cracking us up with a few new cool tricks. Like tickling! She has a new game where she will "tickle" (read: touch) my neck and I'll giggle and squirm as if it tickles, then she'll crack up and point to her own neck. So I tickle her, and she gives an exaggerated laugh and then comes back to tickle me. Its hysterical and friggin' adorable! Oh, I love it.

9. And she's also fascinated with bee-bos, noses, and "mow"s these days. She loves to lift her shirt to find her belly button, and then tries to lift mine as well. I'm only slightly worried about the first time she tries to expose my midsection in public on the hunt for my belly button. :shudder: She's always seemed to have a thing for noses, but she's getting much more consistent when asked where her nose or my nose is. Or the kitty's nose. Or her baby doll's nose. What is it with noses? And just recently she started saying "mow" and pointing to her mouth while she sticks out her tongue. Are we allowed to consider that one of her first words? "Mow".

10. One word/phrase I don't need to verify before adding to her list: "Oh yeah!" She went around all afternoon today repeating "Oh yeah!" to me over and over again. I don't remember what the context was when she heard me say it, but she latched onto it and just toddled around a while.. "oooh yeah. yeah. oh yeah." Super cute, she was. In addition to "oh yeah", the other clearly deciphered words she uses are "this" and "that", "woof" (that counts, right?), and "dada". Another does it count? word is "duh" that she says as she signs "all done". Are half-words allowed. Huh, Joyce?

Happy Tuesday, Friends!