Betcha Can't Guess What This Post Is About

surprise! it's hives! again! because max STILL has them! all over! ahhhh!

now that that's out of my system, allow me to tell you about our visit to the pediatrician yesterday. pretty much, he asked a bunch of questions about how max is feeling/behaving (itchy, whiny, sometimes fine), how the welts are behaving (they pop up all over max's body and disappear after a while. then new ones pop up), and if i've thought about anything that has "changed in the environment." of course i have. and i've come up with exactly two possibilities:

• i bought dryer sheets w/ a new scent (the ones we use on chad's and my laundry)
• i bought a new brand of hypoallergenic dryer sheets for max's laundry

so i went and bought some more bounce free dryer sheets, which is what i've pretty much always used on max's laundry until walmart started selling simplicity brand hypoallergenic dryer sheets, which cost $1 less per box than the bounce ones. apparently it costs manufacturers a lot of money to not add fragrances and dyes to their products, 'cause the hypoallergenic stuff costs a lot more than the regular, scented variety.

anyway, i'm in the process of re-washing all our clothes/sheets/bedding and using the bounce free dryer sheets on everything. just in case that's the problem. oh, and i wiped out the dryer first, in case any residual scent molecules were left in there. which seems just a little bit OCD, but OMG, we're going crazy over here with the itchy, whiny baby who can't get rid of his hives. i also cleaned all the ceiling fans. because they were covered in dust, and it makes my eyes itchy. so maybe it affects max, too? i don't know, but i'm sure it can't hurt.

since the hives have stuck around for so long, amoxicillin probably wasn't the trigger. it's been 6 days since max has had any. the doctor did some blood tests for viruses that can cause hives, but they were negative. so we still don't know the cause. i REALLY hope it isn't a food allergy. especially to milk or wheat, because the max loves his dairy (yogurt is super yummy, and so are grilled cheese sandwiches, hello) and his pasta/bread. i don't think that's it, though, because max has been eating dairy products and bread/pasta products for months with no adverse effects.

anyway, after the tests and questions, the doc wrote us a prescription for atarax (an antihistamine) and one for orapred (the steroid). but we aren't supposed to get the orapred unless max still has hives tomorrow. if max still has hives after another three days of steroids, he'll have to go back to the doctor next week for more tests to figure out what the hell he's allergic to, so we can eliminate it (and the hives) from his life.