Who may you ask? Who has been taking my time and put me through the wringer? Why….our washer and dryer of course!
Unfortunately Hannah had 2 more bouts with hives last week, the first one quite severe! I put her to bed Wed night and she seemed fine but woke up around 11:00. We were rocking in her chair and she was wiggling around, whining and just not herself at all. I turned the light on and was shocked by what I saw. Poor lovey!!!
This time rather than being just on her legs and stomach they also covered her chest, neck and portions of her face. Even the bridge of her nose was covered with welts. (Sorry, this next one is a sad pic you may want to skip but it shows how swollen she was too. I took them to take to our doctor when we go see him later this week.)
Thankfully Benadryl works like a charm on her and within 10 -15 mins she was back to normal and all signs were gone. Thurs she started to scratch her head as I was giving her her bottle and by the time I was about to lay her down I noticed her neck was bright red and the welts were starting again. I quickly gave her Benadryl and thankfully that’s the last we’ve seen of the welts and rash.
Since we’re staying away from all nuts right now I was trying to figure out what else might be causing it. I analyzed everything and one possible theory I’ve come up with is the Tide Free that I’m gradually introducing her clothes to. Until now I’ve used Ivory Snow on her clothes and only Tide the odd time. Because of where the welts are and when they’re showing up I’m questioning the laundry detergent.
So….for the past 4 days I have laundered every single sheet, towel, blanket and piece of clothing that we own. I went from doing 3 loads a week to 3 loads a day for 4 days in a row! Each time I thought we were coming down the home stretch I’d find more things that needed laundering. I’m using a hypo-allergenic detergent and so far she has not had any reaction to it. Yay! It may not be this at all but for now it’s working and I feel like I’m doing something to help. Oh how it broke my heart when she broke out last week and I’ll be honest that by the 3rd time I was really scared too! So concerned that the face swelling could begin to affect her airway and that I’d be downstairs when it happened and unaware of her struggle. Thankfully this has NOT happened! As a nurse friend gently shared with me that if she’s swelling on the outside where we can see, the concern is what’s swelling on the inside that we can’t see? Another reminder that until we find the source and with the increased intensity of the second attack that I must carry the Epipen with me at all times. Hopefully I’ll never need it but until we know more it will be our ever-present companion.
Oh yah, and if the Tide Free is the cause ya wanna hear something cool? Mom told me that my Grandma was also allergic to Tide. Guess it’s genetic!
