Bojangle's, Zyrtec, & the Grace of God

I ought to have known from the moment the yogurt started splattering and I had to pull the bath-after-breakfast trick, that today was going to be an interesting day. Definitely should have seen that coming. But I didn't know quite how interesting until this afternoon. Allow me to set the stage:

It was 10:00am and the children and I were sitting, munching various tasty foods (namely a biscuit and some fries) in the Bojangle's parking lot. A round of hand-wiping and water-giving and off we go to start our errands, the first of which was to swing by J's house. And then on to Aldi and Walmart.

Whilst pushing around my Aldi cart with baby, a toddler in tow, a strange little red patch was becoming apparent on baby girl's cheek, just below her left eye. By the time we were line to check out, the mark had only gotten angrier and slightly puffy. It was then 11:30am.

Just a few minutes after that, we stop in the Walmart parking lot for a round of diaper changes before we tackle the grocery list. Now a surprising amount of slightly-puffy angry red marks are spreading fast across baby girl's legs and on her hands. Still unperturbed, though growing more concerned, I finished diapers and steered the babies through the store. The time was wearing on to nap time and the self-control of the little people was wearing thin. Also, it was a strange Walmart and not everything could be found easily. But we prevailed and all got put away into the car. Passed around of lunch foods and water, then settled the babies in for a nap on the ride home.

But then I got a call from Favored and then decided to swing by and bring her heartening things...so I stopped by Whole Foods on my way. Now baby girl had even more angry pink rash, but it did not seem to bother her in the slightest, so I merely kept a watchful and curious eye upon her.

But when I got to Favored's house and she saw baby girl, she said, "Hives," and it all made sense. By now, too, baby girl's left eye was going squinty from the now-white puff under her eye, and all that had been angry red and slightly puffy was now quite raised and white. Arms, legs, tips of ears, tops of feet, hands, and under her eyes. It was the worst it ever got, but it was plenty to spur me into action! All the while, driving to our doctor, I was determining whether she was having any breathing difficulty and keeping a calculation of how far we were from EMS help.

At the clinic, the doctor and I narrowed what she had done/eaten/been exposed to today, he confirmed my thought of the Bojangle's cajun-seasoned fries. I cannot remember having fed her those before today (though I've heard a body needs to be exposed at least once to develop the antibodies for it) and apparently all it takes is three barely-seasoned Bojangle's fries to make poor baby girl break out in head-to-toe hives! I will be doing much more research into this allergy of hers.

I am so grateful for a knowledgeable, friendly doctor, for zyrtec, and for God's grace over this interesting day!

This was after the worst of it, the white swelling had gone down and now just the pink remained.

Horrible red rash! (See her extra-puffy hand!)

As bad as it looked, it still never seemed to bother her.