Mystery hives

The day before yesterday Caitlin broke out in hives on the side/back of her left calf. She'd woken from her nap (she was napping bare legged) not particularly happy. Very unusual for her. It seemed as though she was complaining of gas pain. Ben was napping so we hurried down stairs so I could troubleshoot her gas problem. I layed her on the couch and pumped her legs a bit. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed the hives at that time if they were present.

After working on the gas problem for a bit (and she did pass more) I thought perhaps she might be unusually hungry. Since she didn't want to sit I put her in her exersaucer briefly while I washed my hands and mixed a bottle. After taking her out of the exersaucer I noticed her leg looked red. I layed her on the couch to take a closer look and saw she had a bunch of hives.

I wracked my brain trying to figure out what caused them. She hadn't left the house at all. There was nothing new to be exposed to.

So first I thought perhaps there was something on the exersaucer, and washed the cover, but it seemed like a long shot.

And last night it occured to me. It was probably something on my hands that she came in contact with when I was pumping her legs. I had been eating cheese, crackers, and salami prior to her waking up and hadn't wash my hands (it's not my normal practice, only before making bottles). Maybe she was contact allergic to something I had been eating. My first thought was dairy. Since she's been on Good Start formula, which is whey-based and fairly hydrolyzed, it would be possible for an infant with a dairy allergy to consume it (Ben did, although his allergy to milk was mild) without any sign of reaction. (I did a lot of reading last night.) I had a huge knot in my stomach.

However, this morning I did a skin contact test with milk on her leg and nothing. No hives, no redness. Nothing. So it doesn't seem to be dairy. (Thank god. I was SO worried that was it. I really, really feel for parents of children with severe milk allergies. Milk products are so messy... milk spills, yogurt splatters, etc. Dairy is so prevolant in all children's snacks, right down to the ever-popular Goldfish crackers.) The crackers I was eating had sesame and soy (as well as dairy) ingredients, so that will be my next test tomorrow. The lunch meat, I think, is pretty benign (there are no unlisted spices), but you never know - nitrates/nitrites, maybe?

So I'm still stumped.

She has a cold, and sometimes viruses cause hives, but I do believe hives are on and off for the duration of the virus, not an isolated incidence.

Man, I HATE allergies. HATE. THEM.