Well, that's one way to wake me up.

Last night KayTar slept fitfully, moaning, crying, waking, coughing...I finally brought her to our bed, so we could all get some sleep. This morning when the boys got up and ready for work and school, I stayed in bed with her because she was nuzzled against me and if I had extricated myself, she would have woken up and after last night, I wanted her to get a bit more sleep. We dozed together and the next thing I knew, KayTar was tapping on my shoulder and saying, "Mom, look at me. My tongue is hurty." I rolled over, expecting her to have a sore throat, instead I saw this:








That was NOT the most peaceful way to wake up. Immediately my partially functioning brain did the math:

lip swelling + tongue swelling = anaphylaxis

I grabbed her epi-pens, benadryl, and my cell phone. I called the pediatrician. I usually don't call the pediatrician unless I'm returning a call. I prefer email as I find it much less disruptive, but panicked pre-coffee minds don't really think about things like that. She answered, told me to give her a dose of benadryl, wait 30 minutes, give another dose if needed, and watch her breathing...if she started to struggle, give the epi, go to the hospital. A little while after her second dose of benadryl, the swelling stopped progressing. She is still sporting the Angelina Look, but it isn't spreading or getting worse. According to her, her tongue feels better, too. WHEW! I'm supposed to keep her home today (perfect timing, right?), give benadryl every four hours, and hope that we won't have anymore excitement today.

As for what triggered it? Who knows.

[speculation] KayTar had a homemade cookie last night before bed. The ingredient list was innocuous; butter, sugar, flour, eggs, cream of tartar, and cinnamon. Cinnamon was a likely suspect, but then I remembered she frequently snacks on cinnamon rolls (sans icing) without any kind of problem. The cookies were made in the same kitchen at the same time as cookies containing peanut butter and peanuts, so the only other thing I can think of is cross-contamination, though with her borderline numbers I don't know how likely that is. [/speculation]

The pediatrician said she was likely reacting all night, causing the fitful sleep and coughing, but I didn't think to check her lips for swelling in the middle of the night. I guess I will from now on, though.

The allergist did say that if she continued to have episodes of swelling without cause, we might need to do immune testing. I'd prefer a peanut allergy to an immune problem, but I usually don't get a vote with these things. For now, though, I'm just glad that the swelling is no longer progressing and that I didn't have to jab an epi-pen into her little thigh and rush her to the hospital today.