Can He Inherit Some Good Stuff From Me?

When I was little (maybe 5?), I stayed in the hospital, and each morning a nurse I despised would come in and give me several allergy tests. My parents were called when my little roommate and I stole a gurney, and blocked the door, so the nurse couldn't come in. I believe we were ever so sweetly singing "Nyah, Nyah!" at her, while we jumped on the beds.

My parents were told I was allergic to milk, cats, down feathers, dust, mildew, certain types of perfume, and pine trees (no real Christmas trees from then on). There might have been more. I also can't be around hay, daffodils, hyacinths, and snobby people. Then, my mom started dragging me to the doctor's to get weekly allergy shots. I also hated that nurse. Her and my mom would start talking and I swear she would forget she had the needle in my arm. At least, that's how I remember it. I have no idea how long my mom had to do that, but it seemed like a long time.

When we had Dylan, I knew there was a 50/50 shot he would have allergies of some kind. Jim doesn't have any. He might need "selective memory" shots, though. Do they have those?

We knew that Dylan had allergies, because his nose runs pretty much constantly, and he often has sneezing fits. His allergies seemed largely environmental or seasonal. He did have a reaction when my mother in law gave him a bite of a peanut butter cookie, so we've avoided peanut butter since then, to be safe. I wasn't expecting what happened today, though.

This morning when I went in to get Dylan, he was fine. "You get to go to school today!", I said. We went downstairs, and I gave him his usual breakfast of an organic blueberry waffle and some milk. I can't remember the order after that, but at some point, he went to the potty, got some chips for doing so, gave Jim a hug goodbye, and played while I dried my hair in the bathroom. As I was drying my hair I heard him sneeze. Then again, and again, and again, and maybe 10 more times. I came out, and went over to blow his nose, and saw that his one eye was completely red and swollen. I thought maybe he hit it on something, so I asked him. "No!', he cried, then started rubbing his nose with such force I thought he would break it. Within about 1/2 hour, both his eyes were red, watering, and practically swollen shut. His nose was red and swollen, as were his ears. I gave him some Children's Zyrtec, and put in a video hoping to distract him from the itchiness. Suddenly he started screaming and crying, grabbing at his tongue, saying "My tongue hurts!" I grabbed the phone to call the doctor and he nearly broke my heart when he asked me "What's wrong with me, Mommy?"

By the time we made it to the doctor's he was 90% better, so I guess the Zyrtec had finally kicked in. The doctor thinks maybe he is allergic to wool. (When he hugged Jim goodbye he rubbed his face against his wool coat). He is 100% fine, but I've been having visions of him blocking a door with a gurney all day. That, and me dragging him kicking and screaming to get weekly allergy shots. By the way, mom? Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate that?