Double whammy

Lauren has some indoor allergies. One of them happens to be dust mites. When she was 3, we did two rounds of allergy testing to find this out, and her allergist prescribed Zyrtec, which at the time was non-formulary on my insurance and cost about $30 per bottle. She only reacts if she gets bitten by a mite. Since it had been probably about a year and a half since this happened, I had forgotten all about it. I'd forgotten about it to the extent that we don't have any Zyrtec or even Benedryl in the house. I'd nipped at the Benedryl when my OB suggested it was better than not sleeping when I was pregnant, and must've finished the bottle.

This morning, Lauren complained of being itchy. She was wearing her nightie backwards and her undies sideways, so I figured it was clothing related and suggested she take a quick shower before Alec took his. When Alec helped her with her nightie, he found her trunk covered in hives. I ran around the house frantically looking for an antihistamine and found we only had Claritin. No good for hives. Ugh.

After breakfast, we drove to the supermarket and I bought a bottle of Zyrtec. Alec gave her a teaspoon, so that she'd have about 10 minutes or so for it to start working before I dropped her off at school, knowing that it's usually about a half hour after the antihistamine that the hives resolve. I parked a little ways away from the school and we walked, so it was actually closer to about 15 minutes after her dose when I dropped her.

I gave her a kiss goodbye on the forehead and was met with a single, angry hive staring me down. I fully expected to get a call from the nurse demanding a pick up. At around noon, I began to breathe easier.