The lines are drawn

I got a text message while I was at work yesterday that Muffin had broken out in tiny red dots (like Singapore) all over his body. They were massive and they were spreading fast. They first appeared on the soles of his feet, the palms of his hands and rapidly moved to the tops of his extremities and the trunk of his body.

My heart sank. I thought it was Hand Foot and Mouth. Evan got it last year and we had to quarantine him. And even though we did, Packrat and I got it. I wasn't looking forward to a sick and difficult child in pain. When I got back, I took photographs of it and sent it to my doctor brother. His verdict, chicken pox.

Worse!

The twins haven't been vaccinated. We have been wavering on it. Vaccinate them or let them catch it and build a natural immunity to it. Obviously, the latter is the easier choice because we don't have to bring them to the doctor to get jabs done. But the thought of 3 children being down with chicken pox and a relatively new helper (who while competent is still very raw) didn't appeal to me.


















Muffin was first in line to see the doctor the minute the clinic opened. Packrat volunteered to take him while I relished the last moments of quiet with the twins before finding out what terribly infectious disease my son had.

Packrat's text to me sent me into confusion. " YOUR son has YOUR allergies".
Allergies? What allergies did I have? Milk? (I thought that was psychological) Seafood? (That was me being fussy) What allergies? I had forgotten in the moment of relief that I am deathly (well, not really deathly) allergic to antibiotics.

Muffin has just finished his first course of antibiotics because of a chesty, phlegmy cough that despite 2 weeks of medication would not clear. He finished it yesterday. And like me, the allergic reaction only develops after the course is complete. Like me, the reaction manifests in an angry, red, massive, pimply rash all over the body.

I have never been so happy for an allergic reaction in my life.

Anyway, it seems apparent that Muffin is truly my son. The twins have Packrat's allergies. Sensitive nose, eyes, throat, lungs, eczema to boot- apparently called Allergic Rhinitis. But they have no issue with antibiotics. Muffin, so far seems to be free from Allergic Rhinitis but as we discovered breaks out with rash that is almost Biblical in proportion.

How funny how our allergies are coded so precisely into our DNA and passed on to our children.


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