The source of the sneezing

Paulo woke up today a mess! A sticky, drippy, sneezy mess! I debated virus -vs- allergy as I sat there wiping his dripping eyes and with the absence of a temp went ahead with a dose of Claritin. Still being miserable and drippy I kept him out of school to be on the safe side. I know I wouldn't want his desk mate sneezing on the crayons!

Coincidentally I got a call today from my pediatricians office. The results of Paulo's allergy blood test were in. Rhonda told me that he showed mild allergies to cat and dog dander-which I already suspected-but he showed severe allergy to....GRASS! Grass?! How do you escape that one?! We live in Oregon. We have grass here. Lots of it. It's one of the selling points to the State frankly! His levels were 3 times the "high" rating. Yikes! This blood test was done on a typical weekday morning. He had not been outside playing prior to our appointment. I shudder to think what his levels would be today.

So why was this morning so brutal for him? We looked back over his weekend with the clarity that this information provided and went...ohhhh yeah....On Saturday he spent at least a full hour outside playing tuck and roll with neighbor boy-the neighbor boy whose father had just mowed the grass-they would ride their scooters down the hill for about a house length then when they reached the neighbors yard they would dive off their scooter and roll in the grass...the freshly mowed grass.... Then on Sunday he was out with Rene while he mowed our yard. Oh and on Saturday since it was unseasonably beautiful we went ahead and opened up the windows to let the air, and the allergens, in. He looked terrible this morning. His eyes were swollen. They'd been gooping up while he slept and had dried and sealed his right eye shut. He'd stumbled into the bathroom to get his hand wet and rub off some of the crud so he could open his eye at all! He was sneezing. He sounded nasally. He was miserable.

So, now what? We have an appointment with an allergist on Wednesday to see what the next step is. The nurse said it's bad enough he may need shots, hopefully not. In the meantime we will manage with less exposure and some daily meds. I'll stand by tomorrow morning with a damp washcloth too just in case!