Party Puzzle

Today, I took my daughter to a "Cupcake Party" at a friend's house.  I baked her own special cupcakes to take with us.  She loves to go to this particular house, because it has a second floor (we live in a one-story).  She loves to play with her friends there and this time was no exception.  She had a really great time and when it came time for the cupcakes, she ate her special cupcake at a little table and was very happy.  After the cupcake time was over, we had to get ready to leave, because we were going to have lunch at my parents' house.  When we were getting ready to go, I noticed she had one red spot (maybe a hive?) on her face, but didn't think too much of it.  Another one popped up by the time we were leaving.

I got her in the car and she started coughing.  I was getting everything into the car and she was in her car seat and kept coughing and made me nervous with how she sounded, so I gave her 1 tsp of Benadryl.  She has been very insistent, lately, on doing everything herself, so I had to give her the little dosing cup and she sipped it.  She kept coughing, and I would ask her if she was OK and she would say, "yes", and she was happy and talking about the party and otherwise seeming fine.  She couldn't stop coughing, though, and was making me really nervous, so I zoomed home (we were not far from home, thankfully) and I whisked her into the house and gave her a nebulizer/Xopenex treatment, because she had an ever-so-slight wheeze starting.  She even told me, "I feel a little wheeze, Mommy".

I was going over the internal dialogue in my head..."Is she going to need the Epi Pen?  What could she have touched? Why is she having a reaction? What all did she eat, today?  Was there something upstairs that she touched? Did a child eat something, touch a toy, which she then touched and perhaps put her fingers in her mouth?"  My daughter rarely puts anything in her mouth, and doesn't really put her fingers in her mouth, so it didn't seem likely.  I kept asking her how she was doing and no more hives had appeared, but I decided to call the allergist's office for guidance.  Sadly, they were not all that helpful and transferred me around a few times before telling me that it might just be to weather (we had a little cold snap, today) and that she might just be having an asthma flare.  The only helpful piece of information they gave me was to give her the nebulizer, and also do the inhaler, if needed and give her the Epi Pen if she was struggling to breathe.  I know these things, but I was in a mini-panic and just needed a second opinion.  She was really not in any distress, so I got out my Epi Pen supply bag, but just kept it handy and didn't end up using it.  I was just afraid that at any moment, her symptoms might escalate.  I was using the pulse oximeter throughout the process and at first she was at 97 which is not bad at all, but it dropped down to 94 after the nebulizer treatment, so we did her Xopenex inhaler, and she was doing better after that.  (I've read the number can drop a little after a treatment, but since the allergist suggested doing the inhaler, as well, we went ahead and did it.)  The Benadryl had already cleared her face and she was talking and asking about lunch.  She also wanted to go to her GrandDaddy's house, as we had planned.  I fixed her some lunch and she was really hungry, but I figured that was a good sign.  I was a little worried, because it was so close to nap time and I knew she'd fall asleep on the car ride over to my parents' house, but everything seemed to be back to normal for her, so I let her fall asleep.

When we arrived at my parents' house, we transferred her to her bed (she has her own bed there, too) and she slept for 2 1/2 hours, which is pretty normal for her.  She woke up in a good mood and showed no sign of the earlier issues.  I still have no idea what caused the few hives/cough/wheeze, so the puzzle remains.  I guess sometimes we will never know the cause of a reaction.  I feel a little silly, because I was getting my hopes up since she seemed to be outgrowing her corn and soy allergies and I was quickly reminded that she is certainly not out of the woods, yet, overall and I still need to be hyper-vigilant.  I was still taking the normal precautions (bringing her safe snacks, using lots of hand wipes), but somehow, something still got by us.  Sigh.

ETA: I wanted to add that she was in a really good mood in the evening, so that was great.  She was being so cute, telling us stories and pretending to be at the beach and searching for treasures and she was painfully adorable at bedtime.  She was being my "Snuggle Baby" and snuggling up with me and I always love that! :)