Detective Mom

About two weeks ago, I came down stairs to find Gabriel scratching the back of his neck. I moved his hand away and he had about 5-6 hives on his neck. "Weird," I thought. I didn't think too much of it and continued my house work. About 10-15 minutes later the hives had spread from the back of his neck to his forehead, checks, and chin. "Whoa, scary!" I thought. I remained calmed and called my Mama. This time she told me to get him to the E.R. as soon as I could. I knew that Matt was still in class (seriously, he is ALWAYS in class LOL) so I called my good friend and neighbor to come to my rescue. Lucky for me and Gabriel, she was avaliable to come and sit with Kaia and Gatlin. I took Gabey to the E.R. right here in town and they took us straight to the back. (Whew, my luck is never this good) After lots of questions and a thorough exam they gave Gabriel some Benadryl and a steroid. He obviously had an allergic reaction but to what? For the next 4 days he kept breaking out and I continue to give him Benadryl around the clock. Then, one day I passed by our entertainment center where I had placed some cinnamon scented pine cones. Then, this picture popped into my head.

This particular night Gabriel had just finished some cinnamon/sugar oatmeal. Hmmm, could he be allergic to cinnamon? I immeadiately got rid of the pine cones and washed the beloved blanket that he drags everywhere. The next day he had a couple of break outs but not as consistent or as bad as before. It gradually got better and better. He has been break out free for about a week. Well, today I was snacking on some cinnamon nougat candy. Gabriel came wondering over and wanted some. I know, I know I am mean but I gave him a little bit just to see what would happen. About an hour later, he broke out in hives. I started to think back to the night I bought the pincones. I put them in the center of our table. I also have christmas placemats on the table. Before I went to bed that night, I moved the pinecones to the entertainment center. The day that Gabriel first broke out he was laying next to the table, by a placemat that had been pulled onto the floor, with his blanket. He must be allergic to the scent of cinnamon too. I began looking on the internet and found this written by a women on a website about cinnamon allergies:

"I have been allergic to cinnamon all my life. But up until 3 weeks ago, it was just a minor irratant. I know I can't have certain foods, or I break out with a rash or hives; depending on the dose of cinnamon I come in contact with. I avoid retail stores of any kind, after Halloween- because of the cinnamon candles, and poporri. But now, the boss decided to sell cinnamon rolls. I was getting very high doses of cinnamon on the nights I worked! I not only got the hives, but I had a hard time breathing! I had blisters on my tongue, and my throat started to swell shut! I am now taking Benadryl to help me not break out. But it has been 3 weeks, and I am still breaking out! I thought I was the only one allergic to cinnamon!"

I am not 100% sure but I am pretty confidant that I may have figured out what is ailing my big bubba. Darn, I really love cinnamon especially this time of year. Oh well, we will just have to make some adjustments.