Yikes, what a mess!

One of the most frustrating things about Owen's allergies is not knowing what is going on. That is exactly what happened today. When I picked Owen up from day care, his skin looked clean. I didn't do an inspection, but I was not concerned. Although there was a "soreness" to his skin, but it was mild. I brought Owen to the mall to play at the playground, since it is a hot day. Owen played at the playground for 30 minutes. Then he started coughing a dry cough. He kept coughing, so I went to check on him. And I heard him wheezing, which is a first. I thought to myself this can't be. I listened to him for a minute, and the wheezing continued. I took Owen off the playground and bought him some juice. (I always give him a drink when he shows signs of a reaction. It gives me a chance to evaluate him without his hands getting in the way. It also serves as a "time out" to evaluate the situation). Owen was not interested in the juice. I gave him benadryl. He continued to cough, and his nose started running slightly. His face was red and slightly puffy. I started getting very concerned. I decided to get the epipen handy(which I thought was in my car, but it was in my purse the whole time). On my way to the car, I thought I should notify mall security, so they can be prepared to help me if I needed it. Security called 911, and an ambulence met me at my car. By the time the ambulence arrived, his coughing and wheezing stopped. His face was still red and puffy. The paramedic evaluated him, and said that he didn't hear any wheezing, and said it was my choice if I wanted Owen to go to the hospital. Since there was no respiratory issues, I just went home.
Owen's face continued to be slightly puffy. He has horrible eczema on his legs, chest, arms, and underarms. When I brought him upstairs to put cream on him, it seems like his face got worse as I was applying cream.
When he ate dinner, he sounded congested again, but did not cough or wheeze. I gave him Nasonex. He already had Claritin earlier that day. I gave him benadryl again before I put him to sleep.
It is so hard to judge what to do. I felt like I over reacted when I got mall security involved, but if I was helping another mother, I would have done the same thing.
What happened today??? What is happening with my little guy?

Irritated eyes, leg, and diaper area

Ms. Cheryl reported that Owen had itchy eyes during a time at day care. She said there were no welts or anything, just itchiness. She also said he had a itchy spot on his thigh. He looked pretty good when I picked him up. There was slight signs of facial irritation, but no red flags. Just before dinner, his eyes became itchy again. There were no hives. Doug said that he saw some bread crumbs on the table where he was playing. So it might have been that. We gave him some benadryl. His diaper area was also very itchy tonight. I put on some protopic and aquaphor. Once his diaper was on, he didn't try to scratch. But when his diaper was off, he could not stop itching.

Red, warm, splotchy face

Owen's face was red and splotchy when I picked him up from day care at 2:15 today. The redness improved during the ride home, and the redness and thickness seemed to congregate around his eyes. He played in the basement for a while, and his whole face flared up again. It continued all evening long.

There is a part of me that wonders if it is a skin infection that set off this eczema. He got several cuts while he was in the church nursery on Sunday. Sunday afternoon he went swimming in a lake. So maybe a cut got infected and set off this chain of irritation. The irritation did not start till Monday afternoon.

I applied antibiotic cream, protopic, and gave him benadryl. He fell asleep, but was still red and itchy when he was dozing off.

Itchy, Itchy Ichabod

Owen has had quite a bit of eczema on his arms, legs, and trunk. Yesterday he was itching his neck, there there were no signs of a rash. It seems like the cream helps a bit, but it doesn't take the eczema away. When I was driving home from the mall today he was itching the whole ride home. My heart breaks when there is nothing I can do. When we got home I gave him benadryl and rocked him for a while. Then he was fine the rest of the evening, and he didn't itch.

Left Cheek with Red Rash

Owen had a red rash on his left cheek during dinner. I didn't see him itch it. And it went away 30 minutes after eating. It never seemed to bother him. Owen ate beef, broccoli, and potato for dinner.

Doing well, but holding my breath for Monday

Owen has been doing great. My mom has been watching him, and we return to daycare (and the daycare mulch) on Monday. There has been a lot of rain since the last incident happened, so his allergist believes that with the help of Claritin, he will do well. I am just praying. Owen had some minor itching (especially last Thursday), but nothing significant at all.

Significant redness and swelling around eyes

Owen woke up from his nap at day care with significant redness and swelling around the eyes. They were very itchy. I gave him .5 teaspoon of benadryl, and he seemed to get relief. Then during dinner, redness and hives developed again around the eyes. It had only been 3 hours since I gave him benadryl, but since he was symptomatic, I gave him another .5 teaspoon. The redness and swelling has gone down, but did not disappear.

I called Dr. Banks and he is concerned that it might be the new mulch that the daycare just put down in their playground. I sure hope it is not that.