On Friday, my darling soon-to-be-one-year-old daughter woke up with hives. Approximately eight of them, in various places. This was in addition to the ever-spreading rash on her rear, which was (mis)identified as eczema. I called her new allergy/immunology specialist to ask her what to do. The nurse said, "Come in now, now, now!" Since hives can precede anaphylaxis (a potentially fatal allergic reaction), they had reason to be worried.

So in we came.

The doctor confirmed that the baby had hives, although she couldn't determine the reason. Perhaps an allergic reaction to outdoor allergens - we spent a few hours on my screened back porch in my tree-filled yard the day before. Perhaps a reaction to food accidentally ingested, like a crumb on the floor (but unlikely). Most likely, the hives were a symptom of an underlying virus.

Treatment for hives is usually hydroxyzine, also known as Atarax. Unfortunately, this drug makes my daughter feel like crap. She cries, she doesn't sleep well, and is generally the opposite of her normal cheerful self. The second line of defense, ordinarily, would be oral steroids, which she's taken once before.

However, steroids suppress the immune system. My daughter already HAS a suppressed immune system. She has hypogammaglobulinemia, specifically a deficiency in IgG, IgG1, and IgM (so you can look that up if you so choose). This means she is more likely to catch illnesses and to have trouble overcoming them when she does catch them.

We've been lucky to avoid overt signs of this disorder. She hasn't been frequently or seriously ill. But she doesn't eat well and didn't gain weight properly early in life in particular. We assumed this was because of her allergies, and it may in fact have been. But this deficiency is a syndrome, and those are some of the frequently seen aspects of it. So who knows.

So, prednisone is out unless we are desperate, and Atarax is out unless we all want to be miserable (which we certainly can handle if we must), so we're trying Zyrtec and topical hydrocortisone. I had to count each hive and pay attention to the size and severity. Every morning and night I repeat the hive count. So far, so good.

While we were handling the hive issue, the doctor examined the presumed eczema, which now is in several large oval patches on her "cheeks." "Hmmm," said the doctor. "We usually see eczema in dry areas. I've never seen it inside a diaper area like this. And look how perfectly round this is. You know what this is? It's RINGWORM!"

Lovely.

So now we have the first overt symptom of the baby's immune disorder. There is no way she should have this amount of ringworm in an area that never touches the dirt. I suspect that she got a small amount under her fingernails somewhere -it's a pretty common fungus - and scratched a former hive on her bottom (because the first lesion occurred directly on top of a hive), giving the fungus access to her broken skin. The weakened immune system just let it rip. We've now got two different kinds of cream to combat it. Medicating her has become a challenging task, applying three different creams to a variety of different areas in various combinations.

Interestingly enough (and I can't believe I'm going to say this in public), my husband calls me the fungus queen because if I'm anywhere near ringworm, I get it. Maybe I've got a wonky immune system too. I just noticed that I've also got a rather funny looking spot on my leg. It's almost circular...

I love my life.