Don't Be Rash

These past couple of months have been pretty rough on Caroline.  (And let me just go ahead and say here that I understand that when I say 'rough' that things could be A LOT worse.  We are very blessed that she is as healthy as she is, but no matter what - you don't want to see your child hurting and uncomfortable.)  She has had a runny nose and a pretty good cough since the beginning of November.  I took her to the doctor just to make sure she didn't have some sort of upper respiratory infection, but it was just a virus.  At her 9 month check up a few weeks later she didn't sound any better to me and this time they found bilateral ear infections.  Not that I want Caroline to hurt at all, but I was glad something was there so that they could give her something to make her feel better.  The doctor gave her amoxicillin and after a few days, things were looking up.  Right after Christmas, her cough was still pretty strong and her nose was raw.  I took her back to the doctor and they looked and once again, bilateral ear infections.  They gave her cefdinir (omnicef) and after a few days of that, she seemed to feel better.  We finished out that medicine and things were alright for a few days.  Then around the end of Christmas break we saw her pulling at her ears.  We knew this was a big deal because through the previous two infections she never showed any sort of symptom as far as pulling on them.  So I made an appointment and took her back to the doctor and she found that her right ear was infected again.  Since the left had cleared up they were pretty sure that the antibiotics were working and that it wasn't a successive infection that was not clearing up.  So that was the good news.  The doctor prescribed augmentin this time since it is a little stronger than what she had had so far.  She started that medicine and we headed to Wilmington and stayed there for a long weekend. 

While we were in the car on the way back, Caroline was sweating and couldn't get comfortable.  We just chalked it up to her hating to ride backwards and the heat being on in the car since it was so cold outside.  The next morning Jason went to go get her up and called me in there.  She had a few bumps on her neck and behind her ears and another cluster of them around her diaper line.  She has SUCH sensitive skin and I figured since she was sweating that it was probably heat rash.  We both decided that was what it was and that she would be fine going to school.  When I walked in, I showed them the bumps and told them that it was most likely just heat rash and both of her teachers agreed with me because they know how sensitive her skin is.  I went to work and about 3:15 one of her teachers called me and told me that I would probably want to come and get her because the spots have now begun to spread to her face.  I hung up, grabbed my stuff, and I was out of there!  I called and was able to get an appointment at 4:30.  So I got Caroline from school and when I walked in she looked pathetic!  She was crawling around and playing, but she had welts all over her face and arms (and under her clothes, but I couldn't see them yet)!  We were all talking about what we thought it was and they were thinking it was chicken pox.  Great - I'm that mom that sends her kid with the pox to school and infects everyone!  I was hoping and praying that wasn't it.

When we got to the pediatrician's office the nurse came in and weighed C (she had gained a pound in a month!  Talk about a serious growth spurt!) and she asked if she was having trouble breathing.  That's when I started to worry.  I told her no and she left the room and soon the doctor was in with us.  She looked her over, felt the welts, and told me that they were not chicken pox, but that she was having an allergic reaction to the augmentin. 

So, what we know now is that she is allergic to all antibiotics in the penicillin family.  She will get hives and a nasty skin rash, but not anaphylaxia - which is good to know!  So in the future if she HAS to get some sort of penicillin it is not life threatening.

Here are a few pics of the adventure:

The bumps first appeared on Wednesday morning.  This is Caroline on Thursday morning when she looked her worst.  Luckily, Jason was able to stay home with her so that she could get some good sleep and some good Benadryl!  Her face was so swollen - it was AWFUL!  From the pictures you will see that this never kept her from eating, so I knew it wasn't TOO serious!

This is what her body looked like on Thursday night.  She got hives that were raised and red with white centers.  Then she got the nasty skin rash that is a side effect of the amoxicillin.  All over her body she had a huge red rash that had purple centers.  Those were really scary to me because I didn't know if they would totally go away or leave a scar of some kind.

And here she is on Sunday night totally back to normal!  Her skin looks so good and you can tell that she feels so much better!  She is playing and laughing and smiling - which we didn't see a lot of those first few days!

Whew...I'm glad that is over!!