The Mysterious Case of the Red Rash

Friday, August 30: GC wakes up and I notice a small red bump on her shoulder looks to be infected. I let it go all day, but by naptime it is VERY red and streaking, so I call the doctor. We take her in, get amoxicillin to treat the infection and head on our merry way to Tuscaloosa for the long weekend.

Saturday, August 31: Jeremy's sister mentions to me that GC feels warm. I take her temperature and she has a low-grade fever. I chalk it up to the infected "spot" and let it go.

Sunday, September 1: We notice a few red bumps on GC's arms, legs, hands, and feet. Jeremy's sister says it looks like Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Since we are out of town, a Google search has to confirm this diagnosis. We begin treating the fever. GC takes a FOUR HOUR NAP.

Monday, September 2: The bumps are worse, the fever up to 101.5. We travel home, continue to treat the fever, knowing that it's a virus and nothing more can be done.

Tuesday, September 3: GC stays home with my mom and is fever-free all day! I arrive home at 6:00 p.m. and her fever is back up to 101.9, so she has to stay home from school AGAIN on Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 4: GC stays home with my sister and I come home at noon to relieve her. NO fever all day - yay! She sleeps well, the bumps are disappearing and the HFM seems to be gone.

Thursday, September 5: GC goes to school. I go to work. J works at home. All is well!

Friday, September 6: Happy 5th Anniversary to us!
GC wakes up with a mysterious red rash on her face, arms, and back of neck. Puzzling, but looks like an allergic reaction, so I take her to school and I go to work for 2 hours. When I pick her up, the rash has spread to pretty much every part of her body. I send pics to doc. Looks like allergic reaction. Doc says watch her for trouble breathing or discomfort. We go home. GC naps. After nap the rash is RED and ANGRY. I call doc. We go to doc. Doc takes one look at her and says, "Yep, that's an allergic reaction to amoxicillin." Bummer. We take her home, treat her with Benadryl and Zyrtec and lay low for the weekend because she looks like this:

 

Is that not the most pitiful thing you've ever seen? Breaks my heart. She was so irritable and fussy all weekend. I know she had to be uncomfortable, not to mention in a fog from all the meds. Poor buddy.

So, in the last week we have treated an infected "spot" which I assume was a bug bite, self-diagnosed HFM (I KNOW that's what it was. Classic symptoms and fever and our doc agreed). Then learned of her allergy to amoxicillin while treating the infection from the bug bite.

It was a crazy week for us and our girl. She's a trooper, though, and handled it all.

Funny side note: it seems that nearly every time we visit Jeremy's family or they come here something happens: stomach bug, RSV, pink eye, ear infections - all have happened at their house or when they were here. And now we can add HFM to the list! It's so sad, but kind of funny at this point. Bless them all!

14 Month Update!

-Size 12 month clothes
-Size 3 diaper and size 4 at night
-Weight: 23 lb. 4 oz. 
-Height: Not sure, but you look much taller to me! 
-One nap a day from 12-2 p.m.
-You eat 3 meals a day and one afternoon snack
-You drink whole milk and water
-You love to eat pretty much anything, though bread, pasta, and cheese are favorites!
-You know the signs for please, thank you, more, milk, cracker, red, apple, yellow, and bird
-You say bye-bye, bath, moh (always accompanied by the sign for more), muh (along with the sign for milk), mama, dada, and lots of other babbles that I don't fully understand yet 
-You have EIGHT teeth (and maybe are working on a molar or two?)
-You walk and run everywhere!
-You are really good at climbing up stairs, but haven't figured out the coming down part yet
-You promoted to the "Garden Sprouts" room at school in early August and have done well with the transition
-You come home from school dirty every day - you play hard! 
-You are friendly and smiley to everyone and wave to people as we go by
-You are a climber! You love to climb up on your little table in the den
-You like to get ALL of your toys our at one time
-You pointed to daddy's banana that he was eating for breakfast and said, "nana!" last week
-You are a good sleeper and take one, two-hour nap per day and sleep 10-12 hours at night 
-Pinky Poodle is still your favorite and you can't sleep without him 

Here are a few pictures of GC at 13 and 14 months:  

Evening Snuggles with Pinky Poodle

Climber! 

Riding in your Cozy Coupe at Nana and Pop's House

Brown--Eyed Baby

 We love this girl so very much and really can't remember what life was like before her. She keeps us busy and on our toes, for sure, but it's all so much fun. 

Thank you, God for Gentry Claire!