Wait what...........

Had to take Baby Girl to the E.R. last weekend. So Not the best day ever. My poor chicka. It all started about 3 weeks ago when somebody(you know who you are) brought home a wicked vicious cold. Ugh we were both sick as dogs! It was a Saturday, and I really wanted to wait until Monday morning when I could take her to see the Pediatrician, but her fever spiked so I took her to the Urgent Care. The Dr. said that she had an ear infection and a bad cold, so he prescribed her Amoxicillin , a medicine I can assure you she will never be taking again. She made it through the 10 days of taking her medicine with no problem, the day after she took her last dose was a different story entirely. We got up Sunday morning, a full week after going to the Urgent Care, Baby Girl seemed to be a bit lethargic, and during her second diaper change I noticed what looked to be little bites on her thighs. I cleaned them just in case and switched her to a different brand of diaper(she has sensitive skin like me and sometimes a certain brand disagrees with her) and kept an eye on her. The next diaper change the little bites had grown to large red splotches, with what looked like blisters in the middle. I started to panic a bit. I didn't understand what these hives could be stemming from. I put cortisone on them in case they itched and gave her some Motrin for her touch of fever. I check her again, all of the hives are gone.........now I really have no clue. I decide to call her Ped in the morning and get her the first appt I can. I wanted to know what was going on, but thought it would be better to go to her Dr. Around 7:30 that evening we got into a baby oil bath. I popped her in and started noticing that not only were the hives back(and worse) on her legs, they had crawled to her back and were now also on her shoulders and arms. Needless to say I got her dressed and took her straight to the Emergency room.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity we were called back. She was rocking a 100 degree temp, and that's after I had given her the Motrin, and the hives were making their way up her neck to her face. The doctors called it a "Generic Rash", which really meant they didn't know. Three nurses and two patients with small children told me about what their children had developed after taking their last dose of Amoxicillin. It was exactly what was going on with Chicka. I couldn't believe it. They called it Serum Sickness, if you have never heard of it, I hadn't, click the link and read about it. I am convinced this is what caused her rash, I brought her in before it got too bad, thank goodness. The male nurse I spoke to showed me a picture of his son, this poor little guy didn't have a patch of skin that wasn't covered. I felt so bad for him and at the same time super thankful I had gotten her in before it got that bad. The nurse brings over three oral syringes with different colored syrups in the them. Baby Girl eyed them warily and then looked at me with what I can only describe as a look of warning. She didn't want the medicine, I didn't want to give her the medicine, but we didn't get to decide. The nurse handed me the first syringe, I wasn't aware that I would be the one trying to get her to choke this crap down.......ugh. The first was tylenol, it went smoothly, tasted like cherry I think. The second went less smoothly, Benadryl doesn't taste great and after the first little bit she didn't want anymore, but we got it done without too much fuss. The third syringe went over like a nuclear bomb, Prednisone tastes awful!! The second it hit her tongue she started wailing like someone had stepped on her foot. She fought, and screamed, and begged me with her eyes to please not make her take it. I honestly hate being the grown-up sometimes, and those are the times where my single-parentness is harder to bear. I didn't want to make her take it, I wanted to throw a fit and cry too, because it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that my beautiful little girl had to take this stuff that tasted so bad she had a physical response to it, because the medicine she had had to take to get better messed her up. But I didn't throw a fit, I did the responsible thing, I gave her the medicine. It was not easy, and when I finally did get it in her, she was pissed. I am talking inconsolable. About 5 minutes after the medicine, she stopped crying, leaned her head on my shoulder and threw up all over my shirt. Oh I felt so bad for my lovey. Once we got it all cleaned up, and the clothes in a bag, I wrapped her up in her Tinker Bell blanket and she passed out. She was out! I have never seen her sleep like that. The nurse walks up and tells me that I did a great job getting the medicine in her, and that she has never seen a baby take it and not throw up............wait what?!? You mean to tell me you knew she was going to react like that, and you couldn't have at least warned me ahead of time. Thanks............really I sooooo appreciate it. After another 45 minutes or so she was finally discharged and I took her home. She slept in bed with me, because I was terrified of her having taken that much medicine, and I needed to hear her breathing. I know it seems irrational, but I rolled in bed for 2 hours before I finally gave up and went to get her. Three minutes after that, I drifted off to sleep listening to the wonderful, comforting sound of my baby girls light breathing. When I woke up in a panic, she was right there. I would rub her back a bit, and she would make that noise that babies make when you bug them while they are sleeping. I love that noise. :-) Then I would fall back asleep. It was an ordeal I sincerely look forward to never repeating. 

She is doing better now, no more rash or fever. Please, if you have to give your child Amoxicillin, watch them closely. I know as parents we do anyway, but the symptoms can be less noticeable at first, and then seem to come out of nowhere. Prednisone is wicked, and I pray that you all make it through without ever having to give it to your little ones, but if you do, here is what I do to make it a little bit easier on Chicka. I mix it with chocolate syrup, and then give it to her. She still doesn't like it, but she will take it, and she hasn't thrown up from it that way.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!!!