Toddler Fevers and Rash

So this past week has been a nail biting adventure in toddler health issues.  First, the set up - 3 weeks ago, JJ was diagnosed with an ear infection.  Then Zoe got pink eye.  Then John got strep.  So, when Sunday rolled around, everyone was on some form of antibiotics, except for me (and Zoe who had just finished her eye drops).  Sunday afternoon, Zoe wakes up from her nap with a fever of 102.  Oh crap, here we go.

Monday morning Dr. visit: They examine her and she has a double ear infection.  Still running a fever of 100 even with ibuprofen and is generally miserable.  Prescribe antibiotics.

Tuesday afternoon: She breaks out in a rash all over.

Wednesday morning Dr. Visit: Still has rash and fever.  Dr. thinks it's probably viral, but she's also complaining of leg pain, neck pain, and the ibuprofen isn't helping the fever.  He sends her for blood and urine tests (she's also saying her tummy hurst right before she pees).  She is a total trooper and doesn't even flinch when they do the blood draw!

Wednesday night: Fever finally breaks.

Thursday morning: Still has rash all over.  It gets worse when she is hot - swells up slightly. Behavior continues to be somewhat subdued, but better than previous.

Friday-Sunday: Behavior is still subdued, but getting more normal. Still no fever.

Sunday night: While helping her wash her hands, I notice small red dots on the back of her hand:

I have been reading LOTS about rashes and recognize these as petechiae. This is the one type of rash to be really worried about.  So, we call the after hours nurse who tells us to take her to the ER.  

Turns out the petechiae, in this case, were caused by her blood draw on Wednesday. Thank goodness!  She is sent home and we are told to keep an eye on her for lethargy etc.

So, bottom line, nothing serious, but lots of stress for everyone involved because it kept looking like it might be something serious.  And the medical professional kept saying "It's good you brought her in" because a lot of what we saw *could* have been life threatening. Thank goodness it wasn't.

House of snot

Good morning! Welcome to the house of snot.

Apparently, the weather has cause some allergen to bloom with a vengeance.

John's nose is stuffy.

JJ's nose is stuffy.

Zoe's nose is stuffy.

I can breathe with no problems, but I'm grumpy because I've gotten like 2 hours of sleep in the last couple of days because the rest of the household is up all night with stuffed noses and when they're not up, they're snoring so loud I don't know why the neighbors haven't called to ask why we're running a buzz saw in the middle of the night. I'm waiting for the USGS to contact me with a concerns over local seismic activity.

I hope everyone dries up before I have a psychotic break. I'm not exactly sure what a psychotic break involves, but I'm given to understand it happens when you don't get enough sleep over a prolonged time period and it sounds unpleasant.

House of plague

Ugh. February has been a month of sickness at our house. First Zoe comes down with RSV (basically bad case of the sniffles for her - nothing too serious), then JJ gets a cold, then John and I get a cold (bad enough we both need steroids and antibiotics) then JJ gets diarrhea and is home for several days and John's cold gets bad enough he has to sleep in the chair because his uvula is choking him. Then the next week JJ gets a stomach bug (starts throwing up in the middle of the night), gets over it in a day, then John and I get the same bug (bad enough we had to call a neighbor to help us out at 4am because I was in danger of throwing up on the baby while I fed her and John was totally incapacitated - Nancy is an ANGEL!!). We get over that and JJ and John both get really awful diarrhea the following week. Poor JJ has been home from school almost 3 weeks out of the 4 in February and the rest of us have been the walking dead. Zoe is the only one who's flown through it all without much fuss. Boy I hope that is behind us!

Weight and sick

Weigh in today: 215lb. That's a total gain of 25lbs for this pregnancy, and just exactly where I want to be. Hooray!

Unfortunately, I am fighting a really bad cold. Lost my voice on Wednesday. They started me on antibiotics on Tuesday (a z-pak, so they are serious). Bad bad cough today. And contractions off and on all week. The contractions seem to be getting more frequent, even though I'm not doing anything to start them up (like, I'll have them while lying down in bed, drinking water). So far, nothing regular, but it's scary when I think of the dr. telling me I "better not go into labor because the scars from the myomectomy might not hold." Yikes!!!

Zoe, girl, you can make an appearance any time...but it would be sweet of you if you waited until Monday :)

Circumfrence update

47 3/8" - 10 days to go. Last time I was only 46" around. This little girl is going to be BIG!

Of course, I managed to come down with pink eye, of all the annoying things. JJ had it last week - I thought I was in the clear. Guess I've been burning the candle at both ends...

All in the family cold

Well, that clinches it. First JJ had the horrible cough, then I came down with it. Now John's got it. Blech. Not the kind of family sharing I prefer!

It's my turn...

Ugh. Apparently now it's my turn. It's hard enough dealing with the poor little guy not feeling good - now I've come down with it. I coughed so hard today I actually threw up - YUCK! No fever or anything, but still miserable. My throat is killing me. No wonder he sounded like he swallowed a frog. I hope this doesn't last long....

Coughing up a lung

I swear it sounds like JJ is coughing up a lung. It started Wednesday night, so I took him to the doctor yesterday. They said his lungs are clear and that it's just allergies. So, I took him to school today and they called to say he was running a fever. And so back to the doctor. They still don't think there's anything wrong with him other than allergies, but they gave him some antibiotics to head off a "slight" throat infection. Sigh. Maybe I need a 2nd opinion - he sounds terrible!

Poor baby - so sick

Poor JJ. Sunday night, he woke up whimpering and felt so hot! I took his temp and it was 102. Yikes! So I stripped him down to his diaper, gave him some Tylenol, and nursed him back to sleep. All Monday his fever was been up and down, peaking at 104 in the afternoon. We gave him a luke warm bath to get him cooled down (that lasted all of 3 screaming minutes, but it worked). Poor little guy was just not himself all day. You could tell when the fever was going up because all he'd want to do it snuggle.

Took him to the doctor's today and everything is fine - he's got a throat infection, but nothing that medicine can do anything about. His fever is gone and he should be back to his regular self by tomorrow. Oh - and he's cutting 8 teeth right now which explains all the whimpering. I can't even imagine.

Thtuffy Nothe...

Well, they say misery loves company, but I'm not sure that's the case when it comes to getting sick.  John, JJ, and I all came down with the same cold simultaneously on Saturday night and have been laid up until today when we're finally back at work and school. YUCK!  Nothing like feeling miserable while you've got a little one who can't blow his own nose (can you say snot bubble?!?  ewwwww!) and a husband with a sinus headache. Yuck!  Fortunately, we were able to stay home and rest, so it only lasted 4 days - I think if we'd had to go to work/school it would've lasted much longer. 

Miserably sick

Ugh. John got sick this week and unfortunately I caught it. Started with a sore throat last night and today I am thoroughly miserable. We went to ER Centers of America (me, because I'm pregnant and need to make sure it's nothing serious, John because it might be bronchitis which could quickly get worse for him). Looks like I've just got a really bad viral thing and his is indeed bronchitis. They gave him loads of medicine and gave me Tylenol (that's all I can take). Lovely.