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Emily's body is covered in a rash. She was crying last night and scratching around her diaper area, so apparently not only does it look bad but it feels bad as well. Our regular pediatrician was out of the office, so we saw another who was in the office. His first question when he saw the rash was, What antibiotic did she just finish? Before I could answer he replied to himself, "Let me guess, penicillin. I laughed and said yes. He said that her rash was a classic allergic reaction to the antibiotic. The fact that her father and I are both allergic to the same drug is further indication that it is for sure the culprit. The good news is that she is NOT contagious. The bad news is that she will get worse before she gets better and there aren't any topical ointments that can help. The doctor said that Benadryl might help the redness and itchiness. Hopefully I have a bottle that was not recalled! 
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. What a CrAzY week! We buried my sister-in-law's sister on Monday. She was 39 years old and lost her year long battle with ovarian cancer. It's been a tough situation altogether. She was a mother to a beautiful 12 year old girl. Please keep the family in your prayers as they go through the healing process.
Tyler has been sick this week. I am not sure what was wrong with him. He lost his little voice, had a belly ache, and cough. He seems to be feeling better. He seems to think he needs to stay home from pre-school ONE more day. ;) We'll see how it plays out tomorrow.
I Just wanted to update for all of those asking about little Emily. She had an ear infection in her right ear and the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) had flared up again. She's on a 10 day antibiotic for the ear infection and still taking cough meds and her inhaler, or "puffer" as we like to call it. If you've never had to use this on a child, an infant child this is quite a chore. She loves to play with it and will even pretend to puff on it, but once I push the medicine in the chamber the fun's over and she heads for the hills! It literally takes both of my legs and arms to hold her down and get her to put it to her face so she can breathe in the medicine! She's quite the fighter and has a pretty mean right hook...I am not even exaggerating. This photo is from April when she was originally diagnosed with RSV. She was only seven months old in this photo. She is now 16 months! Time has really flown by, but I digress. She seems to be doing well and is sleeping through the night again so hopefully we're on the downhill slope of this stuff. Now if we can just get the weather to cooperate!
As you can tell she is busy fielding phone calls for me as I blog. Yes, that is a computer mouse that she is using. But, please keep in mind that she is still in training. Sorry for the lack of posts this week, folks. My week in a nutshell:
Monday:
A.M. : Stayed home with Emily took her to the doctor (our doctor was all booked up) so we had to see a partner. Office was packed when we got there. Waited only an hour to see him. Diagnosis: DOUBLE ear infection. Very fussy baby girl all weekend and most of this week.
Afternoon: Fair parade. Tyler rode a horse with his grandpa and threw candy.
When we got ready to leave there we were headed to the fair when Shelby informed me that she felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach. She didn't want to go to the fair. I knew this child must be really ill if she didn't want to go to the fair, so we went home. Lucky for us because as she exited the van, her lunch exited her body. We came in and she spent the remainder of the evening curled up on the couch.
Tuesday: 1:30AM, I had the same visitor that Shelby had Monday afternoon...two fold, both ends!!! I was miserable. I spent the majority of Tuesday morning in the bathroom as my family slept peacefully in their beds. Brien was awakened by Emily around 3:30. I couldn't hold her because I was running back and forth and this did not please her. He got up with her and stayed up with her until he had to be at work at 7. What a man! Thankfully my father in law took over duties from there. He took the younger two while Shelby and I stayed in for the day, hopefully containing our illness to ourselves.
Wednesday was of course a day of catch up for me at the office on billing, payroll, and searching for health and life insurance online since I'd been out all week. I was super busy there and due to the fact that I had been trying to nurse Emily to health all weekend and most of the week, my house look like a tornado had blown through it.
Thursday was an impromptu visit to the County Fair! It was the only night this week that it hadn't been raining or some member of our family wasn't projecting bodily fluids out of one or more orifices. We had an amazing time and of course I took wayyyyyy too many photos as usual.
Of course they played games, had some wonderful fair food, pet the animals in the livestock barn, watched some bull riding and much much more. We will be going back on Saturday (pray for no rain!!!) to ride the rides during arm band day and watch the family favorite - Demolition Derby. Overall it's been a busy week. I will be uploading more pictures later on, but for now I am too pooped. I'm headed to bed. See you all tomorrow for Looking at the Sky on Friday!
Emily's first week at daycare went smoothly. Better than I had expected. Of course the mornings are hard on us because she does cry. But, on Friday she reached for her teacher. That is a milestone that I hadn't planned on reaching for a while. She did start crying when she took her, but she at least didn't have to pry her from my arms. One good thing about daycare is that she is going to bed with no troubles. She is getting on a schedule and it is benefiting us all.
Unfortunately, she seems to have contracted some sort of stomach bug. Other family members have had it, so I'm not sure it came from daycare. But, she began running fever yesterday morning. She was feverish with a runny nose, and VERY clingy all day. I was a bit worried since the H1N1 virus has caused 5 deaths in the state of Arkansas. I talked to the on call nurse at the clinic yesterday and she said as long as her mucus was not thick and green or her breathing labored then I should just wait it out and bring her in to the clinic on Monday if I thought I needed to. But, if her fever gets up over 103 and we can't get it down then we need to take her to the ER. I did feel better after I spoke to her. Her nose is running clear and in fact today isn't doing much of that. Today she is experiencing some diarrhea, but no vomiting. Hopefully we're on the down hill slope of this illness and maybe since we've taken up stock in the hand sanitizing business no one else will contract this virus. *fingers crossed*
We visited the doctor yesterday since Emily contracted a runny nose, cough, and slight fever over the weekend. The doctor came in the room and immediately started sniffing the air. I began to get a bit worried and thought back to my morning routine and remembered adding my deodorant as well as a splash of Bath and Body Works' scented body mist. He walked to Emily and began to sniff her and said that he smelled something. He then proceeds to look in her ears, nose, and mouth. He then removes her diaper and looks there. By this time, I'm a bit perplexed. This is normal when he does a routine physical, but she was there for flu like symptoms. I was just hoping it wasn't a repeat of the RSV she suffered from last winter.
He then asks me she has vomited as of late. I thought back to last Thursday when she threw up on my blackberry (don't worry, the blackberry is okay). Yes, I told him she had and in fact she was eating some snacks when she did so, I believe. Yes, Friday was when she started to feel bad.
The doctor then proceeds to tell me that she has an unmistakable "foreign body" smell. I am sure that the puzzled look on my face only added to the oddness of this situation because I hadn't the slightest clue as to what he was talking about. She smelled normal to me. But, he proceeded to explain that sometimes, especially children her age, learning to pick up small objects, as well as self feeding will "get something stuck in a hole". He might as well have told me she swallowed a barcode scanner
No, this is NOT a JOKE and I am not kidding. The diagnosis that our pediatrician gave us was that she has a "foreign body" infection. In fact, the nurse came and and confirmed that indeed she smelled "the smell" as she checked her temperature. She's on a routine antibiotic. What we hope is that the antibiotic will cause the inflammation to subside thus releasing the "foreign body". What he suspects is that she threw up and possibly a piece of food is lodged in her sinus cavity. My concern is that I do not smell this "smell" that she is omitting so how am I to know if she is well?!
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon as we're waiting to pick up her sister from school, Emily becomes very fussy and almost inconsolable. She is NEVER this way, so I knew something must be wrong. Suddenly she projectile vomits all in the (new) van! I clean her up and as I am doing so I find a piece of grass/hay in the vomit. I got a bit excited because I hoped this might be the answer to our problem. I get her all cleaned up, she plays for a bit and becomes inconsolable again. Repeat...more vomit. This vomit doesn't include any "foreign bodies" only the remnants of the mashed potatoes and chocolate pie she had for lunch. *GAG*
So, now I am concerned that maybe this antibiotic might be upsetting her stomach. She cries again for about 30 minutes and just as the kids are walking out of the building to meet us at the van, she falls asleep. Whew!
So, we made it home with her and she was fine the rest of the night. She still has a runny nose and cough. But, I really believe that this is probably contributed to her big brother sharing a virus that he had last week.
As far as the "foreign body" is concerned, if it's still there when we visit the doctor for her one year check up, then we'll take invasive measures to try to find it. Fingers crossed that it was the grass that was in her vomit. We'll see.
In the meantime, has anyone else ever heard of such a crazy diagnosis, or is is just my CrAzY family that this has happened to?!?!
It was a bit early, but in order for the entire family to be able to make it my sister celebrated Dominique's birthday this weekend. What a fun time we had spending with them on Sunday afternoon. They had a swimming pool set up for the kids that was the perfect size as well as some pretty cool sprinkler toys. We were there just a little over two hours and I took almost 300 photos. I guess it is pretty safe to say that I had a good time as well. The hardest part about snapping photos of kids playing in water is to keep the expensive digital gadgetry in the dry! I I might need to check into getting some best diet supplements since I had cake on Saturday and Sunday. To see more photos from Dominique's party, you can click here.
Saturday afternoon we celebrated my nephew, Dillon's birthday. He had a Mario
birthday cake baked by my mother in law. This thing was so life like, I felt like I was 12 again sitting in front of my Nintendo for hours! My mother in law has an awesome talent in making cakes. She makes the cakes for all of our celebrations. She created my wedding cake, and has created every single birthday cake for our children. It's an honor for her master talent to be put to good use. Thanks, Memaw for making those birthdays that much more special with your awesome talents!! We had fun with Dillon and his brother Dakota. We got Dillon the new Wii Resort game and he was gracious enough to play with the kids. They had tons of fun and it was nice getting to spend some time with the in-laws.
Overall we had a fun-filled weekend! It was nice getting to spend time with the family and the weather was beautiful, so it made being outdoors that much more fun. I hope you all had a great weekend. We're looking forward to another great week back at school. I suppose I will be taking little Emily to the doctor today. She has been running fever, coughing, and sneezing with a runny nose all weekend. Of course since Tyler was sick last week, I am sure that she has probably contracted some form of what he had. Since she was sick with RSV last winter, her likelihood of getting it again is very high. Tyler's illness was only viral so there was nothing that we could do for him other than cough medicine and Tylenol. If the same rings true for Emily I am doing all that I can do for her. But, I am afraid that if I don't take her to the doctor, she might end up getting worse and I will be to blame. I'd rather be safe than sorry! I will update later on her condition.
Little Emily, my five month old just recovered from RSV, a very serious respiratory illness. She's been better and then over the weekend she took a down turn again. She has been coughing horribly. The thing about this little girl is that it's hard to tell when she's sick because she is such a happy baby, sick nor not. The cough worsened, and the rattling in her chest sounded like an old Chevy pick up truck. I took her in today and the doc said that she now has bronchitis and an ear infection! We're on antibiotics for the ear and re-visiting the dreadful "puffer" (inhaler) and yummy cough medicine. The good news is this should disappear quickly whereas the RSV hung around for several weeks. Until then, Emily is making calls to tell everyone she's okay. At least I hope that she is. How much does a call to China cost, probably not as much as a Mesothelioma lawyer?
Can someone please send some luck our way?! A 4 leaf clover, rabbit's foot...somethin'!
I got a call tonight from my sister that they admitted my brother into the hospital this afternoon. Apparently yesterday he went to the doctor with a sore throat. He was sent home with some antibiotics to ward off a throat infection. He woke up this morning and the whole side of his neck and face was swollen. He went to the Emergency Room and he was quickly admitted into the hospital. Many tests have been ran thus far and they have ruled out the obvious infection in his lymph nodes. My sister said that they were testing for leukemia.
On the way home from the hospital she stopped by and Shelby wanted to spend the night with her. She and her cousin, Katie are only 11 days apart in age. As we were packing her bag, she was holding her ear. She started whining a bit and said that her ear was hurting! She still wanted to go with my sister. She graciously accepted the offer, even though she'll probably be up with her in the night. She knew my hands were full with the sick baby. It doesn't look like I'm going to need Decaslim or any other diet supplement to lose weight. I think all of this stress just might do it!
It looks like I'll be visiting the hospital tomorrow and the pediatrician's office (AGAIN) on Monday! Seriously...someone send me some GOOD luck, please and fast!!!
Emily still has a cough. We're still on the inhaler every four hours and cough meds every six. I feel like she is slowly improving. She's getting her appetite back. The worst part is that the inhaler dawns a chamber with a mask that I have to hold on her face to get an airtight seal and she does NOT like that thing. I'm sure I wouldn't either. It feels like I am trying to smother her and she wriggles and squirms trying to get away from me while I'm doing it causing me to hold her down. It's not fun, but it has to be done to get her well. I keep telling myself that.
Yesterday we watched the inauguration and she was cute sitting in her little Bumbo seat looking up at that big screen. I have high hopes for our new president. I hope that change indeed is coming our way not only for myself but for my children and their future as well.
Brien picked the kiddos up from school and when they got home, he and Shelby had been shopping at Wal-Mart. Guess what Shelby talked him into?! A Wii!! That girl has her daddy wrapped completely around her finger. I'd been wanting one, but we could never find one in the store. There just so happened to be one there last night, so they grabbed it up. Shelby had so much fun playing it. Tyler just doesn't get the concept, I don't think. Shelby kicked my butt at Tennis and stomped Brien in a bowling match. I will say this, it's great leverage to get her to clean her room!!!
Some of my Facebook and Twitter followers have asked me how my little one is doing. Emily is, well she is really sick. She has Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an infection of the lungs and breathing passages. Every four hours, she has to take two puffs from an inhailer and every six ours she's to have Mucinex to keep the phlegm in her lungs from getting worse. The doctor said she will get worse before she gets better. There is no guarantee that she will not end up in the hospital before it's all said and done. We just have to keep a close watch on her and make sure her "wheezing" doesn't worsen and that her breathing doesn't become a chore as well as making sure that she does drink her formula. Right now she's cut her intake down by about 1/2. She's taking only an ounce or two every hour or so where normally she will drink a six ounce bottle every three hours. This is probably due to the fact that she's so congested it's hard to breathe and eat.
The last two nights have been pure hell. I've been up with her because she cannot lay down without choking and gagging. I've been sitting up with her in the recliner and we sleep off and on that way, but more off than on! Her pediatrician told me that days 4-7 are usually the worst with this condition so it looks like I will not be getting any sleep any time in the near future. Of course I have family that would sit up with her, but I am sure that I would not be able to sleep even if they did, so there's not much need in taking them up on their offer.
Please keep us in your prayers because it looks like we may need them for the next few days. I will post updates when I can. Right now she's sleeping so I am going to grab a bite to eat and then try to nap a bit myself. Thank you all so much for your care and concern.
We have five DVDs sitting on top of our entertainment center. We've had them rented from the local video store for over two weeks. We have only watched two of them! This means that we've racked up some substantial late charges at the video store and probably will still end up renting the ones we haven't watched yet again. Today I ended this insane behavior! With the encouragement of my B/F/F I joined NetFlix. I'm super excited about it. I've added some movies to my Queue that I've been wanting to see but forget when I get to the video store. Do you have Netflix? If so, how do you feel about it? Do you love it or hate it? What movies do you have in your queue? Now I want a Roku Player! I'm adding it to my wish list. Valentine's day is soon.
I've also finished the second book in the Twilight series. It did get better. It was a slow start for me and there was a time when I almost gave up. With the encouragement of several others I stuck it out and there were a few times that I had a hard time putting it down, although not as many as in Twilight. I have not been able to find the next two books at the local stores, so I ordered them via Amazon today. Hopefully they'll ship quickly. I still haven't gotten the pacifier that I ordered via Amazon for Emily. I'll post an update when I get it. I sure do hope that it'll be an equivalent to the Gerber paci that is no longer being manufactured. If you missed that original post, you can click here.
The weather in Arkansas has been so crazy! Seriously crazy. Yesterday was in the 50s. Today, was in the 40s, tomorrow:44 Thursday:32 Friday:28. Saturday I had to take Shelby to the doctor. She has a throat infection. Yesterday Tyler went, he has a horrible cough. We didn't see our pediatrician, he was all booked up. We saw a doctor who said he just had a cold. Hopefully he'll recover soon. Last night I started feeling yucky. I am pretty sure I have a sinus infection. I'm going to use my NetiPot, take a sinus pill, and head to bed. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.
Also, don't forget to get your sky photos this week. I'll be looking at the sky on Friday and hope you'll be joining me! To find out more about how to play along, you can click the following logo:
