Oompa Loompa
Two weekends ago Cardin started with a cold. She was congested and had a runny nose. At first we treated it as a head cold, pumping fluids and rest, but it continued and wasn’t letting up. After a few days I brought her to the doctor’s office as it seemed like she may have strep since she was having a really hard time eating. Turns out she had an ear infection. This is only her second ear infection, which compared to me is miraculous, seeing as how I’m nearing 30 and still get them. I HAVE SENSITIVE EAR CANALS OK!!! It is because my ears are so tiny and precious looking.
Anyways, the doctor prescribed the typical amoxicillin and we went on our merry way to the pharmacy to get the delicious bubble gum flavored medicine that would fix said “boo boo”. After a few days on the medicine she seemed to be on the mend and the congestion had almost disappeared. Since I ALWAYS listen to doctors advice, we needed to continue the remainder of the medication until it was gone.
That is until last night when she blew up like an oompa loompa. I was taking off her shirt to give her a bath and noticed that she had a bright red spot on her stomach. Upon further analysis she seemed to have red hive bumps all over her body; under her arms, her thighs, small ones on her face.
While I was inspecting her for other bumps Brett walked into the room and was all “OMG, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER KNEES?” Up to this point I hadn’t even looked at her knees as I was so focused on playing connect the dots. When I gazed downward, her knees were swollen to 3 times their normal size. Listen Lady, Cardin is tiny for her age, so swelling to even 1 time as large is a significant difference and makes her look disproportionate. It looked as though softballs were on her kneecaps they were so GINORMOUS. I touched them slightly and they were even warm and red.
Brett’s immediate reaction was to go to the emergency room. This is not a trait we have in common as my reaction to a stressful event is far more controlled and planned. I have clear emergency action plans in place for these types of situations. For instance, there was a time when we were rousted during the night with lights and sirens outside our bedroom window. Before Brett could even make it to the window to determine the emergency, I was fully dressed and ready to evacuate the house if needed. I like to think that my planned reactions can be attributed back to the frequency with which I am presented with bodily injury.
Instead of a trip to the ER, I called the pediatricians office and talked to the doctor on call. He explained that it was likely an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin she had been prescribed for the ear infection and that it usually takes around 72 hours for any rash to appear. He told me to administer Benadryl every 4 hours and that should resolve the rash.
The knees had reduced in size slightly this morning, but when I called to check on her this afternoon the rash is continuing to spread. It will likely get worse before it gets better. Until that time we will be staying in our house so that it doesn’t look like I kidnapped an oompa loompa from the set of Willy Wonka.