The past two weeks, we've been to the doctor's office for five appointments. Yes, that's right, five appointments in two weeks. Here's the synopsis:
Thanksgiving night, Isaac started getting sick. It seemed like a common cold. He was sick for the remainder of the holiday weekend and ran a low grade fever, so we decided to take him to the doctor on Monday. Steven got off work early so that he could take Isaac and I could keep Elise at home. It turned out that Isaac had a double ear infection. Amoxicillin to the rescue!
The following Monday, we took Elise to the doctor because she'd developed a runny nose and a congested cough. She didn't have a fever, but due to her young age, we decided to take her to see the doctor. She turned out to have a common cold that she most likely contracted from being around her big brother. As the doctor said, "Poor second children... they're always getting what the big brother or sister brings home!" So, we went home very happy to have a good report and continued with our remedies of saline drops, nasal syringe, steaming up the bathroom, and running a humidifier to help Elise feel better.
By the latter part of this week, Isaac was feeling much better, but Elise's cough sounded much worse. She would cough so hard that she'd turn red, and she even started wheezing intermittently. We'd already scheduled Elise's 2 month well visit (and Isaac's 2 year well visit) for Thursday morning, so we knew we could ask the doctor about her cough then. As it turns out, she was indeed wheezing slightly, and the doctor diagnosed her with
bronchiolitis. A breathing treatment didn't help, though, so we were told to just keep doing what we'd been doing and let the virus run its course.
At that same doctor's appointment, we got a great report on Elise's and Isaac's growth and development. Elise weighed in at 10 pounds, 9 ounces (50th percentile) and 23.25 inches (75th percentile). Isaac weighed 28 pounds (50th percentile) and 35 inches (75th percentile). They both got shots and were troopers! Thanks to my Dad being there with me, the double appointment went very smoothly.
The next morning, our friend
Lori came by to take some pictures of the kids. My mom was there to help and while changing Isaac's shirt, she noticed some raised red spots on his belly. We figured it was just a small reaction to something he'd touched. We went on with the photo shoot, but afterwards, we noticed that he seemed to be getting worse. He had redness around his belly button, red spots on his belly and chest, and his joint areas (ankles, knees, elbows, wrist, hips, and neck) were all inflamed and red. I placed a call into the doctor at that point, and we got Isaac into the bath to wash off any allergen that might have caused this reaction. While he was in the bath, Isaac's hands and feet started to swell more and more. As they were getting bigger, I started to get very concerned so I called the doctor again and asked to speak with someone immediately. I was told to give him some
Benadryl and bring him in to be seen. We got him out of the tub, gave him the Benadryl, briefly nursed Elise (what a flexible girl she is!) and headed out the door. When we got there, the doctor examined Isaac and determined that this was an extreme
eczema flare-up (Isaac has had exzema almost since birth, but we've never had a flare-up quite like this one). I didn't realize that swelling was also a symptom of eczema, but it is, and thankfully Dr Colyer was able to diagnose this reaction so quickly. We were prescribed a regimen of
Zyrtec,
Derma smoothe oil (a prescription steroid oil that works wonders for eczema!), and lotion regularly until the eczema is calmed down. Whew!
Two days later, Isaac is looking much better. The redness and swelling have subsided and he seems much less itchy. (For the record, the Zyrtec has worked much more effectively than Benadryl. Plus, it's grape flavored, and who doesn't like grape flavored medicine?!) Elise's cough has gotten better, and she seems to be feeling better overall.
We are so thankful for Dr Colyer and the staff at Southlake Pediatrics who have taken such good care of our kids over the past couple weeks. And we're thankful to *hopefully* be over our illnesses and flare-ups just in time for Christmas!
