Piper is officially the best big sister EVER!
In the past I have posted about Piper's horrible reactions to mosquito bites.
We had hoped the Elliotte wouldn't have the same fate.
Well, she doesn't.
Elliotte's reactions are WORSE!
Two weeks ago,
a mosquito bit her on her forehead.
The resulting swollen forehead and eyes was frightening.
It changed the look of her face completely.
It took three or four days for the swelling to go away.
Next came her foot.
Two days ago Elliotte would scratch her little foot
and then put it on my leg saying, "uh oh".
She kept doing this until I was able to distract her from it
and put some hydrocortisone on it.
Still, the swelling was awful and still persists.
I can't even put a shoe on that foot.
Then tonight happened.
Piper goes to Active Start again this year,
but we chose to attend a location that is 30 minutes away,
so that the day didn't clash with my running group,
Piper could be on a team with her friend Claira
and we could visit Barb and Wes more frequently,
as they live just around the corner from the soccer field.
Well it was calling for rain tonight,
so I asked Barb if she could watch Elliotte at her house,
while I took Piper to soccer.
I wasn't worried about Elliotte getting wet on the field,
I was worried about the swarms of mosquitos that come out when it's wet.
Barb was more than happy to watch her,
so I dropped Miss Elliotte off at her house and headed to the field with Piper.
We arrived at the field,
only to discover that they had canceled Active Start for the night
due to pending thunder showers.
So back to Barb's house we went.
Piper was only too glad to have a visit there,
so all was good.
Within 20 minutes of our visit
the storm made it's appearance.
Thunder, lightning and an impressive downpour.
(The potato farmers must have been dancing in their fields tonight!
What a beautiful rainfall it was!
With no wind to interfere,
the rain was falling straight down from the heavens.
It was really magnificent.)
Anyway,
it was all over before an hour had passed
and was time for us to head back home.
I had Elliotte wrapped up inside my coat
and we quickly ran next door to Barb's neighbor's house
to see her Newfoundland dog
before running back to get in the van.
TWO minutes.
We stopped outside the van for TWO minutes
to admire a beautiful fully formed rainbow
that had appeared while we were inside the neighbor's house petting the dog.
During those two minutes,
Elliotte received at least two mosquito bites.
There could be many more,
but I'm only positive of two.
One was on the top of her head,
the other on the back of her head.
She was scratching, but nothing unusual.
We said goodbye to Barb and started the 30 minute drive back to our house.
During the start of the drive
Elliotte was fussy,
but I just thought she was getting tired and cranky.
Bedtime was in less than an hour.
About half way home,
Piper pipes up and says,
"Elliotte has a rash on her face, Mommy".
I ask what kind of rash,
thinking that Elliotte was just scratching a bite.
Piper then tells me that she has a big BIG rash
and that it's all over her face.
I immediately pulled the van over and jumped out to check on Elliotte.
Oh.
My.
Word.
I don't know how I managed to keep my cool and not panic,
but it's a miracle.
Elliotte's little face was so swollen.
Her eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks...
they were all red and blotchy and raised and awful.
Just awful.
I jumped back in the van and started to drive... FAST.
Elliotte would cry off and on,
as she was incredibly uncomfortable and irritated.
When she didn't cry,
I would start to panic.
I kept telling Piper to make her sister cry so that I knew she was okay.
Piper would say, "MOMMY!" in a shocked voice every time I said it.
She must have thought I was losing my mind...
asking her to make her little sister cry!
But it was the only thing I could think to do to keep my head clear
as I drove 140 km/hr along the 90 km/hr highway
in the middle of a construction zone.
As long as Elliotte was crying,
I knew she was breathing.
It was all I could think of to do!
I almost lost it again when I got stuck behind a car towing a boat
that was clearly not in a rush to get anywhere.
We arrived at the hospital and I grabbed my two little girls
and ran into the emergency room.
The nurses took one look at Elliotte and commented on the spots on her face.
I told them that this isn't actually what her face looks like
and that the spots were actually on top of the swelling.
It only took minutes before the paperwork was filled out
and we were sitting in the critical care unit of the ER.
She was actually getting worse before our eyes.
The rash was spreading down her torso and onto her legs.
It was everywhere!
The doctor even asked me about the diaper rash
that was on her inner thighs.
I told him that she doesn't get diaper rash.
It was all from the allergic reaction!
Our littlest princess was hooked up to a machine to monitor her breathing
and was given a shot of Benadryl.
Two nurses monitored her constantly for two hours
before feeling confident that she was improving and that the worst was over.
Her doctor said that because I only live ten minutes from the hospital,
he was okay with me taking her home
if I agreed to continue treating her with Benadryl
and checking her for changes every hour throughout the night.
So that's where we are now.
I'm blogging to keep myself semi-calm
before I go in to check on her again.
The swelling in her face has gone down quite a bit,
but the rash on her body is still very evident.
Now I'm just watching for labored breathing or vomiting.
My poor sweet little girl.
I can't even begin to tell you how great she was in the hospital,
but even more so,
her big sister!
We were siting in that critical care unit of the ER
with a very sick old man and his wife next to us,
and do you think I had to speak to her,
even once,
about behaving?
Nope.
Nada.
She was an absolute rock star!!
I have never been so proud.
I'm sure she recognized the seriousness of the situation,
but still she's only three.
I honestly did not have to remind her to behave herself
because she was so incredible.
She managed to entertain herself with watching Elliotte's monitor,
the stickers that the nurses showered her with,
and my shoe laces.
She must have untied my shoe laces at least five times
and then wove them throughout each other
in different patterns.
She was seriously incredible!
Elliotte too.
Even if she was feeling irritated and miserable.
She just kept taking stickers off of herself and sticking them on me.
Two hours and not a peep out of my girls.
(Except for when they gave Elliotte the shot.)
She only cried for a short moment,
so even that wasn't too bad.
Piper immediately jumped up and started trying to distract her with her stickers,
which worked perfectly.
The needle was quickly forgotten
and big sister was swarmed with adoration from the nurses
for being such and kind and caring big sister.
Perhaps Piper found her calling?
She made a wonderful little nurse for her little sister tonight!
Need I even bother to say that when we got home,
before I put Piper to bed,
I thanked her a million times for being so wonderful and helping me with Elliotte.
I promised to take her to the bookstore tomorrow to pick out a new book
and then told her that we could invite Sylvie to go to the ice cream store with us.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
So proud.
So incredibly proud.
And thankful that my sweet girls are sleeping peacefully in their beds right now.
Time to go and check on them again.
Good night.
xo
xo
In the past I have posted about Piper's horrible reactions to mosquito bites.
We had hoped the Elliotte wouldn't have the same fate.
Well, she doesn't.
Elliotte's reactions are WORSE!
Two weeks ago,
a mosquito bit her on her forehead.
The resulting swollen forehead and eyes was frightening.
It changed the look of her face completely.
It took three or four days for the swelling to go away.
Next came her foot.
Two days ago Elliotte would scratch her little foot
and then put it on my leg saying, "uh oh".
She kept doing this until I was able to distract her from it
and put some hydrocortisone on it.
Still, the swelling was awful and still persists.
I can't even put a shoe on that foot.
Then tonight happened.
Piper goes to Active Start again this year,
but we chose to attend a location that is 30 minutes away,
so that the day didn't clash with my running group,
Piper could be on a team with her friend Claira
and we could visit Barb and Wes more frequently,
as they live just around the corner from the soccer field.
Well it was calling for rain tonight,
so I asked Barb if she could watch Elliotte at her house,
while I took Piper to soccer.
I wasn't worried about Elliotte getting wet on the field,
I was worried about the swarms of mosquitos that come out when it's wet.
Barb was more than happy to watch her,
so I dropped Miss Elliotte off at her house and headed to the field with Piper.
We arrived at the field,
only to discover that they had canceled Active Start for the night
due to pending thunder showers.
So back to Barb's house we went.
Piper was only too glad to have a visit there,
so all was good.
Within 20 minutes of our visit
the storm made it's appearance.
Thunder, lightning and an impressive downpour.
(The potato farmers must have been dancing in their fields tonight!
What a beautiful rainfall it was!
With no wind to interfere,
the rain was falling straight down from the heavens.
It was really magnificent.)
Anyway,
it was all over before an hour had passed
and was time for us to head back home.
I had Elliotte wrapped up inside my coat
and we quickly ran next door to Barb's neighbor's house
to see her Newfoundland dog
before running back to get in the van.
TWO minutes.
We stopped outside the van for TWO minutes
to admire a beautiful fully formed rainbow
that had appeared while we were inside the neighbor's house petting the dog.
During those two minutes,
Elliotte received at least two mosquito bites.
There could be many more,
but I'm only positive of two.
One was on the top of her head,
the other on the back of her head.
She was scratching, but nothing unusual.
We said goodbye to Barb and started the 30 minute drive back to our house.
During the start of the drive
Elliotte was fussy,
but I just thought she was getting tired and cranky.
Bedtime was in less than an hour.
About half way home,
Piper pipes up and says,
"Elliotte has a rash on her face, Mommy".
I ask what kind of rash,
thinking that Elliotte was just scratching a bite.
Piper then tells me that she has a big BIG rash
and that it's all over her face.
I immediately pulled the van over and jumped out to check on Elliotte.
Oh.
My.
Word.
I don't know how I managed to keep my cool and not panic,
but it's a miracle.
Elliotte's little face was so swollen.
Her eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks...
they were all red and blotchy and raised and awful.
Just awful.
I jumped back in the van and started to drive... FAST.
Elliotte would cry off and on,
as she was incredibly uncomfortable and irritated.
When she didn't cry,
I would start to panic.
I kept telling Piper to make her sister cry so that I knew she was okay.
Piper would say, "MOMMY!" in a shocked voice every time I said it.
She must have thought I was losing my mind...
asking her to make her little sister cry!
But it was the only thing I could think to do to keep my head clear
as I drove 140 km/hr along the 90 km/hr highway
in the middle of a construction zone.
As long as Elliotte was crying,
I knew she was breathing.
It was all I could think of to do!
I almost lost it again when I got stuck behind a car towing a boat
that was clearly not in a rush to get anywhere.
We arrived at the hospital and I grabbed my two little girls
and ran into the emergency room.
The nurses took one look at Elliotte and commented on the spots on her face.
I told them that this isn't actually what her face looks like
and that the spots were actually on top of the swelling.
It only took minutes before the paperwork was filled out
and we were sitting in the critical care unit of the ER.
She was actually getting worse before our eyes.
The rash was spreading down her torso and onto her legs.
It was everywhere!
The doctor even asked me about the diaper rash
that was on her inner thighs.
I told him that she doesn't get diaper rash.
It was all from the allergic reaction!
Our littlest princess was hooked up to a machine to monitor her breathing
and was given a shot of Benadryl.
Two nurses monitored her constantly for two hours
before feeling confident that she was improving and that the worst was over.
Her doctor said that because I only live ten minutes from the hospital,
he was okay with me taking her home
if I agreed to continue treating her with Benadryl
and checking her for changes every hour throughout the night.
So that's where we are now.
I'm blogging to keep myself semi-calm
before I go in to check on her again.
The swelling in her face has gone down quite a bit,
but the rash on her body is still very evident.
Now I'm just watching for labored breathing or vomiting.
My poor sweet little girl.
I can't even begin to tell you how great she was in the hospital,
but even more so,
her big sister!
We were siting in that critical care unit of the ER
with a very sick old man and his wife next to us,
and do you think I had to speak to her,
even once,
about behaving?
Nope.
Nada.
She was an absolute rock star!!
I have never been so proud.
I'm sure she recognized the seriousness of the situation,
but still she's only three.
I honestly did not have to remind her to behave herself
because she was so incredible.
She managed to entertain herself with watching Elliotte's monitor,
the stickers that the nurses showered her with,
and my shoe laces.
She must have untied my shoe laces at least five times
and then wove them throughout each other
in different patterns.
She was seriously incredible!
Elliotte too.
Even if she was feeling irritated and miserable.
She just kept taking stickers off of herself and sticking them on me.
Two hours and not a peep out of my girls.
(Except for when they gave Elliotte the shot.)
She only cried for a short moment,
so even that wasn't too bad.
Piper immediately jumped up and started trying to distract her with her stickers,
which worked perfectly.
The needle was quickly forgotten
and big sister was swarmed with adoration from the nurses
for being such and kind and caring big sister.
Perhaps Piper found her calling?
She made a wonderful little nurse for her little sister tonight!
Need I even bother to say that when we got home,
before I put Piper to bed,
I thanked her a million times for being so wonderful and helping me with Elliotte.
I promised to take her to the bookstore tomorrow to pick out a new book
and then told her that we could invite Sylvie to go to the ice cream store with us.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
So proud.
So incredibly proud.
And thankful that my sweet girls are sleeping peacefully in their beds right now.
Time to go and check on them again.
Good night.
xo
xo
 |
| The mosquito bite that happened two weeks ago. |
 |
| And the swelling that was the result. |
 |
| Can you see how swollen her forehead is here? |
 |
| Another shot of the swelling from the front. |
 |
| And another view of how swollen her forehead was. |
 |
| And this is the best shot that I could get of her tonight before putting her to bed. It's not easy to see, but the rash goes from her neck, armpit and down to her diaper. This was 2.5 hours past bedtime, so trying to get her to stay still was impossible. |
 |
| Another attempted photo of some of the rash. |
 |
| The swelling on her face is getting better, but it's not gone yet. And the rash surrounding her neck is still visible. So scary. |
 |
| If you're going to have a big sister, this is the one that you want!!! xo xo |
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